Tag Archives: Middle East

Biden to Europe / Not a “Facebook Revolution” / Rare Russian Stamps

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Vice President Biden travels to Russia, Finland and Moldova. The events in the Arab world should not be termed a “Facebook Revolution,” a panel of media experts warns. And a rare collection of Russian stamps was recently uncovered at the Smithsonian.

Biden Visits Europe

Biden’s Europe Trip to Focus on U.S.-Russia “Reset”
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During a during a March trip to Europe, Vice President Biden plans to “take stock” of the reset in relations between the United States and Russia that began after President Obama’s January 2009 inauguration. He also will visit Finland and become the first U.S. vice president to visit Moldova during the trip.

Not a “Facebook Revolution”
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Though social media may have been an important tool for the political upheaval in the Arab world, many media experts say that discussion over its role should not divert attention from the courage being shown by people standing up for their rights. Speaking at a panel on this issue, Michael Nelson, a Georgetown University professor, said, “At the end of the day, the Internet is not causing this revolution, but it is enabling it.”

Photo Gallery: Russian Imperial Stamps
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One of the best collections of Russian stamps in the world was recently found in a storage vault at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum. The collection, composed of more than 14,000 Russian stamps, is truly exceptional in terms of its quality and rarity. At right, a rare 1896 design that was rejected because it did not include an image of post horns. The post horn was used throughout Europe to sound the arrival and departure of mail coaches and became the international symbol of mail service. The design ultimately approved for this stamp included the Russian Imperial eagle with thunderbolts across post horns.

A Libyan Refugee Crisis / Libya Ousted From Human Rights Council / Green Dentists

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A refugee crisis is boiling over at Libya’s border. The United Nations votes Libya out of the the U.N. Human Rights Council. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urges Congress to approve the administration’s budget for the State Department. The U.S. and China must cooperate on a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. Some U.S. dentists are going green. And, finally, International Women’s Day is March 8.

Refugee Crisis at Libya Borders
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The situation in Libya has become not just a political crisis, but a potential humanitarian crisis as well, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says. Foreign workers and frightened Libyans are pouring to the borders to escape the turmoil, and international aid agencies are gearing up resources to cope with needs for food, shelter and clothing.

UNGA Suspends Libya
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All 192 member nations of the United Nations General Assembly have voted to suspend Libya from the U.N. Human Rights Council due to its government’s violent attacks on protesters opposed to Muammar Qadhafi’s rule. U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Susan Rice describes the vote as “unprecedented” and “a harsh rebuke – but one that Libya’s leaders have brought down upon themselves.”

Pass Obama Budget, Clinton Says
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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urges Congress to approve President Obama’s budget request for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, and warned that cutting funding could harm key investments in countries across the Middle East. “The entire region is changing, and a strong and strategic American response is essential,” Clinton says in testimony to the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.

North Korea’s Nuclear Activities
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Senior State Department officials say China and the United States share the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons programs from the Korean Peninsula and that both countries will need to work together to resolve North Korea’s status as a nuclear weapons state. North Korean nuclear activity “is an issue which is at the very center of the U.S.-China relationship,” says Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth.

When Your Dentist Turns Green
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A movement is building to “green” America’s 125,000-plus dental offices. Since Ina and Fred Pockrass founded the Eco-Dentistry Association in 2008, dental offices in 45 states and 13 other countries have pledged to reduce their impact on the environment.

Shirley Chisolm “Broad Shouldered” Women
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This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first , which recognizes women’s past struggles and accomplishments and focuses on what needs to be done to provide greater opportunities for women today. At right, Shirley Chisholm, who in 1968 became the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress.

U.S. Urges Political Reform in ME / U.S. Sends Aid to New Zealand / Technology for the Poor

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The United States urges Middle Eastern countries to work toward political reform in response to protests across the region. The U.S. is also sending aid to New Zealand after it was struck by a powerful earthquake. Finances ministers met at the G20 summit in Paris to discuss ways to prevent another financial crisis. And we’ve got a pair of stories on how new inventions can help the world’s poor.

Political Reform in the Middle East
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The United States urges Middle Eastern countries to take concrete action and work toward political reform in response to protests across the region, says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Clinton, right, welcomes the process for a new Tunisia and for a new Egypt, and says the United States “will continue to be a supportive partner to the peoples of both countries as they seek a better future.”

