#Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

[pettytiredandjewish]

IMPORTANT

Hey- To those who works in museums and libraries:

Trump just signed an executive order to dismantle the institute of museum and library services

(and six other federal agencies: the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and the Minority Business Development Agency.)

Please spread the word

[trump-executive-orders]

Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy

Issued March 14, 2025.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Purpose.  This order continues the reduction in the elements of the Federal bureaucracy that the President has determined are unnecessary.

Sec. 2.  Reducing the Scope of the Federal Bureaucracy.

(a)  Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the non-statutory components and functions of the following governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law:

(i)    the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service;

(ii)   the United States Agency for Global Media;

(iii)  the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution;

(iv)   the Institute of Museum and Library Services;

(v)    the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness;

(vi)   the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund; and

(vii)  the Minority Business Development Agency.

(b)  Within 7 days of the date of this order, the head of each governmental entity listed in subsection (a) of this section shall submit a report to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget confirming full compliance with this order and explaining which components or functions of the governmental entity, if any, are statutorily required and to what extent.

(c)  In reviewing budget requests submitted by the governmental entities listed in subsection (a) of this section, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget or the head of any executive department or agency charged with reviewing grant requests by such entities shall, to the extent consistent with applicable law and except insofar as necessary to effectuate an expected termination, reject funding requests for such governmental entities to the extent they are inconsistent with this order.

Sec. 3.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or  the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

[youthchronical]

Trump Orders Gutting of 7 Agencies, Including Voice of America’s Parent

President Trump signed an executive order on Friday seeking to dismantle seven additional federal agencies, including the one that oversees Voice of America and other government-funded media outlets around the world. Mr. Trump directed the heads of the agencies, largely obscure entities that address issues like labor mediation and homelessness prevention, to eliminate all functions that are not…

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

At 10:44 p.m. last night, after the CR got through the Senate, Trump issued an executive order to eliminate "to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law" the following agencies:

- The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service - The United States Agency for Global Media - The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution - The Institute of Museum and Library Services - The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness - The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund - The Minority Business Development Agency

[Robert Scott Horton]

[deathcupcake]

And here comes the full history erasure/revisionism. Remind me why we didn't go full steam into a shutdown?

The EO last night goes after more nonpartisan knowledge dissemination, ordering dismantling:

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Wilson Center)

What they do: This think tank, part of the Smithsonian Institution, provides research, dialogue, and policy recommendations on global affairs. It brings together scholars, policymakers, and the public to address key national and international challenges through nonpartisan research and discussion.

How the elimination will affect the American People: Without the Wilson Center, policymakers and the public would lose a key nonpartisan research institution that helps inform critical domestic and international decisions. Rural policymakers and organizations would lose access to nonpartisan research and policy insights that help shape solutions for issues like rural healthcare, economic development, and environmental policy.

Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)

What they do: The IMLS is the primary federal agency that provides grants, funding, and policy guidance to museums and libraries across the U.S. It supports innovation, accessibility, and lifelong learning initiatives in cultural and educational institutions.

How the elimination will affect the American People: Defunding IMLS would weaken support for libraries and museums, reducing public access to educational resources, lifelong learning programs, and cultural preservation efforts. Small-town libraries and museums, which rely on IMLS grants for technology access, educational programs, and cultural preservation, would struggle to maintain services, widening the digital and educational divide in rural areas.

All small museums and libraries (and many of the large ones) can expect nothing short of decimation if they don't adhere to the bullshit regime revisionism. This administration wants to reduce everyone's (including the world's) access to information and to spread only their propaganda.

Nothing's going to save our actual cultural heritage if we don't fight back.

If it isn't commodifiable, it's worthless. /s

[autumngracy]

