(Photo Credit: United States State Department) Meri Lugo is a research intern at the New America Foundation/American Strategy Program.

Katherine Tiedemann is a program associate at the New America Foundation. Last night I attended an event sponsored by Young Professionals in Foreign Policy featuring Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (apologies for the poor picture quality–the iPhone camera is still woefully lacking).

I haven’t had time yet to digest the Obama administration’s “relaxation” of restrictions in US-Cuba relations. I’m on a boat — and sailing in the vicinity of Cuba tomorrow, though in Curacao today.

This is a guest post by Amjad Atallah, co-director of the New America Foundation/Middle East Task Force. Charles (Chas) Freeman withdrew his candidacy yesterday for the post of chairman of the National Intelligence Council. This development sets up a worrying trend that will need to be reversed at the highest levels of government.

(Photo credit: Eric Molly’s photostream) President Obama’s decision to reopen negotiations with the Syrians is about much more than bilateral relations between the two countries. Syria’s cooperation is integral to initiating game-changing policies toward Iran and to achieving progress on the Israeli-Palestinian track.

Thanks to my fellow TWN posters for covering the blog while I am on a vacation out of the United States. I have stopped in Haiti, sailed by Cuba — where I really wanted to stop — and am in the Dominican Republic today.

The London Summit takes place on April 2nd.

(Photo credit: G.hostbuster’s photostream) Following the Russia-Ukraine gas disagreement last December, European leaders promised to diversify their natural gas supply away from Russia in order to prevent politically motivated shortages in the future. German President Angela Merkel said that Russia’s actions would have consequences and European Commission Chief Jose Manuel Barroso called the crisis “unacceptable.

(Photo Credit: Chand Khan, Agence France Presse–Getty Images) Katherine Tiedemann is a Program Associate at the New America Foundation.