Dr. Anthony Honored by the Sultanate of Oman

Posted on June 5, 2018 by NCUSAR

SULTANATE OF OMAN RECOGNIZES NATIONAL COUNCIL ON U.S.-ARAB RELATIONS PRESIDENT AND CEO DR. JOHN DUKE ANTHONY AT A SPECIAL EVENT IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL

Washington, DC: Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President and CEO of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, was recognized by the Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman in Washington, D.C., on May 24, 2018, at their Fifth Annual Ramadan Iftar Celebration (an Islamic dinner marking the end of a day’s fasting observed by devout Muslims worldwide). The recognition singled out Dr. Anthony’s special contributions as an educator and practitioner of public diplomacy regarding the Arab countries, the Middle East, and the Islamic world.

National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Founding President and CEO Dr. John Duke Anthony with Her Excellency Hunaina Al-Mughairy, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to the United States and Vice-Dean of the Arab Ambassadors to the United States, and Embassy of Oman Information Attaché Ms. Hanan Al Kindi. Photo: National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.

Included among the event’s distinguished guests were the highest-ranking U.S. Department of State official responsible for America’s relations with the Arab region, Arab government officials, including the Arab world’s first-ever Minister for Human Rights, current and recently retired U.S. Ambassadors, additional representatives of the U.S. Departments of Defense and State, members of the international diplomatic corps, representatives of Fortune 100 Corporations, international media networks, and numerous foreign affairs specialists, together with political and religious leaders.

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Twenty-Second Annual Oman Cultural Immersion Program – February 21-March 7, 2018

Posted on October 31, 2017 by NCUSAR

Applications Now Being Accepted for the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’

Twenty-Second Annual Oman Cultural Immersion Program

February 21 – March 7, 2018

The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations is pleased to offer, through its Joseph J. Malone Fellowship in Arab and Islamic Studies Program, the Twenty-Second Annual Oman Cultural Immersion study visit to the Sultanate of Oman, February 23 – March 7, 2018. Fellows are required to participate in and complete a pre-departure orientation in Washington, D.C. to be held on February 21-22. This unique opportunity will provide a privileged first hand exposure to one of the Arab world’s most demographically, geographically, and socially diverse countries.

The National Council is currently accepting applications to participate in this study visit. APPLY NOW!

MALONE FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION

American professionals in academia, government, the military, non-governmental organizations, business, religious institutions, the media, civic associations, as well as the fine arts, humanities, and the social sciences are invited to apply.

The Twenty-Second Annual Oman Cultural Immersion study visit will provide participants an educational experience that few Westerners and even fewer Americans have had. The program is choreographed to provide Malone Fellows an unparalleled diverse exposure to Oman — one of the most historically and culturally rich of all Arab and Islamic societies. Until relatively recent times, the Sultanate languished in its status as one of the most forgotten corners of all Arabia. Anyone in doubt about the extraordinary opportunity that being able to visit Oman in this manner presents need only consult any of the several National Geographic Magazine features on the country in the past two decades.

End Pictures: inlaid Islamic niches at the Grand Mosque in Oman’s Capital Territory; Middle Pictures: Bedouin Omani girls in the Sharqiyyah Sands.

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Carolinas Committee on U.S.-Arab Relations Spring 2017 “NEWSLINES”

Posted on June 15, 2017 by NCUSAR

The Carolinas Committee on U.S.-Arab Relations (CCUSAR), with Dr. Joe P. Dunn serving as Director, is an initiative of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. Dr. Dunn is an alumni of the Malone Fellowship in Arab and Islamic Studies Program, the coordinator of the Southeast Model Arab League, and the faculty advisor heading the Converse College Model Arab League program.

CCUSAR recently published its Spring 2017 “NEWSLINES” newsletter, available for download through the link below.

DOWNLOAD “CCUSAR NEWSLINES (Spring 2017)” [PDF]

Twenty-First Annual Oman Cultural Immersion Program — February 22 – March 8, 2017

Posted on December 5, 2016 by NCUSAR

Applications Now Being Accepted for the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’

Twenty-First Annual Oman Cultural Immersion Program

February 22 – March 8, 2017

The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations is pleased to offer, through its Joseph J. Malone Fellowship in Arab and Islamic Studies Program, the Twenty-First Annual Oman Cultural Immersion study visit to the Sultanate of Oman, February 24 – March 8, 2017. Fellows are required to participate in and complete a pre-departure orientation in Washington, D.C. to be held on February 22-23. This unique opportunity will provide a privileged first hand exposure to one of the Arab world’s most demographically, geographically, and socially diverse countries.

The National Council is currently accepting applications to participate in this study visit. APPLY NOW!

MALONE FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION

The Twenty-First Annual Oman Cultural Immersion study visit will provide participants an educational experience that few Westerners and even fewer Americans have had. The program is choreographed to provide Malone Fellows an unparalleled diverse exposure to Oman — one of the most historically and culturally rich of all Arab and Islamic societies. Until relatively recent times, the Sultanate languished in its status as one of the most forgotten corners of all Arabia. Anyone in doubt about the extraordinary opportunity that being able to visit Oman in this manner presents need only consult any of the several National Geographic Magazine features on the country in the past two decades.

End Pictures: inlaid Islamic niches at the Grand Mosque in Oman’s Capital Territory; Middle Pictures: Bedouin Omani girls in the Sharqiyyah Sands.

