As Secretary Clinton's Senior Advisor for Civil Society and Emerging Democracies. I'm writing to extend an invitation: I'd like you to join us online tomorrow to take part in Secretary Clinton's Global Town Hall with Civil Society. This event will kick off the 2012 Summit of our Strategic Dialogue with Civil Society, and we want you involved.
"Civil society" is the term we use to describe activists, organizations, congregations, and journalists who work through peaceful means to make our countries better. In one way or another, you're probably a part of civil society already. Over the last year, we've watched as civil society has changed our world. Courageous young men and women have brought dignity… more »
One and a half million Colombian flowers were sent to the United States on May 14 as the first shipment under the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, which goes into force today. The United States is the largest market… more »
About the Author: Robert G. Bell is the Senior Civilian Representative of the Secretary of Defense in Europe (SECDEFREPEUR) and the Defense Advisor (DEFAD) to the U.S. Ambassador to NATO.
President Barack Obama and the other NATO leaders will meet in Chicago this weekend, and one of the issues they plan to highlight is their continued commitment to defense capabilities.
When we talk about capabilities in a military alliance like NATO, we are talking about the "hardware" that make up a military: the fighter jets, helicopters, ships, and other systems that are the true "pointy end of the sphere" in a modern military. Capabilities also include some less obvious things that allow our soldiers and sailors to do what we need them to do, like reconnaissance technology, secure computer networks, and the heavy-lifting ships and cargo aircraft that let us not only do what we need to do, but also where we need to do it.
The United States and our 27 NATO Allies make up the most effective alliance in human history. If the men and women of its armed forces… more »
President Obama will host leaders from around the world in Chicago this weekend for an important diplomatic summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This Chicago Summit will be the first NATO summit on American soil in 13 years, and the first ever outside of Washington.
In addition to the opportunity to showcase one of our nation's great cities, our hosting of the summit in Chicago is a tangible symbol of the importance of NATO to the United States. It is also an opportunity to underscore to the American people the continued value of this alliance to security challenges we face today.
Indeed, NATO is vital to U.S. security. More than ever, the Alliance… more »
Touring a city with a group of students, parents, siblings, and teachers could be conceived as a relatively ordinary experience, except that I was touring the Forbidden City with American high school students studying abroad in China on the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program. The parents and siblings were members of their Chinese host families and the teachers are from their international high school, Beijing 80, known for its excellent academics and offering a unique cultural experience for its 3,000 students. The American students, who represent all corners of the United States, are perfecting their Mandarin skills, taking advantage of after school activities, living with host families, and learning about China's… more »
DipNote is the official blog of the U.S. Department of State —a place to share stories, discuss experiences, and inspire new ideas on the important foreign policy issues of the day. more »
Across the eastern Horn of Africa, more than 11 million people -- a number greater than the populations of Houston and New York City combined -- are now in need of emergency assistance to survive. Learn more about the current crisis, including how you can help.
May 23: The State Department, through its office of the U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), is pleased to announce $1.5 million in funding to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to support open governance and political participation in the Middle East and North Africa. more »
May 23: Today, Russia was invited to join the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) at a ceremony hosted by its parent body, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. ã more »
![Secretary Clinton's Strategic Dialogue with Civil Society on Wednesday, May 16, 2012. [State Department image/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/5_16Civil_Society_507replay_m.jpg)
![A shipment of flowers was the first commercial shipment from Colombia to the United States under the Free Trade Agreement between the countries, May 14, 2012. [U.S. Embassy photo/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0515_colombia_roses_m.jpg)
![NATO foreign ministers attend a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Dec. 3, 2009. [AP Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2010_0419_nato_meeting_m.jpg)
![Deputy Assistant Secretary Lee Satterfield tours the Forbidden City with NSLI-Y students, their host families, and teachers from their host school, Beijing 80, May 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0514_china_students_m.jpg)