President Trump signed an executive order on Friday seeking to dismantle seven additional federal agencies, including the one that oversees Voice of America and other government-funded media outlets around the world. Mr. Trump directed the heads of the agencies, largely obscure entities that address issues like labor mediation and homelessness prevention, to eliminate all functions that are not statutorily mandated. The leaders should also “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law,” the order said. Like many of the president’s moves in his wide-ranging effort to shrink the government, the order appears to test the bounds of his authority. Voice of America’s parent, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, for example, is congressionally chartered as an independent agency, and Congress passed a law in 2020 intended to limit the power of the agency’s presidentially appointed chief executive. Some of the Trump administration’s moves to slash agencies have been halted by federal judges, including on Thursday, when a pair of court rulings called for agencies to reinstate likely thousands of federal employees who were fired last month because they had probationary status. In an opinion issued Friday evening, a federal judge in California made clear he did not believe the administration’s claims that federal agencies were acting of their own accord when they fired those probationary employees. Judge William H. Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California listed more than a dozen examples of officials telling employees that the mass firings had been carried out at the behest of the Office of Personnel Management. In addition to Voice of America, the Agency for Global Media funds Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. The organization, with a budget of roughly $270 million and more than 2,000 employees, broadcasts in 49 languages. It has a weekly estimated audience of more than 361 million people. By Saturday morning, many journalists and other employees at Voice of America were informed they were being placed on administrative leave, according to an email reviewed by The New York Times. Journalists there said the cuts were so widespread that they would effectively shut down the international broadcaster. The media outlets are intended to provide unbiased news to audiences around the world, but Mr. Trump has criticized its editorial decisions since his first term. Mr. Trump had already stirred fears at the agency by tapping Kari Lake, a fierce loyalist who ran unsuccessfully for governor and Senate in Arizona, to serve as a special adviser there. The other agencies Mr. Trump targeted Friday are the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which works to prevent and resolve work stoppages and labor disputes; the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a nonpartisan think tank; the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which funds and supports museums, libraries and archives; the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, which works to prevent and end homelessness; the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which provides financial assistance to struggling communities; and the Minority Business Development Agency, which aims to bolster minority-owned businesses. Within seven days, the heads of the entities are required to submit to Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, their plans for complying with the order and outline which of their functions are statutorily required.

Since Mr. Trump took office, the billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency have sought to drastically reshape the federal government by cutting staff and programs. On Tuesday, the Education Department announced it was firing more than 1,300 workers, and after hundreds accepted separation packages, the agency is set to be left with roughly half the number of employees that it started the year with. Mr. Musk’s group has trumpeted saving taxpayers billions of dollars, though its claims have been undermined by posting error-filled data.

[richardnixonlibrary]

#OTD 2/18/1971 President Nixon attended the official dedication ceremony for the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars at the Smithsonian Institute. The Wilson Center was created by the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Act of 1968. In 1998, the Center moved to its permanent home in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Wilson Center “is the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum for tackling global issues through independent research and open dialogue to inform actionable ideas for the policy community.” (Image: WHPO-5693-14)

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Haleh Esfandiari

Haleh Esfandiari was born in Iran in 1940. Esfandiari was a journalist in her native country, as well as Deputy Secretary General of the Women's Organization of Iran. She has taught at Oxford and Princeton, and was founding director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In 2009, Esfandiari published a memoir, My Prison, My Home, an account of her arrest by Iranian authorities and the 105 days she spent in solitary confinement in Evin Prison in Tehran. She is also the author of Reconstructed Lives: Women and Iran's Islamic Revolution.

[jadestormcloud2]

"As outlined by the executive order, Trump selected these seven agencies as he determined them "unnecessary."

...

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service provides conflict management services for enhancing labor-management relationships.

...

The U.S. Agency for Global Media oversees all U.S. non-military, international broadcasting.

...

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution, commonly known as just the Wilson Center, conducts research and provides nonpartisan counsel on global affairs to policymakers internationally.

...

Through grants, research and policy development, the Institute of Museum and Library Services supports museums, libraries, archives and other similar organizations through the United States.

...

The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness coordinates a federal response to homelessness, working to create partnerships with government agencies and in the private sector

....

Part of the U.S. Department of Treasury, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund promotes economic revitalization and community development in underserved communities throughout the country.

...

The Minority Business Development Agency aims to promote growth among Minority Business Enterprises, or MBEs, by providing technical assistance programs.

[stephen-barry]

Trump orders elimination of 7 federal agencies, including USAGM... www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-orders-elimination-of-seven-federal-agencies-including-usagm/ar-AA1AYSSM

Example: The Kennan Institute is the premier U.S. center for advanced research on Russia & Eurasia and the oldest & largest regional program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute

[pettytiredandjewish]

To all my Jews who works in museums and libraries/relies on this agency (or currently working on degrees in these fields):

Trump just signed an executive order to dismantle the institute of museum and library services.

The institute of museum and library services is a federal agency that provides funding, support, and resources to museums, libraries, and archives in the United States.

And if anyone of you also works or relies on these other six federal agencies, he is also dismantling them too:

Trump signed an executive order to dismantle seven federal agencies: the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and the Minority Business Development Agency.

[lboogie1906]

Dr. Leslie Brennan Rout, Jr. (February 26, 1935 - August 2, 1987) was a Latin American history professor, jazz musician, and author. He was born in Chicago to Leslie B. Rout, Sr. and his mother’s name is unknown. He earned his BA and MA in History at Loyola University and his Ph.D. in Latin American history at the University of Minnesota. He began teaching as an assistant professor of history at Michigan State University.