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Carolinas Committee on U.S.-Arab Relations Spring 2016 “NEWSLINES”

Posted on June 15, 2016 by NCUSAR

CCUSAR recently published its Spring 2016 “NEWSLINES” newsletter, available for download through the link below.

DOWNLOAD “CCUSAR NEWSLINES (Spring 2016)” [PDF]

Oman: The Pearl of Arabia

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Paige Peterson

Arriving in the Sultanate of Oman you feel as if you are on a Hollywood set. Orderly. Vast. Visually breathtaking. Often visitors liken it to Disneyland. Controlled. Well-organized, meticulously maintained public grounds. Friendly. Happy. Helpful. Tolerant. No litter. No vagrancy. No graffiti. No terrorism. No violence. No radicalism. No unsafe areas. Did I mention exquisitely clean…It is all this and more.

Oman is an Arabian dreamscape. I’ve never seen such well-planned urban development. Architectural details are carefully mandated here. Many of the buildings are 46 years young; they’re well thought out in placement and accessibility. Even the street lamps in the cities and on the highways are lyrically beautiful in their repetitive form. There is something calming and reassuring about this consistent elegance.

The Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development building in Muscat.

This tranquility is the hallmark of the capital city of Muscat. Muscat means “place of anchorage.” There you find a visual feast of stylish, controlled, and unified structures that underpin the deliberately skyscraper-free skyline. Here a hyper white Arab style of architecture is juxtaposed against the rough rocky landscape of the Hajar Mountains and the blue Gulf of Oman. Oman is an architectural treasure in Arabia.

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Arabia to Asia: The Myths of an American “Pivot” and Whether or Not There’s a U.S. Strategy Toward the GCC Region

Posted on April 22, 2016 by John Duke Anthony

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That the foreign policies of various governments often appear to be confusing or contradictory is because they frequently are. During Barack Obama’s presidency, such inconsistency has seemed to characterize aspects of America’s relations with the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The ambiguity and uncertainty that accompanies it is among the things that Obama has sought to dispel and clarify in the course successively of his March 2014 visit to Saudi Arabia, his May 2015 summit at Camp David with senior leaders of all six GCC countries, and his mid-April 2016 attendance at a similar meeting with leaders of the same countries. As this essay seeks to demonstrate, what he has had to contend with – and what others of late have had to contend with regarding aspects of his administration — in terms of background, context, and perspective has not been easy of resolution, amelioration, or even abatement.

Assumptions, Ambitions, and Abilities

Dating from before and since these high-level GCC-U.S. meetings, Washington has taken steps to strengthen and extend America’s overall position and influence in the GCC region. A principal means for doing so has been through the GCC-U.S. Strategic Dialogue.[1] But one example among several was when former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, along with Secretary of State John Kerry, came with approvals for billions of dollars in sales of U.S.-manufactured defense and security structures, systems, technology, and arms to GCC countries, together with long-term munitions and maintenance contracts.

President Barack Obama attends a U.S.-GCC summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in April 2016. Photo: Saudi Press Agency.

Yet, simultaneously, signals from Washington and the mainstream U.S. media before and since Obama’s meetings with his GCC counterparts have not always been as clear as the signalers thought would or should be the case. That said, what specialists have had no doubt about for some time is that the Obama administration is recalibrating the strategic focus of its international priorities in hopes of being able to accomplish two objectives at the same time. One objective has been, and continues to be, a steadfast resolve to remain committed to the security, stability, and prospects for prosperity in the GCC region. The other has been and remains a parallel determination to emphasize the Asia-Pacific regions.

Affecting the need for such a recalibration have been major U.S. budget reductions and their impact on strategic concepts, forces, and operational dynamics. At issue and under examination in this regard, according to the Secretary of Defense in advance of the most recent Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), are, and for the foreseeable future will continue to be, America’s assumptions, ambitions, and abilities.

Understandably, the GCC region’s reaction to these trends and indications was and continues to be mixed.

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Twentieth Annual Oman Cultural Immersion Program — February 17 – March 2, 2016

Posted on December 21, 2015 by NCUSAR

Applications Now Being Accepted for the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’

Twentieth Annual Oman Cultural Immersion Program

February 17 – March 2, 2016

The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations is pleased to offer, through its Joseph J. Malone Fellowship in Arab and Islamic Studies Program, the Twentieth Annual Oman Cultural Immersion study visit to the Sultanate of Oman, February 19 – March 2, 2016. Fellows are required to participate in and complete a pre-departure orientation in Washington, D.C. to be held on February 17-18. This unique opportunity will provide a privileged first hand exposure to one of the Arab world’s most demographically, geographically, and socially diverse countries.

The National Council is currently accepting applications to participate in this study visit. APPLY NOW!

MALONE FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION

The Twentieth Annual Oman Cultural Immersion study visit will provide participants an educational experience that few Westerners and even fewer Americans have had. The program is choreographed to provide Malone Fellows an unparalleled diverse exposure to Oman — one of the most historically and culturally rich of all Arab and Islamic societies. Until relatively recent times, the Sultanate languished in its status as one of the most forgotten corners of all Arabia. Anyone in doubt about the extraordinary opportunity that being able to visit Oman in this manner presents need only consult any of the several National Geographic Magazine features on the country in the past two decades.