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Michele Kelemen

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A former NPR Moscow bureau chief, Michele Kelemen now covers 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.

In her latest beat, Kelemen has been traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from Asia to the Middle East and Europe, tracking the Obama administration's broad foreign policy agenda. She also followed the two previous Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell and 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 and the tragedy of the sinking of the nuclear submarine Kursk. She also brought to listeners 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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Africa
2:18 am
Fri May 18, 2012

U.S. Serves Up New Food Security Effort In Africa

Credit Pablo Tosco / AFP/Getty Images
A woman refills her bucket from a well in the south of Mauritania. The Sahel region, south of the Sahara, is facing a third season of drought.
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Originally published on Fri May 18, 2012 3:49 pm

The Obama administration is announcing a major new initiative to boost investments in rural Africa in hopes of lifting millions out of poverty. Several African leaders are in Washington, D.C., for the announcement, which comes as President Obama hosts leaders of the Group of Eight in Maryland. Food security is a key agenda item.

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Opinion
6:44 am
Sun May 13, 2012

Clinton: 'Incredible Rush' Will Have Its End

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Credit Dibyangshu Sarkar / AFP/Getty Images
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee greet each other before a meeting in Kolkata, India, on May 7.
Credit Shannon Stapelton / Reuters /Landov
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was treated to a karate demonstration in Kolkata, India, during her Asia trip.
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Originally published on Sun May 13, 2012 11:09 am

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gets questioned about her political future wherever she goes. She says she plans to get off the "high-wire" of politics after she wraps up her tenure as secretary of state, but her trips sometimes feel like she's campaigning — for America's image and for her own legacy. NPR's Michele Kelemen has this behind-the-scenes reporter's notebook of Clinton's most recent swing through Asia.

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Asia
3:54 pm
Mon April 30, 2012

Activist's Escape Complicates Clinton's China Visit

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Credit Alexander F. Yuan / AP
Chinese paramilitary police patrol outside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing on April 28. Chen Guangcheng, a blind legal activist who fled house arrest in his rural Chinese village, is reported to be under the protection of U.S. officials. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is heading to China for what was supposed to be a routine visit.
Credit EPA/Landov
This undated handout image provided by ChinaAid shows blind Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng, whose escape from house arrest is at the heart of a growing U.S.-China firestorm.
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Originally published on Mon April 30, 2012 5:20 pm

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sets off Monday night on a trip that was supposed to be a routine checkup on U.S.-China relations.

Instead, she is flying into a firestorm after a high-profile dissident's daring escape from house arrest. The blind legal activist, Chen Guangcheng, is now believed to be under U.S. protection — and diplomats are scrambling to try to resolve the issue quickly.

On her first visit to China as secretary of state in 2009, Clinton emphasized other issues besides human rights.

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Middle East
3:38 pm
Tue April 10, 2012

Despite Deadline, No Letup In Syrian Fighting

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Credit Bassem Tellawi / AP
Syrian President Bashar Assad was supposed to pull the military out of cities by Tuesday, but more attacks were reported. Some Syrians rallied in support of Assad and his Baath Party in the capital, Damascus, on Saturday.
Credit Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images
International envoy Kofi Annan said Tuesday it was too early to give up on a peace plan he has brokered for Syria despite renewed fighting. He gave a press conference after visiting a refugee camp in southern Turkey.
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After more than a year of fighting in Syria, the peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan appeared to be the most serious effort yet to end the bloodletting.

But on a day when Syrian army tanks were supposed to pull back from Syrian cities, opposition groups said there were fresh attacks Tuesday in the central city of Homs and several other cities.

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Africa
4:21 pm
Wed March 28, 2012

For The Two Sudans, The Threat Of War Looms

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Sudanese troops stand next to a burnt-out military vehicle in the oil center of Heglig after clashes with South Sudanese forces Wednesday. Recent fighting has raised fears of a renewed war.
Credit Abd Raouf / AP
A delegation from South Sudan, headed by Pagan Amum (center), walks with Sudan's Idris Mohamed Abdul-Gadir (right) in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, on March 22. The delegation arrived for a summit between the leaders of the two countries, but the meeting was postponed due to recent tensions.
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Less than a year after they formally split, Sudan and South Sudan appear to be in danger of going to war.

Fighting spilled over the disputed border this week, scuttling a planned summit intended to resolve issues lingering from South Sudan's independence last July.

International diplomats are trying to get that summit back on track and deal with a humanitarian crisis that is looming in the region.

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