In his weekly address on Saturday, US President Barack Obama began his campaign to assure Americans and sway skeptics that the framework for a nuclear pact with Iran was a "good deal." A day after Obama called top lawmakers to urge support for the agreement, he pressed his case that Iran would not be able to build nuclear bombs.

On a political level, it is clear that both the Americans and the Vietnamese have an interest in moving past the long ago war and strengthening areas of cooperation. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the normalization of formal diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam and the relationship is rapidly developing.

When it comes to a few important journalistic new media skills, such as speed of posting information online and use of social media, U.S. State Department's public diplomacy is leagues ahead of U.S. taxpayer-funded Voice of America (VOA).

The Modern Language Assn. reported that Korean language enrollment rose 45% from 2009 to 2013. Overall, language studies declined by 6.7% during that same period, and interest dropped in many popular ones, including Spanish, French and German.

Taiwan’s Tang Prize Foundation signed a cooperative agreement with U.S.-based Experimental Biology March 31, reaffirming TPF’s commitment to creating learning opportunities worldwide.

Instead, the Kremlin has become increasingly sophisticated in its media strategy. Even as it continues to enforce conformity of coverage at home, it criticizes conformity abroad. Moreover, it borrows from the playbook of its former Cold War enemy, the U.S., to shape public opinion—in part by concocting a powerful story of Western spin.

Are U.S. Foreign Service officers an endangered breed? They fear the State Department wants to define them away. This is one thrust of a new report from the American Academy of Diplomacy.(...)The risk comes from political appointees encroaching on their turf and State confusing the roles of FSOs and civil service employees, according to the Academy.