It has long been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. The challenge is understanding which words to which people...Context matters. Each viewing will be shaped by a personal or group context influenced by experience, culture, language, narratives, and other inputs direct and indirect.

One hundred years ago, Japan gifted some 3,000 cherry trees to the United States in a gesture of friendship. They now flower each spring around the tidal basin in Washington, D.C. On Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the U.S. will return the favor.

Hopefully Mica’s story, which became about baseball as a metaphor for increased relations with Cuba, can thus join the continuum of using baseball for cultural exchanges...Along the way, he experienced a cultural exchange, and learned that when it comes to Cuba and the United States, there is much more that is similar than different.

“Americans must not view Pakistan as a stereotype and just through the prism of their fight against terrorism. Pakistanis need to be told the American point of view without use of force and with respect for the country’s sovereignty。“

So while USAID is very good at quickly mobilizing assistance to disaster-afflicted communities, it carries a lot of political baggage -- so much so in places like Pakistan that the U.S might be better off in the long run by downsizing USAID's direct activities there and working through alternative programs.

Sports diplomacy builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power,” which embraces the full range of diplomatic tools – in this case the game of basketball – to bring people together to foster greater understanding.