12.10.2009: Forbes Magazine just published an article about my ongoing efforts to help Iraqi artists share and sell their works. The Artists include Mohammed al Hamadany, Nibras Thanoon, the venerable Nouri al Rawi, Hadi Mahood and Ahmed Nousaife among many others. Some of Ahmed Nousaife's works are shown below form his new series entitled, "Concrete."

"White Concrete"

"Drunk Abaft the Wall"

"Walking to Nowhere"

"Roadside"

These original Iraqi paintings and many others can be ordered directly from the artists through my online gallery. Unlike typical exhibitions where the artists must incur large costs and pay 50% or more in gallery fees, the artists will keep over 90% of the revenues from this more sustainable way of direct exhibition and sale.

11.05.2009: It's official (and I'm officially SHOCKED!). I've won the 2009 Podesta Award, the grand prize for Foto Week DC for my photograph entitled, "El Jefe's Homer."

I must apologize to those who have made this event possible-- I've been unable to attend much of Foto Week on account of a cold that has kept me down for a few days.

I'd like to extend my most sincere personal thanks to the Podestas, to Foto Week DC, and to the myriad sponsors including the National Endoment for the Arts, The DC Commission on Arts and Humanities, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Dodge Chrome (who provided stunning prints!), and numerous others sponsors who provided financial assistance that made this competition and the 150 exhibitions around DC possible!

Also, I'd like to thank the other photographers who have participated in these events; I am truly inspired by your works and quite jealous of your talents! In particular, I'd like to thank Joshua Corbett--a wonderful artist--for introducing me to Foto Week DC and encouraging me to enter the competition!

I'm making a limited edition print run of this photograph on some of the finest paper available in the world. This framed, matted print can be ordered through my online gallery.

11.04.2009: This morning, I was honored to hear Marks Meckel, a member of the German Bündestag who served as the penultimate foreign minister of East Germany before the Berlin Wall fell and Germany re-unified. Mecke's speech about the end of the Cold War was particularly revealing to me. He described the end of the Cold war not as a victory of West over East, but a victory of the internal movemnets for democracy and freedom from within the countries of Eastern Europe and East Germany themselves. This is an important point that is far too often overlooked by over-eager westerners who view the end of the Cold War with sanguine opinions.

In addition to the insights on the Cold War, I greatly appreciated Meckel's comments on Religion in foreign affairs. Despite being a Christian minister, Meckel affirmed that religion is all too often a harmful force in politics and international affairs because the faithful too easily forget their own shortcomings. Meckel calls for tolerance, moderation and a focus on living consistently with one's own faith inbstead of seeking to impose one's faith upon others.

10.30.2009: I was recently surprised and humbled to be nominated as a finalist in the upcoming Foto Week DC competition! The theme for this year's grand prize is a single phot that captures the spirit of Washington D.C.. My two entries to the competition were "Love & Politics" and "El Jefe's Homer." The latter of these two was nominated for the grand prize.

"Love & Politics"

The tree is inscribed with countless initials and names of lovers

while the US Capitol sits in the background.

"El Jefe's Homer"

Gallery prints can be ordered through my online gallery.

09.30.2009: Today, the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, Zainab Salbi, spoke at SAIS with Azar Nafisi. These amazing women recounted their struggels with advancing women's rights as human rights in their respecive homelands, Iraq and Iran. According to Azar NAfisi, women are "the canaries in the mines' of human rights, the most sensitive belleweather of progress and change.

Zainb Salbi, an Iraqi-American who founded Women for Women International

Professor Azar Nafisi ,author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, with Zainab Salbi

09.21.2009: Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo just joined the faculty of my school as a visiting scholar. Today, I was able to meet this extraordinary man who overcame extreme poverty in Peru, came to the USA to study at Stanford, then returned to Lima to run for the presidency. To all my friends around the world who think that succes in their lifetime is impossible, here is living proof to the contrary. President Toledo's talk focused on economic development, containing elements of Jeffrey Sachs' 'poverty trap' argument as well as similarities to Francis Fukuyama's arguments about democracy and development.

08.29.2009: My photography gallery is officially open! Click here, or on the "Photography" link from the main page to see for yourself!

08.22.2009: I just watched a moving performance by a fascinating poet named Omékongo Dibinga, whose intense and personal style of positive rap brings together a fusion of art, music, politics, and hope. The performance was held in a local artspace.

