I want to go to Africa and find more inturruptions in my studying..

A good interruption to my international law paper.. entering YouTube video contests! Go rate my video and wish me luck so that I get picked to join Nick Kristoff in Africa! And try not to laugh at my dorky video. Thanks ♥

Women Who Want It All... Don't Forget To Have Kids

Morning Joe's Mika Brzezinski wrote a HuffPo article yesterday about career women and kids. It really struck me, as a career driven women who wants to have it all. By "all," I mean the successful, long, happy marriage; healthy, well adjusted kids, and the exciting, never boring, meaningful and good paying career. Am I being naive in thinking I can have all this? I find many women of my age group wonder this as well. Many of my brilliant and driven female colleagues insist it can be done. Brzeziniski talks of women, such as my self, who are willing to work long hours, pay their dues and give it their all to have a career. These days, "most young women expect to have a career and plan to go the extra mile." Then she hits us with the truth, "Ladies, one more thing: and perhaps the most important thing I will say here today. If you plan to have a family, please .. PUH-leeease, do NOT forget to get married and have kids. And start now. Even in your 20's!"

"What? What kind of feminist is she?" some might admonish. But maybe she has a point. I spoke to a diplomat friend of mine who echoed this sentiment. She is a member of the Women in International Security organization, a successful diplomat and has traveled the world. But she hit 36 and realized she forgot to have kids. Her words of wisdom to me, "You have to be as intentional about your personal life as you are about your career." After all, what are you working those long hours and raking in those big paychecks for, if you have no one to share it with? Is it wrong to want a loving family to come home to? Is it a sin against your feminist beliefs? A crime against yourself as a confident, successful women? Brzeziniski says, "You should go for your dream career but never forget that you're a woman who deserves a balanced life that includes a loving family."

Read the article, I would love to get some feedback on this one.

Phone call with the Ambassador

Very interesting day today.. Had the amazing opportunity to sit in on a phone interview with Ambassador-at-Large Melanne Verveer who heads The Office of Global Women's Issues. I admire her work with Vital Voices so if you care about women's issues and are unfamiliar with their work, check it out here. The interview was for an exciting new project I am working on with Foreign Policy Roundtable (FPR). I don't want to preempt the article that will be posted on Huffington Post, so I won't go into what was discussed just now but I will plug FPR's premier on HuffPost with a Hot Spots article on Afghanistan: Echoes of Vietnam by James Dobbins. So to all my friends, please read the article, comment, and follow FPR's postings so you can read the Verveer interview as well as a lot of other exciting foreign policy content. The interview is part of a theme of "Women in Foreign Policy." Another one of our my projects for FPR is aggregating the top 5 foreign policy articles you must read from around the world. We will translate and highlight the must reads from around the world. Also, for my public diplomat who practice listening, we will highlight "what the world is saying about us" by bringing foreign publications to your attention. So keep an eye out.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/foreign-policy-roundtable/afghanistan-echoes-of-vie_b_313110.html

Photography As Public Diplomacy

My friend and colleague, Paul Rockower opened a beautiful photo exhibit that "pays homage to 'The Family of Man' exhibition that opened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1955. The exhibition’s world tour proved a tremendous public diplomacy success for America." The stunning compilation of photos from his world wide travels, chronicles the human condition. I was clearly not the only one who appreciated the beautiful works of Rockower; check out this review of the exhibition in this Andrew Wulf article Pictures at an Exhibition.

The exhibit will be available to the public in the University of Southern California, Annenberg Gallery until May 17th, 2010. For anyone who is unable to attend the exhibit in person I encourage you to visit the 21st Century Family of Man website by clicking here.

Are you racist and don't know it?

I heard about this Harvard study that created an online test you can take to determine your biases. Are you racist? I think most people would say "of course not." But are you really? Do you have a bias against handicapped people? or old people? or fat people? or men? Try these tests to find out. I would love to hear feedback from people about their results. If you don't want to admit your bias just tell me if you feel like these tests are accurate or if you agreed with your results or anything about bias against these minority groups.

Arab-Muslim ('Arab Muslim - Other People' IAT). This IAT requires the ability to distinguish names that are likely to belong to Arab-Muslims versus people of other nationalities or religions.
Skin-tone ('Light Skin - Dark Skin' IAT). This IAT requires the ability to recognize light and dark-skinned faces. It often reveals an automatic preference for light-skin relative to dark-skin.
Age ('Young - Old' IAT). This IAT requires the ability to distinguish old from young faces. This test often indicates that Americans have automatic preference for young over old.
Disability ('Disabled - Abled' IAT). This IAT requires the ability to recognize symbols representing abled and disabled individuals.
Native American ('Native - White American' IAT). This IAT requires the ability to recognize White and Native American faces in either classic or modern dress, and the names of places that are either American or Foreign in origin.
Sexuality ('Gay - Straight' IAT). This IAT requires the ability to distinguish words and symbols representing gay and straight people. It often reveals an automatic preference for straight relative to gay people.
Weapons ('Weapons - Harmless Objects' IAT). This IAT requires the ability to recognize White and Black faces, and images of weapons or harmless objects.
Gender - Science. This IAT often reveals a relative link between liberal arts and females and between science and males.
Race ('Black - White' IAT). This IAT requires the ability to distinguish faces of European and African origin. It indicates that most Americans have an automatic preference for white over black.
Weight ('Fat - Thin' IAT). This IAT requires the ability to distinguish faces of people who are obese and people who are thin. It often reveals an automatic preference for thin people relative to fat people.
Asian American ('Asian - European American' IAT). This IAT requires the ability to recognize White and Asian-American faces, and images of places that are either American or Foreign in origin.
Presidents ('Presidential Popularity' IAT). This IAT requires the ability to recognize photos of Barack Obama and one or more previous presidents.
Gender - Career. This IAT often reveals a relative link between family and females and between career and males.
Religion ('Religions' IAT). This IAT requires some familiarity with religious terms from various world religions.

