European Visitors Make Connections in Unexpected Places in the U.S.

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The group of Young European leaders arrives at Meridian International Center in Washington, DC. (Photo Courtesy of Philip Brown)

If you’re looking for a place to partake meaningful dialogue with Europeans leaders, you might want to try North Dakota. Earlier this summer, 15 young European leaders and professionals mingled with local residents in the small, but growing, town of Minot, North Dakota. The European visitors participated in a United States Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) project, administered by Meridian International Center. The purpose of the project was for these young leaders to witness and converse about current political, social, and economic issues in the United States. and similar issues faced by their home countries. Why...

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Special Relationships: UK MPs Shadow US Reps Around the Country

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Four Members of UK Parliament come to the United States with the 37th British-American Parliamentary Group exchange program.

You may have heard of the “special relationship” between the United States and United Kingdom (UK).

The term sounds rather mystical, but is actually based on over 200 years of political, cultural, economic, and military relations between the two countries. It characterizes the nations’ close cooperation and alignment, most famously emphasized by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in his 1946 speech, “The Sinews of Peace.”

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Swedish and U.S. Law Enforcement Counter Violent Extremism

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Swedish Police meet with U.S. counterparts from Emergence Group.

In June of 2013, Meridian International Center hosted six Swedish law enforcement officials seeking to curb the effects of violent extremism in their respective municipalities. These officers represented all geographic and cultural corners of Sweden– small towns, large suburbs and bustling cities. They came to Washington, DC with a large appetite for knowledge of our law enforcement tactics and strategies to employ in their hometowns. Our group was inquisitive, intelligent and intellectually curious. Sweden is part of a global initiative led by the U.S. Department of State to counter violent extremism. The visit was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy...

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Announcing the Mural Arts Exchange Artists

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Artist selections for the upcoming Community Engagement through the Arts: Mural Arts Exchange with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State

The Meridian Center for Cultural Diplomacy (MCCD) is pleased to announce its artist selections for the upcoming Community Engagement through the Arts: Mural Arts Exchange with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Each participant will travel to one of four countries to carry out collaborative murals with local artists representing underserved populations. These shared murals will be designed during each 3.5-week exchange program and will depict social themes that are relevant to each country. Continue  

Small Footprints, Quantum Leaps: A Zimbabwean Fellow’s U.S. Experience

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Gerald visits the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

Written by Gerald Mangena, Founder of Great Mountains and Spring 2014 Professional Fellows from Zimbabwe As many people and organizations continue to seek refined and more effective ways of contributing to the development of the continent as a whole, quite a high number of varied exchange programs almost everywhere in the world have sprung but the Meridian International Center’s Business and Entrepreneurship Exchange Program (BEEP) is in a league of its own. There could not have been a better way of empowering emerging business leaders than through an exchange program of this caliber. The greatest part about this program...

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