“It is a big step for the future and building people-to-people relationships between Myanmar and the United States,” said Min San, another player of the 12-member junior Burmese basketball team that is visiting the US on the invitation of the State Department.

This year the Hans Joohs Sister Cities Cultural Exchange program is celebrating its 25th year. Sister Cities is an international, person-to-person diplomacy program that creates friendships and bonds between the US and other nations. New Ulm is a proud participant in the program, which began in the Eisenhower Administration.

Last week, Heritage and The Wall Street Journal released the latest edition of the Index of Economic Freedom. Among its top performers is Poland, up seven spots in the global rankings. Poland’s economy is the only one in Europe that has expanded every year over the past two decades.

The passage of the Smith-Mundt Modernization act as part of the NDAA removes the restriction on the State Department and Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) banning the broadcast or distribution of materials produced for overseas consumption inside the US.

There is no shortage of social activity in government, but a new report finds that agencies are becoming increasingly familiar with the benefits of social platforms and discovering uses that further their missions.

Transparency in government took a huge step forward on January 3. On that day, President Obama signed into law the Smith–Mundt Modernization Act as an amendment to the 2013 Defense Authorization Bill.

Buried deep in the report of the Accountability Review Board convened by outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to examine the tragic events that took place this fall in Benghazi, Libya is the answer to why the U.S. ambassador was there in the first place. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who lost his life in Benghazi, was there "to open an American Corner at a local school and to reconnect with local contacts."

Somewhere etched in memories and images of Louis Armstrong being royally greeted by throngs in Cairo and blowing his trumpet to the ear of the sandy sphinx, or of Duke Ellington's regal jazz ambassadorship as he stared down at sitars, American cultural diplomacy found its groove.