Contemplating Russian nuclear threats during the Cold War, the strategist Herman Kahn calibrated a macabre ladder of escalation, with 44 rungs ranging from “Ostensible Crisis” to “Spasm or Insensate War.” In the era of cyberwarfare that’s now dawning, the rules of the game haven’t yet been established with such coldblooded precision. That’s why this period of Russian-American relations is so tricky. The strategic framework that could provide stability hasn’t been set.

However, Ballet Austin is now going where few, if any, Western ballet companies have gone before. The major cities of Beijing and Shanghai are typical tour destinations for the few American dance companies  that have performed in China. Yet Ballet Austin’s tour includes farther-flung cities like Kunming, Chengdu and Chongqing, where few Western performing artists ever tour.

Cultural Vistas is pleased to welcome eight young leaders representing six Southeast Asian nations to participate in a two-week study tour of the United States beginning September 12 in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, the tour includes participants of the YSEALI Generation: Oceans workshop, which took place this past March.

Two secondary teacher education students at the University of Delaware recently studied and taught in Eastern Europe in separate programs that each described as “a fantastic opportunity.” [...] Being immersed in another country and another culture was a valuable experience in itself, Fligor said, but she also gained new perspectives on teaching methods and education systems.

This year’s Super Bowl had more than 15 million Chinese viewers, [...] Live NFL games are routinely streamed in China, and grassroots organizations like the American Football League of China have helped spread awareness by teaching adults how to play. In March, the NFL announced plans to play its first actual game in China in 2018.

They called it Think Again, Turn Away. The concept? Use sarcasm as way to turn Islamic State images into an argument against their grim techniques of terror. The creator and producer? The U.S. State Department. Today, everyone agrees the message was worse than ineffective. It played right into the hands of the terrorists.

As students in an innovative Pardee School of Global Studies course last spring on the challenges of forced migration learned, sometimes even the most overwhelming situations can be improved by simple, but powerful solutions. In what became a semester-long exercise leading to the creation of a smartphone app for Syrian refugees in Jordan. 

Acknowledging the scars of a secret war, President Barack Obama on Tuesday said the United States has a “moral obligation” to help this isolated Southeast Asian nation heal and vowed to reinvigorate relations with a country with rising strategic importance to the U.S. [...] For Obama, the visit serves as a capstone to his yearslong effort to bolster relations with Southeast Asian countries long overlooked by the United States.