His career as a professional jazz musician contributed to the broadening of his historical knowledge. He toured Latin America with the Paul Winter Sextet while still a graduate student at the University of Minnesota. He performed with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and the Woody Herman Orchestra. He interviewed several legendary jazz artists for an article examining the early history of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. The article was published in the Journal of Popular Culture. His other writings on the history and economics of jazz were published in the book Frontiers of American Culture and Negro Digest.

He published his first book, Politics of the Chaco Peace Conference: 1935-39. He published Which Way Out? He focused on the African diaspora in Central and South America with his book, The African Experience in Spanish America.

He returned to international relations and diplomacy in his award-winning book, The Shadow War: German Espionage and the United States Counter-Espionage in Latin America in WWII. He became one of the first scholars to assert that FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had suppressed information about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

He published in Wilson Quarterly, International Historical Review, and Luso-Brazilian Review. He was the recipient of a Fulbright Distinguished Service Award and received grants from the Ford Foundation, American Philosophical Society, and Fulbright-Hayes. He was a visiting professor at Harvard University, Northwestern University, and Oberlin College and a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

He was survived by his wife, Kathleen Kinsella Rout, a literature professor at MSU, and a son. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[xtruss]

Independent Candidates Aligned With Imran Khan Surge in Pakistan's Election! Corrupt to Their Cores Pakistani Army’s Generals Are Busy in Rigging To Change the Results

PTI, led by Imran Khan, can't run as a bloc in the elections, but unofficial counts show independent candidates, supported by PTI, leading in most areas.

— TRT World | Friday February 19, 2024

The One & Only, The Legend of Legends, Chairman Political Party PTI and Illegally Ousted Former Prime Minister of Pakistan: IMRAN KHAN! He is Illegal Jailed By the Corrupt to their Cores, Looter, Traitor, Boak Bollocks Army Generals

Businessman Imran Sheikh, 52, registers to vote at a polling station in a school on the day of the general election, in Islamabad, Pakistan / Photo: Reuters

Independent candidates linked to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan were outperforming expectations in early tallies from Pakistan's election, after a long delay in results added to accusations of poll rigging.

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was barred from contesting Thursday's election as a bloc, but unofficial tallies on Friday by local TV channels showed independent candidates — including dozens anointed by his party — leading in most constituencies.

By 9:00 am (0400 GMT) — more than 16 hours after polling stations closed — the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had announced just 13 National Assembly results.

Five had gone to independent candidates linked to PTI, four to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and four to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

"There was a sense of certainty about the outcome," Sarah Khan, an assistant professor of political science at Yale University, told AFP.

"That sense of certainty got upset very early on," she added. "It's definitely not the foregone conclusion that anybody thought it might be."

Before the first results were officially announced, PTI chief organiser Omar Ayub Khan said he was confident the party had done enough.

"Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-backed independent candidates have the ability to form the next federal government with a two-thirds majority," he said in a video statement released to the media.

The PML-N had been expected to win the most seats following Thursday's vote, with analysts saying its 74-year-old founder Nawaz Sharif had the blessing of the military-led establishment.

Party spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb said they were still hopeful of taking the largest province of Punjab, crucial to forming a government.

Businessman Imran Sheikh, 52, registers to vote at a polling station in a school on the day of the general election, in Islamabad, Pakistan / Photo: Reuters

Rigging Fears

Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, told AFP the delay "suggests that the powers that be are trying to create an environment that allows them to more easily be involved in the electoral process".

"Vote tampering and rigging fears are rife, and for good reason," he said more bluntly on X.

Pollsters predicted a low turnout from the country's 128 million eligible voters following a lacklustre campaign overshadowed by the jailing of Khan, and the hobbling of PTI through court orders, a ban on rallies, and the harassment of party leaders.

Allegations of poll rigging overshadowed the election, as well as authorities' voting day shutdown of the country's mobile phone network –– ostensibly on security grounds.

Digital rights activist Usama Khilji said the mobile service blackout "strengthens the popular perception that the elections are rigged by the deep state".

Raoof Hasan, PTI's secretary for information, said in a video statement that party agents in the field had reported PTI candidates leading in 125 constituencies.

"An effort may be afoot to tamper with the results," he said of the delay in announcements from ECP headquarters.

[volumeofvalue]

War By Other Means

BOOK REVIEWWar By Other Means: The Pacifists of the Greatest Generation Who Revolutionized Resistanceby Daniel Akst 2022 About the AuthorDaniel Akst was a board member of the National Book Critics Circle. He has been a Koret Fellow at the University of California (Berkeley) Graduate School of Journalism, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, DC, and a…

[whatisonthemoon]

Howard Wiarda on the Moonie-Organized “Global Economic Action Institute” (GEAI)

Howard J. Wiarda was an academic, associated with both Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

In the mid-1980s, I contracted with the Global Economic Action Institute (GEAI) to edit a book on development successes and democracy in the Third World. The main case studies were Costa Rica, Hungary, Ivory Coast, and Malaysia, so the project required me to acquire expertise on three countries that I didn't know well (Hungary, Ivory Coast, and Malaysia; Costa Rica I already knew well) — countries whose development I have followed closely over the years. I was not a completely independent actor in doing this small book: GEAI had given me a partially completed manuscript drafted by some of its own personnel and advisers that had a strongly pro-democracy, pro-free market slant. The draft was way too strident and conservative for me, but I could certainly support a moderate democracy/free market position. My assignment from GEAI was to take this draft, rewrite it, and convert it into prose that academics, think tankers, and policy experts could support. A handsome honorarium was involved.

