Joseph Bookbinder assumed duties as Public Diplomacy Section Chief for the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) on Aug. 1, the AIT announced yesterday. Bookbinder, who has served as a Foreign Service Officer for 21 years, joined the United States Foreign Service in 1992 and has had overseas assignments in India, Taiwan and China, the AIT said in a statement.

The United States Senate has confirmed three new members to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees all U.S. government-supported civilian international media. The Senate this evening unanimously approved Jeffrey Shell, Matthew C. Armstrong and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker for membership on the bipartisan board. Shell was confirmed as chair of the board.

Marc Lynch of Foreign Policy recently published an article titled, “They Hate Us, They Really Hate Us.” This article discusses the various reasons why so much anti-Americanism exists in Egypt. In short, Lynch argues that the Egyptian population has a considerably anti-American opinion and Egyptian politicians seeking election base their political campaigns on this public opinion. He states, “The anti-American rhetoric that has always flowed freely through the Egyptian media has been mirrored in public opinion.

For over 30 years, the Community Liaison Office (CLO) Program has provided key family services support to Foreign Service Officers and their families abroad. The program is now present in over 200 embassies and consulates, including unaccompanied hardship posts such as Baghdad, Kabul, and Islamabad... Unfortunately, it is hard to understand how CLO Coordinators can effectively liaise with the local community to provide “programming, information, resources, and referrals” about off-post activities and on-the-economy services when they are not required to be fluent in the local language.

For over 30 years, the Community Liaison Office (CLO) Program has provided key family services support to Foreign Service Officers and their families abroad. The program is now present in over 200 embassies and consulates, including unaccompanied hardship posts such as Baghdad, Kabul, and Islamabad.

The 12th yearly ‘Chiranthana-UAE Exchange Media Awards’ were recently given to four Indian journalists working in the UAE’s print, TV and radio media. The four award winners were selected for their contribution to the welfare of the Indian expatriate community in the UAE, by airing their woes and grievances in effective ways that helped the poor and low-income sections of society.

Being something of an op-ed writer myself, I consider the nomination of Caroline Kennedy for ambassador to Japan to be a breakthrough. While America's diplomatic envoys have been chosen on the basis of a variety of criteria before -- key posts during the Obama years have, for example, been awarded for reasons ranging from the bundling of donations to the actual giving of their own personal cash -- the Kennedy nomination is perhaps the first time in history that an individual has been nominated for a top ambassadorial post primarily for having written an opinion column.

During the first years of the implementation of the North American free-trade agreement, commentators argued that it in fact stood for two bilateral agreements: the first between Canada and the United States, and the second between the United States and Mexico. This has now become an outdated point of view. Today, almost twenty years after its implementation, NAFTA is no longer considered a two-part deal between three countries. NAFTA is both a mirror and a motor of a far more integrated North American region.