It's hard to deny that His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet and the world's most famous Buddhist, is the also world's foremost expert on happiness. But what about other major religious traditions? Is happiness a good thing, or bad?

On his China Beat blog this week, Chinese culture scholar and my friend Jeffrey Wasserstrom strongly condemns California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's plans to host a World Expo in San Francisco's Bay Area in 2020. I agree with Jeff's particular gripes about Schwarzenegger's motives and his (lack of) experience necessary for hosting the 2020 World Expo.

Diplomacy and outreach can't just be left to our government," Clinton said during a 75-minute speech and onstage interview sponsored by the Commonwealth Club. She spoke of the State Department's new "emphasis on technology and innovation.

If two countries can respect each other's culture, the possibility of conflict will be vastly reduced, James Leach, chairman of the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), commented in an interview with Xinhua.

Before the 2008 election, two former national security advisers recommended that the next president should craft a foreign-policy strategy to align the United States with a "global political awakening" that was transforming the world.

U.S. military bases continue to be a point of contact between American culture and that of the host country. That's not necessarily an argument for maintaining a global basing structure, but it is an underappreciated side-effect of having one.

The International Studies Association was founded in 1959 to promote research and education international affairs. Its annual conference is a significant event for relevant academic communities. The next annual conference will be in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on March 16-19, 2011.

Berlin DJs Daniel Best and Kalle Kuts are reviving the spirit of 1980s West Germany with their compilation of "the Cold War's hottest music."The project hopes to shed light on the almost forgotten but massively influential GI clubs where US soldiers went to get a taste of life back home.