Top Secret Security

A couple articles brought to my attention by Paul about the Security Clearance for State Department Interns..

State Department struggles to clear interns

State Department Interns Wait (And Wait, And Wait)

I found the process to be long, difficult and frustrating. I have done a lot of traveling and I will tell you that when you study abroad and go back-packing across Europe, you don't think to write down every date you stepped in and out of a country, the places you stayed and such. Nor do you think you will have to provide a full profile, DOB, SS #, history, birth place, job history for every non-American you add as a friend on Facebook. But you must! Lesson learned, if you are even thinking of joining foreign service or even interning there keep impeccable notes. I went to the West Bank last year and it create a lot more hassle then just going to France on a family vacation. I will say it was worth getting to sit in on some high profile meetings and I was granted security clearance. So I managed somehow.

Locked Up Abroad

So I don't have a TV in my apartment so I watch very little TV besides the news at work and episodes of the Daily Show online but I found a show I can't stop watching. National Geographic's Locked Up Abroad shows the true stories of people who either get jailed in countries outside the US or kidnapped by rebels overseas. The first episode, shown below, showcases two really dense girls from Southern California (thanks for reinforcing our stereotype) who think it would be a great idea to take up the offer of some strange Peruvian guys they just met to smuggle cocaine from Peru for a "free, all expenses paid trip to the sunny beaches of Peru." Now, besides the fact that this in itself would red flag any sensible person, but these girls didn't even think to research where they were going because if they had they might have figured out that they were going to the country during the winter, and there are no beaches in the city of Lima. Needless to say they get locked up and do a nice little 3 year stint in Peruvian prison which is similar to a refuge camp. From an international relations standpoint, this show is really interesting because it shows the role US diplomats play and the laws around these kind of issues. Another episode is about a guy who gets kidnapped by the FARC in Colombia and talks about the role the Red Cross plays in these situations.
I highly suggest this show if you are interested in these types of issues, or if you are thinking on travelling abroad and doing something stupid. Obviously, all the people in the shows get out of the situation eventually so I learned a lot about what to do when you get kidnapped by a rebel group: act really crazy..pee on yourself, stop eating, inflict injury on yourself.. very useful. Enjoy!

The Cab Driver, the Diplomat & the President's Birth Certificate

So on our way to a meeting at the main State Department building two other FPC-ers and myself jumped into a cab to head over to in Foggy Bottom. The group included a my diplomat mentor. The friendly, boisterous cab driver immediately sparked up a conversation, asking us what kind of "shin dig" we were heading over to at the State Department. (I tried to not take offense to his immediate assumption that two women and an African American couldn't possibly be actually just going to work at the State Department.) We explained we worked there to his surprised response, "Oh, it's like that," almost disappointed. He then asked us what we thought about this "whole Obama not being an American thing", to which of course we replied that he was in fact a citizen. The cabbie abruptly insisted "No he isn't.. you guys should know that, you work for the State Department." (uhhh.. ) He insisted that the Obama's grandmother even said he was born in Kenya. (She did? When did she say that?) Now what might not be well known- even if Obama was born in Kenya, (which he wasn't, hence the Hawaii birth certificate) he would still be an American because his mother was American. This is why McCain is a US citizen even though he was born in Panama (his father was stationed there at the time) because his mother is American. Another not so well known fact, most diplomats do their first tour in a visa office issuing passports, visas and confirming US citizenship, hundreds a day for 2-3 year. So they are trained very well in the laws for US citizenship. My diplomat mentor spent her first tour doing just that so she is well aware of the laws in this regard. ANYWAY, the cab driver wouldn't stop arguing with the diplomat that she didn't know the laws about this, that he wasn't American and then asked her how long she had been on the job, cuz she should know this stuff by now. (She did go into foreign service under the Bush administration, in case he was accusing her of being one of Obama's 'croonies'.) Rather than going back and forth with a very stubborn cab driver we all sat in awkward silence. All I could think to myself was, where do these people get these crazy misinformation. The cab driver turned up the radio to fill the silence.. and I heard the voice of Rush Limbaugh...

Want one of your own! Click here!

Olive Tree Inititavie

We're in the media again.. which is nice. I miss that lovely beach in Tel Aviv and all my OTI friends.. For my personal diary of the trip, read back in the September 2008 postings. Second group is about to go soon.. If you are interested in seeing them off attend their bon voyage party August 30, 2009 (Sunday) at Taleo Grill, 3309 Michelson Drive, Irvine. Find more info here.

Virtual Student Foreign Service

So I signed up for the Virtual Student Foreign Service (VSFS) Internships program and waiting for my assignment. This is a brand new program announced by Secretary Clinton at the 2009 New York University commencement. This program is "part of a growing effort by the State Department to harness technology and a commitment to global service among young people to facilitate new forms of diplomatic engagement." State is still figuring out how all this will work but I think this is a great idea to use the resources of the youth who know Facebook, blogging, Twitter and all that better than anyone.. why not "harness the energy of a rising generation of citizen diplomats." I am excited to participate and will of course keep you all updated here.

"Working from college and university campuses in the United States, American students will partner with our embassies abroad to conduct digital diplomacy that reflects the realities of our networked world. By combining the talents of young people across America and the right technology, we can forge the solutions that our century demands."



You can get more info on the program here.

Digital Diplomacy

In Re Duchy of Sealand

The question of Statehood and the Independent Republic of Sealand. This is great!

Secretary Clinton’s Travel to Africa

At today's press breifing by Spokesman Ian Kelly,

"Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will begin a seven-nation trip to Africa on August 5 at the 8th U.S. – Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum (known as the AGOA Forum) in Nairobi, Kenya.

