Dr. Henry Kissinger called for the United States and China to collaborate on a new global order.

Decrying a rising death toll and an escalation of violence, the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly called yet again for progress towards a political transition to defuse Syria's civil war, now in its third year. Though the resolution strongly condemns the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad for its increased use of heavy weapons, it equally condemns “widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” on all sides.

Speaking before delegates at last autumn's General Assembly, U.S. President Barak Obama eloquently stated “I would like to begin today by telling you about an American named Chris Stevens.”

In any civil war, accusations fly. Given the political pedigree of the Assad family dictatorship, and the fact that their security forces possess large quantities of chemical weapons, (stockpiles with Soviet origin), this comes as no surprise.

“Asia Pacific economic economies will see subdued growth in 2013 after last year's sharp slowdown caused by external factors,” is the prognosis from a recent U.N. survey.

“Trade is the cheapest way to produce growth,” exclaimed European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso before an executive audience adding, that a planned Transatlantic trade pact between the U.S. and Europe Union would produce a “win-win solution in trade” for both sides of the Atlantic.

Margaret Thatcher, the penultimate British Conservative Prime Minister, was a revolutionary.

The increasingly ballistic bluster pouring out from Pyongyang threatening South Korea, Japan and the U.S. with nuclear attacks has jolted East Asia into “paying attention.”

The winds of change continue to swirl throughout the Middle East as the region enters the third year of the political phenomenon optimistically dubbed as the Arab Spring. While political scientists debate the ebb and flow of freedoms and anarchy in the region ranging from Egypt to Libya and Syria, the ancient Christian communities which have lived in the Holy Land are buffeted by daily events and by the enduring fear of the future.

“The rise of the South is unprecedented in its speed and scale ... when dozens of countries and billions of people move up the development ladder as they are doing today, it has a direct impact on wealth creation and broader human progress,” cites the glowing introduction to the U.N. Development Program's (UNDP) annual Human Development Report.