Social media is now a part of everyday life for millions of people across the world and even more so for young people. Organizers behind the 2012 Olympic Games in London aim to capture this momentum by integrating services like Facebook and Twitter into this summer's games.  There are already four official Twitter accounts associated with the event, a Youtube channel, Facebook page, Flickr slideshow, iPhone app, the list goes on and on.

American runner Tommie Smith won the gold medal in the 200 meter dash at the 1968 Olympic games with a record 19.83 seconds.  Australia's Peter Norman came in second at 20.06 seconds and the US's John Carlos clocked in at 20.10 seconds, rounding out the medal winners.  As the three runners walked to the podium to receive their medals, Smith and Carlos wore only black socks to symbolize widespread poverty in the African-American community.  Carlos also wore a necklace of beads representing African-Americans who were lynched and killed in the United States.  Once the three athletes reached the podium and the national anthem began, Smith and Carlos raised their fists instead of covering their hearts.  Norman, a critic of Australia's discriminatory policies, joined them in protest by wearing a human rights badge on his uniform.

This was an unprecedented moment in modern Olympics history.  The three runners made an overtly political statement that criticized major world powers.  The Games were held only months after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and a few years after Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous March on Washington.  The salute was a sign of resistance to white oppression around the world, similar to other famous incidents such as Rosa Parks' refusal to sit at the back of a bus, the Greensboro sit-ins, and Malcolm X's revolutionary speeches.

Modern tension on the Korean Peninsula dates back to 1945 when the Soviet Union declared war on the current occupiers, Japan.  In years prior, the peninsula had been controlled by a series of dynasties, but was invaded and annexed by Japan in 1910.  After the end of World War II in 1945, the territory was divided along the 38th parallel between the United States and Soviet Union.  Hope for unification faded in June 1950 when North Korea breached the border leading to the outbreak of the Korean War. After three years of intense fighting between American, Chinese, Soviet, and Korean troops, the war officially concluded with the formalization of a interstate border called the demilitarized zone.  However, low-level fighting and frequent rhetorical provocations keep the conflict on the radar of many relevant states.

In the past, North and South Korea marched together in the Olympics on three separate occasions: 2000 in Sydney, 2004 in Athens, and 2006 in Turin. Describing the event as "highly emotional," athletes from North and South Korea travelled to the stadium together and marched in the opening ceremonies as one unified entity. Using the flag of the Korean Peninsula, a simple flag with a blue silhouette of the Korean Peninsula and a white background, the group showed one of the very few instances of Korean bilateralism in the last few decades.

A group of experts on the Syrian crisis gathered last Friday at the Turkic American Alliance in conjunction with the Rethink Institute.  They discussed the nature of the opposition fighting against the Assad regime and strategies to resolve the conflict.  The panel included analysts from the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies, SETA-DC, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a counselor at the Turkish Embassy, and the president of the Higher Revolutionary Council in Syria.  As violence continues and news of massacres in Houla and al-Qubeir emerge, the situation becomes more urgent, desperate, and heartbreaking.  The experts debated the best course of action for the international community to take going forward.  The foundational debate was between those who think military intervention is a necessity and those who want to rely on economic and political pressure.