Switzerland has given an insight into why it was part of the negotiation that led to the release of the 82 Chibok girls abducted three years ago by the terror group, Boko Haram. According to a news report published yesterday by a UK newspaper, IBTimes UK, the Swiss government said its involvement in the negotiation with Boko Haram was a result of a request from the Nigerian government, in addition to “humanitarian concerns.”

When thinking of Arctic diplomacy, one is drawn to the significant work of the Arctic Council.  One may also think of the United Nations system and the important work being done under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to settle claims related to the continental shelf.  What is often forgotten in the mix of Arctic politics and diplomacy is the central role of bilateral relations in advancing cooperation and understanding between nations and people in the High North.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson finally met with the State Department’s workforce to outline how President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda applies to foreign policy. In his remarks, Tillerson focused on the core mission of national security. He insisted that American values still matter, but was clear that the U.S. is no longer in the business of promoting those values as universal aspirations. It’s a big loss for American influence in the world.

Sunday’s election in France made most people breathe a little easier but the worldwide trend is still troublesome. Nations are turning inward and if not building physical walls, as President Trump has proposed, they are erecting rules and new regulations [...] Last month at a Culture Summit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, called “The Creative Mind of the Connected World: Culture as a Change Agent in the Digital Age,”

What happens when strongmen meet? We know that the world is slowly filling up with populist nationalists, from Manila to Washington. Will they join forces against the sanctimonious, supra-national powers that dismay them all? Or will they compete, as erstwhile tough guys seem most comfortable doing? Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised if they find an entirely different way to frame their international engagement, one sure to puzzle, infuriate and sometimes amuse onlookers.

In remarks during the occasion, the Ambassador Thit Linn Ohn of the Union of Myanmar stressed that his country was pleased to establish diplomatic relations with Liberia, Africa’s oldest independent Republic. He believes that the event marks the beginning of building closer ties between the two countries especially in the areas of trade, agriculture and people to people exchanges.