Michele Kelemen
Michele Kelemen has been with NPR for two decades, starting as NPR's Moscow bureau chief and now covering the State Department and Washington's diplomatic corps. Her reports can be heard on all NPR News programs, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
As Diplomatic Correspondent, Kelemen has traveled with Secretaries of State from Colin Powell to Mike Pompeo and everyone in between. She reports on the Trump administration's "America First" foreign policy and before that the Obama and Bush administration's diplomatic agendas. She was part of the NPR team that won the 2007 Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for coverage of the war in Iraq.
As NPR's Moscow bureau chief, Kelemen chronicled the end of the Yeltsin era and Vladimir Putin's consolidation of power. She recounted the terrible toll of the latest war in Chechnya, while also reporting on a lighter side of Russia, with stories about modern day Russian literature and sports.
Kelemen came to NPR in September 1998, after eight years working for the Voice of America. There, she learned the ropes as a news writer, newscaster and show host.
Michele earned her Bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master's degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Russian and East European Affairs and International Economics.
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A recent United Nations report accuses Rwanda of supporting rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. United States Secretary of State Blinken is visiting both countries to try to cool tensions.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken says African states shouldn't have to pick a side in great power rivalries, though the U.S. is competing with Russia and China for influence.
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The United Nations kicked off a conference on the status of a 50-year treaty on nuclear nonproliferation — as crises fester in the Middle East, the Korean peninsula and Ukraine.
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The Department of Justice is more actively investigating foreign lobbying in Washington and Congress is considering an update to a key law regulating that. Transparency advocates say it is about time.
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Around the world, landmines kill and injure thousands of people a year, most of them civilians. The Biden administration is restricting their use and continuing to help countries clear minefields.
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U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield travels to the Turkey-Syria border to remind the world of the need for continued aid for Syrians who are fleeing or in opposition-held parts of the country.
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In a long awaited speech, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called China the most serious long term challenge to the international order and a test for U.S. diplomacy.
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The Biden administration came to office promising to revive a nuclear deal with Iran, but for months officials have said time is running out. The top negotiator is briefing Congress on the stalemate.
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The U.S. wants to weaken Russia and help Ukraine win, while some in Europe are looking for a diplomatic solution.
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The U.S. is using its presidency of the UN Security Council to focus on food security, as much of the world worries about the ripple effects from the war in Ukraine.