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Cover photo credits: Czech Ambassador Hynek Kmonicek, Paula Morrison, Diplomatic Connections; Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dr. Maleeha Lodhi, Christophe Avril, Diplomatic Connections; German Consul General in Los Angeles Hans Jorg Neumann and LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, German Consulate General in Los Angeles, California; Malala Yousafzai and United Nations SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres, UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe; Cruise the Adriatic Coast, Monica and Dr. John Frim, Diplomatic Connections

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H.E. DR. MALEEHA LODHI PAKISTAN’S PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED NATIONS BRINGS WIDE EXPERIENCE, SHARP INSIGHT AND PERSISTENT SPIRIT TO DIPLOMACY JAMES A. WINSHIP, PH.D.

Pakistan’s Dr. Maleeha Lodhi is more than simply her country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. She is a “presence” in the midst of that international institution. Ambassador Lodhi is an accomplished academic, journalist, editor, diplomat and, it is tempting to say, juggler - though the term of art these days is “multi-tasker.” She has tackled her multiple careers with aplomb, eliciting adjectives that describe her as witty, strong-willed, articulate, smart and forceful. She has been variously characterized as possessed of a “thousand watt smile,” a “defuser of cultural land mines,” a “defiant challenger of stereotypes,” and a “moderate voice of Islam.” And, she is all of these things.

Perhaps the most striking characterization of Dr. Lodhi’s abilities comes from a newspaper editorial written when she was appointed Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States for the second time. That editorial described her as “smart, resourceful, beguiling, sharp-tongued and quick-witted.” And then the writer paid her the ultimate compliment.

Ambassador Lodhi is all of these, the editorial continued, “And, INDIA needs an ambassador just like her!” This editorial appeared in an Indian, not a Pakistani, newspaper. It constitutes an extraordinary endorsement when a neighboring country, sometime foe and long-time diplomatic sparring partner provides such encomiums.

Education was at the center of Ambassador Lodhi’s upbringing in Pakistan and in London. “There was no distinction between me and my two brothers,” she recalls.

“Education was vital. In the developing world it is the way to the top.” Her father was the first Pakistani head of a British-based oil company, and her mother earned a journalism degree before marrying and having a family. Ambassador Lodhi received her early education in Lahore and Rawalpindi before moving to the United Kingdom. She attended the London School of Economics, where she received her undergraduate degree in economics and political science. She continued at LSE to receive her Ph.D. in political science and initially taught at a university in Islamabad before returning to LSE’s Department of Government as a lecturer in political sociology.

During her time in London in the 1980s, Dr. Lodhi met and befriended Benazir Bhutto, then living in exile, whose father, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had been ordered hanged by Pakistan’s then military regime. It was also during those years that Dr. Lodhi began her career as a journalist and commentator on national security affairs with an editorial denouncing that same military government. When martial law was lifted in 1986, she returned to Pakistan and became editor of English-language newspaper “The Muslim”

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H.E. DR. MALEEHA LODHI PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF PAKISTAN TO THE UNITED NATIONS

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Prince Charles meets with then Pakistani High Commissioner Dr. Maleeha Lodhi during a visit to the Muslim Cultural Heritage Center on October 12, 2005 in London, England.

before moving to become founding editor of “The News International.”

Ambassador Lodhi has twice served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States (1994-1997 and 19992002) and served as her country’s High Commissioner (Ambassador) to the United Kingdom (2003-2008). She was named as Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 2015. She also served as President of UNICEF’s Executive Board (2015-2016) where she led the way toward reaffirming the agency’s commitment to the world’s children and its refusal to accept “a world in which humanitarian aid workers can be killed with impunity.”

Never straying far from her academic training and her journalistic credentials as well as her rich diplomatic experience, Ambassador Lodhi has been a Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Institute for International Scholars in Washington, D.C. She also serves on the Advisory Board of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics and is a member of the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum. She has received the President’s Award of Hilal-e-Imtiaz for Public Service in Pakistan, an Honorary Fellowship from the London School of Economics, and an Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree from London’s Metropolitan University.

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Pool Tim Graham Picture Library/Getty Images

She is the author of three books “Pakistan’s Encounter with Democracy,” “The External Challenge” and, most recently “Pakistan: Beyond the Crisis State.” Those titles reflect her continuing commitment to “the vision of Pakistan set out by our founding fathers of a moderate, tolerant and progressive Muslim country.”

At a recent United Nations event naming Malala Yousafzai, who nearly lost her life championing the cause of education for girls in Pakistan, a UN Messenger for Peace, Ambassador Lodhi noted that the Pakistani people are characterized by their courage and resilience: “These are the defining traits of the Pakistani people, who by their courage and commitment are determined to defeat the dark forces of intolerance.” The same should be said of the Ambassador herself.

Ambassador Lodhi was kind enough to make time to speak with Diplomatic Connections in her office at the Pakistani Mission in New York.

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Secretary-General António Guterres (right) meets with Malala Yousafzai (center), United Nations Messenger of Peace, on April 10, 2017. Also pictured, Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai (left).

Of course, it was a huge honor for me to have been offered the ambassador’s position. I said to her, “But, you realize, I have no previous diplomatic experience.” She replied, “When I started off as Prime Minister, I did not have any previous experience either!” And I really didn’t have an answer to that.

Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed (left) meets with Malala Yousafzai.

Diplomatic Connections: Ambassador Lodhi, thank you for granting us this interview today. Your background is fascinating.

You were trained as a political scientist and economist, but you became a journalist before you became a diplomat. How did you become a diplomat? Was it a difficult decision for you to make?

Ambassador Lodhi: To start with, “It wasn’t my decision!”

It was the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who, in her second term in office, offered me the job of being Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States. I remember saying to her, “It’s never occurred to me that I should be a diplomat.” And she said, “Well, you’ve been writing about foreign policy for years. Now go and do it. You keep giving us counsel and advice. How about going and implementing some of the stuff that you’ve been writing about?”

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Diplomatic Connections: You left the worlds of academe and journalism to become ambassador. Did you have to give anything up to be a diplomat?

Ambassador Lodhi: The one thing given up when you are no longer a private citizen is your freedom to say pretty much what you want. Once a diplomat, you are representing your country and speaking for Pakistan while being bound by governments’s stated policy. You are trying to win hearts and minds during which simultaneously trying to convince other people. You are explaining what your country is about. All of that has been so exciting and very rewarding as well.

Diplomatic Connections: What did you bring from your journalistic experience to your diplomatic career? Going the other way, how did your diplomatic experience impact your editorial career?

Secretary-General António Guterres designated Malala Yousafzai, global advocate for girls’ education and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate, as a United Nations Messenger of Peace with a special focus on girls’ education, at a special ceremony at UN headquarters. The designation was followed by a conversation between the SecretaryGeneral, Ms. Yousafzai and youth representatives around the world on the theme of girls’ education.

A wide view of the event, which was moderated by Maher Nasser, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications.

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Asim Hafeez/Bloomberg via Getty Images

There was something that I was not very good at in the beginning, but I have improved greatly. That is listening to others and giving credence to their point of view, even when I might disagree. If you have to convince somebody, then you have to learn what their interests may be and to hear their concerns. Developing those listening skills took some doing.

Diplomatic Connections: Do women bring different gifts to diplomacy than men do?

Ambassador Lodhi: Where it has been useful, particularly when I was serving in Washington and in London, was that it helped to break a stereotype. There was a certain view of my country and women’s place in that country. The fact that I happened to be a woman occupying a very significant diplomatic position on the basis of my own credentials, not because I had a famous surname or that I was related to anyone but because I was a professional, made it difficult to sustain distorted views that insisted that Islam relegates women to inferior status and a limited role in society.

Diplomatic Connections: You were Ambassador to the United States under Benazir Bhutto, and then you were called again to be Ambassador a second time under what was the military regime of Pervez Musharraf. Was that a difficult situation for you? Those were two such different governments.

Ambassador Lodhi: You are right that Bhutto and Musharraf were very different types of governments: one was elected, and the other one was not. That is why, in the second case, it was an agonizing decision. All of my life and in my writing I had opposed military rule. I still think that military rule is not something that should be my country’s destiny. It is democracy that is my country’s destiny.

Begum Mahmooda Mamnoon, Pakistani President's wife, signs the “Istanbul Declaration” after a special session on First Ladies' Leadership on Cancer Control as part of the 13th Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit, at the Lutfi Kirdar Congress Center in Istanbul, Turkey on April 14, 2016.

Ambassador Lodhi: To be a good diplomat you need pretty much the same skills whether you are a man or a woman. But, what women bring to the job is an ability to multitask, which comes perhaps more naturally to us – men have to learn it, women seem to have an innate skill at it. I mean we don’t have a choice because we are women.

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Diplomatic Connections: Have you experienced situations where your gender has been useful in your diplomatic dealings?

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It wasn’t an easy personal choice to make. But, having made it, I felt I lived up to the responsibility that was

Turkish Presidency / Yasin Bulbul/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Ambassador Lodhi: The skills Pink taxi, women-only service, is launched in Karachi, that you need Pakistan on March 22, 2017. New taxi service aims to be a good to protect female customers from harassment. Only women drivers will serve to women customers with diplomat are very this service. similar to the skills that you need to be a good writer or journalist.

Those are the same proficiencies to be able to analyze dispassionately and to communicate articulately. Journalism prepared me well for the world of diplomacy.

Sabir Mazhar/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Female attendees use a laptop computer at the The Nest i/o Tech Incubation Center, in Karachi, Pakistan, on April 24, 2017. Jehan Ara, founder and president of The Nest i/o, took inspiration from visits to incubation centers in Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. Gaining about $1.4 million in grants from Google's Alphabet Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and the U.S. State Department, about 100 startups have come through the center launched by the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA).

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do not want our bilateral relations to be a function of external factors.

After all, my country is the sixth most populous nation in the world with the second largest Muslim population.

Pakistan is a democratic nation. The importance of Pakistan and the fact that it is geographically situated at the center of South Asia and on the shores of the Indian Ocean gives our country inherent geostrategic importance. I hope that the Trump administration will see Pakistan’s importance in this bigger picture, rather than through tactical eyes.

Diplomatic Connections: The on-going relationship and the tensions between Pakistan and India trace back to the moment of birth and independence for both countries in 1947. Can you help us understand the dynamics of the relationship with India from partition to the continuing conflict over Kashmir?

placed upon me, which was to ensure that my country’s policies, my country’s interests – beyond individuals – were reflected in the work that I did.

Diplomatic Connections: You have characterized Pakistan as “the most allied ally of the United States and its most sanctioned friend.” Why do you think that relationship has been such an up and down roller-coaster ride? What would it take to stabilize U.S.-Pakistan relations?

Ambassador Lodhi: What we would like to see is a stable relationship that is predicated on the intrinsic importance of Pakistan, rather than being a function of the Cold War in the past or the on-going war in Afghanistan today. We

Ambassador Lodhi: Pakistan and India need obviously to live as good neighbors. As they say, “You can change history, but you can’t change geography.”

We are where we are. Pakistan remains committed to having a normal relationship with India. But, obviously, the bitterness, the history of partition lingers.

There is a series of unresolved disputes between our two countries and continuing tensions on the border especially over Kashmir, what we call in Pakistan “the unfinished business of partition.” All these factors mean that the relationship with India really has been a very difficult one. That’s not because we would want it to be difficult.

