Jim Patterson on The Arctic Plastic Ocean

October 17, 2019 

Russian Cultural Center

Washington DC

We attended a lecture by Dr. Katya Uryupova, Ph D., marine biologist/oceanographer, photographer and polar guide. Dr. Uryupova spent most of her life in Siberia. She has PhD is marine biology from Moscow State University and earned a master's degree in science communications from University of Salford, UK. She has worked in the Arctic and Antarctic since 2000. Her research projects focus on polar marine ecosystems. Her interests range from general biology to the human impact on the environment to multidisciplinary research. She has focused on marine-protected areas, fisheries management, climate change and environmental monitoring programs. 

Dr. Uryupova participated in a number of research expeditions at different bases in Antarctica. A member of the Russian Geographical Society and the German Society of Polar Research, she is also an Association of Polar Early Career Scientists Council member. She also completed an internship at the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty in Argentina, and worked for the Smithsonian Institution.  Dr. Uryupova lectured on marine plastic litter, one of the greatest threats to ocean health globally. She said, plastic pollution is present throughout various Arctic realms from the water column to deep sea fauna. The Arctic Ocean is no longer pristine, she said,"as big pieces of plastic, as well as microplastics, travel the cold ocean." Litter circulates around gyres and makes it easy for sea creatures to digest these toxic materials.   Dr. Ekaterina Uryupova has collected data from various locations, especially near Svalbard and Franz Josef Land. Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole. It is one of the world’s northernmost inhabited areas, it's known for rugged, remote terrain of glaciers and frozen tundra sheltering polar bears, Svalbard reindeer and Arctic foxes. Franz Joseph Land, a Russian archipelago, is inhabited only by military personnel. It is the northernmost part of Arkhangelsk Oblast. After Dr. Uryupova's hour-long lecture she presented and discussed twenty of her strikingly original photographs which illustrated the beauty and challenges of conducting scientific research in the Arctic. She answered questions: 1) Is there evidence marine life is changing due to the presence of plastics in the Arctic? She mentioned several interesting ways such as plastic blocking sun from growing kelp which lowered oxygen and reduced/relocated fish populations.  2) She said there is evidence microplastics pass from the water to sea life and, when consumed, into humans. She said microplastics were in the air and found in snowflakes. She said such microplastics were likely due to incineration of plastics which have heavy metals and may, she suggested, be a source of lung cancer in nonsmokers.  Dr. Uryupova, fluent in English, presented an excellent scientific program which lasted more than two-hours.  -30- James Patterson is a former U.S. diplomat and life member of the American Foreign Service Association. JEPDiplpmat@gmail.com

Jim Patterson Reviews Minhwa Art at Korean Cultural Center, Washington DC

October 5, I attended the opening reception for an elegant exhibit on Minhwa: The Beauty of Korean Folk Paintings, at the Korean Cultural Center, Washington DC. The program included lecture, presentation, tour of two rooms with Minhwa canvasses. Finally, attendees were invited to paint a pre-printed figure in minhwa style.

Minhwa: The Beauty of Korean Folk Paintings included an exhibition of works by 19 living artists following in the footsteps of an iconic art tradition, in partnership with the Korean Minhwa Center at Keimyung University. This exhibition introduces minhwa, Korea’s traditional folk paintings that depicted people’s tangible hopes and dreams through unconventional yet artistic expressions. Popularized during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897), minhwa are known for their bright colors, humorous depictions, and various virtues embedded symbolically within the imagery.

Minhwa: The Beauty of Korean Folk Paintings comprises 20 paintings by 19 artists from the Keimyung University Korean Minhwa Center who have followed in the footsteps of traditional minhwa painters of previous centuries. Their work spans a variety of iconic styles and subjects, including flora, fauna, landscapes, iconology, and a traditional study complete with books and stationery. Through a broad sampling of minhwa’s major thematic elements, viewers encountered this elegant and cherished art form in all its glory while also glimpsing at the mythology, beliefs and views of the Korean people throughout time.

