May 2012

A World of News and Perspective

■ EDUCATION & MEDICAL

SPECIAL SECTIONS INSIDE

LIVIN L U X U R

EDUCATION ■ A Special Section of The Washington Diplomat

■ May 2012

The

‘Stan’ Surge

■ WWW.WASHDIPLOMAT.COM

■ VOLUME 19, NUMBER 5

■ MAY 2012 Rise of Central Asian Students In U.S. Reflects Region’s Growth

by Carolyn Cosmos

United States

Will NATO, G-8 Summits Become Useless Talk Shops?

Here’s a puzzle: College campuses across the United States have seen a 32 percent increase in international students since 2000, reports the Institute of International Education (IIE) — even though global test scores show that the U.S. education system is lagging far behind its overseas counterparts such as powerhouses like Finland and Singapore.

Niger

PEOPLE OF WORLD INFLUENCE

Reporter Deconstructs Af-Pak-U.S. Conundrum

Caucasus

Sahel Out Of Shadows The military coup in Mali pivoted the world’s attention

Now in its fifth year, with a record 70 embassies participating, Passport DC remains a oneof-a-kind citywide event. PAGE 36

Page19

Ever since his 2001 bestseller “Taliban,” Pakis­ tani author and journalist Ahmed Rashid has been at the forefront of diagnosing the scourges that infect his region, from a glut of American money to Pakistani scapegoating, and in his latest book, he warns that a botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan could prove fatal for Pakistan. PAGE 6

Reformers Try to Rid Human Rights Council Of Moral Hypocrisy

Passport DC: Numbers Don’t Lie

EDUCATION

The Washington Diplomat

United Nations

culture

However odd this conundrum, the steady stream of international students coming to the United States makes sense, said Allan Continued on next page

May 2012

World leaders will converge on the United States for two important summits in May, but critics are skeptical that the G-8 and NATO are equipped to produce a consensus on what to do about Syria, Afghanistan, the Arab Spring, the fragile global economy and other thorny issues of the day. PAGE 8

Reformers have been cleaning house at the U.N. Human Rights Council, which has gained some credibility by calling out abuses in Syria, Libya, Sudan and Sri Lanka, though it remains a platform for authoritarian propaganda. PAGE 10

High school students in the United States ranked 32nd among nations in math proficiency tests last year and were 17th in reading, according to a study headed by Harvard professor Paul Peterson.

Testudo overlooks McKeldin Mall at the University of Maryland in College Park.

toward the Sahel, but Maman S. Sidikou, Niger’s new envoy and a longtime development expert, says the instability next door is just the latest problem plaguing his region, already gripped by drought, poverty and — now — the renewed threat of Islamist extremism. PAGE 15

Complacency In Caspian’s Frozen Conflicts Energy riches have heated up the economies of Caspian Basin states such as Azerbaijan while cementing partnerships with the United States, but Baku’s new ambassador, Elin Suleymanov, says long-dormant conflicts could still easily erupt and derail two decades of postSoviet progress. PAGE 12

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May 2012

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KEYLINES DO NOT PRINT

The Washington Diplomat

Date: 03.08.12

May 2012

CONTENTS THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT

May 2012

19

8 G-8 protests

University of Maryland

[ news ] 6

8

10

People of World Influence Ahmed Rashid, once called Pakistan’s “best and bravest reporter,” says he wrote his latest book “with the very acute realization that Pakistan was literally going down the tubes.”

Diplomacy The U.S. has been working to reform the U.N. Human Rights Council from within to make it a voice for the world’s conscience, instead of a platform for repressive regimes.

cooperation is the crowning achievement of U.S. ties, but the region’s frozen conflicts could instantly melt away 20 years of post-Soviet progress.

17

38

Festivals

40

Art

The National Museum of Women in the Arts follows the different yet overlapping paths of female trailblazers, from royalists and romantics in 18th- and 19th-century France, to a Roman Catholic nun in free-wheeling 1960s L.A.

41

Theater

Student Exchange India and China often come to mind when considering the increase in foreign students coming to U.S. colleges and universities, but the Central Asian “stan” countries are also quietly making the long trek to study in the States.

Diplomacy World leaders will converge on the United States this month for the NATO and G-8 summits, but whether they’ll agree on big issues such as Afghanistan and Syria is another matter.

12 International Relations Azerbaijani Ambassador Elin Suleymanov says energy

15

Spain arts and culture

[ education ] 19

37

25

Summer Camps Summer camps do more than just babysit kids during the dog days of summer — they help children discover themselves in a whole new light and let their unique talents shine.

[ medical ] 31

heart disease Many women are still more afraid of breast cancer than heart disease, even though heart disease takes 10 times as many lives as breast cancer does, and actually kills more women than all forms of cancer combined.

Cover Profile: niger Maman S. Sidikou, Niger’s eloquent new envoy, is sounding the alarm that if the world doesn’t help his region tame a brewing Islamist insurgency, “we’ll all come to regret it.”

Diplomacy After brokering the secret deal that secured the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from his Hamas kidnappers, important politicians are suddenly paying attention to an obscure, bearded peacenik from Long Island.

COVER: Photo taken at the Embassy of Niger by Lawrence Ruggeri.

36

Events

[ culture ]

42

44

The Philippines is coming to Tennessee as part of the Memphis in May International Festival, melding the exotic culture of this South Seas nation with Southern hospitality.

The Ford’s Theatre revival of “1776” brings America’s beginnings to life by humanizing its founding fathers through vibrant music, inspired singing, and delicious details not included in the history books.

Dining Roberto Donna, the high-powered chef whose fall from grace upended D.C. dining, is back — again — hoping a casual eatery will cement his comeback this time.

Film interview How does one become a Liberian ambassador? For Mads Brügger, the Danish director of the new documentary “The Ambassador,” all it took was $150,000 and a lot of balls.

46

Cinema LISTING

48

Events LISTING

Five years on, Passport DC remains as popular as ever, but the citywide cultural showcase isn’t resting on its laurels.

37

CULTURE

53

WORLD HOLIDAYS / appointments

Latino influences permeate U.S. culture, though much of this footprint can be traced not to America’s southern neighbors but across the Atlantic — to Spain.

54

CLASSIFIEDS

50 DIPLOMATIC spotlight

55 Real Estate CLASSIFIEDS

P.O. Box 1345 • Silver Spring, MD 20915-1345 • Phone: (301) 933-3552 • Fax: (301) 949-0065 • E-mail: news@washdiplomat.com • Web: www.washdiplomat.com Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Victor Shiblie Director of Operations Fuad Shiblie Managing Editor Anna Gawel News Editor Larry Luxner Contributing Writers Rachael Bade, Nicholas Clayton, Michael Coleman, Carolyn Cosmos, Rachel Hunt, Stephanie Kanowitz, Veronika Oleksyn, Dave Seminara, Gina Shaw, Gary Tischler, Lisa Troshinsky Photographer Jessica Latos Account Managers Jerry Grant, Chris Smith, Patrick Thomas Graphic Designer Cari Bambach The Washington Diplomat is published monthly by The Washington Diplomat, Inc. The newspaper is distributed free of charge at several locations throughout the Washington, D.C. area. We do offer subscriptions for home delivery. Subscription rates are $25 for 12 issues and $45 for 24 issues. Call Fuad Shiblie for past issues. If your organization employs many people from the international community you may qualify for free bulk delivery. To see if you qualify you must contact Fuad Shiblie.

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May 2012

The Washington Diplomat Page 5

PEOPLE OF WORLD INFLUENCE

Ahmed Rashid

To Save Pakistan, Author Says U.S. Needs Plan for Afghanistan

by Michael Coleman

N

ews articles and media commentators frequently describe Pakistan as a dangerous place — the world’s most dangerous, according to many observers — but few, if any, can match the vivid, sometimes frightening reporting of celebrated journalist Ahmed Rashid.

Rashid, once called Pakistan’s “best and bravest reporter” by the late author Christopher Hitchens, exploded into the international consciousness in 2001 with “Taliban,” a New York Times number-one bestseller that was translated into more than 20 languages. The book helped readers better understand the brutal regime that hijacked Afghanistan and incubated the terrorist group behind the 9/11 attacks. He earned widespread acclaim for his 2008 follow-up,“Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia.”

Now, Rashid, based in Lahore, is back with “Pakistan on the Brink: The Future of America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.”

