Recently, American Voices held its annual Youth Excellence on Stage (YES) Academy in the city of Duhok, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. American Voices, the nonprofit for which I am the Director of Communications, conducts cultural diplomacy to countries emerging from conflict or isolation.

Recently, American Voices held its annual Youth Excellence on Stage (YES) Academy in the city of Duhok, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq... At American Voices, we believe that cultural diplomacy requires sustained engagement and as such this year marked our sixth summer performing arts academy program in Iraq.

Turkish Energy Ministry officials confirmed Wednesday that Ankara is preparing to send a technical delegation to Iraq, supposedly at Baghdad's request, to discuss building an oil pipeline linking southern Iraq and Turkey. The decision is an important indicator that Ankara is ready to make strategic energy moves to deepen its influence in the region, says Stratfor.

This past week, the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission ordered the closure of 44 foreign and domestic media outlets in the country. Among them was the Voice of America, a U.S.-run news organization and quite possibly our biggest public diplomacy tool.

During his time in Iraq, Clark will share orchestral scores and recordings with students. Many of them have received American Voices training in stringed instruments. He will provide instruction in music theory; music history from 1200 A.D. to the present; composition; and conducting.

The show at Georgetown University was a first for me, and maybe, according to Waleed Shamil, a first for this country.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ SportsUnited Division will bring 13 Iraqi taekwondo athletes, eleven youth and two coaches, to the United States, June 5- 15th, to participate in a U.S. Government sports visitor program. This will be SportsUnited’s second-ever taekwondo sports visitor program and the fourth sports exchange with Iraq.