The Academy Awards’ “Best Picture” tells the story of the rescue of six U.S. diplomats during the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979-80. But, for all that it’s a movie about diplomats, it tells nothing of the men and women who represent the United States abroad, the challenges they face and how prepared – or ill prepared – they are to face those challenges, says Nicholas Kralev, an expert on international affairs and diplomacy and author of a new book, “America’s Other Army: The U.S. Foreign Service and 21st Century Diplomacy."

As interest in study abroad to non-traditional destinations continues to rise, so does the number of students interested in African languages and cultures. Despite the fact that there are somewhere between 1,000 and 2,500 languages spoken on the African continent (UNESCO, 2010), there are relatively limited options for students to focus on language study in Africa. New initiatives and programs designed to attract U.S. students to study in Sub-Saharan African countries focus students’ attention on a small subset of the most widely spoken African languages.

When John Kerry took to Twitter on his first day as US secretary of state, he joined an army of diplomats using social media to reach out and connect directly with people around the world. "Exhilarating to walk into @StateDept today and get to work with remarkable team. Dad on mind! -JK," Kerry wrote in his first personal tweet.

More than 300 people were at the Show Me Center on Thursday night to hear former skating champion Michelle Kwan deliver her thoughts about "Aspiring to Greatness: What it Takes to Win." "I'm curious about her message of what it takes to succeed," said Rui Li, a sophomore at Southeast Missouri State University from Beijing, China, before Kwan's appearance. "I think it will relate to her success as a skater and to what she does now."

Could Rodman's visit achieve the same galvanizing effect? This seems implausible, given the record of the North Korean regime, with its continued testing of missiles and nuclear weapons. The most conceivable outcome is that Rodman will suffer be stigmatized even more than other anti-diplomats; after all, he applauded a regime that runs gulags amid widespread mass hunger, calling its leader "awesome".

Over the course of the past 20 years, I have observed or participated in counterinsurgency campaigns in South Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan in both military and civilian capacities. Some were done poorly, some successfully. The one thing that I have learned is that each is unique in its own way and there are no templates that will work in all cases.

Mumbai: American singer-songwriter and pianist Norah Jones performed live for the first time in India here. The Grammy winning daughter of late sitar legend Ravi Shankar gave her maiden performance during ‘A Summer’s Day’ festival in Mumbai.