In Russian political circles, Barack Obama's election tended to evoke two different reactions. Many officials were curious to see what new deals he would offer, but others, in the tradition of the Cold War, dismissed him as just the latest mouthpiece of the old American élites.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has dismissed the idea that US-Israeli relations are in crisis amid a row over Jewish settlers in Arab East Jerusalem.

President Barack Obama's visit here next week is a pivotal point in relations between Indonesia and the United States. Indonesia is now also an established democracy, both countries adhere to market economies and both are viewed as important players in the Asia-Pacific region.

This month, the United States and Japan are celebrating more than 50 years of cooperation in agriculture.

The US State Department launched a new website on Monday seeking the opinions of people around the world on global issues and US foreign policy. The site located at state.gov/opinionspace is designed to "foster global conversations on foreign affairs," the State Department said.

Broadly speaking, New Delhi and Moscow have both tended to calibrate the bilateral thermostat with an eye on the temperature in Washington. When the U.S. tries to cosy up to either power, India and Russia are quite happy to take for granted, if not forget, each other.

In fact, there is a place -- crucial to U.S. national security -- where Obama's foreign policy is working: Pakistan. A spate of good news has been coming out of that complicated country, which has long promised to move against Islamic militants but has rarely done so.

There are probably few places left on the planet where people shrug their shoulders and have no opinion when asked what they think about America's role and image in the world. The US is everywhere, be it militarily, culturally through movies, news media, television and advertising...