The Foreign Service Journal, June 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2017 17 L obeLog.com is a blog focusing on U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East. It provides daily perspectives from a range of experts, many of whom are currently living and working in the region. The blog is named after its founder, veteran journalist Jim Lobe, who served as theWashington, D.C., correspondent and chief of the Washington bureau of Inter Press Service (IPS) from 1980 to 1985. He has also written for a number of publications and lectures occa- sionally on neoconservative ideology, the Bush administration and U.S. foreign policy. LobeLog has more than 50 regular contributors, including former For- eign Service officers from the United States, the United Kingdom and France, as well as academics and pro- fessors from universities around the world. Together, they provide a range of opinions from different viewpoints, adding to the overall understanding of a complex region. The blog is regarded as a “must- read” site on Iran by The Economist and, in 2015, became the first blog to be honored with the Arthur Ross Award for Distinguished Reporting and Analysis of Foreign Affairs by the American Academy of Diplomacy. Users of the site can search for relevant articles by category and author, and all posts are also arranged in an archive by month. Each post has a section for com- ments and discussion of the topics it raises. SITE OF THE MONTH: www.LobeLog.com “word cloud.” The idea of creating a word cloud has not played well on social media, with many mocking that aspect of the initiative. The survey has been followed by phone interviews with 300 randomly selected employees representative of a cross-section of the State and USAID workforce. The survey and listening tour are part of a departmental review being con- ducted by Insigniam, a management con- sulting firm. CBS has reported that the exercise will cost more than $1.1 million. —Gemma Dvorak, Associate Editor Mark Green Nominated as USAID Administrator O n May 10, the White House nomi- nated Mark Andrew Green to be USAID Administrator. If confirmed, the four-term Republican congressman will take over USAID at a crucial time, as global humanitarian crises are mount- ing and the agency faces the possibility of significant budget cuts and drastic restructuring. Following six years in the Wisconsin State Assembly, Mark Green was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the 8th district of Wisconsin in 1998.