Dining Under the Drones in Ukraine
It is not easy to cook in a war zone. Just look at Ukraine. But the deliberate destruction of cities cannot deprive people of their cuisine. A brutal war with Russia has converted many…
Editor
Johanna Mendelson Forman
Editor
With more than two decades of experience in the international arena, working on post-conflict transition and democratization issues, Johanna Mendelson Forman holds a wealth of expertise and insights into the role of food in driving conflict and connecting people and communities. An Adjunct Professor at American University’s School of International Service where she teaches Conflict Cuisine®: An Introduction to War and Peace Around the Dinner Table, Mendelson Forman encourages new ways of looking at diplomacy, conflict resolution, and civic engagement. She is also a Senior Advisor at the Stimson Center where she directs the Food Security program.
On Turkish Coffee and Gastrodiplomacy
December 4 was World Turkish Coffee Day. This international recognition of Turkey’s iconic caffeinated brew is due in no small part to the efforts of one woman, Gizem Salcigil White. From…
The Borsch War is Over
Ukrainians somberly marked their Independence Day this year: Aug. 24, which is exactly six months after Russia invaded the country. On the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s decision to…
Climate Change Is Hampering Our Ability To Combat World Hunger
The announcement that the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize came amid growing pessimism that the world is growing hungrier each year. With ten years to…
Managing the Hemisphere’s Worst Refugee Crisis
With all the talk about the migration crisis at the US-Mexico border it is easy to forget that just to the south in Venezuela, the region is experiencing the worst refugee crisis since the…
Is the Kitchen the New Venue of Foreign Policy?
After decades of trying to solve some of the world’s most intractable conflicts, I’ve come to believe that bringing people together around a common table — focusing on the cultural…
Cooking up a New Life: How Refugees Use Cooking to Thrive
It is often said that the history of immigration is the history of cuisine. Certainly, in the United States, we would still be eating only oysters and beef scrap pies had our country not…
5 Food Trends That Are Changing Latin America
Latin America’s economy has grown enormously over the past two decades. However, unemployment in the region still hovers at 8 percent, double that of the United States. Youth joblessness…
Haitians South of the Border: A Tale of Two Cities
Eight years after an earthquake took the lives of 200,000 Haitians, their world still reels from the consequences of that tragedy. For Haitians, January is already a month of sadness as…
Can a Hamburger Build World Peace?
Two years ago, the world came close to ending the hamburger wars. Burger King, of Whopper fame, offered a truce to rival McDonalds’ Big Mac by suggesting that the fast food giants…