U.S. students studied in significantly greater numbers in less traditional destinations in 2008-2009, according to the new Open Doors survey report released today by the Institute of International Education (IIE) with funding from the U.S. Department of State.

Does radio still play a role in a world where that is increasingly cyber-connected and populated by smart phone users? The answer, according to Google’s Director of Policy and Planning Bob Boorstin, is very much a “yes.”

Maximum India - a festival of India - will be held in Washington in March next year, showcasing Indian textiles, dance, music and cuisine to allow Americans 'experience' what US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle experienced in India.

When Pakistani Americans Mahnaz Fancy and Zeyba Rahman launched Pakistani Peace Builders (PPB) in May, they did so to bring Pakistani music and heritage to American audiences. An independent cultural diplomacy campaign, PPB aimed to counteract stereotypes and misperceptions of Pakistanis that Fancy and Rahman saw becoming more prominent.

Iraq is back in the news, making headlines for the horrific attack on a Baghdad Catholic church that left 58 dead. It is yet another event that has widened the gap in American-Iraqi understanding and one that, for me, only reinforces the need for more opportunities for exchange and interaction between our two countries.

Sometime in the next few weeks, if the parties can agree on a place and date convenient to all sides, Iran and the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany, known as the "P5+1," will meet for the first time since October 2009 to revive diplomacy over Iran's nuclear program.

Barack Obama, the charmer, won over India. The US President enthralled Indians by declaring that “in the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member”.

The Russian political class cringed last Wednesday morning on learning that U.S. President Barack Obama had suffered a humiliating political defeat in the mid-term elections, losing Democrat control in the House and barely hanging onto a razor-thin Democrat majority in the Senate.