Minhwa: The Beauty of Korean Folk Paintings continues through October 21, 2019, at the Korean Cultural Center, Washington, D.C.

I highly recommend this exhibit of elegant and beautiful minhwa art. I especially enjoyed the canvasses shaped like bookcases filled with books. 

My hosts and photographer noted my tie's orange was similar to the orange used by the artist in this Minhwa canvass. 

My hosts explained that tigers an magpies were symbolic figures in minhwa art. 

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Jim Patterson is a former U.S. diplomat, life member American Foreign Service Association, member Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, Associate Member Korean War Veterans Association, member U.S.-Philippines Society, life member Associates of Vietnam Veterans Association, member Sons of the American Legion, Associate member Veterans of Foreign Wars, and a contributor to Foreign Service Journal. 

Ralph Bunche and Jim Patterson

Jim Patterson at the resting place of Nobel Peace Prize-winning diplomat Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, The Bronx, New York. 

"The world and its peoples being as they are, there is no easy or quick or infallible approach to a secure peace. It is only by patient, persistent, undismayed effort, by trial and error, that peace can be won." -- Ralph Bunche

Jim Patterson, Diplomat: August 7 is the birthday of Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, Ph. D. Dr. Bucnhe served at the U.S. Department of State and he was the first African American to win the Nobel Peace Prize. His wife, Ruth, was from Montgomery, Alabama. 

I first learned of Dr. Bunche after reading about him in the press. He came to Alabama to march with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the historic Selma to Montgomery march in 1965. He worked at the United Nations at the time and he was the highest-ranking U.S. government official to participate in the march. 

My father served with Alabama's National Guard from 1962 to 1967, for the integration of the University of Alabama, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the KKK bombing of Birmingham's 16th Baptist Church, and the Selma to Montgomery march. 

Due to my family connection to the Selma March, I have a role as a reporter in 2015's Academy and Golden Globe award-winning film "Selma." My scenes with actor Tim Roth as Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace were filmed in Atlanta June 2014. I had photos of my dad and Dr. Bunche in my coat pocket. 

Iran 2019: Donald Trump's Ronald Reagan Moment by Jim Patterson

Ambassador Bruce Laingen (1922-2019), the senior US diplomat at US Embassy Tehran 1979 when Iranian "students" seized the Embassy and held Americans, including Laingen, hostage 444 days. I was honored to have known him and to have learned from his experience. 

Donald Trump's Ronald Reagan Moment 

I was at the Library of Congress working on a Middle Eastern project last week when I was called to make a live appearance on Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV studios in Washington DC. I paneled with Iranian and Kuwaiti experts on Tuesday and Friday as events unfolded about Iran’s suspected seizure of, first, a United Arab Emirates oil tanker and, later, U.K. oil tankers.

As events unfolded, it seemed more like 1979 than 2019. Revolutionaries in Iran overthrew the Shah in 1979 and Iranian “students” flooded the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held Americans hostage.

On July 16, 1980, former California Gov. Ronald Reagan accepted the GOP presidential nomination and would successfully defeat President Jimmy Carter in an election dominated by American hostages in Iran. President Reagan successfully used psychological pressure to convince Iran to release the Americans. After Reagan’s inauguration and fearful of U.S. military action, Iran released the Americans who were held captive 444 days.

Forty years later, President Donald Trump may have his Ronald Reagan moment with Iran. While Reagan was the Great Communicator, Trump is the Communicator of Maximum Pressure. Iran is feeling intense economic pressure from tough sanctions the administration implemented shortly after President Trump abandoned the disastrous Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) cobbled together by the Obama/Biden administration.

Iran was never in compliance with the JCPOA’s terms, but Obama/Biden and their EU supporters were optimistic Tehran would move toward compliance. Iran never did. Further, if Obama/Biden had seriously worked with Congress to negotiate a binding treaty with Iran, it might have worked. Instead, the JCPOA was a miserable failure that only strengthened Iran’s ability to advance its nuclear arsenal and to engage in international terrorism by various means, including malicious cyberattacks against U.S. resources.

