The president of the Nationalist Party College of Councillors, Malcolm Mifsud, recently returned from an intensive orientation programme in the United States on US Foreign Policy Challenges. Dr Mifsud’s programme was organised by the US Embassy in Malta and the US Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Programme. The program brought together politicians from twenty European Union countries for intensive discussions on foreign policy issues of concern to Europe and the US. Topics addressed included international terrorism and security issues, the future of transatlantic relations and global trade in the context of US foreign policy.

The participants travelled to several cities in the US, including Washington, DC, San Diego, California, Springfield, Illinois, Norfolk, Virginia and New York. The programme commenced in Washington, DC with briefings at the State Department, Department of Defense, Department of Commerce and National Security Council. The group then travelled to San Diego where they were presented with a view on issues of particular importance to the West coast, such as relations with China, border-control issues and immigration and the defense industry.

In Springfield, participants explored how US foreign policy affects smaller communities in America’s heartland. Here the group was also given the opportunity to see successful integration programs for multicultural, multinational groups. In Norfolk, the participants were briefed about the role of the NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT) in linking the US to its European partners in NATO. The tour ended with a number of meetings in New York, including a briefing at the US Mission to the United Nations and a tour of The Washington Post. Dr Mifsud was given the opportunity to give a presentation on maritime law to an audience at Pace University.

Throughout the three-week programme, Dr Mifsud enjoyed several cultural tours of the cities he visited and received a warm welcome from a number of American families who offered home hospitality to him and the members of the group. Dr Mifsud expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to visit the homes of Americans and to learn about their way of life.