If there's one thing the average American and Pakistani can agree on, it's that they don't like each other's countries very much. According to a Pew Global Attitudes survey, only 11% of Pakistanis hold a favorable view of the United States. But they still need each other.

In a rare cross-cultural collaboration, two classical-music groups from Cuba and the United States will engage in a multiyear partnership that will include American musicians performing in Havana.

...Doyle focuses on the "soft power" applied in negotiations between American forces and Sunni Sheiks in forming an alliance to kick al Qaeda out of Iraq. This narrative in the story should be evaluated in understanding how we ought to employ U.S. military and diplomatic resources in the Middle East today.

The presence of a growing number of French-speaking Africans reflects a monumental shift in the relationship of sub-Saharan Africa to France and to the U.S. The new appreciation that French-speaking Africans display for the U.S. is significant for cultural as well as a geopolitical reasons.

And that could place the 50-year-old US manned spaceflight programme—and its benefits to US prestige—in jeopardy, according to Eric Sterner, an analyst with The Marshall Institute in Washington, D.C. ‘The vehicle signifies a continued commitment to human spaceflight, which plays into American soft power,’ Sterner says. ‘So, it has potential benefit there.’

Pressure is building from governments, companies and nonprofit groups to lift sanctions and “engage” with the regime. With U.S. companies and diplomats mostly absent, China has become the dominant power. The Burmese people remain poor and isolated from the world.

CPD Director Philip Seib was recently quoted in an article in The Layalina Review concerning President Obama’s new vision for American foreign policy in the Middle East.

The images of Barack Obama's recent visit were a publicity consultant's dream. But beyond the feel-good photography and the cheerful bonhomie, there was purpose and substance to Obama's trip, specifically the need to redefine America's relationship with Europe in a much-changed world.