A woman named Ghoson, sitting in front of a dark gray backdrop, begins to cry. Behind the film set, where she agreed to tell her story, awaits the refugee camp in Leros, Greece, that she is squatting in, biding her time until she will try to make her way further into Europe. [...] These visceral snippets of suffering and heartache are some of the stories chronicled in “Refuge,” a documentary film released Wednesday by production company Magna Carta.

Joseph Nye has been the preeminent thought leader on the issue of power dynamics and relationships connecting global actors. [...] What is the future of this American century? My guess is that among the range of possible futures, ones in which a new challenger such as Europe, Russia, India, Brazil or China surpasses the United States and precipitates the end of the American centrality to the global balance of power are not impossible, but not very likely.

States should use the increasing power of social media networks and work with them to achieve foreign policy objectives. [...] However, there is much more room for states to cooperate with social media rather than seeing it as an enemy. Instead, there are ample opportunities to use social media’s features, low costs and high effectiveness as tools to promote a state’s foreign policy objectives.

In an ideal world, the Eurovision Song Contest would be all about music and cross-border camaraderie. In reality, delicate diplomacy is essential to prevent politics from spilling into the annual glitz fest. A cast of hopeful artists from 26 countries will compete in this year's final on Saturday in Sweden, homeland of inventor Alfred Nobel, who gave his name to the famous international peace price.

If there's one thing on which Europeans agree with Donald Trump, it's that the U.S. is gradually losing to China. The Middle Kingdom is working hard to improve its image in Europe and investing lots of money along the way. The queen of England may think Chinese officials are "very rude," but outside Buckingham Palace they are winning influence and friends.

Advocacy groups in the U.S. and around the world will commemorate the annual International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia with a series of ceremonies, marches and other events. Special U.S. Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons Randy Berry is scheduled to speak at a Human Rights First reception at the Rayburn House Office Building on May 17. 

Mohamed Al-Subeeh was a senior restorer at Syria's best-known mosaic museum, but as war swept deeper into his province, destroying artefacts and threatening his and his family's lives, he was forced to flee […] But when he heard about a project at some of Berlin's top museums that trains newcomers to become Arabic-language guides for fellow refugees, he leapt at the opportunity.

The deceit of history consists in making us believe we live in the present; when in reality, history is all there is, and everything is but mere repetition. [...] Pope Francis, in delivering a message of hope, invoked the founding fathers of the European project, and exhorted European political leaders to follow their footsteps and that “Today more than ever, their vision inspires us to build bridges and tear down walls.”