Alberto Fernandez (diplomat) explained

Alberto Fernandez
Birth Name:Alberto Miguel Fernandez
Birth Date:1958
Birth Place:Havana, Cuba
Nationality:American
Occupation:Diplomat (formerly)

Alberto Miguel Fernandez[1] (born 1958) is a Cuban-American former diplomat. He was the head of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), which includes Alhurra.[2] Fernandez is currently vice president of the Middle East Media Research Institute, a position he held 2015–2017.[3] He is a member of the Madrid Forum, an international group of right-wing and far-right individuals organized by Vox.[4]

Career

He is a Non-Resident Fellow in Middle East Politics and Media at the TRENDS Research and Advisory center in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[5] He is also on the Board of Advisors of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE)[6] IDC (In Defense of Christians)[7] and the Philos Project.[8] He was a member of the Council of Executives of the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at Auburn University.[9]

He was the Coordinator for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC) at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. from March 2012 to February 2015. CSCC was set up in September 2011 by White House Executive Order 13584 to combat the propaganda of Al-Qaida, its allies and adherents.[10] He was US Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea, Africa's third largest oil producer and only Spanish speaking country, from January 2010.[11] Before that he was Chargé d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan from 2007 to 2009.[12] In Sudan, he worked to maintain the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Accords between the NCP government and the rebels of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) and to bring humanitarian relief to war-torn Darfur.

Fernandez was the director of the office of press and public diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the United States Department of State from August 2005 to May 2007. As one of the few to speak fluent Arabic at the U.S. State Department, he was the mouthpiece for U.S. policy in the Middle East. A Newsweek profile started that he gave an average of about 200 interviews a year.[13]

Fernandez has also served in senior US embassy positions, as Counselor for Public Affairs, in Kabul, Amman, Guatemala City, and Damascus. Earlier in his career, he served at the US Embassy in Kuwait (Public Affairs Officer), Managua (Press Attache and Spokesman), Santo Domingo (Director of the Dominican American Cultural Institute, ICDA), and Abu Dhabi.

2006 Al-Jazeera interview

In an Arabic-language interview on Al-Jazeera on October 21, 2006, Fernandez made statements translated as, "I think there is great room for strong criticism, because without doubt, there was arrogance and stupidity by the United States in Iraq."[14]

The State Department reacted by denying that he had made the comments, claiming that they had been "mistranslated." After independent translators confirmed the translation as being correct, a news release issued by the State Department quoted an apology from Fernandez: "Upon reading the transcript of my appearance on Al-Jazeera, I realized that I seriously misspoke by using the phrase 'there has been arrogance and stupidity' by the U.S. in Iraq. This represents neither my views nor those of the State Department. I apologize."[15]

Similarly, US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said in English days before Fernandez's comments: "It's important to recognize that mistakes have been made over the last few years. There have been times when US officials have behaved arrogantly and were not receptive to advice from local leaders."

Awards and honors

Fernandez is a recipient of a Presidential Meritorious Service Award for 2008, the State Department's 2006 Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy, a Superior Honor Award in 2003 for his work in Afghanistan, and the 1996 Linguist of the Year Award, among many others. He has written for The Lamp (magazine),[16] The American Conservative, the Foreign Service Journal, MEMRI,[17] Journal of International Security Affairs, The Cipher Brief, AFPC Almanac of Islamism, The Washington Post,[18] Providence,[19] Georgetown Cornerstone,[20] Brookings Markaz,[21] Middle East Quarterly, The European Conservative,[22] The American Mind,[23] Defense Dossier,[24] IM1776[25] ReVista the Harvard Review of Latin America, University Bookman[26] and Journal of the Assyrian Academic Society. He has also lectured at numerous U.S. universities and presented papers at conferences of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), and Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID). Born in Cuba and raised in Miami, Florida, he is a graduate of the University of Arizona and Defense Language Institute. Fluent in Arabic (4/3+), Spanish (5/5) and English, is married and has two sons.[27]

Timeline

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: GW's School of Media and Public Affairs Names Alberto Miguel Fernandez as Next Public Diplomacy Fellow - Office of Media Relations - The George Washington University. mediarelations.gwu.edu. 2017-05-05. 23 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200923031731/https://mediarelations.gwu.edu/gws-school-media-and-public-affairs-names-alberto-miguel-fernandez-next-public-diplomacy-fellow. dead.
  2. Web site: Ambassador Alberto M. Fernandez joins BBG as president of MBN. Broadcasting Board of. Governors. www.prnewswire.com. 21 July 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170613215409/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ambassador-alberto-m-fernandez-joins-bbg-as-president-of-mbn-300473388.html. 2017-06-13. dead.
  3. Web site: MEMRI Welcomes the Return of Vice President Amb. Alberto M. Fernandez. . 23 June 2020.
  4. Web site: Carta de Madrid . 7 December 2021. Fundación Disenso . es.
  5. Web site: Ambassador Alberto Fernandez - TRENDS. 29 November 2016. 5 December 2016. 25 May 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190525002912/http://trendsinstitution.org/ambassador-alberto-fernandez/. dead.
  6. Web site: About Us – ICSVE.
  7. Web site: IDC Team.
  8. Web site: Advisory Board. 2018-11-23. 2018-11-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20181124055046/https://philosproject.org/about/advisory-board/. dead.
  9. Web site: Council of Executives.
  10. archives.republicans.foreignaffairs.house.gov/112/HHRG-112-FA18-WState-FernandezA-20120802.pdf
  11. blogs.mcclatchydc.com/nationalsecurity/2010/04/and-the-second-prize-is.html
  12. US Department of State(2007).BIOGRAPHY . Retrieved October 24, 2007.
  13. IslamonLine.net(2006).A text of an interview/dialogue . Retrieved November 24, 2006.
  14. Web site: US 'arrogant and stupid' in Iraq. BBC News. October 22, 2006. May 11, 2017.
  15. Web site: US official retracts Iraq remarks. BBC News. October 23, 2006. November 24, 2006.
  16. Web site: Issue 05.
  17. Web site: The Time Is Now For Urgent Middle East Reform.
  18. Web site: Opinion - Want to defeat the legacy of ISIS? Try rebuilding non-Muslim communities it has destroyed.. Alberto. Fernandez. 24 May 2017. www.washingtonpost.com.
  19. Web site: Renewing a Convincing American Global Engagement - Providence. 7 September 2016.
  20. Web site: Cornerstone. Religious Freedom Institute.
  21. Web site: Why ISIS propaganda has been so successful and how to counter it. Alberto M.. Fernandez. 30 November 2001.
  22. Web site: | the European Conservative .
  23. Web site: Alberto M. Fernandez, Author at the American Mind.
  24. Web site: Archived copy . 2018-05-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170130201835/http://www.afpc.org/files/defense_dossier_december_issue_18.pdf . 2017-01-30 . dead .
  25. Web site: Men on Horseback .
  26. Web site: Search results for "alberto fernandez".
  27. islamonline.net(2006).Live Dialogue - Guest CV . Retrieved November 24, 2006.
  28. Miami Herald(2006).Amber Baskette and Alberto Fernandez of Hialeah, Florida . Retrieved November 24, 2006.
  29. foxnews.com(2006).Special Report w/ Brit Hume . Retrieved November 24, 2006.
  30. whitehouse.gov(2009). https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the_press_office/Presidential-Nominations-sent-to-the-Senate-7-22-09/ . Retrieved July 26, 2009.

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