The book examines U.S. policy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan and how the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan will affect international terrorism and a region vital to world security.While the subject matter is grim, Rashid offers cleareyed suggestions for a peaceful path forward, including the provocative notion that the United States and Pakistan should negotiate a political compromise with the Taliban.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Diplomat, Rashid said he wrote his book “with the very acute realization that Pakistan was literally going down the tubes.”

In fact, just days after the interview, Taliban fighters stormed a prison in northwestern Pakistan, freeing nearly 400 inmates in what is being called the biggest jailbreak in the country’s history. At the same time in Afghanistan, officials in that country were blaming the Haqqani network of the Taliban, based in Pakistan, for a coordinated series of attacks that paralyzed the capital of Kabul in mid-April.

As for U.S.-Pakistani relations, they seem to plunge to ever-lower depths as each new crisis explodes. Bilateral ties — already strained in the wake of the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden at a secret compound about an hour north of Islamabad — ruptured following a NATO air attack in November that mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. As a result, the Pakistani Parliament underwent a complete review of its relationship with the United States, demanding an immediate end to drone strikes and an unconditional apology for the strike on Pakistani soldiers.

There was speculation that with the review finished, Pakistan might reopen a critical NATO supply route to Afghanistan. “We are a responsible nation,” Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told Parliament, though he wouldn’t confirm if the route would reopen.“We know our obligations as well as the importance of the United States.”

Yet Rashid argues that Pakistani leaders have long fostered a narrative that blames everyone — and especially America — for the South Asian nation’s precarious state, when the overwhelming evidence is that many of its troubles are homegrown. Rashid’s newest book begins in 1989, at the twilight of the Cold War. “When the Cold War ended, Pakistan did not change at all,” Rashid said. “It remained heavily dependent on the United States, the elite refused to pay taxes, and we pursued a foreign policy that was expansionist and aggressive.”

Rashid argues that while Pakistan made terrible domestic political decisions, the United States enabled the country’s

Page 6

government by pouring aid into a Pakistani military that made no effort to account for its spending. The situation dramatically worsened after al-Qaeda terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Rashid said. In the decade since 9/11, the U.S. government has sent $20 billion to Pakistan and has little to show for it.

“That’s a hell of a lot of money,” Rashid said. “Eighty percent of that money has gone to the military, and there has been no accounting of that money in the civil sector. How do they account for it?”

Rashid says the gravy train started with former President George W. Bush and former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who made backroom deals that allowed CIA agents and U.S. Special Forces to infiltrate the country in exchange for truckloads of American cash.

“People essentially said, ‘Give us something that is visible and tangible,’” Rashid charged. “They said, ‘Don’t give

Photo: Ahmed Rashid

“

There is a horrendous spate of anti-Americanism that’s going on, which is extremely dangerous because along with that comes antidemocracy, extremism and outright religious conservatism.

— Ahmed Rashid

”

author of “Pakistan on the Brink”

us this democracy support bullshit.’”

However, rank-and-file Pakistanis, who are among the world’s poorest people, resented the aid, which went almost exclusively to the all-powerful military.

“There was deep suspicion about America’s intentions,” Rashid said, adding that the two countries should have been more transparent. “I think if [Pakistan] had been more responsive earlier to this whole notion of civilian aid and a strategic dialogue with the U.S., we could have worked out something that would be more balanced.”

Rashid says the Obama administration has largely continued these secretive policies, as evidenced by the record number of surreptitious drone strikes in the country.

“These secret deals deeply annoyed the people of Pakistan and that’s one of the reasons for this anti-American-

ism,” he said.“There is a horrendous spate of anti-Americanism that’s going on, which is extremely dangerous because along with that comes anti-democracy, extremism and outright religious conservatism.”

Rashid also argues that the glut of American money has made the deadly, decade-long U.S. exercise in Afghanistan — inextricably linked to neighboring Pakistan — vastly more expensive and ineffective than it needed to be. During the initial U.S. invasion in 2001, Rashid and other experts in the region met with top officials at the White House and suggested a modest plan to rebuild the country after the toppling of the Taliban.

Over the past 11 years, the United States has sunk more than $500 billion into the war in Afghanistan. Rashid and the other experts argued that stabilizing the country could have been done for a fraction of that amount.

“We estimated if you gave the Afghan government $5 billion per year just for development for 10 years, that was all the Afghans could absorb,” he said.“It would have sufficiently rebuilt the economy to where it was in 1978 before the Soviets came in.

“I would claim right now that unfortunately the West has not even been able to do that despite spending billions on so-called development,” Rashid continued.“Apart from some areas where there have been huge contributions, particularly education and health care, as far as developing an indigenous economy, agriculture, infrastructure, there hasn’t been much done at all. It’s difficult to see how it has come up to the level even of what it was in 1978.”

Although President Obama pledged and delivered more resources toward the fight in Afghanistan, he’s largely pursued a military-centric approach in both Afghanistan and

The Washington Diplomat

May 2012

neighboring Pakistan, especially given the successes of drone strikes and special ops raids that have decapitated the bulk of al-Qaeda’s leadership.

The hallmark achievement of this counterterrorism strategy was the killing of Osama bin Laden a year ago during a covert U.S. raid in the midsize town of Abbottabad, where the terrorist mastermind had essentially been hiding in plain sight of Pakistani military forces.

While celebrated in the United States, bin Laden’s death marked a pivotal turning point in U.S.-Pakistani relations, especially after the circumstances of the midnight raid came to light, Rashid told The Diplomat.

“Initially, people welcomed his death,” the author said. “But then what happened is the Pakistani press lambasted the military and raised two issues that remain unresolved.

“Were they hiding Osama? And if they weren’t hiding him, they were bloody incompetent,”Rashid said. “That caused immense embarrassment and questioning inside the military. Then the military came back and [said] these are not the questions.

They said the real question is,‘Is America breaking our sovereignty by intruding into Pakistan, etc.’

That then became the new mantra.”

Rashid explains in his book, and in his Diplomat interview, that he’s not buying the military’s attempt to change the subject.

“The military tried to change the narrative,” he said.“We can get to the sovereignty question later, but first they need to answer these questions. Not only did nobody answer them, but there was no accountability. Nobody was sacked or fired and nobody was held responsible.”

Why not?

“There was acute embarrassment, but also in the lower ranks of officers there was acute antiAmericanism,” he replied. “I think the high command was faced with a barrage of criticism from the mid-level officers who wanted the army to denounce the Americans.”

So what can the United States do to try to lift the abysmal state of relations with a hostile, nuclear-armed, Muslim nation?

The most important thing it can do, according to Rashid, is to get out of Afghanistan.

“I do think a withdrawal will be hugely beneficial to Pakistan,” he argues. “We have our own Taliban now who are very dangerous. If there could be a political settlement between [Afghan President Hamid] Karzai and the Taliban and the Americans that allows the Americans to withdraw in a peaceful situation, I think it would have a huge effect on de-fanging and de-legitimizing the Taliban.

“One of their claims of a legitimate jihad is that they are fighting with their Afghan brothers against the American occupation,” he added.“That is a legitimate jihad, but if that reason was to disappear tomorrow, or in 2014 [the planned U.S. withdrawal date], so does one of their main planks.

That would have a huge impact.”

Rashid contends that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan will also remove a convenient excuse for Pakistani leaders trying to explain the sorry state of affairs in their country.

“We would no longer have this excuse that everything is going wrong because of the Americans or the American presence in Afghanistan,” he said.“We would be forced to look at ourselves and sort out our own problems, rather than blaming others for them.

“Pakistan would be forced into a kind of selfsufficiency.”

But Rashid does not advocate a hasty withdrawal, especially in the absence of a political agreement in Afghanistan, where he says the Taliban must be dealt with somehow before U.S. troops head for the exits.

“There has to be a negotiated political settlement with the Taliban,” Rashid said.“The Americans cannot leave Afghanistan with that country in a state of civil war as it is today. The Americans can

only leave that country with a relative reduction of violence.

“If you leave that country in a state of civil war, the Afghan army isn’t going to stand up to the pressure of the Taliban,” he warned. “I think in a year or two, the government would collapse and there would be a multidimensional civil war.

It would spread its tentacles into all the neighboring states and even allow al-Qaeda to come back.”

