There has never been a time in the history of the United Nations when its leader could be more useful in taking an active role in curing the world’s ills. African terrorists, warlords, revolutions, authoritarianism and a million other plights threaten to destroy international peace and stability. In all of this, where is the secretary-general? Former secretary-general Kofi Annan was more of a general and less of a secretary when it came to public diplomacy and social engagement. Ban is more of a secretary and less of a general.

Water-related conflicts arise largely due to inadequate resource management and poor governance. Traditional Cultural Diplomacy would thus prove beneficial in terms of providing clear and accurate information, diffusing mistrust and tensions, and improving communication between riparian states. Improved dialogue between countries would allow for the assessment of mutual benefits of cooperation, and consequently assist the process of converging national water agendas.

Patrick Ho says Americans' distrust of China can be melted by reassuring skeptics that China is a nation of "peace-loving people". "We want to do away with what is called China bashing," said Ho, deputy chairman and secretary-general of the China Energy Fund Committee. "Having a big GDP doesn't mean we carry a big stick. A big GDP means we're prosperous."

The U.N.-backed Alliance of Civilizations will strengthen its role through mediation and fostering of cultural understanding through sports, arts and music, the head of the initiative, which gives priority to defusing tensions between Western and Islamic worlds. “The Alliance can become a major soft power tool to diffuse tensions and conflicts, especially those which are ethnically or identity based,” the High-Representative for the Alliance, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday, while outlining his priorities for this year.

In a move human rights advocates say is long overdue, the European Union and Japan are circulating a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva calling for a formal commission of inquiry into North Korea’s record.

You could, of course, sit back, slack-jawed, thinking about how mindlessly repetitive Sri Lanka's foreign policy, public diplomacy and strategic communication are these days. Or you could wield all sorts of fancy analytic words to explain it; using professorial language or plain road-side rhetoric which doesn't make much of a difference.

Journalists and U.N. officials on Wednesday hailed South Sudan's decision to be a pilot country for a United Nations initiative aimed at creating a free and safe environment for media workers. Journalist Elam Denis Ejulu welcomed Juba's decision to be the pilot country for the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists, saying it would help to protect "journalists against harassment."

P O’Malley interviews Kofi Annan
On Rwanda: ‘countries had become risk-averse after Somalia’
On Darfur: ‘the UN could not determine from their study, that it was genocide’
On Israel Palestine: ‘often the Americans tended to forget the problems on the Israeli side, and finger-pointed to the Palestinians and Arafat’