A far-off resonant optical field hybridizes the rotational states of an anisotropic molecule and aligns its axis along the field's polarization vector. The hybrid states occur as tunneling doublets of opposite parity whose splitting can be arbitrarily diminished by raising the intensity of the optical field. For polar molecules, such quasi-degenerate doublet states can be efficiently coupled either by the electric dipole interaction with a superimposed electrostatic field or by the electric dipole-dipole interaction arising between a pair of polar molecules. I will discuss both types of couplings and their repercussions for molecular orientation and for the creation of tunable intermolecular potentials. The far-off resonant field also imparts angular momentum and energy to the molecule. The imparted angular momentum adds a centrifugal term to the molecule's electronic potential that may suffice to expel the highest vibrational level from the potential. I will discuss how such a tuned rotational predissociation can be used to accurately recover the square of the vibrational wave function of the expelled state as well as the long-range part of the molecular potential. The energy imparted by the nonresonant field can be used to tune bound states as well as collisional resonances. I will discuss how the tuning of collisional resonances might enhance the photoassociation yield. In an interlude, I will show how to obtain the eigenproperties in closed form for a class of molecular states in the combined electrostatic and optical fields by invoking supersymmetry.