Alberto Fernandez (diplomat)
Alberto Miguel Fernandez[1] (born 1958) is a Cuban-American former diplomat. He was the head of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), which includes Alhurra.[2] Fernandez is currently vice president of the Middle East Media Research Institute, a position he held 2015–2017.[3] He is a member of the Madrid Forum, an international group of right-wing and far-right individuals organized by Vox.[4]
Awards and honors[edit]
Fernandez is a recipient of a Presidential Meritorious Service Award for 2008, the State Department's 2006 Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy, a Superior Honor Award in 2003 for his work in Afghanistan, and the 1996 Linguist of the Year Award, among many others. He has written for The Lamp (magazine),[17] The American Conservative, the Foreign Service Journal, MEMRI,[18] Journal of International Security Affairs, The Cipher Brief, AFPC Almanac of Islamism, The Washington Post,[19] Providence,[20] Georgetown Cornerstone,[21] Brookings Markaz,[22] Middle East Quarterly, The European Conservative,[23] The American Mind,[24] Defense Dossier,[25] IM1776[26] ReVista the Harvard Review of Latin America, University Bookman[27] and Journal of the Assyrian Academic Society. He has also lectured at numerous U.S. universities and presented papers at conferences of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), and Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID). Born in Cuba and raised in Miami, Florida, he is a graduate of the University of Arizona and Defense Language Institute. Fluent in Arabic (4/3+), Spanish (5/5) and English, is married and has two sons.[28]