This trip will highlight the Obama administration’s commitment to making Africa a priority in U.S. foreign policy. This will be the earliest in any U.S. administration that both the President and the Secretary of State have visited Africa.

The Secretary will travel to South Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Liberia, and Cape Verde. In each nation, she will emphasize Africa as a place of opportunity, built on an ethic of responsibility. She will underline America’s commitment to partner with governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and private citizens to build societies where each individual can realize their potential.

In her bilateral meetings and other events, she will encourage new solutions to old challenges, harnessing the power of innovation and technology to provide a foundation for future stability, human development, and sustainable economic growth. She will stress the importance of facilitating social and economic entrepreneurship, encouraging a new generation of young African scientists, small business leaders, entrepreneurs and civic leaders who are solving real problems and establishing new models for economic success and social advances, with women as full partners in this progress. And she will discuss ways to foster good regional governance, partnering with regional leaders to band together to prevent conflict and violence, including gender-based violence, democratic erosions, and transnational threats."

The Bravest Woman in Afghanistan: Malalai Joya

The Bravest Woman in Afghanistan: An Exclusive Interview with Malalai Joya

"I am young and I want to live. But I say to those who would eliminate my voice: 'I am ready, wherever and whenever you might strike. You can cut down the flower, but nothing can stop the coming of the spring.'"

"Dust has been thrown into the eyes of the world by your governments. You have not been told the truth. The situation now is as catastrophic as it was under the Taliban for women. Your governments have replaced the fundamentalist rule of the Taliban with another fundamentalist regime of warlords. [That is] what your soldiers are dying for." Instead of being liberated, she is on the brink of being killed."

Read more at Huffington Post.

World Opinions of the US- New Pew Survey Release!

This morning I journeyed upstairs to the National Press Club for the release of a new Pew Global Attitudes Survey of 25 countries including; Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, the Palestinian territories, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Spain, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States. The report was discussed by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Senator John Danforth and Andrew Kohut, President of Pew Research Center. The 2009 survey, based on about 27,000 interviews, examined the attitudes toward the US, confidence in President Obama and views of American foreign policy. It also took stock in attitudes toward other major powers, Islamic extremism and global problems such as the worldwide recession, climate change and swine flu. Some important points;

• U.S. Ratings Soar in Western Europe, Rise Elsewhere, Spurred by Obama’s Image
  U.S. ratings in Western Europe have risen to pre-Bush levels.


• Belief that Obama will “do the right thing in world affairs” is nearly universal in Western countries, where lack of confidence in Bush was endemic for much of his time in office.


• Opinions of America have also become more positive in key countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia, reflecting optimism about Obama.


• Israel stands out as the only public among the 25 surveyed where U.S. favorability has dropped.



• U.S ratings are driven more by personal confidence in Obama than by opinions of specific policy decisions, analysis shows.


• U.S Image Improves Only Modestly in Muslim World; Cairo Speech Gets Mixed Results
  U.S. favorability ratings nearly doubled in Indonesia, where most know of Obama’s family ties to the country.


• Modest gains are evident in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, but animosity toward the U.S. is unabated in Turkey, the Palestinian territories and Pakistan.


• Even so, significant percentages express confidence in Obama to “do the right thing in world affairs” even in nations where the U.S remains unpopular.


• U.S. favorability ratings slipped 13 points among Israelis after Obama’s June 4 Cairo speech and rose only marginally (5 % points) among Palestinians.


• The number of Palestinians saying that Obama would consider their interests when making policy rose from 27% before the speech to 39% afterward.


• For the first time, confidence in the American president tops confidence in Osama bin Laden in most Muslim nations surveyed.
  
• Approval for Most Obama Foreign Policies – and High Expectations for Future


• Large majorities in almost all countries surveyed support the decisions to close Guantanamo and withdraw troops from Iraq.


• But most publics, including majorities in NATO nations surveyed and Pakistan, oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan. Only Israelis and Americans support the move.


• Most think that Obama would seek international approval before using military force.


• While most global publics think Obama will take into account the interests of their country when making U.S. policy, most say that the U.S. is not currently doing so.


• Optimism exists, especially among Western Europeans and Canadians, that Obama will get the United States to take action on climate change.


• Overwhelming numbers around the world continue to see the U.S as having a big – often bad – influence on their own countries. After steady declines from 2002 to 2008, the 2009 survey finds renewed support among allies for U.S.-led efforts to combat terrorism– except among most Muslim publics.

Danforth commented on the report saying, "It's great to be popular but I don't see where it gets us. [This] popularity is a result of a more passive approach of terrorism," citing the favorable opinions of the closing of Guantanamo, the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and the dissatisfaction for advancement of the US role in Afghanistan. Madeleine Albright disagreed with Danforth saying that "the way that the Bush administration fought terrorism," in her belief, "brought more terrorism." The press conference was best summed up by Albright, "It is nice to be liked, people don't have to say they're from Canada anymore when they travel." A statement I could related to.

For the full report visit this Pew website: http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=264.

Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy

Today I sat in on a State Department Daily Press Briefing which is a briefing by the Press Office to inform Americans on what's happening at State- public affairs. This is different from the Foreign Press Office I work in which directs its briefings to Foreign Offices- public diplomacy. The briefing included an update of the Secretary and Special Representative Holbrooke and then allowed press to ask questions such as the US's policy on Israeli settlements, the situation in Honduras and American Citizens Quarantined in China Due to H1N1 Virus.

After the briefing, I had another meeting in the "Main State" building. There are several off site annexes; the Foreign Press Center is located across town. Waiting for my meeting, I wandered around the building to discover a whole city! There was a dry cleaners, a post office, a gym (the one Condi worked out in everyday), two convenient stores, two gift shops (anyone want any souvenirs), a cafeteria complete with fro-yo and several food choices.

