The Clover Park Technical College Lakewood Campus served as a cross-cultural center of learning last week, as a group of students from Japan’s Osaka Jikei College partnered with CPTC’s Medical Laboratory and Medical Histology Technician programs for a study tour and cultural exchange. [...] It was all the continuation of a partnership between the two colleges stretching back more than a decade.

Because of the United States’ predominant role in geopolitics and global economics, foreign governments and their citizens scrutinize the candidates and their positions, which can hint at future American policies. The campaign also acts as a snapshot of American democracy. According to political scientist Joseph Nye, America’s soft power – its ability to persuade foreign leaders and exert influence abroad – partly depends on how the rest of world interprets our political process, values and outcomes.

While the days of its worst behavior are long behind it, the United States does have a well-documented history of interfering and sometimes interrupting the workings of democracies elsewhere. It has occupied and intervened militarily in a whole swath of countries in the Caribbean and Latin America and fomented coups against democratically elected populists.

Australia's former prime minister and the Work singer shared the spotlight in New York City on Saturday evening local time as part of the Global Citizen Festival. Their unlikely partnership is in aid of a new Global Citizen education initiative, which was officially launched at the concert after performances by Metallica, Chris Martin, Eddie Vedder, Kendrick Lamar and Bill Nye.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) signed an agreement on Sunday to increase education and research exchanges and collaborations. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, UMB President Jay A. Perman, MD, and the university’s faculty met with counterparts from the Hebrew University to ratify the extension of a student exchange program which began in 2013 and to explore future collaborative opportunities.