APDS Blogger: Michael Duffin

After 11 years of armed conflict in Afghanistan, a growing number of Americans question the motivation for continuing the United States’ engagement in the region.

The reason is Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old Pakistani female blogger shot twice by a gunman in the Swat Valley on October 9 because she criticized the Taliban’s treatment of the population, particularly their intimidation of girls attending school.

Since at least the late 2000s, I have been observing – sometimes organizing, and sometimes participating in – diverse forums featuring different combinations of politicos, policy decision-makers, academics, and applied practitioners, which have broached the relationship between “culture” and “security,” sometimes in overlapping but often in notably different ways. At times, the purpose is to ascertain how new cultural developments might disrupt established security goals.

Let me say at the outset, I am proud to be an American. I believe that with my citizenship comes a responsibility to be engaged and pay attention not just to what is happening domestically but also to what is happening in the world. In addition to being a proud American, I also see myself as a citizen of the world. So much of America is interconnected with the world and much of what we do here in the U.S. – from who we elect, to the goods and services we buy, to the media we consume – touches millions of lives around the globe.

For me, three long-term drivers of relationships between the peoples of the world are access to opportunity, access to information, and access to technology. And of course they are completely intertwined.

I am optimistic about Australia’s campaign for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). To be clear, I am optimistic about the campaign, rather than the contest. It is almost impossible to predict the outcome of the three-way competition between Australia, Finland and Luxembourg for the two available seats; a contest that will be determined by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on 18 October.

WASHINGTON – David Ensor, Director of the Voice of America, was the lead speaker this week at the first monthly USC public diplomacy lunch forum here on Monday.

Ensor began by discussing U.S. international broadcasters’ coverage of the 2012 election campaign, noting that tonight’s debate will be carried live by several VOA networks.