Pakistan would very much like to see a peaceful resolution of all our outstanding disputes. We need serious and

John Moore/Getty Images

Pakistan's Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif addresses the United Nations General Assembly at the UN in New York.

Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Nawaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan, listens to an advisor as the then U.S. President Obama addresses the United Nations General Assembly on September 20, 2016 in New York City. Heads of state gathered to address global issues at the 71st annual meeting at the UN headquarters in New York.

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sustained negotiations to help put to rest some of these issues. Poverty is still wide spread in India and Pakistan. We can benefit from economic cooperation and from having a normal relationship with each other.

Diplomatic Connections: What would it take to move beyond the fragile, high-tension ceasefire between Pakistan and India that has been in place for so many years toward a stable lasting peace?

Ambassador Lodhi: It would require resolving peacefully the core issue of Kashmir. Kashmir is not a piece of real estate.

Kashmir is about people, and it is about a fundamental principle of self-determination. The only way they can exercise their democratic right is to have a plebiscite, which United Nations Security Council resolutions have long called for.

of democracy. We feel that more elected members would make the Security Council more democratic, more representative and more accountable.

Diplomatic Connections: The United Nations last year selected a new Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, who took office in January of this year. The process of selecting Mr. Guterres was perhaps the most open of any Secretary General selection process to date, but there was still a great deal of hope that a woman might be named Secretary General. There were several women seriously considered. Are you disappointed that a man was selected? What will it take to break that particular barrier, for the United Nations to name a woman as Secretary General for the first time?

Ambassador Lodhi: The fact that somebody like Mr. Guterres became Secretary General was really a reflection of the

Furthermore, to allow the people of Kashmir to determine their own destiny in a democratic manner. That is what we ask for. If we were able to resolve that, you would see the relationship between Pakistan and India move into a more peaceful zone of coexistence where both countries would benefit from cooperation with the other.

Diplomatic Connections: One of the on-going issues within the United Nations institutional framework is the question of structural reform of the Security Council. The core questions are whether the Security Council should be enlarged to better reflect the world of the 21st century, whether there should be more permanent members or non-permanent, and whether the veto power should be extended.

What would be Pakistan’s vision for a new more workable Security Council?

Secretary-General António Guterres (left) meets with Dr. Maleeha Lodhi, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, on January 6, 2017.

Ambassador Lodhi: Pakistan’s position is that the Security Council must be enlarged, and enlarged in a way that respects the changing dynamics of the world. The Security Council reflects the victorious powers of the Second World War, meaning the five permanent members, the P-5 – the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China. But, the world has changed over seven decades, and the make-up of the Security Council should reflect that.

Reform must be based on democratic principles. Adding permanent members to the Security Council would simply be perpetuating or expanding centers of power and privilege. It would be doing more of the same rather than truly reforming the Security Council structure and bringing in more elected members based on the principle

Secretary-General António Guterres (second from left) meets with Dr. Maleeha Lodhi (second from right), Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, on January 6, 2017.

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Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed briefs the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to provide an update on the operational activities for development of the United Nations system. Also pictured: Lenni Montiel (left), Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development; Nabeel Munir (second from right), First Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN and Vice-President of ECOSO at the UN Headquarters in New York on May 5, 2017.

fact that he was the most able, the most suited and the most experienced for the Secretary General’s position. So, no, I wasn’t disappointed at all because what mattered was that the best prepared and qualified person got the job. The qualifications that Mr. Guterres brought to the Secretary-General position were quite unique in terms of his experience and his abilities.

But, that doesn’t rule out that there will be women capable enough to contest the office in the future and well qualified to make it to the top. We want to see a woman in that role, but we will only advocate for the stance that the most able and the most capable should get the job. Gender is important, but it should not be the basis on which the person is selected.

a critical role in establishing worldwide stability. They have been contributing not just to the economic development of Pakistan but to the overall economic connectivity of our region. China is building bridges for political cooperation among countries and that encourages greater amity between nations in Asia and beyond.

Diplomatic Connections: What have been some of the most fulfilling accomplishments of your career? Are there any disappointments?

Ambassador Lodhi: Obviously, everyone’s career sees highs and lows. One of my highs was certainly the fact that I

Lintao Zhang/Pool/Getty Images

Diplomatic Connections: We are seeing a growing role for China as it has moved through its own development and brought such a large population up in terms of quality of life and income.

China has always been involved in South Asia, not least in border conflicts, but it has become a major investor, a major builder – Pakistan is developing port facilities with Chinese assistance, and a major trading partner. How do you see China’s role in South Asia and its evolving role in the United Nations?

Ambassador Lodhi: China has emerged not just as a global power and an economic powerhouse, but China is playing Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China.

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Jason Lee/AFP/Getty Images

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (L) talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping (R), ahead of the Belt and Road Forum, in Beijing on May 13, 2017.

Damir Sagolj/AFP/Getty Images

made it as the first female editor of a national daily in all of Asia. I did not realize that by becoming editor I had somehow, in a way, set a kind of a record. It was very humbling.

But, another one of my highs was when I had my son. Just because we are pursuing careers doesn’t mean that one of the highest points of life isn’t having a child. It is remarkable to nurture him as he grows up to be a young man. So when you ask about fulfillment, I must point to fulfillment both as a professional and as a “Mom.” The lows? Well, you go through disappointments.

You experience goals that you have set that you are not able to achieve. But, I would not really call those experiences “lows” although I used the word myself. I would say that these are setbacks that only intensified my motivation to do better. Some of us don’t like defeat!

Diplomatic Connections: We should note that was said with a great “twinkle” in the eye.

Ambassador Lodhi: People must never say that since I haven’t met the goal this time, I’m going

Front row (L-R) Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang; Russian President Vladimir Putin; Chinese President Xi Jinping; Indonesia's President Joko Widodo; Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev; Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte; Kyrgyzstan's President Almazbek Sharshenovich Atambayev; and (top row L-R) Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras; Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban; Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen; Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy; Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak; Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn; and Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pose for a family photo during the Belt and Road Forum, at the International Conference Center in Yanqi Lake, north of Beijing, on May 15, 2017.

to give it up. No, just try that much harder the next time; never allow a temporary setback to keep you down. Disappointments should be a spark to further action, not a reason for you to feel downcast and give up! So, never give up!

Diplomatic Connections: That may be the most appropriate end to an interview that can possibly be imagined – never give up. Thank you for your time, your wit and your wisdom Ambassador Lodhi. It has been a joy and a pleasure.

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THE ONLY U.S. PRESIDENT TO HAVE VISITED DONALD TRUMP

ZLÍN ROLAND FLAMINI TALKS TO CZECH AMBASSADOR HYNEK KMONICEK

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H.E. HYNEK KMONÍCEK AMBASSADOR OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC TO THE UNITED STATES

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to Ivana’s homeland. An amicable dissolution had

of European Union countries spoke in favor

also split Czechoslovakia into its two component

of Donald Trump’s campaign bid for the

parts: the Czech Republic, or Czechia, and Slovakia.

presidency: Czech President Milos Zeman

The Czechs have labeled the fall of the communist

and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Then

leadership in Prague and its replacement with a

in December, President Zeman phoned Trump to

non-communist government “the Velvet Revolution.”

congratulate him on his victory and “invitations

That’s because miraculously, no one was killed in

were issued and accepted – on both sides,” says the

the tense days of confrontation in 1989 that led

Czech Ambassador to Washington, Hynek Kmonicek

to the country’s dramatic change of course. The

in a recent interview with Diplomatic Connections.

dissident leader and playwright Vaclav Havel became

Trump knows the Czech Republic. His first wife, Ivana,

president. Restrictions on the media, speech and

was born in Moravia, the Czech region nearest the

travel were lifted. Encouraged in part by the prospect

Polish border, and during their marriage he was a

of joining both NATO and the European Union if

regular visitor. When Trump wed Ivana in 1977 the

certain democratic benchmarks were met, the new

Czech Republic was communist Czechoslovakia, a

government was quick to liberalize the country’s

Soviet satellite in which, in 1968, Moscow had forcibly

law with respect to both politics and the economy,

suppressed a nascent democratic movement. By the

creating an open and free society. Part of the legacy

time the Trumps divorced in 1992, the Soviet empire

of 50 years under Russian control is that the Czech

had collapsed and democracy had been restored

Republic is widely – and mistakenly, according to

Ivana Trump (3-L), mother of President Trump's oldest children, (L-R) Donald Trump Jr. with his wife, Vanessa; Eric Trump with his wife, Lara; Ivanka Trump with her husband, Jared Kushner.

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Bobby Bank/WireImage

I

n the summer of 2016, only two leaders

Hynek Kmonicek — perceived as an East European country along with Poland and Hungary. Geography disputes that perception, he says. In reality, the Czech Republic is situated west of Austria, itself considered a Western country.

Another mistake, says Ambassador Kmonicek, is to lump his country with Hungary and Poland where nationalism clashes with the European Union’s more federalist approach. If an EU referendum were held in the Czech Republic any time soon “there would be no Czechxit,” says the ambassador, a seasoned diplomat who, in true Czech fashion, works seriously at not sounding too serious.

Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images

Diplomatic Connections: President Zeman [aged 73 and seeking another presidential term in 2018] was one of only two European Union leaders who expressed his support for Donald Trump during the U.S. presidential campaign. How is this influencing bi-lateral relations?

Ambassador Kmonicek: It’s still to be seen. When I presented my credentials to President Trump [March 24] I obviously reminded him of this, and he was already aware of that fact. In backing Trump, President Zeman was relying on his own political experience and his gut feeling, and you can say that he bet against the house. We believe that this could – should – be reflected in the personal relations between the two presidents. But, as I said, we’ll see what happens.

Presidents of then Czechoslovakia and of the United States, Vaclav Havel and George H.W. Bush at a pro-democracy rally in Prague on November 17, 1990. In 2003, Havel left his office as the longest serving European politician. He was also the last active politician from the times of the fall of communist rule in eastern Europe in 1989. Born in Prague in 1936, an active anti-communist playwright and founder of Charter 77 dissident movement, whose work was banned in his home country after 1968 Soviet invasion to then Czechoslovakia, spent altogether more than six years in prison on several occasions between 1977 and 1989. After getting elected as Czechoslovak President in 1989, Havel resigned to protest against the split of Czechoslovakia in 1992 only to be elected again as president of the independent Czech Republic. During Havel's term in the office, the former Warsaw Pact member nation has joined NATO and has been successfuly negotiating its admission to the EU.

Honza Mudra/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Diplomatic Connections: Did the subject of President Trump’s connections with Bohemia come up?

Czech university students gather in Albertov on November 17, 2016, the anniversary of the Velvet or Gentle Revolution, the non-violent transfer of power in what was then Czechoslovakia. The period of upheaval and transition took place from November 17 to December 29, 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia combined students and older dissidents. The result was the end of 41 years of Stalinist rule in Czechoslovakia, and the subsequent dismantling of the planned economy and conversion to a parliamentary republic. This photo was taken at a neighborhood near Vyehrad, where the student protests started on November 17th, 1989.