Rashid suggested a twopronged approach. The first phase would be a military ceasefire between the United States and the Taliban after extended exercises in “confidence and trust building.”The second part would be a power-sharing agreement be­­ tween the Afghan government and the Taliban, with representation from all sectors of Afghan society — including women.

“The Taliban has to meet with Afghan women and be exposed to Afghan women who have in the last 10 years gotten educated, gotten jobs and are working,” he said. “This is a generation of women the Taliban have never even met with.

They can’t even conceive of them.”

He also suggested that the primitive religious group be given modern offices.

“If we can open an office for the Taliban [in Afghanistan] and have negotiations, the more you can expose the Taliban to modern Afghan society — urbanized Afghans — the more you’ll be forcing the Taliban to moderate their positions.”

Of course, that’s assuming the Taliban is even willing to enter into peace talks, a concept that’s been tentatively in the works for years, only to be derailed by incidents such as the alleged massacre of 17 Afghan civilians at the hands of a U.S. soldier, as well as the Taliban assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani, a top Karzai emissary in the proposed negotiations.

Despite the difficulties, Rashid says the alternative is worse. “The grimmest outcome would result from a botched, overly hasty Western withdrawal, the absence of a political settlement with the Taliban, a continuing civil war in Afghanistan, the Pakistani leaders’ continuing resistance to internal reform, the army’s refusal to seek a compromise on Afghanistan with the United States and Afghans, and a consequent meltdown of the Pakistani state,” he warns in “Pakistan on the Brink.”

To that end, if the region implodes, Rashid says there would be plenty of blame to go around.

“Obama and his senior officials share a major part of the blame because their failure to act as a team has resulted in contradictory policies, intense political infighting, and uncertainty about U.S. aims and objectives in the region,” he wrote.

At the same time, Rashid blasts the Pakistani military for its obsession with Indian hegemony, the Kashmiri cause, protecting its nuclear program, and ensuring a pro-Pakistani government in Kabul — despite U.S. pressure and money.

“Its political and military leadership has shown neither the courage nor the will nor the intelligence to carry out major reforms in the country’s foreign and economic policies,” he charges. “The military has allowed the Afghan Taliban factions and their leaders safe sanctuary and support ever since 2001 — something the Americans knew well but failed to raise effectively. Social services are near collapse, law enforcement is abysmal, economic hardship is widespread, natural disasters occur with little or no government assistance, and the majority of the population has no security.”

This kind of blunt talk is unquestionably danger-

ous in Pakistan, where shadowy violence abounds — as does shadowy Machiavellian politics.

(Islamabad’s former ambassador in Washington, Husain Haqqani, became ensnared in a bizarre controversy last year revolving a memo purportedly orchestrated by the civilian government asking the U.S. for help reining in the military.)

The Committee to Protect Journalists declared Pakistan the most dangerous country in the world for reporters in 2011, with seven journalists dying in the tumultuous nation that year. Rashid said he’s well aware of the perils of his work.

“I’m very outspoken, but one tends to play a cat-andmouse game with the ex­­ tremists and the terrorist agencies,” he said. “It’s be­­ come very hard to become a journalist in Pakistan. The threats and harassment journalists face are very real. I feel them all the time.

“But this is very important and I don’t think Pakistan can be ignored.”

Rashid also encourages American policymakers to re-evaluate their attitudes toward Pakistan, especially those who might want to dismiss the nation as a lost cause.

“The tendency of some in Congress to say ‘let them go hang’ doesn’t make sense,” he told us.

“It’s a geostrategic linchpin in South Asia and West Asia, and its location on the Gulf makes it extremely important for the U.S. oil supply and

Blancpain_WashingtonDiplomat_6664_DDFS.indd 1

May 2012

global stability.

“It also happens to house the full range of Islamic extremists — local,Arab, Central Asian, the Chechens.”

So what to do about those terrorists, especially the radical Taliban? Rashid proposes the radical notion of rehabilitating them, when possible, rather than killing them.

“There has to be a change in foreign policy,” he said.“We have to wake up to the new reality that we have to de-fang these militants, not through military action necessarily but through some kind of reconciliation program.”

He pointed to a program in Saudi Arabia in which young al-Qaeda recruits were captured and initially imprisoned, then gradually re-indoctrinated through the intervention of moderate mullahs.

“They didn’t kill them, but put them into jails which became residential accommodations and they kept them there for many years and had them indoctrinated by mullahs, got them degrees and skills, got them married, and gave them psychological treatment.

“It’s been a very successful program and we could probably get funding for something like that,” he said. “We need to do that on a much larger scale in Pakistan, and I think if we did that there would be a lot of Western support.

“In the 21st century, we cannot maintain extremists on our soil as an arm of foreign policy,” he added.“That era has gone. It was possible during the Cold War because the fundamentalists were anti-Soviet and the Americans also funded extremists — Osama bin Laden and all kinds of groups. After 9/11, that era has ended.”

Michael Coleman is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

12/8/11 3:04 PM

The Washington Diplomat Page 7

Diplomacy

Multilateral Summits

U.S. Hosts World Leaders For NATO, G-8 Summits

by Dave Seminara

W

orld leaders will converge on the United States for two important summits in May but many are skeptical that NATO and the G-8 are equipped to produce a consensus on what to do about Syria, Afghanistan, the Arab Spring, the fragile global economy and other key issues of the day.

And in the midst of a presidential election campaign in the United States, the leading Republican candidates, who often try to portray President Obama as being insufficiently tough on America’s adversaries, will scrutinize the administration’s every move at the head of state powwows.

The summits were to be held back-to-back in Chicago, but in a surprise move, the White House announced in early March that it planned to move the G-8 summit to the presidential retreat at Camp David in Maryland to create a more intimate atmosphere for the talks. The Obama team denied that the meeting was relocated due to planned demonstrations, but protesters saw the move as a victory.

“We think a big part of why they moved the G-8 summit is because of our brewing protest movement,” said Andy Thayer, spokesman for the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War & Poverty Agenda, a group that is organizing protests against both organizations, in an interview with The Washington Diplomat. “We take that as a big victory and a signal that if we want more change, we should step it up even more.”

But Stephen Flanagan of the D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said he doubted the move to Camp David was connected to the protest movement.

“I think when the president saw the plan for Chicago, he figured they wouldn’t be able to have the quiet discussion they wanted,” he said in an interview.“The thing that’s really useful about the G-8 summits is that they bring together a group of world leaders to have a conversation about important issues. So I think he genuinely wanted a better environment for that type of meeting.”

Thayer said that his group, which had planned its march and demonstration to coincide with the G-8 summit, will now protest the NATO gathering, scheduled for May 20 to 21, directly after the G-8 meeting at Camp David on May 18 and 19. But Chicago officials have been loathe to grant the group permission to get near the NATO meeting and Thayer blames Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s former chief of staff, whom he says supports “NATO’s prowar agenda.”

Group of Eight summits have been a magnet for protestors off and on over the years, with most passing peacefully.

But in 2001, anti-globalization protestors clashed with police and one demonstrator, Carlo Giuliani, a 23-year-old Italian, was shot and killed by police. A court ruled that no excessive force had been used as the bullet wasn’t aimed at Giuliani, but the incident was a black eye for the G-8, which still struggles to overcome the perception that it’s an organization of wealthy countries impervious to the problems of the developing world.

Last year, the security arrangements for the G-8 summit in Deauville, France, reportedly included 12,000 police and soldiers, prompting author and historian Timothy Garton Ash to call the event a “circus” and a “monumental waste of time and money.” Ash went on to conclude that the G-8

Page 8

Photo: Guillaume Paumier / Wikimedia Commons / www.gpaumier.org

“

Everyone’s going to keep things together and try to put on a good public face and declare that we’re doing well.

— Barry Pavel

”

director of the International Security Program at the Atlantic Council of the United States

should be abolished, and he’s not alone in his conclusions.

What is now the Group of Eight highly industrialized nations, comprised of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom, started out as the G-5 in the wake of the 1970s oil crisis.

“In ’75, the first oil shock hit the industrialized world very hard,” Flanagan said. “In those days, the five big economies were the U.S., [West] Germany, Britain, France and Japan, so French President Giscard d’Estaing invited the other four leaders for the first of these informal summits and the point was to formulate a response to the crisis.”

