The Moscow Ballet works hard to let cities all over the U.S. experience a Christmas classic, the Nutcracker. [...] "You know, they just love seeing the cities in the U.S. and what life is like here. That cultural exchange is just, you can't get it any other way," Talmi added.

Besides the opportunities to play with and learn from Cuban musicians, Jaffe says that the PHJB plans to share their New Orleans musical history – “People in New Orleans still dance to jazz. We play jazz at our funerals” – with their hosts.

Cotton recommends we deploy “prosecutorial resources on Putin’s worldwide corruption racket”; “craft laws in the tradition of the Helms-Burton Act and the Alien Tort Claims Act to open U.S. courts to victims of Russian aggression, theft, and war crimes”; and utilize “public diplomacy and information strategies … [including taking] the lead in funding translation services to make Western media available in Russia.”

The movie was The Martian, and it had everything we should be promoting: It showed Americans as smart, resourceful, and innovative. It showed us as independent thinkers, but also as selfless team members who worked together when needed... And it showed America as a culturally diverse nation where people with talent could succeed, regardless of their race or religion.

“They [Congress] tend to view… efforts to influence civilians outside an area of conflict as Public Diplomacy, the responsibility of the Department of State or Broadcasting Board of Governors.” By contrast, “We [at US Special Operations Command] believe there is a complementary role for the Department of Defense in this space which acknowledges the need for a civilian lead, but allows DOD to pursue appropriate missions, such as counter-recruitment and reducing the flow of foreign fighters,” he wrote.

Food waste is not only an issue in the United States — roughly one-third of all the food that is produced in the world is never eaten. [...] “I think we have to look at where we are as a global community,” says Stanley. “Our consumer standard is so high that there’s no room for imperfection anymore, and that really drives the overproduction of food and, at the same time, conversely, a lack of value for food.”