The Foreign Service Journal, March 2023

18 MARCH 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Site of the Month: Sharp Power Research Portal ( https://sharppower.org) T he Sharp Power Research Portal is a free interactive digital tool that tracks how authoritarian actors in five countries (China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates) use repression techniques abroad. As a resource hub for journalists, researchers, activists, and policymakers, the website illuminates how authoritarian powers influence societies and institutions beyond their borders. With its searchable database (in five languages) of catalogued research and an interactive world map, this tool is designed to help democratic stakeholders counter the increasing threat of authoritarianism. It fea- tures examples and analyses of the scale and impact around the world of authoritarian “sharp power,” or initiatives like monopolizing ideas, limiting free expression, and distorting the political environment. Recent resources include analysis of Chinese Communist Party influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iran’s growing reach in Latin America. The portal is run by the National Endowment for Democracy’s Interna- tional Forum for Democratic Studies. The appearance of a particular site or podcast is for information only and does not constitute an endorsement. DODVIAPINGNEWS Hostage Crisis (Nov. 4, 1979–Jan. 21, 1981) in recognition of their bravery and endurance throughout their captivity. The law, introduced in August 2021 by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), hon- ors the diplomats, servicemembers, and civilians who spent 444 days in captivity after the U.S. embassy was overrun. According to the text of the act, the recipients of the award “are heroes in every sense of the word. They are role models who wore their pride in the United States with esteem and have allowed for subsequent generations to appreciate the blessing of living in the United States.” GAO: Embassies at Risk Due to Climate Change T he Government Accountability Office (GAO) informed Congress in October 2022 that numerous embassies are facing extreme risks from climate change. The letter fromGAO to the Senate Com- mittee on Foreign Relations states that GAO used data from the Bureau of Over- seas Building Operations (OBO) to identify 32 embassies that are at the highest risk of being affected by natural disasters such as coastal flooding, extreme wind and heat, earthquakes, and tsunamis. According to the report, Embassy The report was compiled in response to President Biden’s May 2021 executive order for a governmentwide assessment of climate change risks to national security. Embassy Havana Resumes Visa Services O n Jan. 4, the U.S. embassy in Havana resumed visa services for the first time since 2017, when the embassy was ordered to draw down after a string of unexplained health anomalies, also known as Havana syndrome. With the embassy closed, thousands of Cubans seeking to come to the United States were forced to travel across the Flor- ida Straits or fly to Central America and travel overland. The number of Cubans detained while trying to cross the border without proper documentation soared. On Jan. 27, 1981, recently freed Americans held hostage by Iran disembarked Freedom One, an Air Force aircraft, upon their arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. Manila, which has already flooded twice in the last decade, faces the highest risk from climate change–related disasters. Several of the largest embassies top the risk list , including Baghdad, Beijing, Mexico City, and Cairo.