With slightly more than three weeks to go before Barack Obama arrives in New Delhi, India's public diplomacy in the United States of America has been thrown at the deep end of the Potomac, the river that is a symbol of America's capital.

 Enduring a 15 kilometer walk to the nearest clinic will soon be part of the past for villagers in Kalaf, Djibouti. Now, only a minute away from the village stands a maternity clinic completed on Dec. 22, 2014. 

With the announcement by USAID Administrator Raj Shah that he would step down in February, the development and foreign policy community has responded by lamenting his departure, lauding his tenure, and speculating on his replacement.

Acknowledging the failure of fifty years of economic sanctions, President Obama announced his intention to "leave behind the legacy of both colonization and communism" and normalize relations with the island nation.

America is a meticulously constructed brand; it is the indispensable nation with exceptional power. There is no country as adept at branding as the United States.

Countries around the region as well as the US, France and Australia are joining the search over the Java sea.  The Airbus A320-200, carrying 162 people, disappeared on Sunday shortly after leaving Surabaya in eastern Java on its way to Singapore.