After being lost in the huge maze of a building, I found my way to my meeting. I attended a EUR/PPD meeting which is the public diplomacy meeting (PPD) for the European Affairs bureau (EUR). In the meeting I ran into a familiar face, Mark Smith, who was the diplomat in residence at USC MPD. The meeting was an opportunity for people from all related offices to share their PD projects. The Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) reported on its ongoing program "Democracy Is..". To find out more on what IIP does click here.

McHale talks about PD

NOTES FROM A JULY 15th PRESS BRIEFING BY UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY JUDITH McHALE AT A DAILY PRESS BRIEFING:

"As President Obama visited Ghana last weekend, U.S. ambassadors and State Department Public Diplomacy personnel created unprecedented engagement with people in Africa and around the world. We worked under the leadership of the White House and built on our initial experiments in new media global outreach at the time of the President's Cairo and Moscow speeches. We interacted directly with hundreds of thousands of people, helped the President to engage tens of millions, and showed the world that America listens and wants to engage.

This was a model of creative public diplomacy for the 21st century. I believe that it is embodied in what Secretary Clinton calls "smart power." We broke new ground in using technology to engage nontraditional audiences. The centerpiece was a creative White House initiative that bridged new media and old. Macon Phillips, Katie Stanton, and others at the White House Office of New Media should take a bow, as should the entire State Department team.

Before the speech, we set up an SMS, or texting service, throughout Africa and invited people to text the President in either English or French. Nearly 16,000 did so, from 87 countries in Africa and beyond. Our embassy in South Africa partnered with a mobile-based social networking site and garnered an additional 200,000 questions and comments from throughout the continent.

And as the President spoke on Saturday, we sent simultaneous SMS highlights of the speech to over 12,000 people in some 80 countries in French and English, and solicited their feedback via text message. We posted hundreds of those messages on America.gov, the State Department's Public Diplomacy Web site, and on whitehouse.gov.

In return, the President answered questions selected from this massive influx by three African journalists in a podcast that we dubbed into French, Swahili, Portuguese and Arabic, in addition to the original English. On the screens here behind me, I believe, you can see a visual representation of the words the President used in his speech and of the words used by those who texted him. We'll also show you what the questions looked like on the White House Web site.

So you can see this came out of the President's feed, and then the responses -- and you can see by the sort of prominence of the words, those which resonated with the community, obviously "Obama" being a huge one, but all the things -- and you can see -- if you focused on it, you see some of the concepts that came throughout his speech.

Next slide. Then what we did, because we wanted to continue this community, was a map of the world with comments popping up where they came so others could check in and could see how they were doing.

What made all this work were ambassadors and a corps of professional foreign service officers and locally engaged staff at embassies and consulates overseas. They provided the ideas and advice we needed to bridge our electronic efforts here with real live people overseas. And they carried out the face-to-face personal engagement that will always be the heart of successful public diplomacy.

Our overseas teams worked with local media to enable them to broadcast the President's speech and report on his trip to Ghana. They invited audiences to ambassadorial residences, cultural centers and movie theaters to view and discuss the speech. Ambassadors and public affairs officers led panel discussions and spoke to local and regional media to amplify the President's themes.

Here are just a few examples. Our embassy in Freetown gave micro-grants to dozens of cinema centers throughout Sierra Leone that showed the speech live, free of charge, to all comers, reaching thousands in even far-flung corners of the country.

Our Mission to the African Union in Addis Ababa invited 200 representatives of 53 African countries to a speech screening and discussion. In this hemisphere, in the Dominican Republic, our embassy hosted a screening of the speech with Spanish subtitles for university students and conducted a discussion afterwards. In Canada, our embassy and consulates actively reached out to the Afro-Canadian groups throughout the country.

Audience response, both in person and online, was overwhelmingly positive. Embassy anecdotes and SMS messages alike show that the President's speech and our efforts to help him engage with people struck a chord.

In Niger, which is currently going through a constitutional crisis, audience members at the embassy screening stood up during the speech and cried out, "He speaks for us." A young South African texted, "President Obama, I'm 20 years old, can't believe that we've actually been given this opportunity. Thank you." A Zimbabwean who had fled that country to Mozambique texted, "Thank you, sir, for that uplifting speech." He went on to say, "I will stay and contribute to the democratic reforms in my country of Zimbabwe."

I think that the enthusiasm of Africans, especially young people, to use technology to engage with us shows the very potential and promise of the continent that the President stressed in his speech. Africans are as technologically capable and eager for connections with the world as any people on Earth.

I'm proud that the State Department could partner with the White House to help the President build a conversation with citizens in Africa and beyond, creating and sustaining the kind of global dialogue that, as Secretary Clinton said today in her speech, makes America a smarter and stronger nation.

Q Can you tell us anything about the State Department's efforts to disseminate his speech in Moscow, since that was --

UNDER SECRETARY McHALE: Certainly.

Q -- not broadcast widely live?

UNDER SECRETARY McHALE: That's correct. One of the things that we're looking at, and I think it's an important point, is that each of these events that we want to do we want to tailor it specifically for the event. In the case of Moscow, we did have public diplomacy outreach, but it was more regional. Given the nature of the speech, we felt it was more appropriate to be a regional outreach, and so we did a variety of things.

We had a texting initiative that we did around the Moscow speech. We also have developed a Facebook community and following, which is really interesting, because we launched it following up on Cairo, and we found the group migrated with us to Moscow and is continuing to grow. It grew about 25 percent with the Africa initiative. So Facebook became a key component -- but also understanding what were the tools that the individuals in that region were using, which was somewhat different. And so we had a presence on the applicable tools there. And we're going to continue to do that.

Q Just a quick question. How do you guard against only reaching the elites if you're using these new media methods?

