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.

Public Diplomacy Blogs

My friend, colleague and all around amazing PD practitioner, Erin Kamler has started her highly anticipated blog about her experiences in Bangkok, Bali, Java, Singapore, Chiang Rai and Phnom Penh. She has been working in a school and combating child trafficking and she has some moving, interesting and emotional stuff. I highly encourage you to check our her travel blog here.

Also, Paul Rockower, renowned scholar, journalist, photographer, friend and classmate has a blog that is pretty well known here but nonetheless if you are into PD, or even just blogging, it's definitley an entertaining one. So check that one out too!

FPC Breifing with Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy, Ambassador Morningstar

In the Foreign Press Center, Foreign Service Officers (FSO) act as regional or thematic officers and manage the foreign media in their region, organize briefings and set up media tours focusing on topics related to their region. The FSO in charge of Eastern Europe set up a briefing with Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy Ambassador Richard L. Morningstar to discuss energy issues in Eurasia and provide a summary of his recent travel to Sweden, Russia and Ukraine. The Ambassador immediately opened up the briefing to questions to foreign media. If you're interested in what was discussed feel free to see this video. The transcript should be posted here soon.

Foreign Press Officers get schooled on FPC

Periodically, the Foreign Press Center welcomes a new class of Foreign Service Information Officers for an orientation what resources the FPC will provide for them when they are "at post." Twenty-eight FSO's (Foreign Service Officers- readers will have to catch up on all the State Department acronyms as long as I do) got ready to go to overseas embassies from London to Kathmandu to Vladivostok (I had to look that one up) to fill Information officer posts from Public Diplomacy Officers to Press Advisers, consular affairs and other positions. The orientation explained how FSO's can nominate important journalists- "opinion makers" in their region to send to the U.S. on a Press Tour that my office puts together and escorts. The purpose is to get international journalists to write more stories about the U.S. actually having been there and talked to Americans about important issues. This is where the public diplomacy comes in, for those of you who are still unsure about what the heck I am getting my degree in.

DC Metro crash

So leaving work today I got on the orange metro line as usual to leave work around 5:30.. business as usual... for me anyway. I started receiving calls about the red line metro that had crashed just 30 minutes prior killing at least 7 people. Family members and friends frantically calling to make sure I was okay. Good to know so many people cared. Thanks! Sad to hear about the deaths. Investigation on the crash is pending.

Reza Pahlavi Speaks Out

Reza Pahlavi, son of the former shah of Iran, spoke to the National Press Club which is a couple floors above the Foreign Press Office. I flashed my State badge, pretended like a VIP and took a seat in the small audience of reporters from CNN and others. Mr. Pahlavi stood in front of the "Shahan-shahie" or shir o khorshid flag. The one with the lion holding a sword (seen here) which, I am told, is waved by Iranians who want to see the monarchy reinstated. I have also heard that there has been some divisions within the Iranian-American community about what path to take in Iran regarding political structure. These issues are discussed in the LA Times blog here.

Pahlavi spoke of how if the protests are put down it will lead to extremism and threaten economic stability. He charged the media audience not to underestimate the role they play in the outcome of the events going on in Iran. He stated that free media must fight the information blackout in Iran and inform their own leaders of the atrocities going on in the country. He often mentioned the Declaration of Human Rights, saying it "knows no boundaries." He stated that the had been in contact with. He talked of guards who got off their shifts and joined the protests when five hours earlier they were beating protesters and those in the Ahmadinijad regime who were contemplating the best way to "jump ship." He also noted reports that the regime was hiring outside forces, such as Hamas, to help quash the resistance.

No one benefits, he said, from "knives and cables cutting into the faces and mouths of our young and old, or from bullets piercing our beloved 'Neda', (a young woman who died on camera from a gun shot during an opposition protests in Iran, and has now become a face of the movement), and other victims of the violent crackdown on the protests. Pahlavi tried very hard not to get emotional but still shed some tears. The moment was very emotional and sincere, and was applauded by the media audience.

The focus of the media's questions, of course, focused on Obama's reaction to the events in Iran among widespread accusations of a too timid response. Pahlavi expressed very carefully that he was encouraged by Obama's recent words and stated a clear distinction between interfering in the Iran's matters and standing for human rights. The media pushed this issue repeat idly but Pahlavi didn't budge from the statement. He did state that non-violent movements seldom succeed without international support and that for the first time in Iranian history, the people have asked for international involvement.