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Ambassador Kmonicek: There was no time. But I heard President Trump mention it during his telephone call with President Zeman in December. Our president had called to congratulate President Trump, and I listened to the conversation on another line. It was discussed at that time, including President Trump’s memories of past visits to the Czech Republic. We’re proud that he’s the only American president who made it to Zlin [Ivana Trump’s birthplace in Moravia, eastern Czech Republic], which is a nice city nobody’s ever heard of.

Diplomatic Connections: According to reports, Ivana Trump has expressed a wish to be appointed U.S. ambassador to her homeland.

Ambassador Kmonicek: That’s for the Americans to decide.

Diplomatic Connections: Is there an exchange of presidential visits in the works?

Ambassador Kmonicek: When President Zeman called President Trump invitations were issued and accepted – on both sides, I must say – and we’re trying to find the right time for such visits. The American president has a much more dense schedule and it would probably be impossible to bring him to Prague unless there is some big event; so a visit by the Czech president to Washington is more likely, and we believe that we may be able to have that during this year.

Diplomatic Connections: Shifting to politics, could you provide an update on the Czech political picture. On May 2, Prime Minister [Bohuslav] Sobotka announced that he would resign, 32

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Martin Divisek/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Diplomatic Connections: And what was the president’s decision?

Ambassador Kmonicek: The president is currently negotiating with the political leaders. Babis has said he will not resign, but he still can be fired. I believe there will be a quick fix until October. Knowing the Czech political calendar, in July and August half the country goes on vacation: they’ll all be in Croatia [on the Adriatic coast], so we’re talking June, September and the beginning of October.

Diplomatic Connections: And yet, the Czech Republic is in good shape economically.

There has been rapid economic growth. Unemployment is at 3 percent, the lowest in the European Union. The Czech currency, the koruna, is in good shape. So why the internal tension in the government?

continued to page 40

IStock/Getty Images

Czech Republic's Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka signs the new Rome declaration with leaders of 27 European Union countries special during a summit of EU leaders to mark the 60th anniversary of the bloc's founding Treaty of Rome, on March 25, 2017 at Rome's Piazza del Campidoglio (Capitoline Hill).

Ambassador Kmonicek: Legally, nothing happened. We still have the same government we had before his announced intention. In five months we’ll have parliamentary elections, and the prime minister’s party, the Social Democrats, and the party of Finance Minister Andrej Babis, which is called ANO (Czech for “yes”) will be the main fighting parties. Right now, they are in an uneasy coalition together. The prime minister wanted to fire his finance minister and was unsure if President Zeman would do so five months before the elections.

So, to be sure, he decided to fire himself and the government.

Ivan Pilny, incoming Czech finance minister, left, The president receives a document of office from Milos Zeman, Czech president, during his official swearing in ceremony at refused to accept Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, on May 24, his resignation 2017. Zeman formally dismissed billionaire Finance Minister Andrej Babis and named Ivan Pilny, a former so the prime corporate executive and now a lawmaker for Babis' ANO minister was party, as his replacement. back to square one. Now he has asked the president to fire Minister Babis.

Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images

but three days later, he withdrew his resignation. What is the situation now?

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Czech Manufacturers

Sean Dwyer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Rene Volfik/AFP/Getty Images

Peter Olah, designer of the Czech car maker Skoda Auto, poses with Tour de France trophies he has designed, at glassworks manufacturer Ajeto in Lindava, Czech Republic. The long-standing partnership with the Tour de France gave Skoda a chance to design the trophies on more than one occasion.

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Preparing parts for Bulldozers

Chris Niedenthal/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images

A worker uses an engraving machine to apply matrix numbers onto a master copper disc, part of the manufacturing process for the production of vinyl records. The Czech Republic is one of the world's biggest vinyl record producers, making records for Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music.

Martin Divisek/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A woman passes a Waterford Crystal display in the window of the House of Ireland, in Dublin, Ireland. About a fifth of the vases, chandeliers and toasting flutes sold by Waterford Wedgwood Plc are made in the Czech Republic, not Waterford.

Martin Divisek/Bloomberg via Getty Images Vladimir Weiss/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Martin Divisek/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A worker uses a ladle to remove motlen glass from a melting pot at the Novosad & Son Glassworks in Harrachov, Czech Republic. Glassworks Harrachov is the oldest still working glass factory in Bohemia.

Helicopters and parts, both Military and Civil

Steel being poured

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Martin Divisek/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Czech Manufacturers

A female employee walks past copper fermenting vats in the brew house at the Zatecky Pivovar brewery in Zatec, Czech Republic.

A technician pours a draft of Budweiser Budvar beer from a storage vat at the headquarters of Budejovicky Budvar NP, the Czech brewer, in Ceske Budejovicky, Czech Republic.

Martin Divisek/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Cars coming off assembly line.

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Martin Divisek/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Wall clocks made of LEGO bricks showing various world times hang in the reception area at the LEGO A/S Factory in Kladno, Czech Republic.

Vladimir Weiss/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A mock train station made of LEGO bricks stands in front of the Lego A/S Factory in Kladno, Czech Republic.

Car being manufactured.

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Sean Dwyer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Czech Manufacturers

Low-floor trams, electric locomotives, subway trains, suburban train units, trolleybuses as well as traction motors and driving gears for transport systems.

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Martin Divisek/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Leisure boats line the docks in Waterford, Ireland. About a fifth of the vases, chandeliers and toasting flutes sold by Waterford Wedgwood Plc are made in the Czech Republic, not Waterford.

Radek Mica/AFP/Getty Images Vladimir Weiss/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Defense and Security, Military vehicles

Planes and plane parts, both Military and Civil

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Diplomatic Connections: Why is the Czech Republic in better shape than other EU countries, including some of its neighbors?

Ambassador Kmonicek: It’s a combination of a few factors: we were not too much affected by the European economic crisis [20072008]. This is partly because we were not in the euro zone, Jiri Rusnok, governor of the Czech central bank, and we still are not speaks during a news conference in Prague, Czech Republic, on April 6, 2017. The Czech and partly because of central bank cut its currency loose from a onethe very conservative sided peg against the euro, setting in motion a trade that drew billions of dollars in foreign approach of the Czech investment into the bond market and spurring banks which are the koruna to its strongest level since 2013. usually “daughters” – or branches — of the big European banks. So, the joke among Czechs was that the Czech banking industry was made up of healthy daughters of sick mothers.

Diplomatic Connections: Ah yes, the famous Czech talent for turning even the grimmest situation into a joke.

Ambassador Kmonicek: Yes, and every joke has a core of wisdom. But in terms of the economy, this government never tried to interfere too much with industry, never tried to limit or control foreign investment and tried instead to allow a real free market with not much government intrusion. We are an exporting country. If you have a nation with 10 million people and every year it produces a million cars it basically means you have to sell abroad and you must be competitive in quality, design and price. So, stability, predictability, and more or less minimal meddling with the free market policy were contributing factors.

Also, we have a highly skilled labor force, equal to that of Germany, though not with German wages. But the trade unions are pushing every government hard for raising wages, which will have to happen, but gradually.

Diplomatic Connections: If your country had a Brexit type referendum any time soon about membership of the European Union, what do you think would be the result?

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Ambassador Kmonicek: I’m sure there would be no Czechxit.

Czechs usually have a lot of common sense: if they leave a place they will want to know where it is they wish to reach. And it’s highly uncertain where the Czech Republic would go, faced with a decision like that. Eighty per cent of the Czech GDP [gross domestic product] comes from export, and 80 percent of those exports go to the EU: we are so interconnected with the (EU) market it would be like draining your body of its blood believing that without blood the body would be lighter – and it would be, but you’d be a zombie.

Diplomatic Connections: But in a recent interview your foreign minister complained bitterly about what he considered arbitrary behavior by Brussels in its dealings with Prague.

Ambassador Kmonicek: The Czechs are able to distinguish between what the European Union means to us, and the EU not functioning well in certain areas. Most Czech eurocritics are not ideological: they don’t fight the EU, but how the European Union functions. They don’t want the EU to end, they want it to work much better. For my generation there was an easy equation: we want to be European because it means we will be more free and no communist politburo will tell us what to do. For a growing number of people this equation has been spoilt. It’s not the politburo that now tells us where we can smoke or cannot smoke: it’s the EU buro. It’s critical for the survival of the European Union to re-establish this link between being European and freedom.

Diplomatic Connections: Your mention of the politburo raises the point that the Communist Party is the main opposition party in the Czech parliament [the third largest group with 33 parliamentary seats out of 200]. How does that happen after what your country went through under communism, and without ties to Moscow who is supplying the oxygen?

Ambassador Kmonicek: The Russians are not communists any more: they are capitalists. Czech communists have ties with China, Vietnam, and North Korea. It’s a very complex party which is still discussing how communist they should be, because they are a reasonably big parliamentary bloc but are good for nothing — we call them unusable coalition potential. Everybody needs them to form a coalition government, but nobody can use them because it would be political suicide. So every election the communists have a reasonable success – but it’s totally empty. It must be rather frustrating for the communists: they participate in the race, but whether they come first, second, third, they never get the prize.

Martin Divisek/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Ambassador Kmonicek: The fight has the classic political pre-election reasons. The Czech Republic is in such good shape thanks to this coalition government that they’re fighting for the ownership of its success.

Dan Kitwood/AFP/Getty Images

Heads of State attend a ceremony during the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) summit at the NATO headquarters, in Brussels, on May 25, 2017.

Mateusz Wlodarczyk/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Diplomatic Connections: So why did they re-emerge after 1989?

Ambassador Kmonicek: There were the old guard communists, and the frustrated people who were not happy with the new free market economy, because their skills were not needed. They were left out while dreaming about the security offered in the past. The most interesting are the younger people who joined the communist party after the Velvet Revolution. All three groups are still clashing inside the party.

Diplomatic Connections: Does the Czech Republic still have the procedure called lustration to vet public officials for links with the Communist-era security services?

Ambassador Kmonicek: It’s still there, but it doesn’t apply to people who were born after the Velvet Revolution.

Diplomatic Connections: It took a decade for the Czech Republic to become a member of NATO [in 1999] and another five years to join the EU, along with Poland and Hungary. Why did it take so long?

Ambassador Kmonicek: The accession process involved negotiation, and it really depended on how skillful the diplomacy was to save the things that were important for us. Even allies can be competitors, and we had to decide what we would keep, and not keep. To our achievement, we are still very much in charge of the structure of our

Czech Republic Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Poland Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and Slovakia Prime Minister Robert Fico during the Visegrad Group meeting in Warsaw, Poland on March 2, 2017.

industry. Contrarily, we totally lost our big sugar industry which almost disappeared (because it was in competition with Western European firms). Also, we used to be the weapons factory for the Warsaw Pact. We still have quite a significant production, but it’s not at the magnitude it used to be. On the other hand we kept the air industry. The Czech Republic is one of not more than 20 states on this planet who manufacture planes.

Diplomatic Connections: What strike you as some of the anomalies resulting from your country’s EU membership?

