NCUSAR Study Visit to the Republic of Yemen
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Author: Aramco ExPats Staff
Released 20 April 2008
ExPat Bonnie Cook explores Washington DC during the two-day orientation for the National Council for US-Arab Relations visit to Yemen.
(Photos by Aramco ExPats)
Thirteen excited wanderers spent two days in Washington DC preparing for the Yemen trip sponsored by the National Council for US-Arab Relations. The mission of NCUSAR is: To educate Americans about Arab countries, the Middle East, and the Islamic world through leadership development, people-to-people programs, lectures, publications, and grassroots outreach.
In preparation of the Joseph J. Malone Fellowship in Arab and Islamic Studies*, President and CEO, Dr. John Duke Anthony gave us an overview of Yemen including Middle Eastern history, culture and politics. Fatima Asrar, Counselor for Congressional Affairs, Embassy of the Republic of Yemen talked to us on "U.S. Arab Relations: A Yemeni Perspective", followed by Dr. Peter Bechtold of the Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State. Dr. Bechtold gave us his prospective of "U.S. Foreign Policy Toward the Middle East: From GW to GW".**
Other seminars included Dr. Michael Hudson, Director of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University and we ended the first day with and additional understanding of Costume and Jewelry in the Yemen society as told to the group by Marjorie Ransom, U.S. Foreign Service (Retired).
Before leaving for Yemen, H. E. Hussein Hassouna, Ambassador of the League of Arab States to the United States presented "Yemen in Regional and World Affairs".
* The fellowship is named in honor of Dr. Joseph J. Malone (1924-1983), an educator, historian and author, who devoted his life to promoting better understanding between Americans and Arabs. The Malone Program provides, through a study visit to an important Arab country, an exceptionally powerful educational experience that includes introductions to host-country government officials, businessmen, academics, and scholars, and the opportunity to discuss Arab world issues and Arab-U.S. relations with American and Arab scholars, policymakers, and other specialists. Study visits under the Malone Program are normally one-to-two weeks in duration.
** George Washington to G.W. Bush