So, I took the draft, started from word one to rewrite, toned down the more ideological language of the original manuscript, and introduced a tone into the report that was social-scientific and academic. The report forced me to do considerable new research; it also got me thinking seriously not just about analyzing development in the Third World but, for the first time in a policy sense, how to achieve development. Some twenty years later, I would return to these themes in my own, single-authored book on the developing nations where the main subject was what works in development and what doesn't.

I was about halfway through the project before I came to realize that GEAI was a front for the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. This was a "Moonie" project, and I was working for the "Moonie Church." I hadn't realized this before since all the officials I'd dealt with at GEAI, as well as the individuals who'd done the first draft, were all Americans. What to do? Rev. Moon, he of the karate chop delivery, the mass marriages (in the thousands in a football stadium) of his followers, and some truly bizarre religious and political beliefs, was not my favorite fellow. I didn't want to sell out my academic reputation; on the other hand, the money was good, and I had been assured of complete academic freedom. So, I finished the project. It turned out to be a respectable monograph and was published by GEAI, even though, fearing for my reputation from being associated with the Moonies, I asked that my name not be listed as the author on the front cover.

In the course of doing this project, I got invited to several Moonie events in the Washington area. One was a large, annual Moonie reception for all its friends and hangers-on at the luxurious Marriott Hotel in downtown Washington. Iêda and I were amazed to find over 2,000 people present, the cream of Washington society and politics. We were also invited to other Washington Institute (another front for the Unification Church) sponsored seminars and policy forums; there I was surprised to find such luminaries as intellectual Richard Rubenstein, former Kissinger aide Hal Sonnenfeldt, philosopher and editor Morton Kaplan, and political boy wonder, then head of the Republican Young Americans for Freedom, Ralph Reed. All of these were friends or acquaintances of mine from Washington policy circles; I was as surprised to find them at a Moonie event as they were to find me. Rev. Moon had certainly bought himself access and influence in Washington; I assumed that, like me, they were all on the Unification Church payroll.

Related

Fishing for Respectability - on the Unification Church’s “Global Economic Action Institute”

C-Span videos of Global Economic Action Institute conferences and panels - one of these videos ("Foreign Trade and Domestic Subsidy Policy") features Most Durst

Moon on why he founded the Global Economic Action Institute:

I founded the Global Economic Action Institute to help distribute and re-invest inactive, or "sleeping" money to make it work for the world. A world-level bank is necessary to go beyond the boundaries of any one nation. This bank will not lend to individuals, but only to nations. The world is coming into unity, which means that independent governments will merge into one to be more operable on a global scale. Only global thinking and institutions can solve the world's economic problems.

The Imperial Ghost in the Neoliberal Machine (Figuring the CIA)

Emperor of the Universe video.                                       

[bu-ccd-erc]

My Internship Journey in Washington D.C.

By Windy Wang

I joined the Boston University Study Program in Washington D.C. program in Fall 2017. It is such a meaningful experience for me, during which I not only experienced the diverse community in Washington D.C., but also improved my communication and networking skills. Besides taking courses at Boston University D.C. office and George Washington University, I did an internship with Wilson Center as a research assistant, focusing on international economies and trade. I am very excited to share my internship experience in this blog!

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Wilson Center) is an authentic think tank tackling international policies. Located in the downtown Ronald Reagan International Trade Center at Washington D.C., it is close to the White House, government agencies, and colleges. The scholars, staffs, and interns at Wilson center have such diverse backgrounds that there are always exciting things to discuss and share. As a scholar intern, I worked closely with two scholars on issues of international trade. I did research on North American Free Trade Agreement and China’s economic policies relating to the State-Owned Enterprises, fiscal policies, and emerging urban middle class. The papers and books I read have provided me with great insight on international development and deepened my understanding of Sino-US relations.

I am so grateful to have had this internship experience at the Wilson Center. The people and the culture inspired me to pursue my passion for international trade after graduation. I definitely miss my time in Washington D.C. To summarize and look into the future, I want to quote what a scholar told us at the Christmas celebration: “Wherever you go, there are always trees with lights.”