Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on Thursday about the NAFTA trade deal and agreed there was an opportunity to update the accord to the mutual benefit of all signatories, the Mexican government said. [...] "Finally, they agreed to remain in close contact to ensure the process of (NAFTA) modernization is successful for the benefit of both nations," Pena Nieto's office said.

President Trump must avoid at all costs a direct military confrontation with North Korea, which has a long history of engaging in brinksmanship. The United States has been successful in defusing past crises by working in partnership with U.S. allies in the region. Today, China calls for restraint, and South Korea is urging a diplomatic solution. [...] President Trump could demonstrate his art of deal making by advancing the only solution that’s ever worked: diplomacy and engagement.

Besides governments talking to each other in formal and informal settings, soft power is comprised of programs and policies that have an impact on people’s lives. Examples include PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), President George Bush’s signature initiative to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS; the prestigious Fulbright program, which for 71 years has brought scholars to the U.S. and sent American scholars abroad to teach and study; and our role in providing humanitarian assistance to countries in crisis. 

An analogy usually works as a low-risk way to make a point. The secret is to stick to comparisons that garner near-universal support. President Trump did it in February when he talked about the need for bold infrastructure projects like Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System. Last year Sen. Lindsey Graham proposed a Marshall Plan for the Middle East. President Obama launched the Cancer Moonshot, a nod to the Apollo program. 

A high-profile media forum to be held in Dubai next week will feature an Arab News panel discussion examining the region’s image abroad. [...] A report titled “The Arab Image in the US” will be unveiled at the event. It is based on an exclusive survey of how the American public views the Arab world, conducted in partnership between Arab News, the Dubai Press Club and research and polling specialist YouGov.

The State Department on Monday removed from its website an article about the history and lavish furnishings of President Trump’s privately owned Florida resort club Mar-a-Lago, following questions about whether the federal government improperly promoted Trump’s moneymaking enterprises. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) pointed to the travelogue-style blog piece Monday, asking in a Twitter message why the State Department would spend “taxpayer $$ promoting the president’s private country club.”

American and Cameroonian soldiers come from entirely separate parts of the world with distinct cultural differences. [...] a 101st Airborne Division-led unit based in northern Cameroon, built a basketball court with freshly painted lines and hoops weighed down by concrete blocks next to an active runway. They then invited Cameroon service members from the local area for a basketball game to help foster better cohesion.