In a world of dangerously failed states and willful challengers to American leadership, South Korea is an astoundingly successful democracy that wants to be friends. But will America say yes?

The 162-year-old Associated Press news agency, an American icon, has chosen London as the hub of its global television operation. Ian Burrell pays a visit to its historic offices.

The United States looks short of Iran options. Even President Barack Obama acknowledges that new sanctions might fail, but has not laid out another plan.

Yet again, a senior military official has argued that "U.S. foreign policy is still too dominated by the military." Yet again, the defense community has cried out for more robust diplomacy and development and the greater use of "soft power" - the ability to attract and persuade rather than force.

Today's cultural diplomacy efforts look dramatically different than they did twenty or thirty years ago. In the post-Cold War, Internet, Twitter and Facebook era, government-sponsored cultural initiatives focus on fostering the types of cross-cultural encounters that can ultimately engender mutual understanding.

By all appearances, the United States faces a serious public diplomacy challenge in Kyrgyzstan. Washington’s sluggish initial response has enabled Russia to take the early lead in what is shaping up as a race to cultivate the goodwill of the Kyrgyz provisional government.

Everyone is an architecture critic. Why not? So many of the national pavilions at the Shanghai Expo are peacocks waiting to be admired — or not — and it would probably drive their creators nuts if everyone didn't have an opinion.