UNDER SECRETARY McHALE: Well, we're not just using new media. One of the points that I wanted to make in the Africa situation is that new media will work in certain places, but it's a tool, not a strategy. And I believe that quite passionately. And so we're going to use it where appropriate to reach certain targeted demographics. But, frankly, in the case of Africa, we had free cinemas, we had radio outreach. We understand -- we know very well that throughout Africa, radio is the predominant media.

And so we were very careful to be sure that the speech was accessible to the largest population by understanding what is the media infrastructure in each country. And it's one of the strengths of the embassies, is that they understand that and they report it to us, and we tailor each of these initiatives to the available infrastructure.

So it's designed to reach sort of less-affluent populations. It is designed to reach deep into these countries. And I think if you got to read some of the questions, you would be pretty amazed at the reactions that we got and the feedback that we got from our embassies. It reached very, very deep into these areas.
Q In Afghanistan and Pakistan, how do you plan to use public diplomacy to win over the people?

UNDER SECRETARY McHALE: Well, in every country in the world, we have a pretty active public diplomacy program and plan. And in both of those countries, which I've been sort of looking at quite intensely recently, we have a number of public diplomacy initiatives in each of those countries, appropriate to the country. So, for example, in Pakistan, we have, as you probably know, a very robust exchange program. We have more Fulbright students coming from Pakistan than anywhere else in the world. We have high school students coming over from Pakistan. So there are a number of initiatives that we will continue to do that.

Same thing in Afghanistan, where a lot of our efforts are focused on building Afghan capacity to sort of deal in a lot of different areas. So we have very aggressive plans and programs in both of those countries, and we have public diplomacy initiatives in every country in the world."

More money for diplomacy

Bill passed to provide more funding for diplomacy.

Transnational Crime Reporting Tour

When the Foreign Press Center takes journalists on a national tour they blog, twitter and Facebook about the trip. Right now a group of journalists is visiting Atlanta, Georgia to discuss "what U.S. communities are doing to combat not only drug production and transport, but the demand side of the problem as well." For an example of what one of these reporting tours is like check out the DipNote blog posting from the FPC Program Officers.

"For the interviewees, responding to questioning by journalists on FPC
tours is never a cakewalk. We typically ask our embassies around the world to
recommend highly motivated, highly professional journalists for participation,
and their questions often probe difficult aspects of the relationship between
the U.S. and their countries. This tour has been a professional as well as
cultural exchange for our guests, and we’ll hopefully be able to round things
out with the only appropriate introduction to Atlanta: hot dogs, cheese fries,
and super-sized cups of Coca Cola when the Braves play the New York Mets tonight
at Turner Field."

The Swearing in..

As one of the many perks of interning at the DoS, I was able to attend the swearing-in of Philip (P.J.) Crowley as Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Public Affairs in the Benjamin Franklin Room of the State Department. I stood among DoS Public Affairs staff, family and friends, all gathered in the room with wine and took in the majestic ambiance of the room. It was beautiful, and included some of the most beautiful gifts and artifacts in the history of the State Department.

This included the desk upon which the parts of the Constitution may have been drafted, retired State china and a very posh ladies lounge that was for too nice to be a bathroom. Secretary Clinton gave a light and entertaining introduction and then administered the oath of office (not raising her right hand as her elbow injury was not yet healed), which, I might add, everyone from the President to lowly interns such as myself, take before entering into service for State.

The highlight of the event was meeting Undersecretary of Public Diplomacy Judith McHale who was not so guarded by "her people" at this event and was walking around chatting here and there. My colleague and MPD classmate, Matthew Wallin and I jumped at the opportunity to introduce ourselves to her. She was welcoming but quickly dismissed us as she off-handedly invited us up to her office "some time." Stay tuned as I am determined to take her up on her polite offer.

The Moment I've been waiting for..

I was fortunate enough this morning to sit about 15 feet away from Secretary Clinton at her Town Hall at the State Department. Clinton announced the launch of a new "Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review" to be headed by Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew and Policy Planning chief Anne-Marie Slaughter. Who, as I type are briefing the media about now. QDDR is modeled on the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review -- "the major shaping document for U.S. defense policy currently being spearheaded by Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy and a team of roughly 100 people." Here is a Foreign Policy article on the plan, but basically it "moves our present planning from [a] year-to-year, annual appropriations-driven process. And it lashes up our two pillars, diplomacy and development," which are currently "separated by two appropriations processes and separate bureaucracies."

"The key question among development watchers is that, considering that development is broader than just assistance, any sort of consideration of coherent policy towards countries needs to take into account trade, in addition to aid," one Washington development expert said on condition of anonymity. "The question is whether ... the QDDR will be a planning tool for the State Department ... or will it really extend beyond to be a more comprehensive tool."

After thanking the DoS staff for their hardwork, Clinton then took several questions and comments from the packed house of DoS staffers. Some of the comments included requests for showers in the building for those who want to walk or bike to work, to the use of the Firefox Internet browser and the focus on disability issues. The Secretary was looking beautiful as ever, smiling and addressing us graciously despite her healing elbow. Gotta love her!

History repeats itself... another Iranian-American detained..

Time magazine is reporting that an American-Iranian citizen, Kian Tajbakhsh, who was in Tehran was detained yesterday by the Iranian government. This brings back eerily familiar feelings, as a dear friend and colleague of mine, Ali Shakeri was detained along with Kian Tajbakhsh, Haleh Esfandiari and Parnaz Azima in early 2007. Ali and I worked for the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding together at the time and as part of such, I worked, along with many others, to campaign for Ali's release as he was not a threat to the Iranian regime, but merely a peace activist who dearly loved his country of Iran. He was released some five months later. I think of other Iranian-American friends who had plans and even plane tickets to visit Iran this summer who had to throw away the money and change their plans indefinitely. It was truly a wise idea to do so after these distressing events. This all comes just as protests resume in the streets of Iran after a short and tense period of calm.

