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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Tillerson says he has scored no diplomatic wins for 2017 but believes his redesign plan will improve the State Department. Critics argue he has done so much damage that it may take years to recover. -
That designation was removed in 2008, when the North Korean government pledged to dismantle its nuclear program. The president says additional sanctions will be imposed. -
Secretary of State Tillerson tells NPR Kim Jong Un has to show up willing to talk about giving up the arms: "We do not seek a collapse of [his] regime. ... We seek a denuclearized Korean peninsula." -
Rex Tillerson, the former oil company CEO, will now head America's foreign policy, as skeptical diplomats wait for what's next. -
The Americans and the Russians have been at odds over Syria since the fighting began 20 months ago. But there's a sense of urgency now as the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad looks increasingly unstable.