Flanagan said that Italy crashed the party, making it the G-6.Then in 1976, Canada was invited to join what became the G-7, and in 1997, Russia’s inclusion made it the G-8. Over the years, various other countries have been invited to attend the meetings (the European Union is represented but cannot host or chair summits) and celebrities like Bono have turned up to chide leaders of the world’s richest nations to pledge more for development and health-related projects.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was born out of the 2001 Genoa summit, in fact, and member nations have pledged billions in aid at prior meetings.

But follow-through on pledges has been a constant issue, and many now believe that the G-8 has lost its usefulness.

“The G-8 is not the party everyone wants to belong to anymore,” Flanagan said, noting that countries like Brazil

An anti-G-8 protest takes place shortly before the Group of Eight summit in Deauville, France, last year. This year, the White House decided to move the G-8 summit from Chicago to the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., to create a more intimate atmosphere for the talks — denying the move was in response to planned demonstrations.

wanted to join the G-8 years ago, but are now content to be part of BRIC, a geopolitical grouping that includes Brazil, Russia, India and China, as well as the G-20.

The G-20, which will meet in Los Cabos, Mexico, from June 18 to 19, includes a host of rising economic players like China, India and Turkey and has risen in importance since 2008, when the G-20 summits transitioned from meetings attended by finance ministers to head of state gatherings.

Flanagan said that the G-20 is seen to be eclipsing the G-8 because it’s a more diverse body that carries greater international legitimacy because it better reflects the world’s population. Nonetheless, the G-8 countries still wield enormous political and economic clout, and a number of hot-button issues will be broached at the Camp David summit, including the eurozone crisis, African food security, Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, how to stimulate the global economy, and the Arab Spring uprisings.

Few predict any big, breaking news to emerge from the summit, but Flanagan said he expects the Obama administration will want to demonstrate that it has had useful discussions on stimulating the global economy and on all the key foreign affairs issues outlined above. And while Bono won’t be at the G-8 this year, newly re-elected Russian President Vladimir Putin will be there, which could be even more interesting, especially given Putin’s recent comments about NATO. Putin accused the security bloc of supporting a “string of armed conflicts” to achieve “absolute invulnerability.”

“Nobody has a right to hijack the prerogatives and powers of the U.N.,” Putin charged. “I am referring primarily to NATO, which seeks to assume a new role that goes beyond its status of a defensive alliance.”

But while Putin may be critical of NATO’s interventions

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May 2012

in Libya, Kosovo and elsewhere, others, most notably Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), believe that it’s time for NATO to step in and help topple Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a Dane, recently told Foreign Policy magazine that NATO wasn’t likely to do that.

“Syria is ethnically, politically, religiously much more complicated than Libya,” he said. “I think a regional solution would be the right way forward with strong engagement by the Arab League.”

Syria will be on the agenda of the 2012 NATO summit, as will other problematic nations such as North Korea and Iran, but the meeting will be dominated by the ongoing mission in Afghanistan.

Ahead of the Chicago summit, U.S. and NATO officials say they have finalized plans to wind down the 11-year war in three main areas: transitioning Afghan security forces to take the combat lead while NATO recedes to a support role; keeping some troops in Afghanistan after the 2014 pullout date; and, perhaps most importantly, financially supporting the fledgling Afghan army after 2014. In addition, according to the New York Times, the United States and Afghanistan have completed the outline of a strategic partnership for the decade after 2014, the draft of which will reportedly be signed before the summit. Details though on exact funding commitments or troop numbers remain sketchy.

World leaders from NATO member countries have been debating how to keep the peace or prevent further bloodshed in global hotspots since the very first NATO summit in Paris in 1957.

Since its founding in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has served as a bedrock of European security, evolving from a 12-nation body to its current structure, which includes 28 member countries and some 33 other countries involved in NATO partner institutions like the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.

But the future of NATO is a constant — almost cliché — question in security corridors, with pundits debating the transatlantic alliance’s role (and relevance) in a post-Cold War world, especially as members broaden their scope to places such as Afghanistan and Libya while dealing with ever-tightening defense budgets back home.

On that note, another centerpiece of the Chicago summit will be the “smart defense” initiative that seeks to “do more with less,” according to Rasmussen, by helping countries pool defense resources in a time of shrinking budgets to expand the organization’s overall defense strategy. So for example, NATO recently agreed to have allied air forces patrol the skies over the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which in turn would redirect their defense spending toward other resources that would help the bloc, such as building up ground forces or bolstering cyber security.

It remains to be seen whether the smart defense approach, which has been mentioned in various incarnations for decades, will address a longstanding complaint among Americans that they do all the heavy lifting in NATO. Shortly before stepping down, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates lambasted Europe for essentially hitching a free financial ride off U.S. taxpayers.

“The blunt reality,” Gates warned,“is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the U.S. Congress — and in the American body politic writ large — to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense — nations apparently willing and eager for American taxpayers to assume the growing security burden left by reductions in European defense budgets.”

Rasmussen himself has spoken about the need to distribute responsibilities more evenly to preserve the alliance, pointing out at the recent Brussels Forum that European defense cuts go “against the trend we can see in much of the rest of the world. This year, for the first time, Asian defense spending will outstrip that of NATO’s European allies. And Russia is planning to double

its defense spending over the next decade,” he noted.“European allies must be ready and able to assume a greater leadership role. And I am confident that they can.”

But of all the issues on the Chicago docket, Afghanistan — NATO’s biggest 21st-century test — will be at the top of the list. At the last NATO summit in Lisbon in November 2010, alliance leaders agreed to formally transfer security responsibility to Afghan forces at the end of 2014.

Officials insist there will be no change to the timeline despite numerous setbacks, the latest being the release of photographs depicting U.S. soldiers posing with the body parts of dead insurgents.

Leaders will, however, discuss shifting the mission from a combat to a largely support role, probably around mid-2013. U.S. officials are also hoping to keep NATO member states from bailing out of Afghanistan ahead of the already-accelerated schedule (Australia recently announced it was pulling troops out earlier than expected) and secure concrete commitments from them to help Afghan security forces stay afloat after coalition troops eventually leave. The Government Accountability Office says the United States has spent more than $40 billion training and equipping the Afghan National Security Forces, which would flounder financially after 2014 without outside funds.

According to the New York Times, one proposal calls for the United States to pitch in about $2.2 billion or more of the estimated $4 billion a year needed to sustain the army and police, with the Afghan government contributing $500 million and allies covering the remaining $1.3 billion.

A deal to hand over control of controversial special ops raids to Afghan authorities helped pave the way for a strategic partnership agreement that pledges U.S. financial and security support for Afghanistan until 2024. Details on how much money and security assistance will be given to Afghan forces after 2014, and by whom, will be debated in Chicago. But the Obama administration hopes the partnership agreement, even if just a broad outline, will prod NATO allies to lend more financial support now that they know the United States won’t (in theory) abandon Afghanistan after the pullout date.

But plowing more resources into what many see as a losing war — from cash-strapped European governments — will be a tall order, especially as U.S. and NATO coalition troops come under fire by the very Afghan forces that they’re training to take over for them.

Public opinion in the United States and in Europe has been turning against the war, and the recent Koran burnings and the massacre of 17 Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier in March have only intensified that trend.

“Everyone’s going to keep things together and try to put on a good public face and declare that we’re doing well,” said Barry Pavel, director of the International Security Program at the Atlantic Council. “But the countries with the most forces are looking to get out in general.”

Pavel said he wants President Obama and NATO to lay out a realistic plan for what will happen after they hand over control to Afghan security forces. But he said that in an election year, it’s uncertain whether Obama would want to delve into the specifics of how many troops would remain in the country and what their mandate would be.

Yet with 69 percent of the American public indicating that the United States shouldn’t be involved in the conflict in Afghanistan, according to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, and an election looming,Americans are more likely to ask how quickly the troops will be coming home before fretting over the details of what happens after we leave.

“It’s been the longest war in our history,” Thayer, the G-8/NATO protester, said.“Some of us were opposed to it from the beginning, but at this point, the majority just wants this war to end.”

Dave Seminara is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat and a former diplomat based in Northern Virginia.

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The Washington Diplomat Page 9

Diplomacy

United Nations

Despite Reforms, Human Rights Body At U.N. Still Struggles With Credibility

by Veronika Oleksyn

W

hen a leading U.S. civil rights group first began fighting segregation a century ago, it took to America’s streets and courts. A hundred years later, it is voicing its outrage over U.S. voting laws on a global level.

