Posted by Steve Royster on May 07, 2008 - 09:56 AM
![A map of the path that cyclone Nargis followed as it passed into Burma May 3, 2008. [State Dept.]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/nargis/2008_0507_burma_map2_bh_m.jpg)
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Cyclone Nargis struck Burma this weekend with winds of 120 miles per hour lasting for 10 hours. The Category 4 storm left over 22,000 dead and widespread devastation in its wake.
When a crisis like this strikes around the world, the Department of State’s first thought is for the safety of American citizens. As the storm brewed offshore, colleagues at the American Embassy in Rangoon issued…
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Posted by Alison Blosser on May 06, 2008 - 12:08 PM
![Kandigal bridge, over 90% complete in February 2008 in Korengal, Afghanistan. [State Dept. photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2008_0506_afghanistan_bh_m.jpg)
Unity of effort in Kunar's central and remote Korengal Valley, host to some of the province's most intense insurgent activity, has recently enabled fruitful negotiations to concentrate more on development and employment than fighting. Although insurgents continue to sporadically threaten local villages and Coalition outposts throughout the Korengal, Kunar government's provincial and district leadership, the Provincial Reconstruction Team, soldiers…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on May 05, 2008 - 08:02 AM
![Vietnamese vender waves to Vietnamese adopted child in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Dec. 9, 2008. [AP]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2008_0505_viet_bh_m.jpg)
Americans adopt more children from foreign countries every year than all other countries in the world combined. The United States strongly supports international adoption as an option for children who need a family. The Department’s Office of Children's Issues works hard to support and assist American citizens interested in foreign adoptions.
Unfortunately, some international adoptions from Vietnam are not straightforward. Our colleagues on the ground in Vietnam have found serious irregularities, including forged or altered documentation, mothers being paid, coerced or tricked into releasing their children, and children offered for adoption without the knowledge or consent of their birth parents. (See Warning…
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Posted by Andrew Stevenson on Apr 30, 2008 - 09:14 AM
![President Bush welcomes Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the OAS, May 26, 2005. [WH photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2008_0430_oas_bh_m.jpg)
When I learned early last year that the Organization of American States (OAS), the world's oldest regional organization, was planning to celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2008, I took advantage of the occasion to learn more about the history of the OAS and the role played therein by the U.S.
During the hours I had spent in negotiations at the Main OAS Building in downtown Washington , I had already become familiar with the prominent fig and rubber hybrid Peace Tree planted in the central patio in 1910 by President Taft during the dedication ceremonies for the organization then known as the Pan American Union. But I quickly realized that more recent inter-American…
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Posted by Rachel Poynter on Apr 25, 2008 - 11:31 AM
![President Bush delivers remarks at a joint news conference April 22, 2008. [White House]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2008_0425_summit_bh_m.jpg)
When I heard that the North American Leaders Summit was going to take place in my home state of Louisiana, I jumped at the chance to represent the State Department in organizing this meeting. I wanted to make the connection between my daily job as a health, environment and science officer in the Office of Mexican Affairs at State and the daily conditions and situation of my own community, my own family.
I surprised myself by how many connections were taking place between the discussions of the leaders and our daily lives in Louisiana. Our leaders have been talking about making our businesses more competitive so fewer jobs would go overseas;…
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