Reframing a "D" in the 3 Ds

The White House announced a major development strategy to run complementary to the strength of our defense and diplomacy efforts. (Hence the three Ds - defense, diplomacy, and development). If this turns into increased aid programs and exchanges dollars over the next few years, it has the opportunity to recalibrate how much of the developing world thinks of us (using much less money than the other two Ds).

There are many policy papers and ideas generated in DC, but this is how things get started and can translate into progress abroad. We'll see how it plays out.

Check it out the new strategy.

Pardon my delay, I was being censored

For my blog followers, I spent the past week in China at the World Cities Scientific Development Forum and participating in meetings with some local officals and NGO leaders. (Hence, the flurry of posts.) All in all, a very productive trip. However, I attempted to post to this blog in "real-time" on a number of occasions from China and found it odd that the Blogger site was down for maintence at the exact time I was trying to post...every day. Then it finally struck me. The site isn't down, it was being blocked.


City to city partnerships and citizen diplomacy between the U.S. and China are growing stronger and richer each month. But, this experience was a reminder. Some larger bilateral issues reach beyond the local level and still need to be addressed. We want everyone's voice to be heard.

Sister Cities in Beijing

Sister Cities International delegation at the World Cities Scientific Development Forum, September 10-11 in Beijing, China.

Sister Cities in China, part 1

A delegation of 10 sister cities leaders spent Sept 7-9 in Shanghai, China as part of the People's Friendship Association conference. Nearly 700 individuals from around the world convened to discuss partnerships in China. Lots of networking, connecting, and sharing ideas about exchanges and projects.