Ambassador Kmonicek: Eighty percent of our legal system is coming from the European parliament, which creates

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the unbelievable – and typically Czech — paradox. What should be important is who represents us in the European parliament because that’s where the laws are made. Well, nobody’s interested. Every politician wants to get into the national parliament because it’s the power you can understand; closer to you. But when it comes to voting in the European parliamentary elections the turnout is very low. Logically, it should be the other way around, but for the voter the heart is bigger than logic; and the heart says the important guy is the one I see on TV every day, even if he produces a fourth of what the guy I never see on television produces.

go east from us would be Kiev, but it’s not: the next city east of us is Vienna. So what we say to our friends is: to understand what the Czechs are, what our position is, look at the map. Not the one you remember, but the map as it is. We feel ourselves to be western Europeans who were Westerners for a thousand years, and for 50 years of communism we were stolen by the east. Unfortunately, people remember just those 50 years, ignoring the map and 950 years of our western existence. That’s probably the main, long term goal of Czech diplomacy – unification of the geographical and mental maps.

Diplomatic Connections: When do you foresee the Czech Republic joining the euro zone?

Ambassador Kmonicek: First of all, the Middle East community had a tendency to go to countries where they already had relatives, which was not the Czech Republic, and where the social subsidies are much higher than in the Czech Republic, and where the culture is much closer to them. We do have a Muslim community which almost doubled during the Yugoslav wars, but these people were Slavic and has no problem assimilating into Czech speaking society. On the other hand currently our biggest national minority is Ukrainians, who are not considered refugees.

They don’t ask for refugee status; they work in the Czech labor market, and because of the language proximity they are almost assimilated.

Ambassador Kmonicek: We used to have some dates when we should have joined, but we never did. The euro crisis showed that this inability to meet our own deadlines was not a mistake. So currently the political thinking goes like this: Will we join the euro? Yes. What happens then? The prices will go a little bit higher, and the government will have to pay the political price. The result is that every government announces its intention of joining the euro – but during the next government’s term. Although from the economic point of view we clearly have to get to the euro sooner or later. Is it popular? No. Diplomatic Connections: The Czech Republic participates in the sanctions against Russia, but on the other hand, you are largely dependent on Russia for oil and gas. So how does Prague manage its relationship with the Russians?

Ambassador Kmonicek: Dependence on Russian sources is there, but in the beginning of the 1990s we created pipelines to the north and west which gives us a reasonable chance that even if we are in some heavy political discussion in the east we can economically survive it because we now can switch supplies.

Diplomatic Connections: Is there a reason why you make no reference to the Visegrad Four, or V4, [the collaborative partnership of the four geographic neighbors — Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland]?

Ambassador Kmonicek: The point is that if you say Czech Republic usually the first idea which comes to everybody’s mind is, east Europe, but it’s nonsense. Prague is west of Vienna. You go through Prague traveling from Vienna to Paris. So there’s a disunity of the mental map and the geographical map. People are sometimes surprised by our positions because they think that the next city if you 42

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Diplomatic Connections: Refugee crisis.

Diplomatic Connections: What about the EU requirement of having to take in a number of Syrian refugees?

Ambassador Kmonicek: We did clash with the European Union on the quota system because we wanted to keep the system logical. We wanted to have control over who would be coming because we had to sell it to the public. But we were not able to push that opinion through the EU. In the end, we accepted our quota which was 1,200 and we are trying to fulfill it. But you cannot force a refugee to live in the Czech Republic if he prefers to join his cousin in Hamburg.

Diplomatic Connections: You’re a career diplomat.

Ambassador Kmonicek: I am a career diplomat. For six and half years, I was the permanent representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations.

Diplomatic Connections: What years were these?

Ambassador Kmonicek: I came to New York two months after 9/11 and I stayed until 2007. Then I went to be ambassador to India, accredited also to Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, basically a

Ambassador of the Czech Republic, Hynek Kmonícek with his wife, Indira Gumarova, in the backyard of the residence in Washington, D.C.

territory of two billion people. From there I came back to headquarters to be the deputy foreign minister again (I had already been deputy foreign minister before going to New York). After that I was the ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, including Polynesia. Then I became head of the foreign policy department in the Prague Castle (the office of Czech Milos Zeman). I’m now in Washington but technically I’m still in the Castle because I kept my function as presidential adviser. So I wear two hats.

Diplomatic Connections: And you know the United States.

Ambassador Kmonicek: I know the United States to the point that for the last 14 years I consider myself a New Yorker: my wife is American, and all the years when I was ambassador my permanent address was always Queens.

Diplomatic Connections: When did you join the foreign service?

Ambassador Kmonicek: In 1995, directly from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for my post-graduate studies.

Strangely, my main subject was U.S.-Saudi Arabian relations. Nobody studied that at the time in Israel, but [in light of the new alignments in the Middle East against ISIS] it is now highly topical.

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GERMANY’S CONSUL GENERAL IN LOS ANGELES BRINGS WIDE RANGING DIPLOMATIC EXPERIENCE TO UNITED STATES OF AMERICA’S SECOND CITY

1991: First assignment to Egypt in my office.

JAMES A. WINSHIP, PH.D.

H

ans Jörg Neumann’s life story mirror’s his country’s modern history from the early days of the Cold War to German reunification to the first decades of the 21st

century. He was born in what was then East Germany. “I was three-years old,” Neumann recalls, “when my parents escaped from East Berlin, two years before the Berlin Wall was built, leaving their parents, sisters and brothers behind. Even though we could visit my East German family every year, it was a miracle for all of us when my East German relatives could finally visit us and discover West Germany.”

The Berlin Wall, a central reality of Neumann’s childhood, schooling and professional training, came down in 1989. Germany was reunified in 1990 and a reunited Berlin was named as its capital. Today, 28 years after the wall came down, Hans Jörg Neumann is united Germany’s Consul General in Los Angeles.

And, Los Angeles is one of Berlin’s Sister Cities, a friendship that began when that city was divided and that celebrates 50 years of continuous friendship this year.

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Neumann's first German National Day Reception in Los Angeles with Deputy Chief of Protocol LA County Lourdes Saab.

HANS JÖRG NEUMANN CONSUL GENERAL CONSULATE GENERAL OF GERMANY IN LOS ANGELES

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In many ways, the Berlin Wall offers a metaphor

Though law was fascinating, Neumann explains

for Consul General Neumann’s diplomatic career.

that “the thought of doing the same thing for 30 or

Speaking of the often tense and deeply emotional

40 years, sitting at the same desk all my life was

issues surrounding the mass migration of refugees

not appealing to me. When – to my great delight – I

from Africa and the Middle East into Germany in

was among the few applicants chosen to enter the

recent years, he has acknowledged that taking

German diplomatic school in 1987, I wanted to give

in so many people whose cultural backgrounds

it a try. I’ve had wonderful experiences during my

are so different from Germany’s historical culture

diplomatic career, and I’ve never regretted

“is a huge experiment, but an experiment we

my decision.”

cannot escape from because they are there.”

Consul General Neumann built a multi-

Educating and integrating these refugees poses

dimensional diplomatic career alternating between

serious challenges, Neumann agrees, but the

legal affairs; African assignments in Cairo and on

right to political asylum is enshrined in Article

the Maghreb desk at the Foreign Office, where

16a of Germany’s constitution and in international

his primary interest was in political and economic

law. Moreover, Germany’s aging population can

development efforts; Eastern European postings in

potentially benefit from the influx of youth into the

Prague and Bucharest where he was able to watch

labor force if the integration process is successful.

and encourage post-Soviet democratic transitions;

Still, there is more to Germany’s decision to

and Washington, D.C., where he was able to

admit large numbers of refugees than constitutional

probe the innermost workings of the on-going

law and economic growth. There is an emotional

relationship between critical alliance and economic

commitment as well. Recalling both Germany’s

partners. Periodically, assignments would take him

misbegotten policies of racial exclusion during

back to the Legal Department of the Foreign Office,

World War II and the tragic post-war experience of

whether in Bonn or Berlin.

walling Germans off from each other because of

Before arriving in Los Angeles as Consul

political ideology, Neumann explains, “We need

General, Neumann headed one of the three Foreign

to tear down walls in the head.” That is an apt

Ministry Inspection Teams at the Foreign Office in

description of his entire diplomatic career.

Berlin for three years (2008-2011) and then was

Consul General Neumann’s international

named as Germany’s Ambassador in Cotonou, Benin

experience began in his late teens when he spent a

on the West Coast of African (2011-2015). Now, in

year as an American Field Service foreign exchange

Los Angeles, his mission is “to promote German-

student in Doylestown, Pennsylvania where he

American economic relations, present Germany as

received an American high school diploma. A

a modern European country, foster bilateral cultural

year later he received his German baccalaureate

relations and engage in German-Jewish dialogue.”

degree. Following his 15 months of mandatory

Consul General Neumann was kind enough to

military service, Neumann began his law studies to

take time from his busy schedule to answer an

which he dedicated much of the next ten years of

extensive list of questions that asked him to reflect

his life eventually training for judicial service and

on his career and the varied political and diplomatic

beginning a career as a lawyer.

issues he has faced, not least the reunification of his own country.

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Diplomatic Connections: There could be few more dramatic relocations than moving from being Germany’s Ambassador in Benin on the West Coast of Africa to being Consul General in Los Angeles on the West Coast of the United States. Did you experience some culture shock in the process? How did you deal with the transition?

community, promoting bilateral trade as well as assisting cultural and scientific exchanges.

Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images

Consul General Neumann: Rotating posts and adjusting to a new environment is routine for diplomats. I have served in the United States previously, so adapting to life in the U.S. has not been too difficult.

Moving from the West Coast of Africa to the West Coast of the United States, however, represents a dramatic change in my official functions. Cooperation in the field of development was one of my major tasks in Benin. By contrast, my major tasks in Southern California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Utah are fostering bilateral trade, assisting numerous German and American citizens in consular matters and observing regional political developments.

Diplomatic Connections: Could you give us a functional description of your responsibilities as Consul General? To what extent is the consulate an extension of German government bureaucracy, and to what extent is it an extension of the German Embassy’s diplomatic initiatives?

Consul General Neumann: Embassies and Consulates represent the German government and are bound by the rules of Consul General Neumann talking to his assistant, Karin Delitz, at the Consulate General of the Federal German law and Republic of Germany in Los Angeles, California. regulations. The missions are the “mouth, ears and eyes,” and lobbyists of our country.

German Ambassador Peter Wittig is Germany’s highestranking representative to the U.S. government. He represents German interests in the whole of the United States and works to foster and deepen German-American relations in the political, economic and cultural spheres.

The eight German consulates serve specific regions in this country and are tasked to promote German interests in their jurisdiction. That means providing German government services to German citizens living in the United States, reaching out to the German-American

People look through a crack at the Berlin Wall Memorial at Bernauer Strasse in Berlin.

Diplomatic Connections: One of the most unusual aspects of the consulate’s mission is “to engage in German-Jewish dialogue.” Is this part of the mission of German consulates across the world? How does the Consul General go about fulfilling this role in Los Angeles?

Consul General Neumann: Germany cannot and will not forget its history. The German-Jewish dialogue is a very important task for all German missions in the world but especially in the United States. We have excellent relations with Jewish institutions and maintain close contact with the different organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee, the Israeli missions in the U.S., Jewish communities in our region and individual Jewish leaders. As do many of my German colleagues I attend Holocaust remembrance days and ceremonies such as the lighting of Hanukkah candles, give speeches about Jewish life in modern Germany, organize meetings of German dignitaries with Jewish institutions and host events at my residence with Jewish guests.

