by Alliance Staff | Mar 10, 2015 | Exchanges in the Media, Federal Register, Public Diplomacy
Shifting current attitudes in the Middle East away from fear and towards trust-building is best accomplished through people-to-people exchange programs, according to Richard LeBaron, a retired U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait. LeBaron suggests that in order to counter terrorism, we need only look at the decade long studies of the roots of radicalization coupled with serious consideration of exchanges as strategic tools rather than “a nice thing to do.”
by Alliance Staff | Mar 9, 2015 | Department of State News, Federal Register, John Kerry, Public Diplomacy
Earlier today, Secretary of State John Kerry delivered opening remarks to the inaugural Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women/U.S. State Department entrepreneurship program. Through this initiative, 29 women from 15 Middle Eastern countries will take part in a 2-week seminar focused on entrepreneurial skills training.
by Alliance Staff | Feb 27, 2015 | Congressional News, Department of State News, Exchanges in the Media, Federal Register, Funding, John Kerry, Public Diplomacy, Study Abroad
Funding cuts to the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX), a bilateral exchange program supported jointly by the U.S. and Germany, are facing bipartisan criticism from members of Congress, as well as from the German government. In addition to opposition from CBYX program alumni, the cuts have “spawned an unusual coalition in Washington that is working hard to reverse the partial defunding of the program,” Deutsche Welle reports.
by Alliance Staff | Feb 26, 2015 | Federal Register, Public Diplomacy
Exchanges are a strategic imperative to current national security goals, according to Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Evan Ryan. Assistant Secretary Ryan specifically referenced the importance of the State Department’s educational and cultural exchanges, English language learning, and cultural heritage preservation efforts as key to current anti-ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS) efforts.
by Alliance Staff | Feb 26, 2015 | Congressional News, Department of State News, Federal Register, Funding, John Kerry, Public Diplomacy
Secretary of State John Kerry, throughout the past two days, testified before several congressional committees with regard to the President’s FY16 State Department budget request.
by Alliance Staff | Feb 13, 2015 | Exchanges in the Media, Federal Register, Public Diplomacy, Study Abroad
Dovetailing with the White House’s focus on the important role played by two-year institutions in American education, the Department of State and the Fulbright Program are seeking to involve community colleges more in exchanges, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports.
