I am from Colorado. I know Colorado inside and out.
People think just because I'm from the Middle East, I'm an expert on the Middle East. So, like, I got a friend, like, any time the gas prices go up, he'll always ask my opinion about it.
I am the Counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Regional developers have a clear head start in their home communities. They have been there longer and understand their market. As a result, these markets are, in fact, more competitive than those in Manila.
Since 2008, I have been a Foreign Area Officer specializing in Eurasia. In this role, I have served in the United States' embassies in Kiev, Ukraine and Moscow, Russia.
At Al Jazeera, we are getting our local Somalis, Yemenis and Sudanese, local correspondents from within the society, who understand much better than the people who come from overseas. We will get a much better insight.
A lot of times, you get people from Washington who think they know it all and are not inclined to give any credit to the folks in the state.
I can think of no one more qualified to write about the modern South than Curtis Wilkie
I am a closet birdwatcher. I can identify Southern African species, but it irks me I can barely tell a jay from a blackbird in the U.K.
I didn't like the Feds coming to town when I was in Miami, telling me what to do. I didn't like them coming to town and thinking that they knew more about Miami than I do.
Decisions made centrally, thousands of miles from the markets clients are operating in, will likely not be as attuned to local market realities.
On the flip side, I enjoy covering the Arab world, I've spent my entire career here in the Middle East, but I would never call myself a war correspondent.
When I hear people flatteringly say, 'You're an expert on East Asia...' I'm certainly an observer of East Asia, and central Asia, and ASEAN, and to a lesser extent South Asia and the Gulf, but there's always something behind the wall in China.
There was no need to inform us of the protocol involved. We were from Chicago and knew all about cement.
However hard you might try, you can never understand a market like a local person would.