U.S. Rushing Aid to New Zealand
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A U.S. disaster assistance team and a specially trained urban search and rescue team are being sent to help New Zealand officials in the aftermath of a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that struck near Christchurch February 22. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says she is “deeply saddened by the news that a second major earthquake in six months has struck Christchurch. On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I send our sincere condolences and sympathy to the people of New Zealand.”

A U.S.-Africa Partnership
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The commander of the U.S. Africa Command says an enhanced partnership between his command and 53 African nations is working to maintain regional stability. “What we do are things that our partners desire of us to do,” says Army General William “Kip” Ward.

Compromise at the G20 Summit
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Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 major economic powers met in Paris February 18–19 and worked on strategies to prevent another financial crisis.

Inventing to Help the Poor
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Many technology and entrepreneurship programs at U.S. universities are bringing together students and faculty from different departments to collaborate on designing low-cost, simple devices that address problems facing the world’s poor. At Right, the Q-drum for hauling water.

Spreading Low-Tech Solutions
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Low-tech breakthroughs have the potential to improve the lives of the world’s poor, but not without an efficient means of getting new products to people who need them. Government bureaucracy and other challenges have limited the impact of some low-tech devices.

Obama on Mideast Unrest / Clinton on Internet Freedom / African American Visionaries

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President Obama urges Middle East governments to respect the aspirations of their people. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton returns to the subject of Internet freedom. The United States and Ukraine agree on human trafficking and other issues. Finally, explore a photo gallery of some African American “visionaries.”

Obama Urges Mideast Reform
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The political unrest that has spread from Tunisia to Egypt and elsewhere in the region comes as young people are seeking greater opportunities and ways of improving their lives, President Obama says. Obama urges governments in the region to “get out ahead of change,” and respond to their peoples’ aspirations in a manner that doesn’t lead to violence. “You can’t maintain power through coercion. At some level in any society, there has to be consent,” he says.

 
 
Secretary Clinton on Internet Freedom
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An open, secure Internet that is accessible to all is crucial to economic prosperity, says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in a speech at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The struggle for Internet freedom is a struggle for human rights, human freedom and human dignity, says Clinton.

Wide Ranging U.S.-Ukraine Talks
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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko sign a new cooperative plan to combat human trafficking in the Ukraine, and a plan to strengthen the East European nation’s energy security. Also discussed during their meeting: cooperation on nuclear proliferation, Ukraine’s efforts to strengthen its democracy, food security, HIV/AIDS, and ways for Ukraine to develop domestic energy resources and attract greater private investment.

Dorothy HeightVisionaries: African Americans Tell Their Stories
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For nearly a decade, the nonprofit National Visionary Leadership Project collected the oral histories of extraordinary African-Americans who helped shape America’s culture and history. This photo gallery takes a look at some of them. At left, the late civil rights activist Dorothy Height.

Calls for Calm in Egypt / Obama’s Agenda / When Trust is a Must

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The U.S. calls for calm in unrest-torn Egypt and urges governments in the Middle East and North Africa to engage with protesters. Obama’s newly minted agenda for 2011 America will require the backing of Congress. Financial companies need the public’s trust.

Close-up of Secretary Clinton

Democracy in Egypt
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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urges an orderly and peaceful transition to democratic and economic reforms in Egypt, but also acknowledges that it will take considerable time. In a series of television news interviews, Clinton, above, said that violence, looting or criminal acts will not move the political process forward in a productive way that will be satisfying for the Egyptian people.

U.S. Calls for Calm in Egypt
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The Obama administration calls on the Egyptian government to restrain its security personnel and on anti-government protesters to express themselves peacefully as it continues to monitor the country through its fourth consecutive day of political unrest. “These protests underscore that there are deep grievances within Egyptian society, and the Egyptian government needs to understand that violence will not make these grievances go away,” says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

U.S. Urges Engagement with Mideast Protesters
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The Obama administration urges governments in the Middle East and North Africa to “actively respond” to the concerns of younger populations who are voicing their protests in the streets. 