In a surprise move in March, officials from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) took their grievances about issues such as revised voter ID requirements for Americans to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

There, they called for a review of the current situation at U.S. polls, urging for the results to be made public so that “voter suppression” tactics aren’t replicated elsewhere, according to Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP’s Washington bureau.

The trans-Atlantic trip places renewed focus on an international institution with a tumultuous past and present — and a tempestuous relationship with the U.S. government.

Experts are split in their assessments of the 47-member panel, created in 2006 to replace the Human Rights Commission that former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan famously accused of casting a shadow on the reputation of the entire United Nations system by being politicized and selective.

Elected by the U.N. General Assembly, the Human Rights Council is intended to strengthen the protection of human rights around the world and to make recommendations on instances where they are violated. It has no enforcement power. Among other things, it reviews the human rights records of all U.N. member states every four years. Experts and groups also work on topics ranging from the sale of children to arbitrary detention. In addition, it looks into human rights violations in specific countries.

It’s an ambitious agenda — and a matter of debate whether the council is up to the task.

Some observers say U.S. participation coupled with recent actions on human rights abuses in Syria, Libya, Sudan and Sri Lanka have helped boost the council’s credibility since its early days — especially under the outspoken tenure of Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights. Others claim it still unfairly and disproportionately singles out Israel and offers a platform for the propaganda of repressive regimes.

A key point of contention is the council’s membership, which currently includes a majority of countries — such as China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia, the only nation left where women still can’t drive — deemed “not free” or “partly free” by the advocacy group Freedom House.

Seats are divvied up on a regional basis. African and Asian countries receive 13 each while Latin America and the Caribbean get eight. Western Europe and other states, meanwhile, receive seven seats while Eastern Europe gets six. States can serve for two consecutive three-year terms in one go but need to seek re-election after the first term.

At times, countries run unopposed in their regional groupings.

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“

Credit: UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré

If we let the U.N. Human Rights Council fail, which will surely happen if democratic states weaken their commitment and engagement with it, we leave the field free to tyrants to call the shots.

— Kofi Annan

”

former secretary-general of the United Nations

Six years after its inception, Annan, for one, sees progress but adds that the council has not always lived up to its potential. In an opinion piece published in the Christian Science Monitor in December, he urged countries not to jump ship due to criticism.

“If we let the U.N. Human Rights Council fail, which will surely happen if democratic states weaken their commitment and engagement with it, we leave the field free to tyrants to call the shots,” Annan wrote. “This is still a work in progress, but there is no greater cause.”

One prominent player that emphasizes this approach is the United States, which won a seat in 2009 and is seeking a second term in a reversal of policy from the previous administration. Under President George W. Bush, Washington was one of four countries to vote against the Human Rights Council’s creation and stated in June 2008 that it would engage with it “only in matters of deep national interest,” essentially boycotting the panel.

The tension may have dated back to the spring of 2001 when the United States was voted off the council’s predecessor, the Human Rights Commission.The Bush administration also regularly took heat from member nations for

The U.N. Human Rights Council holds a special session in Geneva on the situation in the “occupied Palestinian territory and East Jerusalem” in 2009. Despite recent reforms, the council is still criticized for focusing too heavily on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

launching the war in Iraq and for alleged torture against detainees but dismissed the criticism, saying the United States shouldn’t be chided by hypocritical human rights abusers such as Iran and Cuba.

But President Barack Obama took a different tack and rejoined the body, arguing that the best way to reform it was from within.

“The United Nations does extraordinary good around the world — feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, mending places that have been broken,” Obama said in 2009.

“But it also struggles to enforce its will, and to live up to the ideals of its founding. I believe that those imperfections are not a reason to walk away from this institution — they are a calling to redouble our efforts.”

Today, Washington says it recognizes the council as a “work in progress” and is vocal in its criticism when warranted. “U.S. engagement has reshaped the council’s agenda, making it a stronger, more effective institution by addressing urgent human rights situations and focusing international attention on some of the world’s most egregious human rights abusers,” a State Department official said.

The United States, among other things, claims its participation has led to council commissions of inquiry on Syria and Libya.

The General Assembly temporarily suspended Libya from the council between March 1 and Nov. 18, 2011, in light of the fierce repression of an uprising that led to the toppling of longtime dictator Col. Muammar Qaddafi. In Syria, the government has been embroiled in a conflict with protesters calling for the fall of President Bashar alAssad. The United Nations estimates that more than 8,000

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May 2012

people have been killed in the fighting there. Last year, a council-appointed commission issued a report saying gross violations of human rights had been committed by Syrian military and security forces since the beginning of the protests in March that could constitute crimes against humanity.

In playing up its role on the council,Washington also points to the creation of a special investigator (“rapporteur”) on human rights in Iran, as well as the implementation of a resolution targeting religious intolerance. In addition, it draws attention to what it calls the first-ever U.N. resolution on the human rights of lesbians, gays and individuals who identify themselves as bisexual or transgender, as well as a new special investigator on the freedom of assembly and of association.

Longtime council watchers such as Peter Splinter, who heads Amnesty International’s Geneva office, lauded Washington for leadership on a recent resolution that urged Sri Lanka to investigate alleged war crimes during the end of the South Asian state’s decades-long conflict with the Tamil Tigers.

However, turning to the United States, he noted that the council hasn’t had “serious discussions” about the American military prison at Guantanamo Bay.“That’s a pretty important shortcoming.”

“I do think things have improved in the Human Rights Council over the last one to two years,” Splinter said. “There’s a lot of room for improvement … but all told the world would be a sadder place without it.”

Others, such as Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, are more critical.

For one, he pointed out, council action on Syria and Libya simply reflected real changes on the ground in the Arab world.

“Once the Arab League began to speak out about Libya, about Syria, it became easier for the rest of the Islamic world to do so,” Abrams said.

“Once the Islamic world was doing so, why

Credit: UN Photo / Pierre Albouy

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, left, and President of the Human Rights Council Laura Dupuy attend the council’s special session on the situation in Syria. Pillay has been outspoken in calling out abuses in Syria, Libya, Sri Lanka and other hotspots.

would the Human Rights Council not do so?”

Abrams also addressed what he described as the council’s “astonishing mania with Israel” and its policy toward the Palestinians.

Hillel Neuer, head of the Geneva-based group UN Watch, echoed Abrams’s remark, calling the council’s many denunciations of Israel “extreme.”

Indeed, a permanent item on the council’s agenda specifically addresses “the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.” Neuer expressed dismay that the item was maintained during the council’s recent five-year review, noting that it is the “only agenda item against one country, against Israel.”

In March, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman cut ties with the council after it voted in favor of an international fact-finding mission on Jewish settlements.

The United States was the only member to vote against the resolution calling for the mission, which was accompanied by other resolutions that also were Israel-focused. Unlike in the U.N. Security Council, however, a “no” vote by Washington does not carry veto power.

In a statement, U.S. Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe said the mission would “do nothing to promote a just, lasting peace” between Israelis and Palestinians and pledged to continue U.S. efforts to “eliminate the council’s outrageous bias against Israel.”

Members such as Austria contend that the council should be seen as a symposium for taking up tough questions. The Alpine republic voted in favor of the resolution but has underscored that it does not approve of the fact-finding mission.

“We voted for the resolution because of the

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May 2012

main issue — the resolution is about the settlements and the illegality of the settlements, and on that our position has not changed,” said Christian Strohal, Austria’s representative to the Human Rights Council and a current vice president of the panel.

Commenting more generally about the council, Strohal cited greater cross-regional cooperation, a willingness to engage and less bloc voting as positive developments in the evolution of the panel. The United States, by not standing aside and trying to work from within, has made a significant difference, he added.

“The council is doing well and better than expected,” he said.

Hans Peter Manz, Austria’s ambassador to the United States who was stationed in Switzerland before being posted to Washington, described the council not as a “court” but rather as a useful and important “forum” for discussing uncomfortable issues.

“No country in the world has a spotless human rights record,” he pointed out. “The battle for human rights is one that must constantly be fought.”

In upcoming council sessions slated for June and September, delegates will turn their focus to Belarus, Sudan and Syria, according to Strohal.

The panel will also have to contend with significant turnover as a third of its members reach the end of their terms later this year. How the departure of Cuba, among others, will impact the institution remains to be seen.

