About the Author: Timothy Neely serves as Environment, Science, Technology and Health Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India.

Do you know which country’s constitution promises that a minimum of 60 percent its land area will be maintained as forest for all time? Which country’s government pledges to protect, conserve, and improve the pristine environment and safeguard the biodiversity of the country; prevent pollution and ecological degradation; secure ecologically balanced sustainable development while promoting justifiable economic and social development; and ensure a safe and healthy environment? The answer is the Kingdom of Bhutan, a small Himalayan country located between China and India. Bhutan’s use of a “Gross National Happiness” index to measure progress, rather than GDP, is well-known, but fewer people know of the importance that Bhutan attaches to conserving its natural environment and biodiversity.

The Second Asian Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation held in Thimphu, Bhutan… more »

About the Author: Seth McNayr serves at the U.S. Mission to NATO.

On December 4, 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in Brussels for her ninth and final NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting, began a typically industrious day by meeting with Department of State staff and families downtown at the U.S. Embassy in Belgium. Next, she moved across town to NATO Headquarters, arriving at mid-day and meeting immediately with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. She then conducted her first bilateral meeting with her Bulgarian counterpart, Nikolay Mladenov.

Secretary Clinton then joined other NATO Foreign Ministers for a working lunch of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), including Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, where many topics of strategic interest were discussed. Afghanistan, in particular, is an area where NATO and Russia have found ways to cooperate in recent years, through such initiatives as joint counter-terrorism and… more »

About the Author: Ivo H. Daalder serves as U.S. Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Our goals at this Ministerial are clear and simple: to support our ally Turkey by moving toward a deployment of Patriot Missiles to augment their air defenses, to help them protect their people and population; to broaden our cooperation and political dialogue with Russia; to strengthen our partnerships with other countries, including Georgia; and with all our ISAF partners, to monitor our progress toward successful transition in Afghanistan by 2014.

In addition to the goals, however, this Ministerial is noteworthy, because of Secretary Clinton. This is her 38th trip to Europe since becoming Secretary of State; and her ninth and last NATO Ministerial.

She has left… more »

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Prague, the Czech Republic; Brussels, Belgium; Dublin, Ireland; and Belfast, Northern Ireland December 3-7.

Secretary Clinton will travel to Prague, the Czech Republic, December 3 to meet with Czech officials on strengthening Czech energy independence, as well as advancing human rights and supporting democratic transitions around the world.

Secretary Clinton will visit Brussels, Belgium, December 4-5 to participate in a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. The Secretary and her counterparts will discuss current security challenges in the Western Balkans and NATO’s global partnerships. The Secretary will participate in a foreign ministers’ meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on December 4 and of the NATO-Georgia Commission on December 5. NATO foreign ministers will also meet with their non-NATO partners… more »

Press Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
November 17, 2012

About the Author: Reta Jo Lewis serves as the Secretary of State’s Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs.

On Monday, November 19, I will have the honor of speaking about U.S.-Russia subnational engagement at an event hosted by the Woodrow Wilson International Center’s Kennan Institute. As the Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs, I lead the Department of State’s efforts to collaborate with state and local leaders and their counterparts abroad. In July 2012, I made a 10-day trip to Russia, where I visited cities and oblasts throughout the country, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Vladivostok. I met with representatives of federal, regional, and local governments, as well as leaders of Russia’s business and academic communities, to discuss and further the development of a U.S.-Russia subnational engagement… more »

Go behind the scenes at the U.S. Department of State to learn more about the Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, an operations center equipped with permanent, secure, and reliable lines of direct communication with foreign governments to perform the critical mission of sustaining strategic nuclear security twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. [Go to http://video.state.gov for more video and text transcript.]

About the Author: Chris Comeau is a United States Air Force Colonel serving as the acting Director of the Nuclear Risk Reduction Center at the Department of State.

Inside the Department of States sits an operations center equipped with permanent, secure, and reliable lines of direct communication with foreign governments to perform the critical mission of sustaining strategic nuclear security twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week — the Nuclear Risk Reduction Center (NRRC). The NRRC was established under President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev on September 15, 1987, to serve as a communications channel to reduce the risk of conflict. The U.S. NRRC is one of two Centers; the other is located in the Russian Ministry of Defense in Moscow. Both centers are staffed around the clock by officers trained to operate data and notification automation systems.

In my Air Force career, training for a grave scenario involving a… more »

About the Author: Michael McFaul serves as U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation.

Earlier this month, a group of 20 enthusiastic young American ice hockey players and four coaches came to Moscow as Youth Sports Envoys to build stronger ties between the United States and Russia, both on and off the ice. Over the past four years, both countries have sent and hosted high school swimmers, basketball, beach volleyball, and ice hockey players, and coaches in a series of eight exchanges under the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission.

We kept this group of ice hockey players very busy during their week-long exchange. At our reception in their honor, I loved hearing about their master classes conducted by Igor Tuzik, Vice President of the Russian Hockey Federation, and by Olympic Gold Medal winners Vladimir Myshkin and Vitaliy… more »

Press Statement
Victoria Nuland, Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
October 6, 2012

Six years ago on October 7, renowned journalist Anna Politkovskaya was shot and killed in her apartment building. With her death, the Russian people lost a voice that courageously sought to report the truth. Today we remember Anna’s legacy both as a journalist and as a champion of human dignity. Justice will not be done until all involved in her murder have been identified and prosecuted. 

We will continue to shine the spotlight on this case, and others, such as American Paul Klebnikov who was gunned down in Moscow eight years ago. Journalists across the globe who speak out against abuses and work to secure fundamental freedoms for their fellow citizens must be protected.