Al Jazeera Changing Channels

So about two weeks ago I blogged about my attendance of the Al Jazeera Changing Channels filming here in DC to get ready for the debut of the channel in Washington, D.C. The program was aired on July 2nd, the day of the launching of AJE in the US. I hope you will watch this program, part one has been posted below and you can find both episodes on the Al Jazeera website. If you don't have time to watch it all, check out minute 18 or so for a celebrity cameo (yours truly) and a shout out to MPD!

MJ's Funural and the black hole of nothingness in media space..

I am very frustrated today with the media, which is not entirely unusual. All day I have been switching back and forth between MSNBC, CNN and others to find some news other than the funeral preparations, processions and proceedings for MJ- to no avail. Then, I thought, well at least Fox News will be bitching about Obama or something, right, at least there will be some entertainmenting rant on liberal media there... WRONG! Don't get me wrong, I have many fine memories of dancing to Billie Jean and recognize the artist MJ was but really. But isn't there a war going on, a conflict somewhere.. anything more important than this.. isn't Sarah Palin talking somewhere? What's happening in Iran or China.. or Honduras.. anyone know.. or care.. It got to the point where I turned to The View for the closest thing to real news which is pretty sad. Not to knock the ladies of The View but really? Whoopi arguing with the blonde Republican chic is the best we can do here? One of the FSO's in my office was astonished at how long the newscasters could talk about nothing while show clips of Staple Center barriers. Now that's talent. I am going to refer everyone to an article mentioned in a previous post on MJ's death and Iran.. because this is just ridiculous.

Best Seat In the House

Spent the 4th of July with friends in best place I could imagine, right on the mall, looking at the National Monument watching the best fireworks show I have ever seen. Great summer so far!

Props to Levantine 18's post on the holiday.

Saudi Dress Up Time

Today a group of DoS interns and I went to the Saudi Arabian Embassy for a "tour." I put the word tour in quotes because it wasn't so much a tour around the embassy as it was a walk to the theater room to watch a video on Saudi Embassy and dress up time. The embassy was of course very nice. The video was about 15 minutes long and showed the basics, Saudi's scenery, its architecture, its culture, its health care system and, of course, its royalty. After the video, a half Saudi, half American man with a very new york accent told us about the great Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which was interesting coming from a man who grew up in New York and clearly wasn't a conservative Muslim. Our guide opened the forum open to questions, which started off with "Is it true one has to be invited to get a visa to visit Saudi Arabia?" The answer was basically yes. He talked of how the country was trying to open up to tourism, but taking baby steps there. He explained that the country gave out group visa's for set and approved tour groups. No individual visa's were yet given for travel. Slipping in a Public Diplomacy question, to a man I wasn't sure would know what PD was, I asked how the embassy was reaching out to the American public to present Saudi Arabia to the public? I was right to be unsure, as he basically told me they hired an outside firm to do "all that stuff".. "it wasn't handled inside the actually embassy. I thought back to Dr. Geoffrey Wiseman's class discussion on lobbying firms and how they represent countries such as Saudi Arabia. Of course, I knew of course the event I was sitting in was part of the embassy's Public Diplomacy strategy, as were the organized group tours to the country, probably perfectly orchestrated to show the best side of Saudi. Our guide did mention the embassy did participate in cultural festivals around the country to share Saudi culture. A fellow colleague asked about the constitution of Saudi- The Koran is the official "constitution", however, about 15 years ago, after the first gulf war, Saudi did write a basic governing structure.From there the interns started getting a little more courage and asked the questions we all wanted to ask but didn't want to be "that guy." Many women in the group brought up human rights and women's rights questions. Surprisingly, I felt our guide was pretty honest and candid (as much as he could be), in answering our questions. (or maybe MY misperceptions have tainted my view) He acknowledge that Saudi isn't on the top of the praise list as far as human rights go. "The State Department knocked us down a little." He talked of how Saudi should be seeing the role of women change as the "younger generation of women become educated and "get out of the kitchen." He talked of women diplomats, bankers and such. "It's up to the women, some are comfortable with the traditional role" of being a housewife and a mother. "It would be nice to see them have the option. And they do. It's a welcome change."

One intern asked how the Saudi people feel about American culture, music, fashion, dress, etc. He assured us that the "majority of people like US culture" and are not offended by it, but it was true a "few" extreme people are offended by it. He insisted that most Saudi's watch American TV and listen to our music.

There was more discussion on how the events of 9/11 affected the country especially since some of the attackers were Saudi citizens. "We want Americans to know we do not support those people," he insisted. He told of how he was sure Bin Laden recruited Saudi's "to drive a wedge between the US-Saudi relationship." And that Al Qaeda wants to see the Saudi government fall "Before the US criticized Saudi for suppressing dissidents. After 9/11 they criticized us for not doing enough to suppress them."
He talked of all that Saudi was doing in conjunction with the US to combat terrorism, even dismissing clerics who preached anything that contradicts the Saudi "vision of peace."

He then brought the Q&A to a break because another man had entered and asked for 4 female and 2 male volunteers. I jumped at the chance to participate in God knows what. We were asked to follow the man into the back room and dress in traditional Saudi dress. We then modeled the beautiful clothes to the crowd for our cultural lesson. Which was fun but disappointing since we were asked to leave all camera's and phones with security. And that concluded our "tour" of the embassy. Interesting.. but defiantly more to be desired.

What is a Master's Degree Worth?

So I would thank Paul Rockower for pointing out this article, What Is a Master's Degree Worth?, but after reading it I'm a little dissapointed being a current Master's student. Excuse me, I'm gonna go study for my LSATs now....

