The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.
-- Edward R. Murrow

It is crucial Taiwan promotes its cultural relevance within the global community as a means of boosting the nation’s international visibility. As part of this push, the country is planning to engage in linguistic diplomacy through the Taiwan Academies initiative.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned against abandoning Pakistan again as she urged Capitol Hill to back the administration’s request for assistance for key allies including Islamabad.“We are trying to deepen our relationship.

American Muslims organized rallies that they were calling "I Am Muslim Too" to protest against the March 10 hearing in the U.S. Congress on the perceived "radicalization" of American Muslims. Among those opposed to the hearing -- which was called by congressman Peter King (Republican, New York) -- is Salman Ahmad, a Pakistani-American activist, rock star, UN goodwill ambassador, and author of the book "Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's Revolution."

Julia Gillard's speech to the US congress today celebrates the six-decade history of Australia's geopolitical alliance with the US, built on the two countries' deep stock of shared values and interests and manifested by their fighting side by side in every significant international conflict, from World War II to Afghanistan.

According to a U.S. State Department official, the concept of “smart power” ― the intelligent integration and networking of diplomacy, defense, development, and other tools of so-called “hard” and “soft” power ― is at the heart of the Obama administration’s foreign-policy vision. Currently, however, Obama’s smart-power strategy is facing a stiff challenge from events in the Middle East.

A congressional debate over how best to promote Internet freedom abroad is about to run into budget politics. A little-known provision in both Senate and House stopgap plans would strip the State Department of some of its funding for technology that breaks through Internet censors.

Approval of U.S. leadership remained steady or climbed somewhat in 2010 among most populations in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), sustaining the dramatic gains made between 2008 and 2009.