Alhurra

Dear Colleagues, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a group do so much with so little. You’ve been writing the handbook on how to navigate ambiguity and prosper in uncertainty. We’re fighting for survival in Washington.  We’re reporting on one war after another in the Middle East. My respect and gratitude. I realize how…

Dear Colleagues, Join if free and share with friends details of this Wednesday’s 8 am breakfast discussion on the future of American public diplomacy and U.S.-funded international media. For the July 16 discussion, I’m joining former U.S. Under Secretary of Public Diplomacy James Glassman, RealClearPolitics Chief Content Officer Andrew Walworth, and former New York Times…

Dear Colleagues, Joe Kawly is interviewing Shirin Ebadi tomorrow for an episode of Joseph Kawly’s The Diplomat. The lawyer, human rights advocate, and Nobel Laureate has lived in exile in London since 2009. Shirin — whom I’ve known since running a London public policy institute and RFE/RL in Prague— was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize…

Dear Colleagues, Last summer, a Paris court charged a couple with involvement in Iranian plots to murder Jews in Germany and France. The French-Algerian dual citizen and his girlfriend — the former with ties to a major drug trafficker in Lyons — had made several scouting trips to Munich and Berlin. “Since 2015, the Iranian…

Dear Colleagues, The U.S. conducted air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan on Sunday morning local time. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported there was no increase in off-site radiation levels at the three sites hit by U.S. bombers. A short while after the U.S. strikes, the Israeli military said it…

Dear Colleagues, For months now we’ve sounded the alarm against USAGM attacks and unlawful attempts to withhold Congressionally approved funding from U.S. international media. We’ve made the case in defense of America’s voice in the Middle East in articles, essays, interviews, and podcasts in The New York Post, National Review, RealClearPolitics, The Times of Israel,…

Dear Colleagues, MBN’s summer program for early career professionals begins soon. This will be an after-hours program (no taxpayer expense). I’ll share details at a town hall meeting on Wednesday morning at 11 am. On Wednesday, we’ll speak about the ongoing battle to receive our Congressionally approved funding for the remainder of the fiscal year.…

Dear Colleagues, We won an important round last week. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit received the support of seven of the Court’s eleven active judges and clears the path for MBN to receive its Congressionally approved funding through the end of the fiscal year.  There was more good…

Dear Colleagues, The U.S. has dropped sanctions on Syria. Gulf States are building soft power. Israel feels sidelined. Bibi may bomb Iran. The Middle East refuses to stay out of the news. It’s astonishing that DOGE is determined to silence America’s voice in the region. Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) had become an influential digital…

Dear Colleagues, Our April funding arrived this morning. That’s good news. It took considerable time and a legal battle to receive this disbursement. It’s an important step in an arduous process to secure the funding approved by Congress on March 14 for MBN and for other U.S.-funded networks (Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio…