united states
Many view Europe as a spent force in global politics. Conventional wisdom states that world politics today is unipolar, with the United States as the sole superpower. Or perhaps it is multipolar, with China, India, and the rest rising to challenge Western powers. Either way, Europe's role is secondary - and declining. The European Union, it is said, is too weak to avoid withering away in the face of Russian subversion, mass migration, right-wing revolt, British plans to leave, slow growth, and anemic defense spending.
Medical diplomacy is the kind of foreign policy tool that the world’s most powerful nation should embrace. [...] Nations such as the United States that have the financial and logistical ability to respond to these epidemics should accept their moral responsibility to do so. In the case of the United States, “America first” does not mean “America only.” Spending a tiny fraction of this country’s wealth to save lives should be done without a second thought.

This week’s PD News roundup explored the effectiveness of bilateral relations the world over.
The Fulbright Foreign Student Program competition for the 2018-2019 academic years is now open to applicants until May 13, 2017, the US embassy in the UAE announced on Thursday. The academic exchange programme is funded by the US Department of State and provides Emirati students and young professionals the opportunity to pursue graduate-level study in the US.
Egypt's soft power is important not only for the country's identity, but also to encourage a serious discussion among Arabs on religious discourse. It can support a culture that discourages hate speech and promotes the co-existence of all peoples. While this effort must be led by our political leaders, scholars, entertainers and cultural influencers can contribute to this dialogue.
AFRICOM’s Multinational Cooperation Center and Strategic Outreach Division convened this event to educate elements of the command on irregular migration concerns across the African continent, from origin to transit and destination countries. “The purpose of the forum was to let the command have a better idea of how migration works both at the policy level but also at the practical, on the ground level,”
A month after Trump was elected, Republicans in Congress changed the VOA’s governing structure, replacing its independent and bipartisan board of governors with a CEO appointed directly by the president. [...] Taken together, the moves indicate that Trump is poised to turn the government news service—which reaches a global audience of 236 million every week through its radio and TV broadcasts—into a mouthpiece for his personal brand.
Trying to survive in our changing world over the past twenty years, many large and small countries have made certain attempts to adopt some foreign policy tools that were invented in the United States. The international community is most actively discussing the factor of "soft" or "smart" power, which has become an important element in maintaining, supporting and strengthening America's global leadership.