HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

From all of us here at NIAC, happy Independence Day!

Day 1 with NIAC

One of the great aspects of America is that we have many different cultures and identities living together in relative harmony. As a democracy, the American political institution functions best when citizens participate. The Iranian-American community may be small, but as an important minority it is our duty as US citizens to engage in American civic life. Unfortunately, the Iranian community is largely politically inactive, but non-partisan organizations like NIAC have sought to encourage the community to engage in American civic life to a greater extent.

Move forward, not back

Being an Iranian, raised in Sweden and now living in the United States, I have had the pleasure to experience the Iranian community in these two countries as well as many others. What I have discovered is a common similarity among all Iranian regardless of where we live. Even though there are of course many similarities between us, there is one in particular that has really grabbed my attention; that is our lack of involvement in the political arena.

First Day at NIAC

It is my first day interning at NIAC and I am very excited to be here. I am from Scotland and attend St Andrews University but I have been in America since last August on my junior year abroad. Studying in the U.S. has been a fantastic experience and one that has opened many doors for me, not least because of the opportunity to intern in Washington, D.C.

From these introductory remarks it is obvious that I am not Iranian American. Nevertheless, I found a placement at NIAC extremely appealing for a number of reasons. First, my major is International Relations and consequently the issues that NIAC deals with are relevant for this area of study. I hope that interning here will better my understanding of U.S. foreign policy, as well as civil society and its influence over policy making. More specifically, the issues that NIAC deals with pertain to my major and are important from an international affairs point of view. For instance, its efforts to highlight human rights abuses in Iran; I wish I could have been around when NIAC held its conference on “Human Rights in Iran and U.S. Policy Options” since I am especially interested in this topic.

Official Launch: Welcome to NIACinSight

Fellow NIAC members,

 

Welcome to NIAC’s official blog!

Over the past year, we have seen tremendous growth here in DC going from 3 full-time employees in January of 2007 to eight currently working out of our offices.  This growth and the extensive support of the community has meant that we have a lot more information we would like to share with you and a need to have more lines of communication to our members.

Through this blog, we will be able to share insights about the “behind-the-scenes” dealings in DC that go beyond the range of topics covered in our newsletter and website. Furthermore, the blog is meant to engage Iranian-Americans, as well as the broader American public, in an ongoing discussion about current issues important to our community.

Smells Like Desperation, Michael Rubin

Michael Rubin must really be scared. Actually the whole neo-con establishment must be, as they’ve pulled out big guns to attack my organization, the National Iranian American Council, and its allies for defending the wishes of Iranian pro-democracy and human rights activists.

(Follow the link to read the rest of this article which was first posted on the Huffington Post)

Topics we intend to cover

As our community matures in its collective political awareness, the most important ingredient to becoming effective in impacting the discourse among policy makers is to be well-informed.

At NIAC, we have decided to launch this blog mainly to provide you information and to engage in you in increased activism. I want to introduce the three individuals who will be posting most of the commentary and what they will be highlighting.

Follow me below to meet the editors of NIAC’s blog and to find out what type of stories we plan on sharing with you…

Pre-Launch of NIAC’s Blog

The purpose of this blog is to share insights and answer questions about NIAC that go beyond the range of topics covered in our newsletter and website. More importantly, the blog is meant to engage the Iranian American community, as well as the rest of the American population to engage in ongoing discussions about current issues important to the Iranian American community.

It should be noted that opinions and comments posted on this blog do not necessarily reflect NIAC’s views; they are the thoughts and reflections of individuals. NIAC encourages participants to maintain respect for all writers, posters, and commentators.

While we welcome open dialogue, obscenity, personal attacks, and threats will not be tolerated. NIAC reserves the right to remove any comments that that cross the boundaries of constructive dialogue.