As I am about to move to another continent, I’ve found two sets of activities in America profoundly disturbing.  First, the condemnation of a proposed Muslim multi-cultural center several blocks away from Ground Zero ; second, advocates for repealing the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution enacted in 1878 to grant citizenship to Africans who had been brought [...]
As a board member of the World Policy Institute I heard my SheSource colleague Patricia DeGennaro, an expert on National Security issues, describe recent efforts to improve civilian-military cooperation in Afghanistan. She outlined a comprehensive update of the “whole of governance” philosophy and practice that integrates defense, diplomacy and development as integral, inter-related components to [...]
I am keeping in mind exhortations for peace, especially Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s words, “Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” As we commemorate the 37th anniversary of Salt II, Iran plans to build ten new uranium enrichment plants.   Many Americans have [...]
At 4:58am Archbishop Desmond Tutu sent me an email about President Barack Obama being the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.   Tutu used the affectionate terms by which I call him and his wife Leah and the one we use for fellow Nobel Peace Laureate President Nelson Mandela in writing, “Leah was crying with joy [...]
I’d worked with diplomats and women’s rights activists from several nations to promote the passage in 2000 of 1325, a UN Security Council Resolution that mandates the protection, participation and promotion of women and their involvement in all aspects of peace processes. Last week, during the opening of 64th UN General Assembly, I attended “Peace and Security through Women’s Leadership: Acting [...]
Today my husband Jerry Dunfey and I visited Arlington Cemetary to pay our respects at the graveside of Senator Edward M “Ted” Kennedy and his brothers US President John F. Kennedy and US Senator Robert F Kennedy. Having been at Ted’s funeral Aug 29, we wanted to say good sailing to our friend. I was struck [...]
Dear friend and champion of every issue of importance in the 20th and start of the 21st century, you will be so missed by so many.  The world knows you as the unmatched “Lion of the US Senate”: you are ONE in a lifetime and your loss is irreplaceable.  Those privileged to call you friend, know your passion and [...]
Women and girls are the key to sustainable development and have the capacity to resolve myriad crisis that plague our world. I applaud the many insightful articles in today’s The New York Times Magazine with the cover “Why Women’s Rights Are the Cause of Our Time” (emphasis my own). I have been an advocate of [...]
I’ve been reflecting on how my international work and relationships with people globally mirrors what I have made my “extended family”.  Immaculée Ilibagiza, who survived the Rwandan genocide in a three- by four-foot hidden room with seven other women for 91 days, and Helen Silberberg (1927-2207), my cousin’s mother-in-law who survived the Holocaust in a [...]
I looked around the table at the dinner Ambassador Lindiwe Mabuza, South Africa’s High Commissioner to the UK, had hosted in honor of my husband and me on Mandela’s birthday in tribute to our long history of support for South Africa’s freedom. While I simply had invited friends who I knew in London, I saw [...]