Engagement With Muslim Communities

Secretary Clinton announced her appointment of Muslim-American, Farah Pandith to head a new Office of the US Special Representative to Muslim Communities. Pandith and her staff (S/SRMC) "will be responsible for executing the Administration’s efforts to engage with Muslims around the world on a people-to-people and organizational level."

Pandith was the senior adviser on Muslim engagement in the European and Eurasian region at the State Department, a position created for the first time in the US. She served on the National Security Council focusing on Muslim engagement and combating extremism. She also worked for USAID served in Afghanistan in 2004.

Pandith immigrated to the US from India. She attributes her personal experience as an Muslim immigrant as an example of how others can successfully integrate themselves into American society.

"I’m an American Muslim, and that’s part of the way in which I look at things,
that’s the lens with which I look at things. And if you look at the diversity of
Islam in America, it’s multifaceted, it’s nuanced. Our mosques are in every
state of our nation. Muslim Americans are from more than 80 different ethnic
backgrounds. Why do I mention this to you? Because I think when you think about
approaches for engagement, I take that with me as I think about things....
There’s not one program that is going to be the magic program to engage with
Muslims."

See her State department briefing below or read the transcript here.

One important comment she makes happens when she is asked about how she is going to change the misperceptions of Muslims about America?

"What we want to do is build dialogue, not because we think there is a
misperception, okay? It is to offer an opportunity through different types of
mechanisms to have a dialogue. And I think that that’s very important. If
misperceptions come up, that can be addressed. But it’s not an approach that
says you don’t understand these three things and we’re going to make sure you
understand them. That’s not what – that’s not what this is about. This is about
conversation. This is about communication."

In other words.. listening.. not just making people understand and like us. This is key for public diplomacy. It differentiates PD from propaganda. One of the five pillars of PD!

Tour de Capital

So I visited the capital today as part of a Department of State (DoS) Intern program event. As I mentioned before, the program plans several events a week of this type. The Capital building was absolutely beautiful though the tour was pretty short. The new Capitol Visitor Center just opened last December so it is very nice and new. Apparently, the 580,000 square feet, the Visitor Center is the largest addition to the Capitol in its 215-year history.

We started in Emancipation Hall, named in honor of the enslaved laborers who helped build the original Capitol, which is underground. This large room is lined with statues from the National Statuary Hall collection. "Luminaries include Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of the television, and King Kamehameha of Hawaii, whose gold-caped statue towers over the others." We were then escorted to a theatre to watch an orientation video, "E Pluribus Unum," named for the motto found on the Seal of the United States meaning "out of many, one." This video was exceptionally well done and very interesting and had that "proud to be an America" effect, as I'm sure was intended. Our guide then took us into the main Rotunda, which was beautiful. The paintings and high ceiling, and architectural detail was impressive. We then walked through a room of statues originally extended to be the galleries but had proved to have bad sound quality and not enough room for the other states that later joined the union. We were then escorted to the crypt, whose name deceives its visitors, as no one had ever been buried there though this was the rooms original purpose. The crypt contained more status of famous statesmen (and state-women) and such. We did not go to the galleries where the House and Senate convene because I did not go to my Representatives to get passes. I'll have to make sure to do that in the next couple weeks.

We were then left to wander around on our own. There is a gallery of high tech videos, displays and even touch screen quiz games that allow visitors to learn more about the goings-on in the capital. Overall, short trip but worth it to feel a little closer to the process that is American democracy.

Navigating the Middle: PD Magazine Issue 2 hits the web!

The second issue of PD Magazine "Navigating the Middle" has officially hit the web!

"In today's increasingly multipolar world, with only one country considered a
true superpower, the middle is where most of the nations that influence shifting
international agendas exist. This crowded space necessitates particularly
innovative public diplomacy if countries are to distinguish themselves, and
garner international attention for their niche causes. In short, it is a
contested space where the players themselves struggle to determine what roles
they want to take on.

In addition to dealing with the inherent problems of crafting public diplomacy strategies that prove complementary to domestic and foreign policy priorities, many of these countries must also confront a scarcity of resources related to their size, and must operate within their respective geopolitical realities. Many middle power countries must perform a balancing act, carving out a space in which they are indispensable to the international community and in command of the attention they crave, while continuing their development at home. They have fewer opportunities in the international spotlight, therefore it is all the more imperative that their messaging, and branding, is strategic and memorable. It must convey their capabilities and aspirations; replacing outdated stereotypes with realistic contemporary narratives. The fact that middle powers often engage in multilateral coalition building and exercise good global citizenship speaks to the rising importance of norms-building in the 21st century, as well as the spirit of collaboration implicit in the concept of "new public diplomacy."

Check it out to find contributors such as Eytan Gilboa, Andrew Cooper and Evan Potter "offer a framework for defining and analyzing the behavior and characteristics of middle power nations."

PD is a publication of the Association of Public Diplomacy Scholars (APDS) at the University of Southern California, with support from the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School, USC College’s School of International Relations, the Annenberg School for Communication and USC Annenberg Press.

Its mission is to provide a common forum for the views of both scholars and practitioners from around the globe, in order to explore key concepts in the study and practice of public diplomacy. PD is published bi-annually, in print and on the web at http://www.publicdiplomacymagazine.org/.

Considering working for the Fed?

The US Department of State ranked #5 in a list of the best places to work in the Federal Government. "The overall index score measures the performance of agencies and agency subcomponents related to employee satisfaction and commitment." The Nuclear Regulatory Commission ranked number one, while the Department of Transportation ranking at the bottom.. guess that's not a surprise as the people at the DMV are so notoriously cheerful and helpful. The report also ranks departments by wage/benefits satisfaction, work/life balance satisfaction and even demographics. Considering a career in the Fed.. I suggest you check this out.

How Michael Jackson answered the ayatollah's prayers

And why we should be ashamed that the King of Pop's end upstaged not one but two Iranian revolutions.