08.21.2009: Today I photographed the rally of Obama supporters who are advocating health care reform. Since most of the supporters were holding up signs, I'let the pictures speak for themselves...

Click here to read my latest article on the "public option" in America's health care.

07.03.2009: My dear friend, Rob, volunteered to host a smashing 4th of July party for our fiends in the DC area. I manned up the grill to help serve our fellow citizens, and we worked to collect donations for The Mission Continues, a non-profit organization that works with veterans across America. Rob (shown below) is a cofounder of Faithful Democrats and the Global Partnerships Liaison at the Department of State. Though highly skilled in many ways, Rob did not actually create that patriotic cake. Melissa (right), our friend who works in Veterans' Affairs, accomplished that feat.

04.30.2009: My classmates and I have just unveiled an exhibition of photography from around the world! The exhibition is intended to bring together the diverse experiences of my international classmates, but also to fund a scholarship for one of them to continue studying international relations in Washington DC next year. The exhibition will be on display in the Bologna Center of Johns Hopkins University (the School of Advanced International Studies).

04.15.2009: One of the most beautiful places on the planet... need I say more?

03.15.2009: More outstanding news... my dear friend in Baghdad (whose name I cannot mention) just reopened his art gallery for the first time in years. I am very proud that he he has been able to weather the storm, and I hope that he can continue to be a strong force for good and civility in his country while raising his lovely family! Good luck, my brother!

03.05.2009: I just received some outstanding news... a woman who I worked with in Baghdad (whose name I cannot mention) just received a visa to the USA! In fact, she has been selected to receive a green card because of the work she performed as a high-level interpreter and liaison between the coalition forces and various Iraqi cabinet ministries. With a bit of luck (and a lot of "Insha Allah!") I'll be helping her to begin graduate school in the USA, where she hopes to study political science before returning to her homeland!

02.28.2009: The International Atomic Energy Agency invited my colleagues to join them in their annual formal ball. This was interesting, not only because we had the opportunity to see the imperial palace where the Habsburg monarchy once reigned, but also because I got to see and hear Mohammed el Barredei, the agency's renowned director. Dr. el Barredei won the Nobel Peace Prize a few years back for the work he and the IAEA performed on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, an area that interests me very much.

Dr. El Baradei with an entourage of diplomats

Recently, I've been working on analyzing some aspects of Dr. Elbarredei's proposal for an international nuclear fuel bank. The goal of my work is to find common ground between the IAEA proposal and incentives of states like India, Pakistan and Israel (all of which have nuclear weapons and none of which are parties to the Non-proliferation Treaty). My hypothesis is that an international fuel bank can be used as an incentive for these states to join the internatinal community in a way that promotes sustainable interdependence with nuclear energy while improving global nuclear security. More to follow when I publish some works in progress...

United Nations security forces march into the imperial palace bearing the UN flag.

02.22.2009:The Carnivale of Venice is perhaps the most visually stunning event of the year in Italy (unless you're a fan of the Biennale!). The masqueraders of Europe flock to this beautiful city for days of celebration.

Il Presidente Venezziano

A balloon dangling a harlequin made for a spectacular show of aerial acrobatics!

Some Italians choose to dress as characters from contemporary movies, like this man who mimicked Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean). Others dressed as Storm troopers from Star Wars. Do I detect a hint of trans-Atlantic jealousy over American Halloween?

My friend from Azerbaijan snapped this photo of me on the train. Not bad for his for his first time shooting a manual rangefinder camera! Thanks, Magsud!

02.02.2009: I just returned from a trip to Istanbul, where I was shocked by the vitality and competitiveness of the marketplace in Turkey. People in Detroit could learn a thing or two from the capitalist zeal of the modern day Turks! On every corner, a smartly dressed man attempted to sell me roasted chestnuts or knock-off Nike shirts or fresh squeezed pomegranate juice for 50 euro-cents (Wow!). The salesmen sometimes cycled through five languages to see if they could catch my attention. These street vendors spoke bits of English, French, Arabic, Kurdish, Italian, German and or course, Turkish. A waiter who spoke brilliant English at one restaurant had also picked up Swedish and Norwegian just to be a better waiter in the tourist district! On the plane, I had a delightful conversation with two businessmen who had just purchased seventeen pairs of Italian leather shoes in Milan. No, these men were not rich. In fact, these men were not even going to wear the shoes. These Turkish entrepreneurs were intent upon copying Milan's latest styles in their factory at home, where labor is cheaper than in the European Union. I was fascinated by these businessmen's tale of globalization, but somewhat less enthusiastic about their not-so-subtle attempt to convert me to Islam (that being said, the recitation of the 99 names of Allah was, admittedly, quite lovely!).

