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The following is a guest post by Director and Founder of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) Mark C. Donfried. Governments in the twenty-first century are faced with a variety of global security risks including terrorism, war and conflicts, stereotypes/ misconceptions and ideological conspiracies, to name but a few. These risks have manifested themselves in […]

As promised, here are more of my thoughts on current happenings in Afghanistan and Iran. Yesterday I blogged about Afghanistan so this blog will focus on Iran. This past Sunday evening I was pleasantly surprised to see Meir Dagan, the former head of the Israeli Mossad their equivalent to the CIA, on CBS’ 60 Minutes. […]

I’ve not had time to blog in the last couple of weeks because of travel but thought I’d offer my thoughts on the crises with Afghanistan and Iraq. Starting first with Afghanistan, like many I was horrified by the massacre of 16 Afghans, to include 9 children, allegedly by an Army Sergeant. This is a […]

The following is an excerpt from Atlantic Council Senior Fellow and fellow of the Foreign Policy Association Sarwar Kashmeri. Read the complete article here. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned home without receiving an American endorsement for an Israeli attack on Iran. Neither did he find much support for the Israeli government’s assertion that the […]

Growing suspicions that recently engulfed the credibility of humanitarian organizations working in Haiti could cause people to underestimate the significant initiative launched in Cap-Haitien by Hands on Haiti, Mothering Across Continent and STARS Alliance; however, their work in Northern Haiti this spring will be nothing short of extraordinary. Haiti proclaimed its independence 208 years ago, […]

Last week was International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate women and girls and increase awareness about their marginalization across the globe. Much work remains to be done, but there are hundreds of organizations and efforts working to address the issue of female rights across the world. Women Deliver, a global advocacy organization, recently announced […]

A year ago today, a huge earthquake hit Japan, followed by a tsunami that destroyed thousands of lives. It also started a chain of events that caused three reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant to meltdown. Here are a few facts that are important to remember as we reconsider nuclear power and how we do […]

In this climax of crises, the middle class is not the only one to have considerably suffered; the environment has been the other loser. Social policies and the welfare state have been slashed across Europe and the U.S. in the name of austerity measures and debt crisis. The environment has been increasingly slaughtered in the […]

According to UNICEF’s report, Literacy the Global Challenge, a profile of youth and adult literacy at the mid-point of the United Nations Literacy Decade (2003 – 2012), found that more than 774 million (almost one in five adults) do not have the basic literacy and numeracy skills necessary to fully participate fully in society.  In many regions, especially where […]

With pressure rising to undertake some sort of action to assist the besieged rebels in Libya, the Obama administration has begun drawing up options. It appears that no final decision has been made as of yet. So far, the options do not include the use of military force, the establishment of a no-fly zone, or […]

Today, March 8th is International Women’s Day (IWD), which was established to commemorate the struggle women and girls across the globe continue to endure in obtaining their basic human rights.  In 2011, the United States made the presidential proclamation that the entire month of March will be Women’s History Month.  2012’s theme is Connecting Girls, Inspiring […]

The New York Times reported this morning that Secretary of Defense Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey voiced their concerns over a possible military operation in Syria. From the Times: General Dempsey and Mr. Panetta spoke two days after Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who lost to Mr. Obama in 2008, […]