Crisis at the UN

Ambassador Stages Coup At UN, Issues Long List of Non-Binding Resolutions

Shout out to my friend Paul Rockower who sent me this very important news update brought to you by the onion. For more pressing - and entertaining- PD updates visit his blog Levantine 18.

My second Arab TV appearance- Al Jazeera English

Today I was fortunate enough to attend the Al Jazeera English’s Town Hall: "Changing Channels" at the Newseum. The event was the filming a special half hour program that will air several times in the first week that Al Jazeera English will air for the first time in D.C. Al Jazeera has been virtually black-listed from US networks and is desperately trying to hit US televisions. Finally, starting July 1st it can be seen in the DC Metro area. I personally watch it on Livestation. This town hall, hosted by Josh Rushing, the US Marine turn Al Jazeera correspondent, included a panel discussion on the media’s role in covering the United States from home and abroad, and the challenges faced by international news networks. The panel consisted of AJE's Sir David Frost, analyst Marwan Bishara, host Ghida Fakhry and managing director Tony Burman and was lead by the studio audience's questions. I got one in that I hope makes the cut! The show will be airing starting July 1st so you all will have to wait til then to see my second Arab TV appearance. (The first was the reality TV show On the Road in America which can be seen on the Sundance channel).

Don't live in DC? Visit I want AJE to campaign to get it in your area.

Watch the video of this program here!

State and social media

The Foreign Press Center has officially launched its new Twitter feed. "This new resource includes immediate announcements, updates, and links to the weekly calendar. In addition, receive the latest information on ongoing FPC tours and briefings."

Both State and the FPC have a Facebook page. With that and the Dip Note blog. Looks like State is trying to pull itself into the Web 2.0 era. I have already seen plently of workshops on how to use these new social media sites for State, the White House and even the DOD. Let's see what they post.

STATE DEPARTMENT SOCIAL MEDIA
DipNote Blog
Facebook
YouTube
Flickr
Twitter

Looking for Their Martin Luther King Jr.

I thought this was poetic and thought provoking..

Hamid Dabashi wrote in the New York Times;

"If you were to follow youth culture in Iran at the turn of the century — from
the rise of a fascinating underground music (particularly rap) to a globally
celebrated cinema, an astonishing panorama of contemporary art, video
installations, photography, etc. — you would have noted the oscillation of this
generation between apathy and anger, frustration and hope, disillusion and
euphoria. In their minds and souls, as in their blogs and chat rooms, they were
wired to the globalized world, and yet in their growing bodies and narrowing
social restrictions trapped inside an Islamic version of Calvinist Geneva."

I think there are parallels in the oscillation of Iranian and American youth. I am not Iranian but I have been fascinated by their culture and history for some years now. The youth, in particular, fascinate me living between this beautiful, historic, ancient, Islamic past and the exciting, modern, twittering, Facebooking, new media future. I watch my Iranian-American friends oscillate between their American realities, lifestyles and their Iranian heritage. Between pride of being Iranian and yet living the Western, modern, American lifestyle fully and without regret. And I have watched many, though appreciating the culture their parents teach them, turning away from a country that is not what they know or stand for. Accepting, as their parents seem to, that their country of origin has been lost to fanaticism. But now this "green revolution" has been sparked by the Iranian youth who live the realities of the Iranian political, economic, and social situation in the country. Who also have their Iranian pride. They are standing up for civil rights, and now the Iranian-American youth, who had all but given up on their country of Iran, stand with them as if they had always been in this fight. Dabashi continues;

"I see the moment we are witnessing as a civil rights movement rather than a
push to topple the regime. If Rosa Parks was the American “mother of the civil
rights movement,” the young woman who was killed point blank in the course of a
demonstration, Neda Agha-Soltan, might very well emerge as its Iranian
granddaughter. If I am correct in this reading, we should not expect an imminent
collapse of the regime. These young Iranians are not out in the streets seeking
to topple the regime for they lack any military wherewithal to do so, and they
are alien to any militant ideology that may push them in that direction. It
seems to me that these brave young men and women have picked up their hand-held cameras to shoot those shaky shots, looking in their streets and alleys for
their Martin Luther King. They are well aware of Mir Hossein Moussavi’s flaws,
past and present. But like the color of green, the very figure of Moussavi has
become, it seems to me, a collective construction of their desires for a
peaceful, nonviolent attainment of civil and women’s rights. They are facing an
army of firearms and fanaticism with chanting poetry and waving their green
bandannas. I thought my generation had courage to take up arms against tyranny.
Now I tremble with shame in the face of their bravery."

I think we all sit in shame. Because now I watch Americans, who just 3 weeks ago did nothing about Iran but discuss if war was the right answer. Not thinking about the people, the youth, the ones we are standing for today. Even those of us who knew war was not the answer, did not fight for civil rights in Iran. And now our Facebook pictures are changed to those who are risking our lives, and we are members of groups that make us feel like we are part of the revolution. Make us feel as if we are playing our part. But what are we doing really but taking credit, pretending to risk our lives along side those, like Neda, who did die and are risking their lives, and uprooting their lives to bring change. When has my generation really risked their comfortable lives, their lavish lifestyles, their actual existence for the right cause? Why Iran? Why now? Why did we not stand so bravely when our own election was in question? Why do we not stand in masses, crying and posting daily as the people in Iraq die? Why is the support for the Sudanese, or the Burmese or the Nepalese nothing more than a trend? And what, once the riots and people of Iran quiet or as they are quieted and the excitement of these last few weeks has died down or become stale.. and other headlines hit CNN and the blogosphere.. what then will those who cared so much about freedom and civil rights and Iran.. what will they do next to bring human rights to the world?

To read the full Hamid Dabashi article visit the NYT site here.