That was President Trump’s characterization of the treaty signings at the White House September 15 of the first agreements in more than a quarter of a century between Israel and a pair of tiny Arab Persian Gulf states, the United Arab Republic (UAE) and Bahrain. The announcement was rolled out for maximum public diplomacy. But…
Hans N. (Tom) Tuch was a highly-respected deputy and for some months, acting director of the Voice of America in the late 1970s. I recall the first day of Tom’s tenure at the Voice as controversy swirled anew around whether or not VOA correspondents were U.S. officials, or journalists. It was a day of drama…
Three months ago, Michael Pack was named chief executive officer of the five U.S.-funded overseas multimedia networks. They are: Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), the Middle East Broadcast Network in Arabic (MBN) and Radio-TV Marti in Spanish to Cuba. The five networks are supervised by the U.S.…
In a Council on Foreign Relations cautionary report August 24, the Council puts it baldly: “The U.S. government responds to scores of disasters each year, coordinating closely with state, local, and foreign partners. However,” the account warns, “more frequent and severe storms, fires, and floods are straining resources.” The United States has been a leader…
Yemen’s civil war, now in its sixth year, has directly affected or cost the lives of up to an estimated 100,000 people. Once again, there’s hope for a breakthrough and settlement of at least some factional differences aimed at ending the world’s most devastating civil conflict. The challenges to U. S. public diplomacy are complex.…
Lebanon’s death toll after a disastrous explosion in Beirut’s port area August 4 has killed nearly 200,000 people. That’s in a population of just over five million. The Associated Press reported that the government resigned and remaining officials have imposed a two-week-long lockdown throughout the tiny East Mediterranean country. The explosion occurred when 2,750 tons…
The Israel-UAE accord announced by President Trump August 13 has the potential of normalizing diplomatic ties between Israel and a third Arab state. Is that potentially a significant step forward in defusing the Arab-Israeli dispute? Read ahead. The agreement, fashioned by the two Middle Eastern countries and encouraged by Washington, establishes formal relations between a…
Around the world, those killed by the epidemic as of August 10 approached three-quarters of a billion. Fatalities in our own hemisphere account for more than half grim total, or an estimated 380 million — and rising. The U.S. still has the world’s most COVID-19 fatalities, at least 163,000. From Canada to Chile, total COVID-19…
Voice of America jazz specialist Willis Conover was heard by millions in Russia, Eastern Europe, the Far East, Africa, and the Caribbean during four decades from the mid-1950s until his death in 1996. Surveys at the peak of his career estimated Willis’ audience at 30,000,000 — remarkable for a music show host in the era…
The Amazon, snaking across Brazil, is among the world’s largest rivers. Roughly halfway between the borders of Colombia and Peru is the city of Manaus, one of the most tragic victims of COVID-19 in the developing world. Tyler Hicks, a New York Times photographer, spent weeks vividly reflecting the sad plight of Manaus, and many…