Even here in Kosovo, I can hear the buzz about Senator Barack Obama's visit to the Middle East and Europe. The trip comes in the midst of two other foreign policy developments for the candidate.

First is a published report about the 300-person foreign policy team Obama has created. The relevance of this "news" is deftly debunked by my friend Charlie Brown at the Undiplomatic blog. The second is news that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki supports Obama's approach to the war in Iraq. Both of these issues will provide great fodder for the horde of American journalists in the Obama world tour caravan.

By most conventional measures of an American presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama's foreign policy credentials are light. He has served four years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and made several overseas trip, including a much covered visit to Africa in 2006. But beyond that there are few professional experiences which have informed his views of the world. He doesn't have the direct experiences of... Read more.

Kosovo shows signs of substantial progress since my visits here in 2003 and 2005. The road from the Pristina airport to my "home" in Gjakova seems cleaner and more prosperous than I have ever seen it.

I was very excited to arrive in a free Kosovo for the first time since the February 17 declaration of independence. At the airport, all the trappings of statehood were evident: the new flag, an official welcome sign from the government, and Kosovar passport control officers. Much different (at least in spirit) than the previous procedures run by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo.

Unemployment here is still extraordinarily high, prices are up, and the electricity is still sporadic (but much better than before). The new Kosovo has a long way to go. But the trend lines look very good for the moment.

More on Kosovo:

• Joy in Kosovo
• A Gift for Kosovo
• The Kosovar Moment
• The Kosovo Decision

I am a big believer in the idealism of the Olympics, but I also know they never exist in a vacuum of international affairs or foreign policy impact. Over time, a number of major news stories have erupted during these global sporting events designed to place "...sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to encouraging the establishment of a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."

Already in the run up to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, we have seen massive protests surrounding the global Olympic torch relay. And the Olympics have given many the opportunity to shine a spotlight on the Chinese government's role in Tibet, Darfur, and domestic human rights abuses.

The Chinese have tried to say the Games should exist separately from global policy discussions, but few are buying this logic. As Foreign Policy Passport points out in "The Olympics aren't political? Please.," even the Chinese can't follow that rule. French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy compared the 2008 Games to the ones presided over by Adolph Hitler in Germany. "If we accept going to Beijing for the games, it will be like in Berlin in 1936--games of blood and shame," he said.

If history is any indicator, the Olympics in Beijing will continue to generate news on both the front pages and the sports pages of the world's media outlets. Here is just a short list of some major news made at the modern Olympics.

Read more.

By most conventional measures of an American presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama's foreign policy credentials are light. He has served four years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and made several overseas trip, including a much covered visit to Africa in 2006. But beyond that there are few professional experiences which have informed his views of the world. He doesn't have the direct experiences of... Read more.