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Frank Vogl at PDAA lunch program, 12 February 2018. (A. Kotok) (14 February 2018) Editor’s note. The following essay is drawn from remarks prepared by Frank Vogl at the PDAA lunch program on Monday, 12 February 2018. Vogl is co-founder of of two leading international non-governmental organizations fighting corruption, Transparency International and The Partnership for Transparency Fund. More details about his background and the program itself are found on the program’s web page. […] Top 10 origins for international students (24 November 2017) The number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities increased in the 2016-17 academic year, totaling more than 1 million students from overseas for the second year in a row. But the number of new students enrolling at U.S. institutions declined in the fall of 2016, the first such decline in 12 years. International Institute of Education compiles annual statistics on international exchanges […] (Atlantic Council) (16 September 2017) A Washington, DC think tank recommends forming a stand-alone agency devoted to public diplomacy under the rubric of State Department. The Atlantic Council issued its assessment of State Department’s mission and organization on 6 September 2017, prepared at the request of Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The panel preparing the report consisted of former high-level officials at State Department and National Security Council, as […] Douglas Johnston at PDAA lunch program, 10 April 2017 (A. Kotok) (Update: 12 April 2017) Over 80 percent of the world’s people identify with a religious group, and religious groups and leaders are playing increasingly important roles in both their own societies and in international relations. Yet, the U.S. Government and American diplomats have long been wary of engagement with religious groups for fear of violating the separation of Church and State. Following […] (Courtesy, Amb. Alberto Fernandez) (7 February 2017). Foreign Affairs Retirees of Northern Virginia, or Farnova, will hear a talk by Ambassador Alberto Fernandez at its meeting on 22 March. The event takes place at the Fort Myer Officers Club in Arlington, Virginia. Amb. Fernandez, now a vice-president at MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute, authored an article in late January on the MEMRI web site titled, “Making The U.S. State Department Great […] Crew members from U.S., Russia, and Japan aboard the International Space Station, December 2015. (NASA.gov) (14 January 2017) From John Glenn to Elon Musk, Americans who dare to go to space have inspired Americans from the first days of the space program. Through State, the U.S. has been a leader at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and other international fora on space and earth sciences. PDAA’s […] |