One replacement candidate, Venezuela, has already raised some eyebrows.

Human Rights Watch describes the South American heavyweight as having a “precarious human rights situation” due to a weakening of the country’s “democratic system of checks and balances under President Hugo Chavez.”

Veronika Oleksyn is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.

3/16/12 6:01 PM

The Washington Diplomat Page 11

International Relations

Caucasus

Azerbaijani Envoy Touts Successes, Decries Apathy for Frozen Conflicts

by Nicholas Clayton

E

lin Suleymanov, Azerbaijan’s recently appointed ambassador to the United States, says that energy cooperation remains the hallmark achievement of Azerbaijani-U.S. relations, now in their 20th year, but the region’s frozen conflicts continue to cast a shadow over its development.

Suleymanov spoke at the March 27 conference “Prospects for Prosperity in the Caspian Basin: Energy, Reform, and 20 years of Diplomatic Relations with the U.S.,” organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he reflected on the history of U.S. diplomacy in the region and the outlook for future economic cooperation.

Not surprisingly, given the small country’s abundant oil and gas reserves — it is the third-largest oil producer in the former Soviet Union — and strategic location bordering Iran and Russia, much of that cooperation has centered on energy and security.

And while nations in the Caucasus such as Azerbaijan, along with other former Soviet bloc states such as Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, often tire of being described as geopolitical pawns between the West and Russia, these nations are constantly trying to balance their ties with Moscow on the one hand and Europe and the United States on the other.

For instance, Azerbaijan allows NATO to train on its territory but is not a member of the transatlantic security bloc. Likewise, American planes can land in the country to refuel but cannot be based there. On a larger scale, Azerbaijan has tentatively opened itself up to investment from the West, although Soviet-style corruption among the ruling elite is still rampant. On the political front, two decades after independence, the country’s authoritarian bent remains strong, while the rule of law, democracy and transparency remain weak.

And although the notion of a “great Caucasus chessboard” may have grown clichéd, the competition for precious energy resources — and pipelines to transport those resources — still very much represents a coveted checkmate for global powers.

To that end, Ambassador Suleymanov, who delivered the CSIS conference’s keynote address, framed the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline as the single greatest diplomatic success during two decades of U.S. relations.

The $8 billion pipeline transporting oil from Azerbaijani fields to a Mediterranean port in Turkey through Georgia was called the “deal of the century” when agreements implementing it came together in the 1990s. Since coming online in 2006, Suleymanov said the pipeline has enriched Azerbaijan and “laid the backbone for regional integration” in the same way that French-German coal mining cooperation laid the foundation for the European Union.

Suleymanov, who prior coming to Washington had been his nation’s first consul general to Los Angeles, establishing an Azerbaijani diplomatic presence on the U.S. West Coast, said it also represented a success for Americans. He praised the United States for maintaining a consistent policy commitment through two presidential administrations over a 12-year period between the sign-

Page 12

Photo: Center for Strategic and International Studies

“

We do our share. It takes two to tango. You’ve all seen ‘Dancing with the Stars.’

When there’s only one person dancing, it’s pretty ugly.

— Elin Suleymanov

”

ambassador of Azerbaijan to the United States

ing of the first agreements to the first delivery of oil through the new energy artery.

And it has been a boon to Suleymanov’s nation of nearly 10 million as it seeks to shed its poverty-riddled Soviet past.According to the State Department,Azerbaijan’s gross domestic product has tripled over the last decade to around $50 billion today, thanks largely to the pipeline, which in turn has fueled explosive building growth in the capital of Baku.

However, while progress has been extensive in the energy sector, Suleymanov said the region’s decades-long conflicts still loom ominously like “sad shadows that cast doubt over the future of the region.”

As the Soviet Union disintegrated in the early 1990s, ethnic Armenian separatists in the autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan. In the brutal conflict that followed, an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 were killed; Azerbaijan says a million ethnic Azeris were forced from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories by separatists backed by the Armenian army. In return, up to 500,000 ethnic Armenians were also forced from towns and cities in Azerbaijan.

Today, the de facto republic is outside of Azerbaijan’s control but not recognized by the world. The Armenians who populate the enclave say they will never give up the fight for self-determination, while Azerbaijan is equally adamant that it will never cede an inch of its territory.

Azerbaijani Ambassador Elin Suleymanov, right, speaks at the conference “Prospects for Prosperity in the Caspian Basin: Energy, Reform, and 20 years of Diplomatic Relations with the U.S.,” organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Georgia, disputes over the autonomy of the breakaway enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia led to all-out war with a similar result.

Georgia also lost control of about 20 percent of its territory and faced a refugee crisis as around 250,000 ethnic Georgians were expelled from the regions.

In the two decades since these territorial disputes erupted, Suleymanov says that Western powers have “diminished” the importance of the frozen conflicts, focusing instead on reform and governance issues.

“I have for years participated in conferences with my good Georgian friends. Whenever my Georgian friends would speak about the successes of Georgia — and some of them are very impressive — they would also mention that we have an issue, a challenge to the territorial integrity of the Republic of Georgia.Yet every time they would speak about that, our Western friends would say,‘Hey, just forget about that — let’s talk about your reforms in customs,’” he said.

“But what they had failed to understand is that the unresolved status of that explosive situation has brought under doubt not only the reforms the Georgian people had done, but the very existence of the state of Georgia itself,” he added.

The same goes for Nagorno-Karabakh, which, despite 20 years of diplomatic mediation and pressure from the Minsk Group, spearheaded by Russia, France and the United States, remains unresolved.

“If for 20 years, someone has been dating you, and nothing has ever happened, doesn’t that say something?”

Suleymanov asked rhetorically of the Minsk Group, led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

“I remember when we went to Key West [Florida in 2001], and we were sitting at the Key West talks when the French co-chair and the Russian co-chair and the American co-chair were having a laugh fest at the panel.They forgot

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May 2012

about the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis,” the ambassador said. “And the poor Armenian guy came up to me and said, ‘So, what do we get from this?’ I said,‘You get nothing, they just love each other.’ It’s a great thing that they get along and there is a dialogue, but we need a result on the ground.”

Last summer, negotiations almost produced results, but hopes for a long-awaited breakthrough were dashed when neither side apparently had the political will to end the standoff.

Critics also say keeping the focus on the longstanding dispute also helps both governments divert attention away from issues such as democratic reform.

“This was supposed to be the moment,” Thomas de Waal, a Caucasus specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, told Ellen Barry of the New York Times last year.“Every year that this goes on, the positions of the sides harden, and therefore it becomes easier to have a war.”

Lawrence Scott Sheets, director of the South Caucasus Project for the International Crisis Group, in the NYT op-ed “A ‘Frozen Conflict’ That Could Boil Over,” agrees with de Waal that maintaining the status quo is a recipe for potential instability.

“Given all the conflicts on the planet today, this is an understandable but grave mistake,” he wrote of ignoring the situation, noting the sticky web of allegiances in the region, with Russia a declared ally of Armenia while Azerbaijan has close military ties with NATO member Turkey.

“Iran, which borders both, is the biggest wildcard; although Shiite Muslim like Azerbaijan, Tehran reviles Baku because of Azerbaijan’s secular orientation, its close ties with Israel, and fears about separatist tendencies among Iran’s large Azeri minority. Whatever the case, such a combination of bedfellows could mean any new full-scale conflict going regional, with unpredictable consequences,” Sheets warned.

Furthermore, Suleymanov suggested that

while Azerbaijan had been a loyal security partner to the United States — sending troops to Iraq and providing a transit corridor for coalition forces coming and going from Afghanistan — Washington had not held up its end of the bargain when it came to the Nagorno-Karabakh stalemate.

“We do our share. It takes two to tango.You’ve all seen ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ When there’s only one person dancing, it’s pretty ugly. And to have a good dance, you need good music, and sometimes an ambassador to the country,” he said, drawing laughter from the CSIS audience as he referred to the fact that Azerbaijan is currently without an appointed U.S. ambassador.

That void also has its roots in the NagornoKarabakh logjam.

Matthew Bryza, a career diplomat who had long worked as an energy envoy to the Caspian Sea region, was given a temporary recess appointment to serve as U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan in early 2011, but was forced to vacate the post at year’s end after the Senate declined to confirm him, citing alleged conflicts of interest. Before Bryza’s 11-month term in the Baku embassy, Azerbaijan had been without a full-time U.S. ambassador for more than a year.