Every year Germany invites American-Jewish groups to visit Germany. In July 2017 I had the pleasure to accompany ten influential rabbis from the West Coast on a one week visit financed by the German government. German consulates in the U.S. work closely with Holocaust survivors to make sure that they receive financial assistance accorded to them by Germany. Several times each year, as do the other German consuls, I have the honor to solemnly hand over German citizenship documents to Jewish citizens or their children who have applied to get back their citizenship taken away unlawfully by the Nazi regime.

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2014 Visiting a female group in Benin

March 2012 visiting a development aid project in Benin

2014 signing a treaty with Benin foreign minister

2016 German Consulate visiting the SOFIA project at NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, CA

EU-Filmfestival Opening May 9, 2017 with EU Consul Generals of Los Angeles

2014 Benin celebrating the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall with a 3 mile run

EU-Filmfestival Opening May 9, 2017

February, 2016 Visit of Mayor of Berlin Michael Mßller at Berlin Forest in Griffith Park D I P L O M A T I C C O N N E C T I O N S B U S I N E S S E D I T I O N | J U LY – A U G U S T 2 0 1 7

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Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

Diplomatic Connections: Los Angeles, California and Berlin, Germany have been “Sister Cities” for 50 years. What is the importance of the “Sister Cities” initiative? How does the program work in terms of the Berlin-Los Angeles connection?

What has each city gained from this special relationship?

Consul General Neumann: Out of the more than 100 German-American sister city relationships, the partnership between Los Angeles and Berlin is one of the oldest and most active friendships. Sister City relationships depend very much on individual initiatives. Official assistance is essential to the program but a lasting “friendship” requires continuing people to people contacts. During the 50 years of the Berlin – Los Angeles friendship, there have been concerts and film festivals, trade missions, educational exchanges, and visits by many professional groups such as police and fire fighters. Berlin mayors have often visited Los Angeles and over recent decades each has planted a tree in the Berlin Forest next to the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. The current Berlin Mayor, Michael Müller, planted his tree last year.

The sister city committee of Los Angeles is presently restructuring its 25 international partnerships, putting more emphasis on the economic component. To underline this development, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti was accompanied by an economic delegation when he visited Berlin in July 2017; Berlin’s Mayor Michael Müller and an economic delegation will come to Los Angeles in October German Consul General Neumann with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti

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Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

Oscar Nominated Production Designer Bernhard Henrich and the cast and crew of “Bridge of Spies” attend the German Oscar nominees reception at The Villa Aurora in Pacific Palisades, California.

German Consul General Hans Jorg Neumann speaks onstage at the German Oscar nominees reception at The Villa Aurora in Pacific Palisades, California.

2017. These are only two highlights of this year’s 50th anniversary celebration.

Diplomatic Connections: What is special or unique about a German consulate in Los Angeles as opposed to one in Boston, Atlanta, Houston or Chicago, for instance?

Consul General Neumann: What is unique in Los Angeles is the very important entertainment industry. Our consulate is the only German mission that has a specialist for the film industry within the economic section. One of the highlights is Oscar season with the big Pre-Oscar reception for the German Film industry organized by the Villa Aurora, German Films and the Consulate General.

Berlin's Mayor Michael Mueller (2R) and Family Minister Manuela Schwesig (L) award Melinda Gates with the Otto-Hahn Peace Medal for her philanthropic activity against poverty and sickness in the world through The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at the town hall in Berlin, Germany on May 25, 2017.

Consul General Neumann built a multi-dimensional diplomatic career alternating between legal affairs; African assignments in Cairo and on the Maghreb desk at the Foreign Office, where his primary interest was in political and economic development efforts; Eastern European postings in Prague and Bucharest where he was able to watch and encourage post-Soviet democratic transitions; and Washington, D.C., where he was able to probe the innermost workings of the on-going relationship between critical alliance and economic partners.

Our Consulate tries to assist German filmmakers with networking and assists United States producers with learning about the German system of film subsidies. We also assist the film initiatives in the German American Business Association (GABA Film Initiative) with networking and cooperation.

Diplomatic Connections: East and West Berlin have been unified into a new, modern capital symbolized by its remarkable new architecture. East and West, Germany despite their Cold War history have been reunified as a single country and an integrated national economy. Do there remain distinct differences between the two former adversaries?

Consul General Neumann: The reunification was a wonderful event on a political, economic and a very personal level for many Germans. While the political systems of both Germanys were incompatible, ordinary people never felt like adversaries. Now 28 years after the wall came down, Germany is a united country.

There are still areas in former East Germany that are economically less developed than others. But in general, we have – as in many other countries – disparities between rural and urban areas rather than between East and West. The younger generation generally does not think in categories of East and West.

Emmanuele Contini/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Diplomatic Connections: You have been Consul General in Los Angeles since 2015. That means you have survived a presidential primary season as well as campaign, and a dramatic change of presidential administrations in the United States. What impact does the change of administrations and the new Trump administration have on your work as a German diplomat and on the functioning of the German consulate here in Los Angeles?

Consul General Neumann: Transatlantic relations are very important to Germany. Our nation has cooperated closely with the former U.S. administrations and will of course work with the present and future administrations. Since the new president took office, Chancellor Merkel and numerous

high-ranking members of the German government as well as important politicians have visited their counterparts in Washington.

The German missions in the U.S. will continue to foster good relations between our two countries on both national and regional levels. Consulates have to learn about and report on issues that are of specific importance to the individual states for which they are responsible. Water is of particular importance in the American Southwest, for instance. And, immigration is a special concern for states located along the Mexican border. Since the new Trump administration is not always on the same page as California, this task of reporting on regional differences has become very interesting.

Diplomatic Connections: You have highlighted trade promotion and promoting economic growth for both Germany and the United States as central to the work of the German consulates. Could you help us to understand the economic relationship between Germany and the United States in more concrete terms?

Consul General Neumann: Germany is one of the most important U.S. trading partners in the world. In 2016, U.S. exports to Germany amounted to $49.4 billion and U.S. imports from Germany reached $114.2 billion. Germany thus ranks fifth in terms of bilateral trade volume with the United States, behind Canada, China, Mexico, and Japan.

German goods exported to the United States include world-class motor vehicles, machinery, chemicals, and heavy electrical equipment. At the same time, Germany imports many value-added products from the United States, including aircraft, transportation equipment, electronics, and telecommunication goods.

Germany – as well as other EU countries – has a big impact on jobs and investment in the U.S. German direct continued to page 56

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H O L L Y W O O D Burghart Klaussner, Sebastian Koch, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Amy Ryan and Mikhaul Gorevoy attend the 'Bridge of Spies - Der Unterhaendler' World Premiere on November 13, 2015 in Berlin, Germany.

BRIDGE OF SPIES: THE EXCHANGE - A satellite Q&A conversation with Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks moderated by Jess Cagle on October 8, 2015 in New York City.

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Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios

Isa Foltin/WireImage

Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks and German actor Burghart Klaussner at the “Bridge of Spies Der Unterhaendler� World Premiere in Berlin.

Franziska Krug/Getty Images

Actors Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller and Charlie Hunnam attend the "The Lost City of Z" photo call during the 67th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin on February 14, 2017 in Berlin, Germany.

(L-R) U.S. director James Mangold, Australian actor Hugh Jackman, British-Spanish actress Dafne Keen and English actor Patrick Stewart pose on the red carpet for the premiere of the film “Logan” in competition at the 67th Berlinale film festival in Berlin on February 17, 2017.

Oren Moverman, Richard Gere, Rebecca Hall, Steve Coogan and Laura Linney attend the “The Dinner” premiere during the 67th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin at Berlinale Palace on February 10, 2017 in Berlin, Germany.

Amy Graves/WireImage

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images

Rune Hellestad-Corbis/Contributor

Ed Asner, Lara Sanders and Consul General Hans Jorg Neumann attend the Opening Night Gala of the LAJFF 2017 in Los Angeles on April 26, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.

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Guido Bergmann/Bundesregierung via Getty Images

(L-R) European Council President Donald Tusk; Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; German Chancellor Angela Merkel; U.S. President Donald Trump; British Prime Minister Theresa May; Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni; French President Emmanuel Macron; Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker during the G7 summit on May 26, 2017 in Taormina, Italy.

investments but German companies have a positive impact on growth and jobs in the U.S. More than 3,000 German companies have provided almost 700,000 mostly well-paid jobs here. In return, approximately 6,200 U.S. companies are active in Germany investing more than $108 billion in Germany and providing about 640,000 jobs (2013).

This tightly woven trading pattern between our two countries is precisely what economic interdependence means. And, that is precisely why negotiating and maintaining a rules based international trade regime is so important in the face of the temptation to revert to economic nationalism.

Diplomatic Connections: Germany (and France) have been at the center of the European Union institutions and have been the heart of the its very existence. What will be the impact of BREXIT on the future of the EU? The recent presidential election in France seems one hopeful sign, but there is still significant anti-EU sentiment is several parts of Europe. Can the EU survive, or is it in danger of disintegrating?

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Consul General Neumann: The outcome of the British referendum sent a shockwave through the EU. For both the EU and for Great Britain this is a lose/lose situation.

A divorce after 44 years of membership and carefully nurtured integration will be very difficult. What was so painstakingly built must be undone with even greater care. Although Brexit hurts the EU a great deal, it has strengthened the unity of the remaining 27 partners.

The EU27 has not fallen into paralysis. Indeed, the European Council has set out clear parameters and a unified position ahead of the upcoming negotiations. It is obvious that Great Britain cannot expect to keep the advantages of free trade but get rid of all the duties. A third country — and that is what Great Britain will be after Brexit — cannot and will not have the same rights, or perhaps even be better off than a member of the European Union.

Diplomatic Connections: Immigration has become a major international issue in Europe, especially as refugees come across the Mediterranean from Africa and the Middle East into Southern

Europe and then further to the North. Chancellor Merkel has been at the eye of the immigration storm in Europe. How does Germany now believe the immigration problem should be handled?

Consul General Neumann: The European Union is one of the major destinations for political and economic refugees. Even though Europe, especially Germany, has seen far fewer immigrants in 2016 as compared to 2015, immigration will continue to be a major international issue in Europe. It’s such an important issue that the international community has to cooperate to find solutions for all surrounding matters related to the subject. The standards for accommodation, health care, integration programs and the asylum process need to be similar, at least within Europe, in order to assure that no one country is disproportionately impacted by the influx of refugees.

Diplomatic Connections: Looking ahead, what might come next in your career? What is left yet undone on your “To Do” list?

Consul General Neumann: Even though I have already spent 30 years as a career diplomat I am still curious what my last posting after Los Angeles and before retirement will look like. I would love to experience one more country if possible in a continent where I have not yet lived, perhaps South East Asia. From my experience, I know that I will adapt to any place and enjoy it.

On my “to do list” for Los Angeles is the wish to visit as many places on the West Coast, including Hawaii, as possible.

Diplomatic Connections: Thank you for sharing your experience and your insights with us.

Guido Bergmann/Bundesregierung via Getty Images

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May hold discussions after signing a declaration on combating terrorism and violent extremism during the G7 summit on May 26, 2017 in Taormina, Italy.

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COOK T N E C C A

WITH AN

Chef Jens Fisker

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I NG

BY CHRISTOPHE AVRIL

The table in the middle of the large and cozy dining room is made of thick wood. Almost everything is, in fact, except for the six metal and leather chairs that contrast with the rest of the furniture. There are big windows to let the light of the sun in, which is rare during the short days of winter in Denmark. On the wooden table, lunch has been prepared. Today, it will be the traditional smørrebrød; an open sandwich. Not only one sort is presented, but several, to please the taste of each member of the family.

