Presidential Message for Ramadan

On behalf of the American people – including Muslim communities in all fifty states – I want to extend best wishes to Muslims in America and around the world. Ramadan Kareem.

Ramadan is the month in which Muslims believe the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, beginning with a simple word – iqra. It is therefore a time when Muslims reflect upon the wisdom and guidance that comes with faith, and the responsibility that human beings have to one another, and to God.

Like many people of different faiths who have known Ramadan through our communities and families, I know this to be a festive time – a time when families gather, friends host iftars, and meals are shared. But I also know that Ramadan is a time of intense devotion and reflection – a time when Muslims fast during the day and perform tarawih prayers at night, reciting and listening to the entire Koran over the course of the month. (more)

Embassy hosts Energy and Climate Change Expert

U.S. Mission New Zealand hosted Morey Wolfson, climate change and energy expert with the office of Colorado Governor Bill Ritter.  Mr Wolfson addressed public audiences, explaining how energy choices underpin all human activities, ranging from economics to national security.  He further described how the current state of science requires climate change to in turn be a fundamental consideration of those energy choices.  Mr Wolfson also met and shared his expertise with officials, organisations, and individuals concerned with energy, economics, and climate change.

Morey Wolfson has had a 40 year career in energy science and policy, at the state and federal levels in both public and private sector. This has included positions with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, consulting with private firms on energy and energy efficiency, and most recently as the Utilities Program Manager focused on advocacy of the New Energy Economy in Colorado.

Mr Wolfson has made available the slides which accompanied his presentation at the Royal Society.

July 17 - U.S. Navy builder Mike Howe works with local villagers Toofohe Tuivailala and Saiti Makaafi during Pacific Partnership 2009.

Ushering in Change: A New Era for U.S. Regional Policy in the Pacific

On July 29, Alcy Frelick (Director for Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Island Affairs) gave a statement before the Asia, Pacific, Global Environment Subcommittee of House Foreign Affairs Committee on U.S. Policy in the Pacific.

Chairman Faleomavaega, Ranking Member Manzullo, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to appear today to testify on U.S. policy towards the nations of the Pacific. I welcome the opportunity to address our policy towards this important region.

The United States values its longstanding and close relationships with the countries and peoples of the Pacific. Indeed, the United States is itself a Pacific nation, with a lengthy Pacific coast, stretching as far west as Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands and encompassing American Samoa and Hawaii. Nothing could better underscore this fact than the election last year of Barack Obama, a native of Hawaii, as the 44th President of the United States.

The United States engages with the Pacific Island countries in both a bilateral and multilateral manner to address issues of pressing concern to the United States, the region, and the world. Our multifaceted engagement with the Pacific covers the gamut from addressing climate change to maintaining a robust missile defense infrastructure. Most importantly, we seek to work with the governments and peoples of the Pacific to foster stable, democratic, and prosperous countries … (more)
 

United States-South Pacific Scholarship 2009

The United States-South Pacific Scholarship Program, authorized by the U.S. Congress and funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State is a competitive, merit-based scholarship program that provides opportunities for degree study at U.S. institutions of higher education.

The scholarship program will include a summer internship in Washington, D.C. as well as a four to five week community service project in the student's home country. Candidates from the following countries, who meet specific selection criteria, are eligible for the program:  Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The U.S.-South Pacific Scholarship Program is administered by the East-West Center on behalf of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The application deadline is February 1, 2010 for awards beginning in early August 2010. (more information)

Meet US at Solway College

U.S. Embassy Wellington Public Affairs Officer Mark Wenig visited Solway College in Masterton on August 3 to speak to students about the Civil Rights Movement in the USA, which the students have been studying.   Wenig also provided an historical context of the events of the 1950’s and 1960’s which lead to the movement, and reviewed its progression over the past 50 years.  He stressed to the students how these issues are still present, relevant  and impact today’s U.S. society and culture.

This was the first school visit by a U.S. diplomat as part of Meet US, a program intended to bring U.S. Embassy Wellington/Consulate Auckland staff members to secondary schools to address students in New Zealand about U.S. related subjects they may be studying, as well as aspects of everyday life in the United States.

If you would like to find out more about Meet US, or request a visit to your school, please see our Educational Resources page.

Secretary Clinton, shown in May with Angolan Foreign Minister dos Anjos, says Angola is positioned to be a leading African country (more)

Secretary Clinton in Africa: Partnering for peace and prosperity

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton started her seven nation Africa tour (August 4-14) with attendance at the AGOA Forum (August 4-6) in Nairobi, Kenya, where she delivered a speech at the ministerial opening ceremony of the forum.

The Secretary’s trip comes just three weeks after President Obama’s visit to Accra, Ghana, where he delivered a major policy speech, and similarly highlights the Obama Administration’s commitment to making Africa a priority in U.S. foreign policy. The Secretary’s trip follows the themes laid out by President Obama during his visit to Ghana: supporting strong and sustainable democratic governments; promoting sustainable economic development; strengthening public health and education; assisting in the prevention, litigation, and resolution of conflicts around Africa.

The Secretary's African tour includes a busy itinerary of visits and public appearances, travelling from the AGOA Forum in Kenya to Pretoria and Cape Town in South Africa where she met with Nelson Mandela, and the leaders of South Africa's new government. From South Africa she travelled to Luanda in Angola, to Kinshasa and Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to Abuja in Nigeria, to Monrovia in Liberia, and finally to Sal in Cape Verde.
 

A Dialogue with China

Addressing the first U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, President Obama laid out a framework of his vision for another critical aspect of American foreign policy – the relationship with China, which he called "as important as any bilateral relationship in the world."

Delivering his address, the President drew upon lessons of the past to lay out his ambitions for the future, "As we look to the future, we can learn from our past -- for history shows us that both our nations benefit from engagement that is grounded in mutual interest and mutual respect," he said.

The President explained that today, perhaps in contrast to much of the last century, there is good cause to have optimistic ambitions for the future of the U.S-China relationship, and for the ability of the two countries to work together on issues of mutual concern:

"My confidence is rooted in the fact that the United States and China share mutual interests.  If we advance those interests through cooperation, our people will benefit and the world will be better off -- because our ability to partner with each other is a prerequisite for progress on many of the most pressing global challenges
…
these issues are rooted in the fact that no one nation can meet the challenges of the 21st century on its own, nor effectively advance its interests in isolation.  It is this fundamental truth that compels us to cooperate.  I have no illusion that the United States and China will agree on every issue, nor choose to see the world in the same way.  This was already noted by our previous speaker.  But that only makes dialogue more important -- so that we can know each other better, and communicate our concerns with candour." … (more)
 

President Obama applauds graduating students of the New Economic School in Moscow, where he delivered a major speech on the U.S.-Russia relationship.

Building on Moscow: U.S.-Russian Relations

Following recently behind President Obama's successful trip to Moscow, Philip Gordon (Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs) breifed the House Foreign Relations Committee on the status of, and developments in, U.S.- Russian relations.

A/S Gordon described the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Russia as in a 'dangerous drift' when President Obama took office.  However, he explained that new administration had been working hard with the Russian government, and have achieved a fresh start, or 'reset', to the relationship.

President Obama, he said, has stated that the U.S. and Russia have mutual interests in a number of critical areas, which the two countries could work togeather construcively on even as they seperately worked through any differences.  The results of the Moscow Summit demonstrate that the President’s instincts were correct. … (more)
 

Past News Items

• Obama in Russia: New Start
• President Calls on Africans to Claim Their Future
• Obama Wins Global Support for Nuclear-Free Future

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