Obama’s Agenda Need Support on Capitol Hill
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In his State of the Union President Obama called for new investments in education, infrastructure and technology, among other items, but his plans will go nowhere without backing on Capitol Hill. Spending and other economic issues will likely dominate the first few months of the new Congress, two former representatives tell participants in a U.S. Department of State digital video conference.

Companies Bank on Trust
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Reports of excessive executive compensations, greed, irresponsible risk-taking and a lack of transparency have amounted to the greatest challenge to financial companies’ credibility in years. It has also been a wake-up call to companies in all sectors.

Gates in Japan / Clinton in the Middle East / Martin Luther King Jr.

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In Japan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates calls for stability on the Korean Peninsula. At the Forum for the Future in Qatar, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks about the Middle East in the 21st century. Vice President Biden holds talks in Pakistan. The Obama admistration says that the level of violence in Tunisia is “unacceptable” and calls upon the Tunisian government for swift action. Muslim Americans continue to contribute to the relief effort in Haiti. A group of Russian environmental officials traveled to New York to examine how the U.S. handles toxic waste. And finally, in honor of Martin Luther King Day this coming Monday, view a photo gallery about Dr. King’s life and work.

A Plea for Stability on the Korean Peninsula
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Peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula is in the common interest of China, Japan, South Korea and the United States, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says. “This requires that North (Korea) cease its belligerent behavior and its provocation,” Gates says during a press conference with Japanese Defense Minister Tosihimi Kitazawa, left, in Tokyo.


Clinton on Middle East Reform
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The people and leaders of the Middle East must work together to build a stronger foundation for their region, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told leaders at the Forum for the Future in Doha, Qatar. Clinton says the people of the Middle East “are looking for real leadership in the 21st century, and I think it can be provided, and I know that this is the moment to do so.”

Biden and Pakistani Prime Minister Hold Talks
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Vice President Biden and Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani have held “extremely useful” discussions in Islamabad on “combating terror, issues of regional stability and promoting reconciliation and peace in Afghanistan.”

Violence in Tunisia
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The Obama administration says there remains “an unacceptable level of violence” in Tunisia and calls upon the Tunisian government to “aggressively” respond to popular calls for economic reform and greater political openness.

Muslims Helping in Haiti
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Islamic Relief USA and the Zakat Foundation of America continue to help victims with food, shelter and medicine one year after an earthquake devastated Haiti.

Sharing Toxic Waste Strategies
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The U.S. government recently invited a delegation of 16 Russian environmental protection officials to Washington and New York to examine how the United States deals with abandoned industrial sites contaminated with hazardous wastes.

King with President Lyndon Johnson as he signs the Civil Rights ActPhoto Gallery: The Life and Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated his life to the nonviolent struggle for racial equality in the United States. January 17, 2011, marks the 25th anniversary of Martin Luther King Day, a federal holiday that honors King’s legacy and challenges citizens to engage in volunteer service in their communities. Visit this photo gallery to learn more about Dr. King’s Life and work. At right, King attends the 1964 signing of the Civil Rights Act into federal law by President Lyndon Johnson.

Obama meets with Israeli, Palestinian leaders

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In New York today, President Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

“The United States is committed to a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East,” Obama said. He said the United States seeks a solution that results in a state for Israel and Palestine in which the “Israeli people and the Palestinian people can live in peace and security and realize their aspirations, for a better life for their children.”

Middle East peace is not an easy thing to achieve, President Obama said, but “despite all the obstacles, despite all the history, despite all the mistrust, we have to find a way forward.”

For more, see “Give Mideast Talks a Chance for Success, Obama Tells Leaders.”

Day 91: Obama meets with Jordan’s King Abdullah

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Jordan’s King Abdullah II visited the White House today and discussed the Middle East peace process along with broader international topics like the economy and terrorism.

Speaking about the Middle East peace process, Obama said he is a strong supporter of a two-state solution and the United States wants to “continue to encourage a commitment on the part of the Arab states to the peace process.” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the president will invite Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian leaders to the White House to discuss the process.

Arabs and Muslims have had “an outstanding response to the president’s outreach to the Muslim and Arab world,” Abdullah said. “It has gone down extremely well, and really begins, I believe, a new page of mutual respect and mutual understanding between cultures.”

For more, see “United States Will Be Engaged in Arab-Israeli Peace Process.”