Chestnuts Roasting, Taksim

Fishermen

Call to Prayer

01.01.2009: In the central square of Bologna, the community gathered to celebrate the new year by incinerating a large anthropomorphic rat (?) in effigy.

I don't know the cultural reference here-- it's a medieval town, so perhaps it has something to do with bubonic plague.

I had thought that the Syrian Christians of Maaloula were the rowdiest people ever to have fireworks, but Italy just proved me wrong.

I was nearly hit by an errant firework, but the two girls next to me had their hair singed by the blast. If I may make a humble suggestion to the Bolognese, when given the choice between buying large fireworks and making small fireworks appear larger by exploding them close, then spend the extra money and stick with the big ones, please.

09.11.2008:This weekend, I flew to Damascus to visit a dear friend of mine whose name I cannot mention for fear of reprisal. After Q received death threats for having worked with me in Baghdad, he was forced to flee his home with his wife and children. It is very difficult for Iraqis to obtain visas to non-arab countries, evenT after these Iraqis risk their lives to provide services to people in the American-led coalition. Of all the countries neighboring Iraq, Syria has proven to be the most open and welcoming to its beleaguered neighbors.

When I arrived in Damascus, my Iraqi friend and his brother-in-law met me at the airport. The weekend was an extraordinary whirlwind tour of the way these iraqis live. For many reasons, my preconceptions of refugee camps were shattered by the reality of how these displaced families actually live. (I've published a short description of this on The Daily Beast, so I won't repeat myself here).

Of the whole journey, the most shocking thing to me was when we chartered a Taxi and started driving out into the desert. Aside from an uncanny storm with lightning and hail and rain that threatened to wash out the roads, our destination proved to be even more mysterious and amazing...

The canyon-walled city of Maaloula lays in the midst of the Syrian sands as a bastion of Christianity among a largely Muslim population. This striking night-time landscape reveals hundreds of neon crosses scattered throughout the city. A large stature of the Virgin Mary towers over the cliffs above.

On the very night I arrived in Maaloula, tens of thousands of Syrian and Iraqi Christian Arabs celebrated their festival of St. Cross by setting alight thousands of fireworks, by dancing in the streets and with prayer.

06.27.2008: Barack Obama's campaign made a surprising invitation for regular Americans to contribute to their political process. At this invitation, I hosted a campaign platform meeting in D.C. to discuss the concepts of Energy Independence and Globally Sustainable Interdependence. The discussion was supplemented by many interesting and intelligent people, ranging from grad students to a World Bank official to a former energy advisor to President Carter. The suggestions from the group provided me with a great deal of help in articulating the differences between Energy Independence and Globally Sustainable Interdependence in policy. In short, energy independence has evolved into a fear-based ideology that divides people, whereas sustainable interdependence unites people under a more realistic and attainable strategic framework for solving the world's interconnected energy problems. Obama's campaign staff read the work that I drafted with the help of this group, and the campaign invited me to join their energy/environmental committee. Sadly, I had to decline, since I was in the process of moving to Italy for grad school. Still, I look forward to working with the administration in the future!

The results of this work are explained in my upcoming book, but I also hope to publish a white-paper on this topic within the next year, since the book is more of a personal narrative than an academic text.

A ball game at the Washington Monument

06.15.2008: This is my friend, Alfredo. We first met in Baghdad in 2006 while Alfredo was working for an American security contractor and guarding the Saddam Hussein's Presidential Palace. Despite the fact that his job was quite dangerous, he was paid according to Peruvian wage standards ($25 per day) while his monolingual American supervisors raked in six figure salaries for roughly the same work. Alfredo and his colleagues were sometimes abused by their employers, who were accused of violating American Slave Labor laws. Alfred now works for an American cruise liner, but his Peruvian citizenship means that he doesn't receive worker protections or fair wages, even though it's an American company (what happens at sea stays at sea, right?).

This picture was taken in Baltimore, where Alfredo was granted a few hours of shore leave to purchase toiletries and lunch. Alfredo's non-stop month of 14-hour days nets him $800. Enjoy those cruises folks, and don't forget the little guys-- a small tip would mean a lot!