The Power of Women

Today I attended Women's Reception, hosted by International Visitors Council and National Association of Women in Business. The event brought a delegation of 18 women entrepreneurs from all over the world, including Afghanistan, Armenia, Macedonia, Namibia, Nigeria and Palestine. It was a very interesting event in which we discussed the many issues facing women in business around the world. The best part, for me, was sitting in a room at the historic Ebell, an educational and philanthropic organization founded by women in 1894, with women of all ages from all parts of the globe discussing our role in society. I thought back to an article I had read earlier that day that discussed the role of women in development in Afghanistan.

“It is a simple fact that no country can get ahead if half its population is left behind. We know from an accumulating body of studies and research from governments, multilateral organizations, corporations and think tanks that investing in women is the single most effective development strategy that we have for poverty alleviation, economic growth and a country’s general prosperity."

This is a common theme in the study of gender and development, but the "Girl Effect" is being discussed in a more broad context, like this article about supporting women as a national security issue. seems so obvious to me, how can a country develop fully if one half of the population is unable to participate. I was so thrilled to see Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof amplify this point in his book “Half the Sky.” This Thursday, March 4th, International Woman's Day, theaters around the world will be showing a documentary version of the book.

"International Women’s Day and be inspired to help women and girls everywhere turn oppression into opportunity. Featuring musical performances, celebrity commentary and the world premiere of “Woineshet,” a short film by Academy Award® winner Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone. Also with appearances from, India.Arie, Maria Bello, Diane Birch, Michael Franti, Dr. Helene Gayle, Angelique Kidjo, Nicholas Kristof, Marisa Tomei, Sarah, Duchess of York and others."

Click here for the events page for details and to find a theater near you participating in this amazing ONE NIGHT ONLY event.

Public Diplomacy in the News

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy website has a great feature for those interested in PD. Public Diplomacy in the News (PDiN) aggregates all the relevant PD articles. The Center now has a new Monthly publication called PDiN Monthly. If you don't have time to read the PDiN roundup everyday, this is a great way to stay in the loop.. and yours truly made a short contribution, as well.

From the Center on Public Diplomacy:

"As part of its PDiN news aggregation service, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy collects and tags countless articles and op-eds on nation branding each week and we are pleased to present a closer look at some of these headlines in the latest issue of PDiN Monthly.

In this issue:
In Nation Branding: Not Just a Logo, Jian 'Jay' Wang offers a concise overview of the ever-evolving field of nation branding with a particular emphasis on some of the breaking stories this month.

In Lost in Explanation, Naomi Leight and Paul Rockower delve into Israel's newly launched program of "brand ambassadors," presenting all sides of the argument for this controversial move by Israel's government.

Katharine Keith reviews relevant articles about the United States' ostensible negligence of its brand management in Welcome to the USA.

At least two dozen February stories tracked in our Science Diplomacy Monitor are summarized in Developments in Science Diplomacy.

PD in Print presents the latest blogs and publications from CPD and other sources and Upcoming PD Events of Interest brings together event information from a range of international venues.

To read the February issue, click here.
For previous issues of PDiN Monthly, click here."

China and Iran

As the US and Europe push for further sanctions on Iran, China has declined to participate. They say diplomatic measures have not been exhausted, a point I do agree with, though I question China's motives behind this move. China is Iran's biggest trading partner and Iran is China's 3rd largest oil supplier.

This NPR report brings interesting insight on the subject.

Listen To The Greens

The USC publication Neon Tommy asked for an op-ed on engaging Iran in public diplomacy. I could have written a whole book on the subject. But here is the cliff notes version;

This month Iran celebrated the 31st anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. Along with it came another significant anniversary. Thirty-one years ago U.S.-Iranian relations collapsed.

The first blow to U.S.-Iran relations occurred in 1953 when the CIA staged a coup d'état in Iran, ousting the first democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. In his stead, the U.S. installed the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Iranians overthrew the Shah in 1979. A group of Islamist students stormed the American Embassy in Tehran taking 53 Americans hostage for 444 days. These events resulted in the dissolution of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Read the entire article...

A world our own.. in a 15 min news clip

Haiti, Iran, Congo, Sri Lanka.. so many important events are going on around the world, that even a news junkie such as myself has a hard time keeping up. As this new documentary points out, "Americans' attention span for global crises is usually very short." And with 15 second clips about these extremely complicated and intractable conflicts wedged among stories of Michael Jackson and Jon & Kate (and of course their eight), how can we blame people for not knowing what's going on outside of their realities- or for getting easily frustrated and overwhelmed when they try to understand. We could go into a debate about who is at fault for this, the media or the audience. I won't do that here, but this documentary, "Reporter," by filmmaker Eric Metzgar talks about how important journalists, such as Nicholas Kristof, battle with this short attention span in order to tell the stories of these conflicts. They also discuss Kristof's tendencies towards afro-pessimistic reporting, which is another interesting debate. The entire documentary premiers on HBO February 18th.



Thanks for pointing this out to me Brian C!

A world that is our own

I really didn't think I would be as moved as I was by this song... but it is truly amazing. I hope it moves others to donate like I did.




Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross Haiti relief.

My New Media Mission to USNATO

Since September, I have been working with the US Mission to NATO as a Virtual Foreign Service intern. USNATO would like to encourage understanding, interest and participation in NATO issues among students, in order to grow and engage the next generation of transatlantic leaders. So, I have spent my time researching different ways they can better reach out to this audience. Throughout this project, I have been working with public affairs staff at the mission in Brussels, which has been a great opportunity to really be a part of the staff and the overall mission. I report weekly to Tanya Brothen, a New Media Officer on assignment at USNATO. As a student of public diplomacy who is interested in utilizing the tools of new media as public diplomacy, it is really encouraging to know that the State Department sees value in these new media methods as well. My immediate ideas for the project were to launch a new media strategy for USNATO. To my surprise, USNATO already had a good foundation and had really put itself out there in the new mediascape. There is a USNATO Facebook, a YouTube page, and a NATOchannel.tv. What I like most about social media is that it can serve as a great listening tool. Rather than just broadcasting a message, social media tools like Facebook and Twitter allow publics to give feedback to the host which is important to the State Department mission overall. I'm going to explore these sites over the next week. Would love some feedback about what things would improve these tools. Til next time..

Cultural Diplomacy

Check out PD Magazine's new issue Cultural Diplomacy. The issue has new developments in PD, Perspectives from public diplomats from the State Department and UNESCO, and many interesting articles. Some of my favs;

Nollywood Diplomacy

Pop Culture Diplomacy

Public Diplomacy in Lebanon

..and I hear there is a fabulous interview by yours truly with Joe Mellot, Special Assistant for the Undersecretary of Public Diplomacy, U.S. Department of State.

This exciting issue rolls out with a whole new website that allows the PD community to join the conversation. So please, join us at PublicDiplomacyMagazine.com

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.