When asked to address the Iran nuclear issue, Pahlavi said, "If I were there today, I would not feel safer if every country had nukes pointed at each other. I don't buy that argument."

Many questions focused on Pahlavi's plan for his role in a new government in Iran. There is some skepticism about Pahlavi's motives in campaigning for change in Iran, as the man who would now be Shah of Iran if it weren't for the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Pahlavi stated that if the people wanted him to run for office in a democratic, secular parliamentary system with a constitution based on the Declaration of Human Rights, he would of course. But insisted that the country was not at that point yet and until then, it was about the will of the people and human rights, not his future there.

Pahlavi announced that "a movement was born," "not an Islamic or anti-Islamic" movement, a"not capitalist or socialist" movement or part of any ideology, but a movements that "cares little about historical conflict" and all about the "sanctity of the ballet box." He charged Khameini with stealing the election and that the "citizens will not stand for it" and in the end "he will not stand" either.

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY’S GLASS CEILINGS

Posted by Alvin Snyder on the USC Center for Public Diplomacy website.

Women in public diplomacy have long been confronted with a glass ceiling in Washington. It seems that their male counterparts in PD now see such a ceiling as well.What caught my eye was a comment last weekend by former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright. At her 50th class reunion at Wellesley College, Dr. Albright remarked to Boston Globe correspondent Ben Terris that women probably make better diplomats than men."In a lot of ways we do have advantages," she said. "Diplomacy is about being able to put yourself into someone else's shoes, to be able to empathize, figure out their perspective. At the risk of making a gross generalization, women are often much better at that." Maybe that's why, with one exception, all Under-Secretaries of State for Public Diplomacy have been women since the position was created in 1999.President Bill Clinton chose Evelyn Lieberman to be the first State Department chief of public diplomacy. President George W. Bush appointed three women and one man to the job during his two terms in office (Charlotte Beers, Margaret Tutwiler, Karen Hughes and James Glassman), and President Obama selected Judith McHale. Apparently the male presidents who signed off on those presidential appointments could not make up their minds, as that State PD position has been left vacant more than one-third of the time since 1999.It should also be noted that from 1997 to the present, three females have served as Secretary of State (Albright, Condoleezza Rice and now Hillary Clinton), with Colin Powell the lone male. With that new glass ceiling for men at the State Department for the positions of Secretary of State and Under-Secretary for PD, the ceiling for women was shattered at the former U.S. Information Agency, when it was merged into the State Department and the office of the Undersecretary of State for PD was created. It was an all-male director's club at the USIA down through its history, headed by 13 male chiefs during the agency's 46-year existence, 1953-1999 (Streibert, Larson, Allen, Murrow, Rowan, Marks, Shakespeare, Keogh, Reinhardt, Charles Z. Wick, Bruce Gelb, Henry Catto, Duffy).The Voice of America, which was not merged into the State Department, but survived with quasi-independence from public diplomacy and its glass ceiling in tact, has had 27 VOA directors since 1942, all males with two exceptions: Mary Bitterman, 1980-81 and Evelyn Lieberman, 1997-1999. Although a woman's diplomatic skills may not be required for the very top director's position at the VOA — located on the protected side of the public diplomacy firewall — their time to shatter the glass ceiling may yet come.

Shoma be Farsi "Google" va "Facebook" chi migin?

Interesting that both Facebook and Google Translator have added farsi as a supported language on their sites. I've been waiting for this since I started learning the language. I'm wondering how long this affinity and support for the Iranian people will last.

Trafficking in Persons In the US

After blogging about the Trafficking in Persons report that was recently released this week, a friend commented that it was interesting (she didn't use the word interested persay.. she was a bit more snide about it) that the U.S. published such report- "pointing fingers at other countries"-when trafficking is such a problem here. So I realized that I failed to mention in my previous post about a sister report came out along with the Trafficking in Persons report. The "Attorney General’s Annual Report to Congress and Assessment of U.S. Government Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons Fiscal Year 2008," looks at the trafficking situation in the US. I encourage you all to check it out. Because trafficking is still a problem in this country and the Department of Justice is working to battle it.


"Sadly, there are thousands who are trapped in various forms of enslavement, here in our country….It is a debasement of our common humanity." ~ President Barack Obama