As Iran increasingly seeks to destabilize the region, President Donald Trump looks, in the eyes of the world, like the strong political leader needed at this moment. Iran presents Donald Trump with his Ronald Reagan Moment, a moment to look presidential.

Mr. Trump needs to measure his words/Tweets and prepare a convincing Maximum Pressure Message for Iran to cease aggression in the Persian Gulf. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the country’s 80-year-old Supreme leader Ali Khamenei would be wise to listen to Trump’s message and act in the interest of their nation.

In June, President Donald Trump abruptly changed his mind about a military strike on Iran. He said he was concerned about too many civilian casualties. He’s had time to think. Rouhani and Khamenei have had time as well and they foolishly chose, again, to challenge global interests by seizing oil tankers in international waters. This is a major mistake militarily and economically. Iran cannot win a war against the world and its economy cannot sustain its 82 million population with a raging war.

President Trump knows this, and he is, I believe, inclined to swift and massive action against Iran should its forces continue acts of aggression aimed to disrupt navigation in the Persian Gulf. President Trump wants the least possible economic disturbance to global economies, especially the robust U.S. economy. Iran presents President Trump with the Art of a Massive Foreign Policy Deal that could benefit the world for decades to come.

The fortieth anniversary of the Iranian Revolution is near an end. It either moves into its forty-first year or it ends now.  Iran’s fate is the hands of President Donald Trump. In 2019, Iran has more to worry about than the psychological pressures it had from Ronald Reagan in 1979.  It has an actual physical force in Donald Trump.

Jim Patterson is a life member of the American Foreign Service Association, a life member of the Auburn University Alumni Association and a member of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations.  JEPDIplomat@gmail.com

Bruce Laingen and Jim Patterson 1994 National Foreign Affairs Training Center

                                           Ambassador Bruce Laingen and Jim Patterson
                                           National Foreign Affairs Training Center




Ambassador Laingen (1922-2019) was an incredibly brave man and it was a great honor to have known him. He was the most senior diplomat at US Embassy Tehran when "students" overcame Embassy guards and held Americans hostage for 444 days. I highly recommend his book "Yellow Ribbon: The Secret Journal of Bruce Laingen." RIP


Jim Patterson is life member American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) and member Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. JEPDiplomat@gmail.com

US Diplomat Jim Patterson Recalls Civil Rights March from Selma to Montgomery AL

President Lyndon Johnson's Executive Order that sent my dad, James G. Patterson, and his fellow Alabama National Guardsmen to protect Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other marchers at Selma, Alabama, March 1965.

Due to my family connection to Selma, Alabama's Film Commission secured me a role in 2015's Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning film "Selma." My scenes with actor Tim Roth were filmed in Atlanta GA on Father's Day weekend 2014.

Jim Patterson is a writer/speaker/former US diplomat who resides in Washington DC. Message JEPDiplomat@com for speaking availability.

Jim Patterson note: Robert McNamara was Secretary of Defense at the time of the above EO was issued. International attention to the march influenced my career in the Foreign Service. Nobel Peace Prize recipient Ralph Johnson Bunche participated in the march.

Jim Patterson Recalling the Fall of Saigon April 21, 1975

On April 21, 1975, with Communist forces closing in, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned after nearly 10 years in office and fled the country.


Jim Patterson note: Many states, including California, fought against accepting South Vietnamese refugees. Read Dr. Yanek Mieczkowski's book Gerald R Ford and the Challenges of the 1970s. Bringing Vietnam to end was one hell of a challenge during tough political times in the U.S. Then-Gov. Jerry Brown was wrong to fight resettlement of South Vietnamese refugees in California. 

Ronald Reagan: "I think we were right to be involved. The problems in South Vietnam weren't just internal affairs, and we weren't there because we were imperialistic, as the communists claimed, or altruistic, as we tried to appear. The plain truth of the matter is that we were r=there to counter the master plan of the communists for world conquest, and it's a lot easier and safer to counter it 8,000 miles away than to wait until they land in Long Beach." Ronald Reagan's Call to Action 1976 (Thomas Nelson)