Last year, Brookings offered advice on how to con Cubans into accepting a "new" US policy to "advance the interests of the United States in seeking stable relationships based on common hemispheric values." Now, from the Brookings Institution, comes "U.S. Public Diplomacy for Cuba: Why It's Needed and How to Do It."

The House Foreign Affairs Committee is considering a bill that would enable the State Department to fund American research cooperation in the developing world -- including the Muslim world -- as a hedge against extremism.

In two fast-paced April days in Washington, the world took a big step out of the age of MAD and into an even madder age, when a dark vision of random nuclear terror will shadow our days for decades or more to come.

Another senior presidential aide emphasized the symbolic significance of South Korea's hosting of the event. "South Korea is directly involved in North Korea's nuclear crisis," said the official. "The idea of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula can serve as a starting point of a nuclear-free Earth."

Those who accuse Barack Obama of cold-shouldering Britain and stiff-arming Israel might find his choice of a country to shower with praise somewhat perplexing.

If further proof were needed that the Labour Party has all but abandoned the Special Relationship, look no further than their new manifesto, which doesn't even mention the partnership with America, except for a brief throwaway reference to a "false choice" between the US and Europe.

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama has arrived in Haiti for a brief visit, three months after an earthquake devastated the Caribbean country. A Haitian government official tells VOA she will meet with Haitian President Rene Preval and then visit a children's hospital during the previously unannounced trip.

The scene from Treme instantly reminded me of the critical role of culture in the regeneration of a post-disaster community or locale. Whether the trauma is caused by a war, a natural disaster or an economic crisis, cultural outreach is a complementary tool to existing methodologies of social recuperation.