Prepared and decorated with a variety of fine ingredients such as salmon, curried eggs, fresh potatoes or small shrimp, rainbow trout, smoked herring fillets topped with egg yolk, radish and chives, smoked eel fillets with scrambled eggs, slices of roast pork with red cabbage, apples and prunes, liver pâté – these are but a few of the options available.

They are accompanied by slices of pickled cucumber or gherkins. All of them are nicely presented on fine slices of rye bread, and it is impossible to choose just one. Since it is Saturday and nobody has to work, some beer and fruit wine will round out the lunch, as well as some Acquavit, also called the Nordic Spirit. Before the spirit, dessert will be served: Danish Angel cake with chantilly and fresh raspberries, marzipan ring cake (Kransekage) and Æbleskiver, which is a kind of pancake.

Denmark, with its borders to Germany in the south and a very small border with Sweden via the Oresund Bridge, is surrounded by the North and Baltic Seas. This helps explain the importance of the fishing industry, not only for trade but also for daily consumption. They have cod, plaice, herring, or sole and turbo. And as a product of deep-water fishing, they also have lobster, prawns and mussels. Aquaculture is becoming progressively present, but under very specific organic labeling. The main species farmed in Denmark is the rainbow trout. It represents more than 90% of the total production.

Besides this, the Danish also farm Atlantic salmon, European eel, turbot and pike-perch. continued on page 60

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D

enmark has an agricultural production amount which is three times superior to its needs. It is the largest exporter of pork within the European Union. As imports and new technologies have erased seasonal differences, most products are generally available throughout the year. At the same time, many exotic products such as eggplant, avocado, fresh pineapple, baby-corn, zucchini, Chinese shrimp, kiwi and sweet pepper are now part of the daily life of the Danish. Before the industrial era, the traditional Danish diet was far more restricted. They had rye for bread, barley for beer, split peas, salted and smoked pork and fish. All they needed to prepare the traditional cuisine is some of the following: “øllebrød,” porridge made of rye bread with beer; “vangrød,” porridge made of barley; “gule ætrt,” split pea soup; “æbleflæsk,” a sort of fried potatoes with bacon; Klipfisk,” dried cod; and the “blodpølse,” black pudding. Since 1960, with increased prosperity and the internationalization of commerce and tourism, the Danish started to be influenced more and more by their European neighbors and also by the United States.

Two chefs, one being Jan Hurtigkarl, who counts among his accomplishments being named 2011 Chef of the Year and having received two Michelin stars; and the other, Erwin Lauterbach, an established cookbook author who received the Champagne Prize (the biggest Danish prize in the world of gastronomy), created an original cuisine based on vegetables and fish, taking advantage of the excellent quality of local product. In 2004, Chefs René Redzepi and Claus Meyer together with ten other chefs, wrote a New Nordic Food Manifesto. The goal was to use local agriculture and other ingredients such as fish and meat, using adapted older techniques to create a modern Nordic Cuisine. Also, the use of organic product was part of this project, in order to revive the palate with the purity and freshness of the products. continued on page 62

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Who would have thought fifty years ago that a country like Denmark, so far up north with such a cold climate, would have produced Cabernet wine?

The two main grapes used for the production are the Cabernet Cortis and the Cabernet Cantor. Those two grapes are hybrids, and were created by the Frieburg Institute of Wine in Germany. They are mild, spicy and rich in color: those two wines have the typical style of a classic Cabernet or a Merlot. The wine production in Denmark was essentially possible because of global warming, which led the country to legalize wine production in 1999. The vineyards are located in the region of Lolland, Jutland, Funen and the Northern Zealand. Around 40,000 bottles of wine are produced per year. But there is also a sparkling white from Jylland, the Dons Cuvee, that has must be mentioned. Made with Orion, Solaris and Madleine Sylvaner grapes, this alternative to a champagne received the gold medal for Best Wine of the Year in 2015 and the silver medal from 62

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Effevescents du Monde 2015 for its Don’s Rosé Brut 2014. Additionally, it also received the international bronze medal, International Sparkling Awards, EXPO, Milan 2015 and Gold Medal and “Best Wine of the Year Grapes” at the International Food Contest 2015 for the Don’s Cuvée brut 2014. But there is one drink that was first produced in the 16th century, the aforementioned Aquavit. From the Latin Aqua Vitae, this name means water of life. It is made from distilled grain or potatoes and is usually flavored with herbs and spices. With its 40% alcohol by volume, be careful and do not take too much.

In 1995, an enterprising and ambitious young man named Jens Fisker came all the way from Copenhagen, Denmark to Bald Head Island, North Carolina to help very good friends of his in their quest to open a bed and breakfast. This little island, north-east of Myrtle Beach, can only be accessed by boat and has around 100 permanent residents year-round and more than 8,000 during the

u Please visit our website, www.DiplomaticConnections.com, to watch the “Cooking with an Accent”

video featuring Chef Jens Fisker as well as to download the full recipes. He will explain how to prepare a menu created exclusively for us! Marinated Salmon Cru followed by Loin of Lamb and to finish organic Danish style chocolate cream with berries. summer. He was helping with large-scale events at the country club. Before the end of his first season, he became the executive Chef at the club and became known as Chef Jens Fisker. With a business administration degree from the Danish Hotel and Restaurant University in Copenhagen and a chef certification from the Danish Culinary Institute, his qualifications were well-suited for this position. As time progressed, his culinary proficiences expanded to a point where the Ocean Ridge Plantation hired him to direct the Food and Beverage Department in the capacity of management with a collection of not one, but three separate country clubs. Forging ahead with a disciplined work ethic and determination to acquire as much experience as possible, he left the region to go to the Midwest and started to work at the Minneapolis Marriott Northwest as F&B director where he was in charge of two restaurants, a lounge bar, catering and in-room dining. Returning to North Carolina after three years on his tour de force of

gastronomy, he eagerly joined the highly-esteemed Marriott brand once again. A year later, Chef Fisker secured the highest position of General Manager at the Shoals Club on Bald Head Island for a succeeding six years. Thereafter his coveted career path lead him to managing a very well-known dining establishment called the Café Deluxe in Washington, D.C. One day, while he was looking for some information on the Danish Embassy website, he saw that they were looking for a Chef for the new Ambassador, and since he missed working in a kitchen, he applied and was hired for the position. With a resume like his, it seems obvious that he was the right man for the job.

Since taking on this new role, he regularly cooks for two to six hundred guests; which I might add, is an achievement of great proportions and not easily done!

Enjoy and bon appetit! continued to page 64

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D MON RIM AN F N H O Y BY J RAPH G O T • PHO

ICA FRIM

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ured by spectacular scenery, vestiges of ancient civilizations, folkloric foods and

customs, breathtaking beaches and bays, and jagged mountains that seemingly tumble into the Adriatic Sea, Monica Frim spends 10 glorious days cruising from Venice to Athens.

The trip takes her to five countries and nine ports of call

Star Breeze, a Windstar yacht

beginning in Venice and ending in Athens.

THE SHIP Whether you call it a small ship or a large yacht, Windstar’s Star Breeze is a cozy all-suite vessel that blends luxury with casual comfort, and an ability to nudge into cozy ports and coves that the larger ships can’t access. For a cruise of the Adriatic Sea, it’s perfect—not too big, not too small—with a capacity of 212 passengers and 150 crew, which makes for attentive service. Like all ships in the Windstar fleet, the Star Breeze offers just the right touch of informality and sophistication to keep the atmosphere low key for those seeking to get away from it all, yet convivial enough for social butterflies who like to mingle.

Unlike Windstar’s founding fleet of masted ships, the Star Breeze is a motorized yacht that makes up in elegance what it lacks in tall ship romance. It may not have a sail to hoist but its sail-away flag-raising ritual, set to the blare of the theme song from the movie 76

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Gondola on canal

1492: Conquest of Paradise, is a heart thumping replication. I had goose bumps each time we pulled out of a port.

VENICE In the fog of early morning, Venice rises out of the sea like Lerner and Loewe’s mythological Brigadoon. It takes a while for the sun to burn off the mist and reveal the lemon and peach facades of buildings that appear to be floating on water. The architecture is anything but Italian.

Byzantine domes, Islamic arches, Gothic medallions and Moorish mosaics grace Renaissance and Baroque buildings as reminders of the various civilizations that have left their marks on what was once the main gateway to the Orient. The architectural smorgasbord constitutes a style known as Venetian Gothic. It began in the 14th century, which partially accounts for the peeling plaster frescoes of the grand palazzos and the seemingly ongoing restoration projects that are as ubiquitous as the canals. The elements may have exacted their toll, but Venice still maintains a polychrome veneer, somewhat faded, yet invigorated with gilded detailing and other decorative flourishes that contribute to its romantic reputation.

Naturally all this romance comes at a price. Venice is one of the most expensive cities in the world, a fact that doesn’t seem to have hindered tourism in the least. Many visitors are happy to fork out a richly sum for a dreamy ride in a gondola through canals that serve as thoroughfares St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Hvar

(there are no cars in Venice) in a city woefully short of ground. These sleek little love boats with gold trim atop six coats of shiny black paint are propelled by (sometimes) singing gondoliers who will seemingly turn a blind eye should there be any onboard canoodling. A more economical, though less romantic, way to get around is by vaporetto, the Grand Canal’s version of a water-based bus.

On this trip, I opted to explore the cobblestoned alleys on foot early in the morning before the crowds descended on the usual tourist haunts. I watched shopkeepers opening and sweeping the sidewalks in front of their doorways, children playfully skipping to school, and delivery men shouldering goods from boats to their destinations. Here was the real Venice. Combined with the more popular attractions of St. Marks Square with its 11th century Basilica, the Doge’s palace, the Bridge of Sighs, the buzzing shops of the Rialto Bridge, and myriad museums and galleries…. Venice was just as it should be, a mix of sublime and prosaic experiences.

HVAR, CROATIA Our first stop on the Dalmatian coast was full of reminders of Venice, which came as no surprise given that Venetians ruled the island until 1797. What did surprise us was the rain. Hvar’s prime drawing feature is abundant sunshine— it’s practically guaranteed in the tourist literature, with some hotels even offering free accommodation in the A lane in Old Town Hvar

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unlikely event of a seven-day downpour. The Star Breeze accommodated with complimentary rain ponchos. I grabbed one and joined a group tour, trudging through the slick cobblestoned streets of the medieval town, from the Franciscan monastery with its beautiful 16th century stained glass, across the square of Trg Sveti Stjepana with its famous Arsenal and Cathedral of St. Stephan, and through the winding lanes of the Noble Town where ramparts and aristocratic palaces offer stunning glimpses into island history and lore. An interlude in the drizzle prompted a slippery climb up the pine-covered slopes where the views of the clay-roofed town, fortifications and outlying islands rendered the climb a worthy endeavor.

The longest of more than 1,200 islands in the Adriatic Sea, Hvar is also the highest. A jagged coastline of rocky coves and beaches encircle the island and look out towards small, white-fringed islets that appear, on sunny days, like emerald pendants on blue glass. I caught only a brief glimpse of Hvar’s luster as I returned to the Star Breeze. It seemed almost as if the sun was attempting to bid us a propitious farewell.

