Posted by Matthew Cordova on Jun 10, 2009 - 04:18 PM
![Provincial Reconstruction Team base in Nuristan, Afghanistan, Nov. 19, 2006. [AP File Photo]](/page-https-web.archive.org/web/20090611011321im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0610_prt_afghanistan_m.jpg)
Secretaries Clinton and Gates have spoken frequently and eloquently about the need to strengthen civilian instruments of national power to leverage the full potential of the U.S. Government (USG). Current U.S. national security challenges include violent extremist organizations, ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the global financial crisis, and weak and failing states. These challenges are highly dynamic and complex because of the number of actors involved and the speed at which the environment changes. Whole-of-government capabilities are necessary to manage national security issues that are…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Jun 05, 2009 - 04:55 PM
President Obama said, “...[R]ecognizing our common humanity is only the beginning of our task. Words alone cannot meet the needs of our people. These needs will be met only if we act boldly in the years ahead; and if we understand that challenges we face are shared, and our failure to meet them will hurt us all.”
What actions will promote better understanding between the United States and Muslims of the world?
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Posted by David McKeeby on Jun 09, 2009 - 01:33 PM
Piracy may have largely dropped out of the headlines here in the United States, but these armed gangs at sea remain a serious threat to global shipping and humanitarian aid transiting the Horn of Africa.
On May 29, representatives from over 30 countries and international organizations participating in the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia met at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. I got to come along for the ride ─ my first time as part of an official U.S. diplomatic delegation! Here’s what happened...
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Posted by Nell Triplett on Jun 08, 2009 - 02:16 PM
![39th General Assembly of Organization of American States, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, June 3,2009 [AP]](/page-https-web.archive.org/web/20090611011321im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0608_oas_general_assembly_m.jpg)
There is but one word that has dominated the world of the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS) for months: Cuba. With all the talk surrounding whether or not the OAS would be able to reach consensus to lift the 1962 suspension on Cuba’s participation in the regional organization and, if so, with what conditions, there was heightened interest throughout the hemisphere in the 2009 OAS General Assembly.
During the sometimes chaotic and challenging two days of negotiations in San Pedro Sula, Honduras – punctuated by aftershocks from…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Jun 06, 2009 - 05:43 PM
![U.S. and French flags displayed on graves of American Cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer. 6/05/09 [AP]](/page-https-web.archive.org/web/20090611011321im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0606_remembering_dday_m.jpg)
"Lyndon Johnson once said that there are certain moments when '...history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom.'
D-Day was such a moment. One newspaper noted that 'we have come to the hour for which we were born.' Had the Allies failed here, Hitler's occupation of this continent might have continued indefinitely. Instead, victory here secured a foothold in France. It opened a path to Berlin. It made possible the achievements that followed the liberation of Europe: the Marshall…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Jun 05, 2009 - 05:34 PM
![Bertrand Herz, Chancellor Merkel, President Obama and Elie Wiesel at Buchenwald, June 5, 2009. [AP]](/page-https-web.archive.org/web/20090611011321im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0605_obama_germany_m.jpg)
In Germany today, President Obama held meetings and a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. President Obama and Chancellor Merkel also visited Buchenwald Concentration Camp, where they were joined by Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel and Bertrand Herz, a survivor of the camp.
The President said: "I've known about this place since I was a boy, hearing stories about my great uncle, who was a very young…
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Posted by James P. Zumwalt on Jun 05, 2009 - 02:51 PM
![Chargé d’Affaires Zumwalt hosts guests to view President Obama's speech, Tokyo, June 5, 2009.[State]](/page-https-web.archive.org/web/20090611011321im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0605_tokyo_interfaith_m.jpg)
Many of you have seen and heard President Obama’s speech in Cairo about America’s renewed commitment to seek common ground with the Muslim world. I was proud and happy to hear these words, because I share the President’s view that religion can bring people together.
On Friday, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo invited ambassadors from countries with major Muslim populations, Japanese politicians, scholars, and journalists to gather over lunch and view the President’s speech. We discussed ways to strengthen our ties to Muslims in…
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Posted by Priscilla Linn on Jun 05, 2009 - 01:08 PM
![Screenshot of U.S. Diplomacy Center online Marshall Plan exhibit, June 5, 2009. [State image]](/page-https-web.archive.org/web/20090611011321im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0605_marshall_pla1_m.jpg)
The Marshall Plan is one of the most effective examples of U.S. diplomacy in 20th century American history. To mark this accomplishment, the U.S. Diplomacy Center at the Department of State has created an online exhibit The Marshall Plan: The Vision of a Family of Nations to explore Marshall’s vision, the leadership and motivating forces behind the plan.
The exhibition examines the ingenuity of the Marshall Plan and how its implementation served as the genesis of peacetime…
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Posted by Billie Gross on Jun 05, 2009 - 12:15 AM
As the black market wildlife trade continues to flourish, the Department of State remains steadfast in its efforts to highlight this critical issue and to spread public awareness of the problem. To continue the momentum spurred by the highly successful Harrison Ford PSAs, the Department of State has once again partnered with WildAid.
Today, in recognition of World Environment Day, the U.S. State Department is showcasing two Public Service Announcements…
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Posted by Janice Clark on Jun 04, 2009 - 05:45 PM
![Screenshots of the 2009 Doors to Diplomacy website contest winners, June 4, 2009. [State image]](/page-https-web.archive.org/web/20090611011321im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0604_doors_diplomacy_m.jpg)
About the Author: Janice Clark serves as Deputy Director of Electronic Information in the Bureau of Public Affairs.
What if you could entice high school students to form teams, learn about a foreign policy topic, engage their classmates and community, and then build a website to show what they learned? What if you then made the websites available for all the world to see, teaching millions of others around the globe about these issues? What if you could sweeten the pot with special certificates of achievement and scholarship prizes?
We’ve done it — it’s called Doors to Diplomacy. “Doors” is an online challenge that the Bureau of Public Affairs developed in partnership with Global…
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