Meridian Reads: Here’s what you should know

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#MeridianReads

Welcome to the very first #MeridianReads, a weekly roundup of everything you should know to stay competitive during your water cooler chats at work. Don’t want to read the full article? That’s fine — we did it for you. The top three takeaways are below the link along with relevant work we’ve done. Sit back, relax and enjoy your new Sunday morning routine. Inside the State Department’s international fashion show Publication: Vox | By Rebecca Jennings (@rebexxxa) The Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide hosted “Glamour and Diplomacy,” which celebrates contemporary designers from around the world. 22 countries...

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The Louvre Abu Dhabi: Balancing Art & Architecture

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First view under the dome that most people get when arriving. No, it's not a rendering. Photo ©Darren Bradley

The following blog was originally published on Darren Bradley’s website to highlight the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Darren Bradley was a participant in a week long cultural delegation to the UAE, organized by the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates and Meridian International Center. The delegation consisted of public figures, art collectors, and select museum and gallery professionals from around the United States. This blog post was written by Darren Bradley.  Architect Jean Nouvel’s latest creation, the National Museum of Qatar, just opened to much fanfare and images of this new project are flooding my instagram feed as I write this....

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Standing with New Zealand

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The national flag was flown at half-staff on Friday outside the Parliament building in Wellington.CreditMarty Melville/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The entire Meridian community is shocked and saddened to learn of the devastation caused by the shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. Through our international exchange and cultural diplomacy initiatives, Meridian works to advance the freedom of expression and ideas to achieve greater mutual understanding of the world’s diversity of people and cultures, including religion. Our thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.

Why should corporate leaders learn to think like diplomats?

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Brad Knox, Vice President and Counselor for Federal Affairs at Aflac, participates in Meridian's Corporate Diplomacy Training program.

Meridian International Center has launched its Corporate Diplomacy Training program where we equip corporate leaders across industries and sectors with the diplomatic tactics, strategy and insights to succeed in a competitive global business environment while enhancing leadership skills and advancing multilateral cooperation. We sat down with Brad Knox, Vice President and Counselor for Federal Affairs at Aflac, to get his feedback on the program. Meridian International Center: Six months ago you and fellow members of Aflac’s federal relations team participated in a four-part corporate diplomacy training at Meridian. How was the experience? Brad Knox: When you tell your team you’re going to...

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From Participant to Programmer: Meridian IVLP Alumnus on Exchanges with Meridian

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Manuel Comeron (bottom) pictured with the American delegation meeting with the Liège Police Force during the Community Connections program

In the fall of 2018, Mr. Manuel Comeron, an alumnus of the 2017 Meridian International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) entitled “Strong Cities: Building Community Resilience to Radicalization and Violent Extremism,” was a programming partner for the Community Connections program. This iteration of Community Connections is a two-part international exchange program between Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee and Liège and Verviers, Belgium during which rising American and Belgian leaders in violence prevention exchange best practices in countering violent extremism. In the first part of the program, Mr. Comeron organized a one-week program in Liège for 8 American NGO leaders, government officials,...

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