The Armenian lobby in Washington pushed hard against Bryza’s appointment, arguing that he was soft on Azerbaijan’s human rights record and carried “baggage” to the post, largely due to a perceived closeness with the president.

For his part, Ambassador Suleymanov said it was “unacceptable” that Bryza had not been confirmed, which he attributed to the ethnicity of Bryza’s wife, who is Turkish.

Whatever the reason, the Senate’s failure to confirm the envoy was interpreted in Baku as “a slap in the face to Azerbaijan,” according to EurasiaNet analyst Joshua Kucera.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev called it an “incomprehensible

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tendency, when the senators or congressmen become an instrument in the hands of the Armenian lobby, thereby harming U.S. interests.”

Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt agreed, writing that the case “offers a vivid example of how the larger U.S. national interest can fall victim to special-interest jockeying and political accommodation.”

A group of influential Azerbaijani figures also wrote a letter to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton complaining that the failure to confirm Bryza “did not serve to refute” the impression in Azerbaijan that the NagornoKarabakh peace talks had stalled due to the influence of the Armenian lobby in the United States and France, both of which are members of the Minsk Group.

But potentially more serious than the unresolved conflicts in the South Caucasus, the specter of a brand new war coming to the region has quietly shaken policymakers. Since January, Azerbaijan and Iran have been at loggerheads amid the escalating recriminations over Tehran’s nuclear program, with Azerbaijan rounding up what it said were multiple Iranian terrorist cells and spies, while Iran accuses Azerbaijan of abetting Israeli assassins and spies in its covert war against the Islamic Republic.

In late March, those threats grew more credible after a report in Foreign Policy Magazine revealed extensive military and intelligence ties between Israel and Azerbaijan, suggesting the possibility that Israel might use Azerbaijani territory or airbases to support an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to retaliate against Azerbaijan if its territory was used as a staging ground for an Israeli or U.S. strike. Russia has also bolstered its military presence in the region in response to the rising tensions and plans to hold its largest-ever military exercises in the North and South Caucasus later this year.

A sign proclaiming “Free Artsakh Welcomes You” sits along the road entering the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, claimed by both Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Azerbaijani-Iranian relations were already plagued by thorny issues long before the recent uptick in tensions. Suleymanov argues that Iran “can’t fully digest the existence of an independent Azerbaijan” as both countries share intertwined histories and cultures. Still, he said the rhetoric coming out of Tehran was largely a symptom of the mounting international sanctions on the government.

Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation who also spoke at the CSIS conference, warned that an even greater threat for the region — fraught with such combustible and complex rivalries — might be growing disinterest on the part of policymakers in Washington, who would prefer to walk away from the problems altogether.

“If you look at the map, if you understand geography, if you know your history, you cannot walk away from that region. Unfortunately … there are people today in decision-making positions who don’t know history and didn’t study geography and geopolitics.”

Nicholas Clayton is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

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The Washington Diplomat

May 2012

COVER PROFILE

Ambassador Maman S. Sidikou

Crisis in the Sahel: Niger Envoy Warns of Desperation, Instability

by Larry Luxner

N

iger used to be the poorest country on Earth. Now it’s the second poorest — but that’s only because the Democratic Republic of Congo took a turn for the worse.

In its latest Human Development Index, the United Nations Development Program ranked Niger 186th out of 187th in the world. Annual per-capita income in this long-suffering West African nation comes to $381, with 40 percent of its 16 million people scraping by on less than $1.25 a day.

Other numbers are equally depressing. Niger has the world’s highest fertility rate (7.2 births per woman) as well as its highest infant mortality rate, according to Save the Children. Income disparity is also among the widest on the planet, and aid experts estimate that 800,000 inhabitants — nearly 8 percent of all Nigeriens — are enslaved.

With worsening drought conditions in the Sahel and the late March overthrow of the democratically elected government in neighboring Mali, things will only get worse for the Republic of Niger — unless massive assistance from abroad arrives quickly.

That’s the dire warning from Maman S. Sidikou, Niger’s eloquent new ambassador to the United States.

“We’re very worried about what’s going on in Mali. It’s not only the Tuareg rebellion. Now you have other actors involved, including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM),” he said. “If you guys don’t provide support to help us get rid of this scourge, I’m pretty sure we’ll all come to regret it — and we’ll be pulled into another war.”

Sidikou has been on the job for just over three months.

He spoke to The Washington Diplomat on April 3, the day after the historic city of Timbuktu fell to Tuareg rebels and the day before the separatist group declared independence from Mali’s central government in Bamako.

The coup — which unfolded only weeks before Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure was scheduled to step down for elections — took the world by surprise, although problems had been festering for months as Mali’s army tried to tamp down a Tuareg insurgency swelled by fighters (and arms) returning from the conflict in Libya.

The military toppled Mali’s civilian government, citing its mishandling of the rebellion, but shortly after the internationally condemned mutiny, the Tuareg-led uprising known as the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) took advantage of the chaos to seize the northern half of the country, proclaiming the new state of Azawad.That in turn has led to widespread fears that the splintered nation, once a pillar of democratic stability in the region, will become a haven for the rebels’ Islamist allies, who aim to impose Sharia law over cities and towns in the area.

The coup technically came to an end about two weeks later with the installation of Dioncounda Traore, the former parliamentary speaker, as interim president.

But whether Traore will be able to organize elections within the mandated 40-day window remains to be seen, and details of the military-civilian transition remain murky, as does the fate of the renegade officers who

Photo: Larry Luxner

“

If you guys don’t provide support to help us get rid of this scourge, I’m pretty sure we’ll all come to regret it — and we’ll be pulled into another war.

— Maman S. Sidikou

”

ambassador of Niger to the United States

sparked the crisis and seem to retain power. (That’s to say nothing of the more recent military coup that took place in the neighboring West African state of GuineaBissau.)

Sidikou barely hides his contempt for those who plunged Mali into chaos in Africa’s newest power grab.

“The young soldiers who illegally took control in Mali just messed things up. It’s going to affect Niger in two ways. One, the suffering of the Malian people will compound our problems with food security. And secondly, we know that what’s behind it is more than just a Tuareg rebellion,” he told The Diplomat. “Another agenda is being imposed on us, and that’s the Islamist agenda.

When Boko Haram started putting bombs all over Nigeria, I said this is not only a Nigerian issue, but a regional one. Our country is 95 percent Muslim, but we practice a very tolerant Islam.This is not Islam, but something else.”

J. Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, says he’s equally concerned because “the coup d’état by junior army officers not only overthrew an elected government but also threatened to undo a decade’s worth of patient effort by the United States and its European allies while creating a significant opening for al-Qaeda’s regional affiliate and

other extremists,” he wrote in the analysis “The Mess in Mali.”

“In less than two weeks, the West African nation of Mali has gone from being a rare oasis of democracy and stability to a near failed state whose troubles threaten to ripple across the Sahel where the security situation, always delicate even in the best of times, is especially stressed in the wake of the flow of refugees, fighters, and arms from the Libyan conflict last year,” he said.

On that note, Pham told us that,“What happens in one place is very important to Niger next door, and although the borders are official, national boundaries don’t mean anything. For most of the people who live there, it’s a continual space.”

In fact, the United Nations estimates the fighting in Mali has uprooted more than 200,000 people since January, with the majority seeking shelter in neighboring countries such as Burkina Faso and Niger that can barely care for their own people. This refugee influx has only exacerbated the suffering along a swath of desert long wracked by rebellion, Islamists, kidnappings, drug trafficking and drought.

Indeed, while the bloody uprising in Mali has made a few headlines in the West, it’s actually just the latest calamity to hit the Sahel region — itself in the grip of a brutal drought that endangers the lives of 15 million people, of whom 5.4 million live in Niger, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.The rest live in Chad (3.6 million), Mali (3 million) and Burkina Faso (1.7 million), with hundreds of thousands more in the Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania.

“Everybody saw the warning signs before this situation came about,” Sidikou told us. “During the drought, we had failed crops, dying livestock and soaring food prices because of the global market. But we also had the influence of displaced people coming from Libya and Mali — people who are desperate for help. I’ve worked

May 2012

Continued on next page The Washington Diplomat Page 15

Continued from previous page with UNICEF and Save the Children, so I know that the first victims are always the children.

