China and Russia, two of the world's pre-eminent authoritarian states, just don't get soft power. That, at least, is what Joseph Nye claims in a new commentary in Foreign Policy... China also has successes. What other state, I ask, has turned Asian authoritarianism and state-run capitalism into political brands that appeal to non-democratic states and rulers the world over? You can argue it undermines democratic governance, but you can't say they have not been effective - and kind of soft.

Thus far the proponents of military intervention have done a poor job of explaining how this course of action would secure these twin goals. For instance, the most popular option seems to be establishing a no-fly zone in northern Syria. However, the Assad regime still has formidable missile and ground forces and it’s unclear if grounding its aircraft would have a decisive military impact.

Sri Lanka’s eastern town of Pullumalai saw the opening of a new public market and a bus station recently, which has been built with the funding support of USAID. The US Embassy in Colombo said, the US$ 477,000 facility (Rs. 60 million) will help enhance transportation and livelihood opportunities for the people living in the Eastern province.

In the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, the Yale Russian Chorus came to Moscow to break the ice between the Soviet Union and the United States. Fast forward 50 years and Americans and Russians are once again using music to defrost the chill between their two countries.

A 1969 Logansport High School graduate has recently returned to her Blackford County home as the first non-Chinese artist to exhibit work in the prominent LiRen Gallery in Anshan, China. A retired elementary and middle school art teacher, Leslie Newton is currently the staff visual artist and curator of Arts Place in Portland. Throughout her career in the Jay School Corp., she was involved in the educational exchange program that sent herself, other teachers and students to China.