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DUBROVNIK, CROATIA Ranked as one of the ten best-preserved medieval walled cities of the world, Dubrovnik oozes art and architecture at every bend. Although earthquakes, wars and fires variously ravaged the city, its historic walls, churches, palaces and fountains have been painstakingly rebuilt and restored as close as possible to their original Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles.

As I strolled fort to fort atop the city walls, with views of the Adriatic on one side, and the old town on the other, the panorama perfectly summed up why this “Pearl of the Adriatic” was once a center of diplomacy and wealth.

Viewed from on high, the Sponza, Franciscan Monastery, Rector’s Palace, St. Blaise’s Church and Onofrio fountain invited further inspections up close. So down I went, to amble in and among the historical buildings, then up the winding pathways where quaint shops and outdoor cafes were wedged together like meats in a sandwich. But my consummate jaunt was a cable car ride to the top of Dubrovnik’s Mount Srdj. It’s said that on a clear day you can see 35 miles over the countryside, the islands and the sea.

I believe I did.

Onofrio Fountain, Dubrovnik

Croatian needlework

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Medieval fortifications, Kotor

KOTOR AND PERAST, MONTENEGRO

Clock tower, Perast

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Montenegro is so small you could fly over the entire country in four minutes, but a cruise into the dramatic Bay of Kotor is more immersive. Resembling a fjord, the long, cliff-flanked bay is actually a ria or submerged river. A handful of towns cling to smidgeons of flat ground between the water’s edge and the darkly forested mountains for which Montenegro is named.

The town of Kotor at the end of the bay is a walled maze of cobblestoned streets that wind among squares studded with Romanesque churches and a cathedral. Venetian influences are everywhere—in the food (gnocchi is a favorite), museums, palaces, churches and fortifications, the result of early Venetian measures to protect the Adriatic coastline against invasions by Ottoman Turks. It’s worth climbing the steep path from the town to the castle atop St. John’s Mountain even if, like me, you get there panting like a locomotive. The views are to die for and I wouldn’t be surprised if some people had.

A more restive excursion takes you to the coastal town of Perast, known for its Venetian clocktower and two quirky little offshore islands. During the boat ride to the Island of Our Lady of the Rocks with its church and museum, the driver regaled us with tales of the island’s man-made beginnings. According to lore, it was built stone by stone over 150 years by sailors who considered it a sign of good luck to leave a stone behind. A few scuttled boats provided additional reinforcements.

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As a relative newbie on the tourist circuit, post-communist Albania still has some catching up to do in terms of attractions and facilities. But the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Butrint National Park, a short drive from the port of SarandĂŤ, offers a promising start and serves as a perfect link between Slavic and Greek cultures. The Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians and Ottomans all left their mark on Butrint, but the communist era thinking of the 20th century was hardly conducive to preserving history. That mindset changed after 2000 with the creation of Butrint National Park and a program of extensive renovations that resulted in the 2005 reopening of the Acropolis and museum as one of the most important archaeological sites in the country. Nestled in woodlands on the shore of Lake Butrint, monuments date from the Bronze Age to the 19th century, and form an integral part of Mediterranean world history.

BUTRINT NATIONAL PARK, ALBANIA

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GReeCe One of the limitations of cruising is that one can never fit in enough shore excursions to do the destinations justice.

In Greece, the problem is compounded by the sheer number of antiquities. Here, history assimilated mythology, and furthered almost every imaginable aspect of culture and learning: art, history, literature, politics, philosophy, science and mathematics. In every port, ancient pillars and stones cradled the advancement of civilizations all over the world.

Harbour at Katakolon

KATAKOLON

ITEA AND DELPHI

The tiny Ionian fishing village of Katakolon exists mainly as the gateway to ancient Olympia and site of the ancient Olympic games. With a population of only 250 people, the shops and outdoor tavernas of Katakolon come alive for cruise ships and passengers who take buses or rent vehicles to visit Olympia, which tends to be overrun with shops, cafes and hotels. Katakolon, in contrast, offers a small sandy beach and lighthouse.

A more authentic Greek experience takes place at Magna Grecia, a family-owned olive farm a half hour’s drive inland. Windstar’s arrangements with the owners allow for a private event complete with olive tastings and a lavish lunch of bruschetta, sausages, lemon chicken and a host of popular Greek accompaniments all washed down with Greek wine and the local anise-flavored Ouzo. A traditional Syrtaki dance demonstration had willing participants, including this shameless scribe, prancing among, and, as is the custom, on top, of the tables. (Okay, so only one person graced the table tops. And no, it wasn’t me!)

The next day, the port of Itea revealed a quiet village life, where a fruit and vegetable market served as the main attraction. This was the gateway to Delphi of oracle fame, now a UNESCO Heritage Site on the slopes of towering

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Breakwater at Itea

Parnassus. In ancient times, the oracle (a legendary virgin priestess with trance-induced wisdom that researchers have since attributed to the inhaling of ethylene gas from a chasm) was revered for her advice to leaders and pilgrims.

Modern day pilgrims still flock to Delphi’s fourth century theater, Treasury, and Temple of Apollo, though their reasons have more to do with an appreciation for history and culture than any psychic phenomena. Or perhaps they’re simply attracted by Delphi’s nickname, Navel of the Earth, as represented by its famous Omphalus stone.

THE CORINTH CANAL One of the advantages of small ship cruising is that they can squeeze through bucket-list places that larger cruise ships can’t—such as the celebrated Corinth Canal. First envisioned by Nero as a short cut through the Peloponnesian Peninsula (now effectively turned into an island) between the Adriatic and Aegean Seas, the canal only became a reality in the late 19th century when technological advances and funds finally made possible the crucial gash through four miles of sheer rock.

The entire shipload of passengers stood mesmerized on deck as the 63-foot wide Star Breeze scraped through the 70-foot wide canal walls with only inches of playroom on either side. There are no locks—the entire traverse is at sea level— but the passage is sublime!

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NAFPLIO AND EPIDAURUS Nafplio is situated in one of Greece’s sunniest and most scenic corners and amply loaded with cultural and historical attractions. Wherever you look there are fortifications, fountains, statues, castles, churches, mosques, museums, and other architectural marvels of various historical eras. I practically ran through the town to cram as much sightseeing in as possible.

The town is also a portal to archaeological wonders at Mycenae and Epidaurus, with Windstar offering excursions to both places, which makes choosing a difficult feat.

In my case, Epidaurus, with Greece’s best-preserved amphitheater, won over Mycenae, where the German amateur archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, spearheaded excavations in 1896 in his search for Homeric truth.

In Epidaurus medicine and theater go hand in hand.

The ancient amphitheater was built a mere stone’s throw from a healing center, known as the sanctuary of Asclepeion after its founder. It was once considered the largest hospital of the Classical world. So ingrained was the belief that hubris (arrogance) was the cause of all suffering that people would come by sea or walk for weeks, even months, to be healed in combination with theatrical productions that supposedly exposed and punished hubris, and suggested a turn-around lifestyle. I was grateful to get there by bus.

A visit to the museum that houses ancient medical instruments and other artifacts and a climb to the top of the amphitheater afforded seemly glimpses into the Hellenistic lifestyle. But I would love to have been there for a theatrical show. Still operative, the amphitheater apparently hosts one of the most prestigious theatrical festivals in all of Greece.

The return to Nafplio included a stop-off at Palamidi Castle, a 17th century Venetian fortification overlooking the old town, the countryside and the sea with the island castle of Bourtzi anchored off shore like a colossal ship of stone.

As I descended the flaunted 999 steps (in some reports they number between 857 and 917, depending on who’s counting) to the town and the ship, Nafplio solidified all my expectations of Greece into a quintessential vision.

The Athens Acropolis

ATHENS Our cruise ended in Piraeus, seven miles from the Athens city center and heart of ancient Greece. Here Socrates waxed philosophical in the agora, and Plato raised ethical and political speculations way beyond anything Socrates, his mentor, could have imagined; Pericles spearheaded the building of the Acropolis and its optically perfect Pathenon; and Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripedes and Aristophanes wrote plays that are still performed today. As ubiquitous as the ancient monuments are, one never tires of their splendors, which explains why crowds keep coming back to Athens, whether by cruise ship or airplane, to relive the past and drink in the intoxicating, albeit smog-laden air.

But next time I just might buy myself one of those tacky can openers shaped like the Parthenon that’s sold in kitschy souvenir stalls. It just might help wedge me into the crowded cafes and tavernas that tumble over the ancient outdoor stairways and narrow, winding sidewalks of Plaka, the oldest part of the city. I’m already planning the trip.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Diplomatic Connections acknowledges sponsorship by Windstar Cruises.

With a fleet of six ships, Windstar Cruises offers luxury cruises yacht-style to ports world wide.

CONTACT THEM AT: 2101 4th Avenue, Suite 210 Seattle, WA 98121 800-258-2745

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Ancient amphitheater of Epidaurus

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TRADE, SECURITY AND PROACTIVE PACIFISM SHAPE JAPAN’S FOREIGN POLICY VIEWS:

A CONVERSATION WITH JAPAN’S MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS JAPAN'S DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL FOR PRESS AND PUBLIC POLICY SPEAKS WITH DIPLOMATIC CONNECTIONS' JAMES A. WINSHIP, PH.D.

J

apan has been in a long term economic slowdown and its population is aging, but it is still the world’s third largest economy after the United States and China. While Japan runs a substantial and controversial trade surplus; at the same time, it's a major international trading partner and the closest ally of the United States in East Asia. Though the U.S. is committed to its defense, the question of Japan's role in its own defense remains an emotional challenge.

Following World War II and the occupation of Japan by the United States, Japan’s new constitution included very specific provisions intended to commit the country to “an international peace based on justice and order” and renouncing any right of belligerency. Article 9 of the constitution states that, “The Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.”

The questions facing Japan are manifold. How does Japan go about the business of strengthening and staffing its economy? How does it continue and even expand its international role without creating resistance from neighboring nations and triggering the emotional resentments created by the expansionist polices of Imperial Japan during World War II? How does Japan’s export oriented economy deal with the world’s other major economies in the United States, the Eurozone and in Asia?

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How does Japan respond to the rising security challenges posed by North Korea and China in Asia and beyond?

In the interim, President Trump has raised pointed questions regarding trade imbalances between our two nations, alleged currency manipulations, and American job losses due to foreign trade practices. Trump also raised questions during his presidential campaign about the defense guarantees provided to Japan by the United States and charged that Japan was “free riding” on the American commitment by not sufficiently contributing to the cost of its defense.

One of President Trump’s first diplomatic encounters, just a month after his Inauguration, was with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf resort and estate in Florida. Despite what seemed to be potentially tense relations between the leaders, that meeting seemed to go well and laid the groundwork for a positive reset of bilateral relations.

During a visit to Japan, Diplomatic Connections correspondent James Winship was granted the privilege of an extended conversation with Mr. Masato OHTAKA, Deputy Press Secretary and Deputy Director-General for Press and Public Policy at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His previous assignment was as head of the press section at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C., a position that allowed him to study American politics alongside Japanese policy. Their conversation was wide ranging and offers

key insights into 21st century Japan’s evolving foreign policy views.

