There, in the hall of the United Nations Security Council, the world’s preeminent decision making body, watching as President Ilham Aliyev chaired the Council’s May 4 meeting, I felt an overwhelming pride for Azerbaijan. Joining the select group of countries ever elected to the Council since UN’s inception with the support of 155 member-states and against some, to say the least, challenges, stands as a clear testimony to Azerbaijan’s amazing transformation over the two decades of independence.Both President Aliyev’s presence at the Council and Azerbaijan’s choice to focus the first high-level meeting during its presidency on international efforts to combat terrorism reflect my nation’s increasing international profile and responsible regional leadership. Congratulations Azerbaijan!

I was so impressed by the folks, who put together the 2012 Tufts Energy conference at the Fletcher School. This student-organized conference was really impressive in terms of the depth and the quality of discussion. Kudos to Patrick Gilmartin, Emily Chessin and others working on the event! These guys make one even more proud to be a Fletcher grad. It was very good to be back in Medford, actually.