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Although Americans feel politically divided today, this polarization is not necessarily a bad thing, political experts say. "There's no question that the partisan polarity between the Democrats and Republicans these days … runs deeper, certainly, than it did a generation ago," says Pietro Nivola, director of the Governance Studies Program at the Brookings Institution in Washington. However, "[n]ot everything about political polarization is a bad thing."

As International Human Rights Day approaches on December 10, the world must be concerned about the situation in Zimbabwe -- where defenders of freedom are under attack and where the human rights situation is becoming worse every day, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer warns, adding, “Freedom loving … Zimbabweans that are trying to return their country to democracy deserve our support and our assistance and we certainly will provide it.”

On the eve of World AIDS Day, President Bush renews his pledge to fight the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. “The pandemic of HIV/AIDS can be defeated,” he says, through international cooperative efforts such as his President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). “We continue to fund research and develop new methods of treatment and prevention,” he says, referring to PEPFAR’s five-year, $15 billion commitment to fight the disease. The 2007 message from AIDS experts is blunt, as they call for strengthening prevention programs and technologies.

In Cameroon, when 28 new buses moved from Douala, the port and commercial center, to the capital city of Yaoundé in August 2006, excitement was so high that people were lining the streets and the 200-kilometer highway connecting the two cities to cheer the convoy. The comfortable modern buses brought by Transnational Automotive Group, a Los Angeles-based company, were a harbinger of something new for Cameroonians.

The United States is embracing a new approach to international development that involves expanded use of information technology and more private-public partnerships. The Global Development Commons, launched by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will use technology to allow aid donors and recipients to communicate better and to find needed information online from such sources as libraries and databases. It will involve tools like computers connected to the Internet that are located in cities and rural areas and informal online interchanges and conferences, creating "a comprehensive network accessible to all," according to a USAID fact sheet.

As delegates gather for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, the stakes could not be higher. The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) makes it clear that global warming is an “unequivocal” reality whose effects now are being felt around the world. “Climate change is a serious problem, and humans are contributing to it. We are at a critical moment,” Under Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky recently told the U.S. Congress. “We are committed to doing our part.”

A new network of about 100 former government officials, academics and members of nongovernmental organizations aims to help Latin American and Caribbean nations deal with issues related to promoting and defending democracy in the region. The Democracy Practitioners Network will advise governments in the Americas on such subjects as electoral and constitutional reform, access to justice, good governance, citizen participation, transparency and efforts to combat corruption.

A new network of about 100 former government officials, academics and members of nongovernmental organizations aims to help Latin American and Caribbean nations deal with issues related to promoting and defending democracy in the region. The Democracy Practitioners Network will advise governments in the Americas on such subjects as electoral and constitutional reform, access to justice, good governance, citizen participation, transparency and efforts to combat corruption.

The Libyan government is courting U.S. businesses to open trade and investment links as the country works to rejoin the international community. "Many companies from around the world are arriving in Libya now. The Libyan government does not want U.S. businesses to lose a good opportunity," Libya Economy, Trade and Investment Minister Ali Al-Esawi tells a group of U.S. businessmen in Washington.

Ali Anabtawi is a man on a mission: to preserve the oil pressed from some of the most venerable olive trees in the Mediterranean at the pinnacle of its flavor.  Anabtawi is a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) partner and manager of Near East Industries and Trade, a company that blends and bottles virgin olive oil from West Bank groves and markets it internationally.  With USAID courses and technical assistance to farmers, cooperative mills and marketers, local olive oil can meet high export standards and bring in much more money to cash-strapped families in the West Bank.

Twenty-four hundred U.S. Marines and sailors are helping the Bangladeshi government provide clean water, medical aid, food and other relief supplies to victims of Cyclone Sidr, the most severe storm to hit the country since 1991.  The Marines and sailors are working to support the U.S. Agency for International Development and are filling requests of the Bangladeshi government, says Admiral Timothy Keating, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.

A fresh team of Supreme Court justices appointed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2006 is determined to build up the professionalism of the country’s judiciary, which has suffered from Afghanistan’s 30 years of war, destruction and instability. "We are working on how to upgrade the knowledge of our citizens … and identify who can stay and continue" as judges, as well as those who should be removed, Afghan Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi tells USINFO.

A fresh team of Supreme Court justices appointed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2006 is determined to build up the professionalism of the country’s judiciary, which has suffered from Afghanistan’s 30 years of war, destruction and instability.  "We are working on how to upgrade the knowledge of our citizens … and identify who can stay and continue" as judges, as well as those who should be removed, Afghan Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi tells USINFO.

Strengthening procedures for sharing samples of potentially pandemic viruses and increasing developing-nation access to the resulting vaccines were the focus of an international meeting hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva November 20-23. The meeting drew an estimated 300 attendees, including about 100 member-state delegations, representatives from international organizations and invited experts. Attendees agreed that countries will share viruses with WHO while a detailed framework for sharing flu samples and benefits is developed.

To win primary elections in the United States, presidential candidates must convince members of their own political parties that they share the party’s political views. This means that during the nomination season, Democrats are discussing issues that matter to liberal voters, while Republicans are focusing on the topics that conservatives care about.

To win primary elections in the United States, presidential candidates must convince members of their own political parties that they share the party’s political views. This means that during the nomination season, Democrats are discussing issues that matter to liberal voters, while Republicans are focusing on the topics that conservatives care about.

An exhibition of 100 striking black-and-white photographs evokes the personal stories and hard-won victories of influential African Americans who helped shape the life of their nation over the past 150 years.  Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits -- the inaugural exhibition of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture -- traces the history of the United States from the vantage point of people who have suffered discrimination, oppression and injustice.  Even now, after decades of social progress, the images from Resistance still challenge America to live up to its own highest ideals, according to Deborah Willis, curator of the exhibition.

The time has come for a Palestinian state and peace in the Middle East, but Israelis and Palestinians will need international help, President Bush tells representatives from nearly 50 countries and international organizations at a one-day conference at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.  "The time is right.  The cause is just.  And with hard effort, I know they can succeed," Bush says, following a joint meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Security conditions have improved enough in Iraq that the United States November 27 began the drawdown of U.S. combat troops from Diyala province. "The redeployment without replacement reflects overall improved security within Iraq, as well as improved capabilities of the Iraqi security forces and the emergence of concerned local citizens," Navy Rear Admiral Gregory Smith tells reporters in Baghdad.

The scenic, waterfront city of Annapolis -- historic Colonial town and state capital of Maryland –- is the site of a Middle East peace conference November 26-28. The city has a colorful history, including serving for a brief period as the peacetime capital of the United States.