David "Nanook" Cogdill, an American street artist, came to Liberia to create a welcoming mural for a school that had been damaged by riots during the Ebola outbreak.

In foreign affairs, Obama has publicly adopted “soft diplomacy” as his way of resolving crises. Key to this approach is “leading from behind,” that is, pressuring or convincing other countries or international organizations to take the lead in crisis response, with the US becoming just one of several partners.