Although the United States may not have invented democracy, but we certainly made it popular. That’s not to say that we always get it right, but we’ve built a model of government that has inspired a lot of people (the people who work within that model aren’t nearly as inspirational). Our nation went through a brutal war to achieve the system that we have in place, and now we’re watching similar processes happy in many places across the world. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems or IFES is a non-profit organization that “promotes democratic stability by providing technical assistance and applying field-based research to the electoral cycle in countries around the world to enhance citizen participation and strengthen civil societies, governance and transparency.” They’re based out of Washington, DC, but they obviously do a ton of work internationally. IFES has been around for just under 15 years, and they’ve already worked in more than 100 countries.
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Our country’s relationship with Europe started off pretty rocky. There were all kinds of conflicts including the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Spanish American War, and plenty of others. It wasn’t really until after World Wars I and II that U.S-Europe relations really began to stabilize. That’s why in 1961 The Atlantic Council was founded. They are a Washington, DC based think tank that “promotes constructive U.S. leadership and engagement in international affairs based on the central role of the Atlantic community in meeting the international challenges of the 21st century.” Over the organization’s 50 years its mission and programs have evolved, but they remain focused on maintaining a constructive trans-Atlantic dialogue.
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Despite the fact that most of us probably don’t even think about it on a daily basis, we are a country at war. Formally, the War in Afghanistan is the only current war that the United States is fighting since hostilities in Iraq officially ended on August 31, 2010; however, the reality is that we still are actively engaged in Iraq and Syria now too. Military policy continues to be an extremely important part of what our government does, and it’s essential that our leaders are well prepared to make important decisions regarding these conflicts. The Institute for the Study of War is a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that was founded in 2007 to do just that. The organization “produces strictly non-partisan, non-ideological, fact- based research” and aims “to promote an informed understanding of war and military affairs through comprehensive, independent, and accessible open-source research and analysis.”
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We’re all feeling for Japan right now. Earthquakes, tsunamis, and potential nuclear meltdowns are nightmares on their own, but having all three occur together is indescribably terrible. Luckily, Japan is a wealthy and technologically advanced nation that was and is well prepared to deal with such disasters. That doesn’t mean that they don’t need our support. Plenty will come from our federal government, but there will also be support sent from city to city. Why? Because of the relationships formed through Sister Cities International, a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that aims to “promote peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation–one individual, one community at a time.” They match up cities across the world to be sister cities (smaller cities may have one sister city while larger cities could have dozens). For instance Riverside, CA is Sendai, Japan’s (the epicenter of the earthquake) sister city, so the people in Riverside are already working to coordinate their part in the relief effort for Sendai. It’s exactly the “people-to-people, citizen diplomacy initiative” that President Eisenhower proposed in 1956.
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I really hope that I get to travel to Asia at some point in my life, especially Japan. I think it would be fascinating to experience a society that is quite similar to the United States in terms of its economy and technology, yet so different culturally. When I think about it, I’m amazed at how far America’s relationship with Asian countries has come over the past 70 or so years. We’ve gone from wars with Japan, Korea, and Vietnam to economic battles with Japan and China. Now our economy is deeply intertwined with that of China, and the fight against Communism is nearly forgotten. Even though our country’s relationships with Asian countries have changed over the years, it’s still extremely important that we work to understand them better. That’s what the National Bureau of Asian Research is all about. They’re a Seattle, WA based non-profit organization that “conducts advanced independent research on strategic, political, economic, globalization, health, and energy issues affecting U.S. relations with Asia.” They were founded in 1989 when the landscape was quite different from what it is today, but their mission is just as relevant.
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During my vacation I’ve been reading a number of books including President Bush’s Decision Points
. I’ve enjoyed it so far, and the chapter on Afghanistan reminded me to take a look at the U.S. Agency for International Development (better known as USAID), which a reader recommended I write about a few months ago. They are “the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms.” Right now they’re playing a huge role in moderating the impact of the war in Afghanistan on civilians, while they’re also heavily focused on helping those in Pakistan who have been affected by the earthquake. While USAID’s budget is less than one half of one percent of the federal budget, their impact feels much greater.
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International relations is becoming more and more important. There is just too much to gain from cooperation across borders for us not to put a lot of effort in developing international relationships. That’s why Bridging Nations exists. They’re a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that uses education to build bridges between nations through education. Their target audience is “leaders in government, business, and the non-profit sector,” and the organization’s message is focused on “promoting an informed, multifaceted forum of exchange.” The end goal is to promote policies that create mutual benefit for people across nations. By bringing together economics, leadership, and technology, Bridging Nations thinks that they can build relationships that will make everyone better off.
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Time for a little Sunday morning history lesson. Who remembers the Marshall Plan from history class? It was a plan for rebuilding Western Europe after World War II that was named for Secretary of State George Marshall. In the four years that the plan was active, the U.S. gave $13 billion in aid to a number of European countries. You can get the full rundown on Wikipedia, but those are the basics. This may have been a goodwill gesture, but it was also self-serving. By financing much of Europe’s reconstruction, the US was able to influence the direction that these European governments were taking. That’s important when you’ve just fought a war to oust fascists who were able to gain control due to a power vacuum created by an insufficient resolution to a previous war. Of course, the Marshall Plan didn’t prevent the Cold War, but it did create a much more favorable situation for the U.S. It also helped Germany recover more quickly, and for that they thanked us with the German Marshall Fund of the United States, “a gift from Germany as a permanent memorial to Marshall Plan assistance.” It was a gift of of DM 150 million, and it now lives on as a Washington, DC based non-profit organization that “is dedicated to the promotion of greater understanding and common action between Europe and the United States.”