Diplomatic Connections: Overall, how would the Foreign Ministry characterize Japan’s international role as we enter the third decade of the 21st century?

Mr. OHTAKA: Japan is still one of the great economic powers of the world, and we continue to play a leadership role on international issues, particularly on such issues as global warming and human rights and many other important issues, including nuclear non-proliferation. We can and do play a significant role. Japan and the United States are committed to shared ideals, including human rights, democracy and free trade.

The stability of the Asian region as well as the Asia Pacific really depends on how Japan and the United States can work together as allies. This is the cornerstone of Japanese diplomacy, and it is the critical relationship for regional security as well.

Diplomatic Connections: It seemed to underscore that relationship when Prime Minister Abe was among the very first foreign leaders to meet President Trump after his Inauguration. How would you characterize the tone, the content and, especially, the outcome of that meeting between Prime Minister Abe and President Trump?

Mr. OHTAKA: A very good beginning has been established. We were able to strongly reaffirm our bilateral relationship and reassert the fact that we share the same values. We are on the right path to building an even stronger relationship and to rethinking the shape of the U.S.-Japan alliance for the new situations that we face in Asia.

Discussing things in greater detail is a priority. The United States needs time to settle the new administration into its many roles, and we need to get the people in place who will do the day-to-day heavy lifting that deals with concerns from both sides of the bilateral relationship.

As yet, for example, we do not have a new U.S. Ambassador to Japan. [President Trump has named Tennessee businessman William Haggerty to be his Ambassador to Japan, but at the time of this interview, he had not yet received final Senate confirmation.]

The groundwork has already been prepared for the two sides to engage in good, productive discussions across a wide range of bilateral issues. There are, for instance, many

things that Japan and the United States can do to make the East Asian regional economy work better, and to make the world economy work better.

Diplomatic Connections: Certainly during the 2016 presidential campaign in the United States there were some “bumps in the road” with the U.S.-Japanese relationship. Those concerns do seem to be changing but there were some strong positions taken. Has Japan been asked to take on any new commitments toward providing its own defense or to provide additional financial support to the U.S. forces that are here in Japan?

Mr. OHTAKA: Several meetings as well as telephone conversations between the two top leaders have taken place, and we have had some high-level ministerial meetings between the two sides as well. I am not in a position to give details on what we talked about. But, I can tell you that the U.S. government shares the understanding that Japan is making sufficient contribution to the cost of its defense based on the conversations we have had regarding cost sharing and the requirements of U.S. bases in Japan.

Diplomatic Connections: At one point during the campaign, then candidate now President Trump actually suggested that perhaps Japan should be encouraged to develop its own nuclear deterrent forces. Are there any circumstances under which Japan would consider developing nuclear weapons of its own?

Mr. OHTAKA: Japan has a very long and unfortunate history with nuclear weapons. We are the only country in the world against which nuclear weapons have actually been used and know full well their horrific destructive power. We think of ourselves as a conduit for the world to actually understand the realities of what can happen when such weapons are used.

Among our people, in terms of public opinion and under the anti-nuclear provisions of our constitution, it would not be politically possible to become a nuclear weapons state ourselves. And, based on that, Japan is a very committed non-nuclear country under the NPT – Non-Proliferation Treaty system. It is simply impossible for us to think of Japan becoming a nuclear weapons state.

Diplomatic Connections: An early Executive Order issued by President Trump effectively terminated any further negotiations on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) multilateral trade agreement that would have included Japan as a major partner. Trade has been so much at the heart of the relationship between the United States and Japan, how would Japan like to see this long standing relationship unfold in light of the demise of TPP?

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Mr. OHTAKA: Characterizing the current situation as the “demise” of TPP is overstating the case. Japan has not totally given up on TPP. The United States and Japan have agreed that there will be continuing bilateral economic dialogues between us on a regular basis. That framework was agreed upon between Vice President Pence and Deputy Prime Minister Aso, who also serves as Minister of Finance and Financial Services.

Diplomatic Connections: Will Japan seek to revive TPP negotiations with or without the United States? Or, will Japan pursue a new bilateral trade agreement with the United States?

Mr. OHTAKA: The proposed TPP is an advanced type of trade agreement that is not only about trade but is also about rule making. The text includes chapters on investment, on intellectual property, on the environment, on labor practices and protections and even chapters dealing with state-owned enterprises as well. These topics are fundamentally important for the future of the economic framework in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Getting the rules right between Japan and the United States is one of the great values of TPP. Our government has not yet had enough opportunity to exchange views on these sorts of issues in detail with the United States. Over time this is the core value that we see in the TPP Agreement, and we look forward to renewed negotiations that will enhance a rules based trading regime designed to promote free and fair trade.

Diplomatic Connections: Does Japan seek, especially under Prime Minister Abe, to play a greater regional role in security and trade issues in East Asia? Given suspicions of Japanese motives by other countries in the region, based largely on the history of World War II, can and should Japan play a greater regional role?

Mr. OHTAKA: Japan often talks about “proactive pacifism” as a description of the foreign and defense policies in which our country is engaged. Just a few years ago our government reinterpreted the Article 9 provisions of the Japanese constitution which limit the operations of our Self-Defense Forces. Legislative action was taken by the Diet to put in place a new law that more clearly defines the operational role of the SDF. This will enable Japan to be a bit more proactive on international peacekeeping and in our collaboration with the United States military. But, this is still in the context of “proactive pacifism” and what is an exclusively defensive national security posture.

Diplomatic Connections: South Korea recently elected a new president, Moon Jae-in, who seems much more open to talking with North Korea and trying to ease tensions between the two 90

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Koreas than was his predecessor. How will this affect Japan’s policy toward South Korea? What could Japan do to strengthen relations with South Korea, especially given the long history of tensions between the two countries?

Mr. OHTAKA: You are certainly right that there is emotional baggage between Japan and Korea that often makes bilateral diplomacy, whether over economic or security issues or political questions, more difficult and burdened by the past.

But, looking at the current and future security situation in Asia, things are getting more complex as well as challenging. There is a strong awareness among all the countries of the region, including South Korea, that governments need to step-up their efforts to make sure that the security situation does not get out of control.

Diplomatic Connections: As Americans like to say, the “elephant in the room” is North Korea, meaning the KIM Jung-un regime and that country’s aggressive pursuit of nuclear weapons and the missile technology needed to deploy them militarily.

Diplomacy has been tried and has met with only short-lived successes and repeated defiance.

Is there reason to hope that renewed negotiations could be more effective in restraining North Korea than they have been in the past? Could economic sanctions work if they were tightened and universally observed? Is there any circumstance under which Japan would support the use of military force against North Korea?

Mr. OHTAKA: The Trump administration and the United States have clearly expressed their position that “everything is on the table.” Japan appreciates that stance and believes this statement will put added pressure on the North Koreans.

Without pressure it would be difficult to bring North Korea to the negotiating table in a productive manner. Looking at the history of how things have turned out between North Korea and the international community since the early 1990s, there is very little reason for Japan and the United States to believe in any agreements or statements North Korea makes. Any dialogue with North Korea must begin with the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

Without that commitment, any negotiation could turn out to be a dialogue purely for the sake of dialogue. Japan no longer wants that.

Diplomatic Connections: Japan is much closer to North Korea than the West Coast of the United States and therefore your physical security is much more immediately threatened. Could you assess how Japan perceives the threat posed by North Korea?

Mr. OHTAKA: In 2016, the North Koreans detonated two nuclear devices and conducted thirty tests of advanced missile designs. Earlier launches landed in the Sea of Japan, but the most recent tests splashed down inside Japan's 200 n.m. EEZ-Exclusive Economic Zone. North Korea now has a range of offensive weapons and, by staging multiple, simultaneous launches, appears to be testing Japan's missile defense capabilities.

Any place around the world could soon be within the reach of North Korean nuclear weapons. With all of this in mind, we have to be very concerned about delay. The more time the international community gives the North Koreans, the worse the results will be for the rest of the world.

Diplomatic Connections: We have seen the United States, with the agreement of the previous South Korean government, install a THAAD missile defense battery in South Korea. It remains to be seen how the new South Korean government deals with the presence of the THAAD system. Currently, missile defense for Japan is based on the capabilities of the U.S. Navy’s and the Japanese Naval Self-Defense Forces Aegis destroyers based out of Japan. Would Japan consider installing a missile defense system on its territory?

Mr. OHTAKA: Currently, we do believe that Japan in collaboration with the United States, has defenses sufficient to protect our territory. Still, it is necessary to constantly update our awareness and upgrade our capabilities. The government anticipates that Japan will achieve a four-tier interceptor defense system that will be capable of meeting threats from North Korea or other aggressors. No system of missile defense offers absolute protection, however.

Diplomatic Connections: As North Korea’s closest ally and critical economic partner, what can or should be China’s role in halting that country’s nuclear and missile development programs and taming its militaristic rhetoric.

Mr. OHTAKA: There are already sanctions in place against North Korea under the terms of a United Nations Security Council resolution, but its provisions must be fully implemented by all countries.

China is in the best position to actually have some impact on the North Korean economy. The Chinese have recently suspended their import of coal from North Korea. This will have some impact, but it is uncertain whether suspending these shipments will be painful enough to cause the North Korean regime to rethink their policies.

China’s wisdom and its diplomatic leverage are required to focus North Korea’s attention and to assure that country’s

compliance with the United Nations demands that it halt its nuclear and missile development programs.

Diplomatic Connections: While we are talking about China we need to talk about the East and South China Seas issues. It is the East China Sea that most directly involves Japan, but the South China Sea issue is similar and very directly impacts Japan in terms of basic principles like access to shipping lanes and passage through narrow straits, fisheries and mineral exploration as well as the militarization of small islands and islets within those seas.

China has enlarged and fortified several of these islands and is in the process of basing military forces, including building port facilities and air fields with extended runways, on them. How does Japan see this question of access to the East and South China Seas impacted by China’s efforts to expand its air defense area and to make very sweeping territorial waters claims?

Mr. OHTAKA: Japan takes the rule of law very, very seriously. To this end, the countries that are affected in the East China Sea and the South China Sea need to cooperate with each other. These states have many things in common, and diplomatic efforts must be made to identify shared concerns and shape coordinated responses. It is always more effective to work together rather than acting individually.

Diplomatic Connections: Let us ask one final and totally different question. From a foreign policy point of view what is the importance of the 2020 Summer Olympics scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan?

Mr. OHTAKA: These Olympics represent an enormous opportunity for Japan because they bring worldwide attention to the host country. The 1964 Games put Japan on the map as an economic giant with a strong industrial and technological base. Our bullet trains and Tokyo’s multitiered highway system were developed as part of the infrastructure for those Games, and they became hallmarks of Japan’s modernization. That same spirit of innovation is evident in preparations for the upcoming Olympics.

The Paralympics were held for the first time in coordination with the 1964 Tokyo Games, and they quickly became an integral part of the Olympic tradition. Japan is very proud of being the first venue to host both the Olympics and the Paralympics, and in 2020 that will certainly be true again.

Diplomatic Connections: Mr. OHTAKA, thank you very much for affording us this unusual opportunity to speak directly with a representative of the Foreign Ministry. We deeply appreciate your evaluation of the on-going relationship between Japan and the United States as well as the rapidly unfolding security situation in East Asia.

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