This week I’m obsessed with the notion of Hidden Power. Am reading Kati Marton’s most excellent book on the subject, which focuses on Presidential marriages that shaped our nation’s history.

Technology experts in Washington, DC say the recent blocking of Voice of America radio and Internet broadcasts by the Ethiopian government is likely to have a negative long term impact... The prime minster of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, accuses VOA of broadcasting destabilizing propaganda...

So far, so good. Indians haven't shown this much enthusiasm for American fast food since McDonald's came to New Delhi and Mumbai more than a decade ago.

As April 24 approaches, Armenians and Turks will once again be watching U.S. President Barack Obama to see how he describes this day of remembrance for the 1915 mass killings and deportations of Ottoman Armenians.

Supporters of President Obama's engagement policy argued that if Tehran rejected U.S. diplomacy, Iran's belligerence would become obvious to the international community, justifying a more aggressive policy that would have strong international backing. There are two flaws with this thinking.

JOSE H. Villarreal has been named commissioner general responsible for oversight of the USA Pavilion at World Expo 2010 Shanghai. He is the US government's official representative to China on issues related to Expo.

One thing we know: the financial, and potentially political, turmoil stemming from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent civil fraud action against Goldman Sachs will be sizeable, not just for its implications on the world’s most influential financial institution – but for the political grease it supplies to

Global views of the United States have improved markedly over the last year while views of many countries have become more negative, according to the latest BBC World Service poll across 28 countries. For the first time since the BBC started tracking in 2005, views of the United States' influence in the world are now more positive than negative on average.