International Visitor Leadership Program

International Visitor Leadership Program is the US State Department's professional exchange scheme. According to their website the IVLP aims to “reflect the International Visitors professional interests and support the foreign policy goals of the United States".International Visitor Leadership Program,US State Department Website, accessed August 2011 Through the IVLP the State Department funds trips to the United States by “current and emerging leaders in government, politics, the media, education, the arts, business and other key fields.”International Visitor Leadership Program, US State Department Website,accessed August 2011 According to the US Embassy in London 11 current cabinet members have participated in the IVLP as well as former Prime Ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Margaret Thatcher.Kelly, J. How Do You Spot A Future World Leader? BBC Online Magazine,accessed August 2011
A 2006 study, Searching for the Successor Generation by Professor Giles Scott-Smith,Scott-Smith, G.'Searching for the Successor Generation: Public Diplomacy, the US Embassy’s International Visitor Program and the Labour Party in the 1980s', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Vol 8 Issue 2, Pages 214-237, 2006,accessed August 2011 explored the specific relationship the US State Department fostered with young, ambitious British Labour Party politicians in the 1980s following concern at the Labour Party’s support for unilateralism and other policy developments which they viewed as a threat to US interests. Among the Labour MPs visiting the US under the Program during this period were George Foulkes (1981), Frank Field (1984), John Reid (1988), Peter Mandelson (1988) as well as Blair (1986) and Brown (1984). Addressing the issue of the US government's motivation for the IVLP Scott-Smith says “The aim over the long term is to build up a loose network of ‘allies’, be they sympathetic listeners or vocal advocates open to co-operative ventures.”Scott-Smith, G. 'Searching for the Successor Generation: Public Diplomacy, the US Embassy’s International Visitor Program and the Labour Party in the 1980s', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Vol 8 Issue 2, Pages 214-237, 2006,accessed August 2011.
In 2010 The John Adams Society was launched at the US Embassy in London for English and Welsh alumni of the IVLP.John Adams Society,John Adams Society Website,accessed August 2011 The Chair of the John Adams Society is Muddasser Ahmed.John Adams Society,John Adams Society Website,accessed August 2011 Ahmed's PR company Unitas Communication provides "secretariat" services for the John Adams Society including maintaining their website Unitas Communications,Unitas Communications Website,accessed August 2011. Around the same time the Scottish IVLP Alumni Association was launched at Edinburgh’s United States Consulate.Scotland IVLP,Scotland International Visitor Leadership Program Alumni Association Website,accessed August 2011. The Chair of the Scottish IVLP Alumni Association is Iain StirlingIain Stirling Linkedin,Linkedin Website,accessed August 2011. Stirling's PR company Stirling and Stirling maintains the Scottish IVLP website Scottish IVLP Alumni Association,Scottish IVLP Website,accessed August 2011. They provide this "online portal" service in association with another of Stirling's companies Native Agency.Native Agency, Native Agency Website,accessed August 2011
Following the establishment of the Scottish Parliament the US State Department began inviting young Nationalists to participate in the IVLP. These include former adviser to First Minister Alex Salmond and recently elected Glasgow MSP Humza Yousaf who declared in the Scottish Parliament's register of interest to visiting the United States through IVLP in 2008. The cost, £3415.55, was met in full by the US Government.Humza Yousaf Register of Interests,Scottish Parliament Website,accessed August 2011 Within weeks of his election Yousaf was appointed 'Parliamentary Liaison Officer to the Office of the First Minister of the Scottish Government'.Humza Yousaf Ministerial and Party Posts, Scottish Parliament Website, accessed August 2011 Previously another former adviser to Alex Salmond and SNP candidate in Glasgow Osama Saeed was a participant on the IVLP.Osama Saeed SNP Page,Glasgow SNP Website,accessed August 2011. Osama Saeed has since joined Al Jazeera as Head of International and Media Relations.Osama Saeed,Osama Saeed Website,accessed August 2011. The John Adams Society Communications Officer, and former IVLP participant Victoria Eastwood also works for Al Jazeera.John Adams Society Committee,John Adams Society Website,accessed August 2011
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