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I have to say that democracy is a pretty darn good thing—even if it is the only government system that I’ve ever known. It certainly has its flaws, but I’m not sure that we’ve found a better way to ensure the freedom of a nation’s citizens yet. I don’t think that there is a lot of debate about whether spreading democracy is a good thing—most of the debate centers around what are appropriate ways to spread it. The National Endowment for Democracy is a Washington, DC based “private, non-profit, grant-making organization” that aims to “strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts.” They’re funded through “an annual appropriation from the U.S. Congress through the Department of State;” however, they are not a government organization. They make grants to pro-Democracy groups across the world with the goal of helping democracy evolve naturally in a way that suits the nations culture and history.
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This is a guest post by Heather R. Huhman. Heather is the media relations manager at a national health care professional association. She is also the entry-level careers columnist for Examiner.com, a career expert for the CAREEREALISM Twitter Advice Project, the job search expert for Campus Calm and author of the e-book “Gen Y Meets the Workforce: Launching Your Career During Economic Uncertainty.”
Issue advocacy, media strategy and crisis and reputation management are three of my favorite areas of public relations—and three specialties of Washington, DC based corporate communications and public affairs firm Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates (CLS). According to their Web site, CLS works to “inform target audiences, change critical perceptions and solve high stakes problems.” So, whether you spend the day lobbying Capitol Hill with a worthy cause, keeping up-to-date with the latest media changes or stepping in when crisis erupts, I think you’ll find CLS a truly exciting place to work. With a median employee age of 27, CLS offers a mix of young, energetic co-workers and seasoned professionals from whom you can learn. Other perks? Working with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to non-profit organizations to foreign governments. It’s a great environment in which to get your feet wet.
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What happens when you put Angelina Jolie together with a suspected conspiracy to create a “one-world government?” No, it’s not an upcoming movie release. It’s actually a non-profit organization called the Council on Foreign Relations. They are “an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.” They can claim Angelina Jolie as a member, and because of their secrecy clauses and interesting membership requirements (and the fact that so many high-ranking government officials are members), people get all kinds of ideas about Council on Foreign Relations. In fact, Wikipedia says that “some believe it to be the most powerful private organization to influence United States foreign policy.” Ok, let’s cut through all the crazy stories and see what CFR is really about.
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Since diplomacy is “the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states” according to Wikipedia, one would assume that a diplomat is a representative of a group or state. Independent Diplomat is a non-profit organization that is trying to live outside that definition. Their mission is to provide the knowledge and experience of long time diplomats to countries that are disadvantaged or marginalized to the point that they don’t have the resources to effectively practice diplomacy. Started by a former British diplomat, Independent Diplomat has worked with nations that include Somaliland, Western Sahara, Kosovo, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to prevent and resolve conflict. They’re kind of like management consultants for diplomacy.
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Did you spend any time abroad when you were in college? Did you love it? If you answered yes to those questions, then you can probably see the value in World Learning, a non-profit organization that “fosters global citizenship by connecting over 3,000 young ambassadors annually across cultural differences and social barriers.” They do this through three programs that they offer – The Experiment in International Living, SIT Study Abroad, and SIT Graduate Institute. World Learning also runs International Development Programs in 20 countries to “work with communities to design and implement development programs that address some of the main obstacles to human development.” If you terribly miss your abroad experience and want to help other students gain similar experiences, a job with World Learning might be the perfect solution to your post-graduation job search.
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Although giving away money isn’t usually the first thing on people’s lists of things to do if they ever get rich, people who actually are rich seem to enjoy donating what they have. Since you’re reading a site about entry-level jobs, we’re going to guess that you don’t have vast financial resources to donate to charity. Still, it would be fun to give someone else’s money, now wouldn’t it? That’s what the Carnegie Corporation of New York does. The corporation was founded my Andrew Carnegie, himself, in 1911 with a $135 million. Since then the goal has been to put the money to use in ways that “promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding” for perpetuity. What is perpetuity? It’s forever. For many new college grads, making money last forever means until the next paycheck. At the Carnegie Corporation, they really mean forever. Their endowment was worth approximately $3.0 billion last year, and with a giving rate of “5.5 percent of the average market value of the endowment during the prior 12 quarters,” it’s not getting any smaller.
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What do John Hope Franklin, Paul Samuelson, Linus Pauling, and Jonathan Franzen have in common? Besides having last names that begin with a male first name, they were Fulbright Scholars who have gone on to acheive greatness in their respective fields. John Hope Franklin received a Presidential Medal of Freedom (America’s highest civilian honor), Paul Samuelson is a Nobel Laureate in Economics, Linus Pauling received the Nobel Prize for his work in Chemistry, and Jonathan Franzen is a novelist who just so happens to have an awesome last name.
The Fulbright Program aims to promote peace and understanding through educational exchange. It was created in the aftermath of World War II through the efforts of Senator J. William Fulbright, and today, is considered to be one of the most prestigious academic awards world-wide. In fact, more Fulbright alumni have won Nobel Prizes than those of any other academic program.
Institute of International Education, aka IIE, manages the Fulbright Program, along with 250 other programs worldwide, and serves over 20,000 people from 175 nations each year.
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