They’re not getting enough to eat.”

Sidikou is right. John Ging, operations director at the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,noted that more than 200,000 children in the region died of malnutrition last year, and that about 1.5 million face severe acute malnutrition right now.

His colleague Anthony Lake, executive director of the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF), also pleaded for more international resources to help the region’s children.“We are appealing, all of us, for an end to global indifference that we have found so far,” Lake said at a recent news conference in Geneva.

“I know that there is a certain fatigue. I have read comments in blogs and elsewhere that,‘Here we go again; once more a famine; once more African children are dying; once more there is an appeal for help.’

“By acting vigorously and properly now, we can head off future crises … by building now in this crisis, health systems, community nutrition center, more water bore holes,” he urged. “We can build capacity for the future.”

For his part, Sidikou is in a unique position to offer advice, thanks to his long career as an international aid and development expert.

“The ambassador struck me from the very beginning as well informed,” said Pham, who’s also vice president of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa.“He’s a seasoned statesman who’s already served as foreign minister.

Unlike many of his colleagues, he hit the ground running — despite his country’s modest resources. I’m very favorably impressed with him.”

Fluent in English, Spanish and French in addition to two native languages — Hausa and ZarmaSonghai — the ambassador studied journalism in Senegal and at one time was director of national

Page 16

Prices at Niger’s food markets began spiking late last year in the aftermath of a patchy harvest, made worse by a drought that threatens the lives of 15 million people in the Sahel, according to the United Nations.

Credit: UN Photo / WFP / Phil Behan

television for the Ministry of Information’s Office de Radiodiffusion et Télévision du Niger.

After earning a master’s in communication from the University of Texas in Austin and a Ph.D. in education from Florida State University in Tallahassee, he spent a year with the U.S. Agency for International Development in Niger. He then joined UNICEF in neighboring Nigeria — the country with which Niger is frequently confused — and served as Niger’s foreign minister for a few years.

But when President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara was killed in a 1999 military coup, Sidikou became chief of staff for the interim government. He then returned to the aid development world, serving as team leader for UNICEF’s back-to-school campaign in Kabul, Afghanistan. Subsequent assignments brought him to Washington, D.C. (as a senior education specialist with the World Bank); Amman, Jordan (coordinator for education and culture

with UNICEF’s Iraq program); and Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (country director for Save the Children UK).

“I was in Kinshasa when the new president asked me to be our new ambassador inWashington,” said Sidikou, who’s spent time in orphanages and worked with street children throughout Central Africa.

The ambassador said his unique background has helped him move beyond the “U.N.-ese” jargon that diplomats generally adopt when discussing humanitarian crises.

“It helps you bring to the fore concerns that people in classical diplomacy don’t always have — concerns for humanitarian work in critical areas like health and education,” he told us.

“Let’s make sure that the terrible situation in the Sahel, particularly in Mali, doesn’t distract government and public opinion from the food crisis we’re going through. Women and children are suffering. Malnutrition will affect them for life,” he pointed out.

Landlocked Niger covers an area nearly three times the size of California. A French colony until independence in 1960, the country has been plagued by droughts and famines for most of its history. Approximately 85 percent of it is desert; the 15 percent of Niger’s land that is arable is found mainly along the country’s 1,000-kilometerlong southern border with Nigeria.

More than 80 percent of the population derives its livelihood from the agriculture and livestock sectors, so when the rains don’t come, all of them suffer. Normally, the ambassador said, Niger’s “hunger season” doesn’t start until April or May, but because rainfall has been so scarce, this year it started much earlier.

“It’s getting worse,” he lamented.“When I was a small boy, we used to have these issues once every five or 10 years. Now we have it every year.”

Sidikou said he’s reasonably sure that climate change is the culprit behind Niger’s worsening droughts — but there’s only so much his country can do about it.

“Our president said we cannot rely just on rainfall to feed our people. This cannot go on and on every year,” Sidikou said. “So he’s embarked on an ambitious, massive program of building a dam on the River Niger to irrigate approximately 140,000 hectares.”

To that end, President Mahamadou Issoufou has launched his 3N “Nigeriens Nourishing Nigeriens” program — an ambitious initiative that aims to protect Niger’s people from famine by boosting food production; developing irrigation and livestock breeding; increasing yields of rain-fed crops in potentially well-suited regions; and constructing rural infrastructure to supply urban and rural markets.

“The idea behind 3N is to ensure that the population has the capacity to cope when bad times come, and to ensure that food is available on the market at an affordable price,” Sidikou explained.

The government plans to allocate roughly $2 billion over the next four years to finance the 3N initiative. The money will come from an astounding 14.1 percent projected increase in Niger’s

GDP, fueled by enormous investments in the oil and mining sectors. Niger is already the world’s sixth-largest uranium producer but expects to be the second largest by 2015. Some 72 percent of the country’s foreign earnings come from uranium exports.

“Since November 2011, Niger is also an oil producer,” said Sidikou, estimating that his country will soon be producing 40,000 barrels of petroleum a day, thanks to substantial investments by the Chinese in the Agadem region; the Chinese also built a refinery in the remote town of Zinder that recently began producing gasoline.

“An agreement has been signed with Chad to get oil through the pipeline, and of course we are inviting U.S. oil companies to come,” he said, noting that the International Monetary Fund predicts a three-fold increase in oil and mining exports between 2011 and 2016. As a result, government revenues should jump from $887 million to $1.9 billion over that period.

Also on the drawing board: a sugar refinery with the capacity to produce 100,000 tons of sugar annually, or half the country’s needs; deregulation of Niger’s burgeoning telecom sector; the building of a $2.3 billion, 3,000-kilometer railway that will connect Niger’s capital city, Niamey, with cities in Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Benin; as well as a $200 million modernization for the Niamey Diori Hamani International Airport.

Yet all these grandiose projects are jeopardized

by Niger’s continuing famine sparked by drought in the Sahel — and by the continuing unrest in Mali.

“Right now, families are already down to just one meal a day.That means a porridge of watereddown millet with a little milk in it, when they have milk,” said Sidikou, estimating his country’s food shortfall this year at around 692,000 tons.

Ging of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs put it in even blunter terms.

“We are in a race against time and some of the harshest climatic conditions on the planet,” he warned after returning from a weeklong mission to Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania. “This is already an appalling crisis in terms of the scale and degree of human suffering, and it will get worse unless the response plans are properly funded. It’s a matter of life and death for millions who are on the brink.”

The situation in Libya didn’t help matters. The overthrow of Col. Muammar Qaddafi resulted in the expulsion of some 200,000 Nigerien laborers from oil-rich Libya — not to mention another 40,000 who returned from Côte d’Ivoire after political violence in that country as well.

“Each of them were supporting five to 10 people back home. That income was lost, and now they have become people to feed and care for,” said Sidikou.“We got rid of a dictator, Qaddafi, but nothing was done to counter the spread of armaments all over the region. Now the whole region is at risk.”

Michael Totten, an independent journalist who writes frequently on Arab and North African affairs, is among the many experts who say that when the Libyan strongman was ousted, his mercenaries had nowhere to go.

“Qaddafi counted on significant support from hired Tuaregs, an indigenous people of the Sahara who long predate the arrival of Arabs to North Africa more than a millennium ago. With the Qaddafi regime defunct, many of his well-armed and battle-hardened Tuareg fighters drove hard across the desert and into Mali where they joined or re-joined the insurgency there,” he wrote.

“Mali was a success story of sorts,” Totten continued. “It was one of the poorest countries on earth, but it nevertheless enjoyed a stable democratic system — until now.The conflict, coup and declared secession aren’t part of the Arab Spring, but they do seem to be one of its aftershocks.”

Niger too has endured its fair share of coups over the decades, the most recent one in 2010, but as Alex Thurston of the Sahel Blog notes, Niger’s military coup was inspired by very different reasons than the putsch in Mali.

“Soldiers in Niger intervened to ‘reset’ the civilian democracy after President Mamadou Tandja

The Washington Diplomat

See Niger, page 18 May 2012

Diplomacy

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Jewish Peace Broker Sees Trouble Brewing in Mideast

by Larry Luxner

U

ntil last year, few people had ever heard of Gershon Baskin, a 55-yearold New Yorker who moved to Jerusalem in 1978 to promote the idea of coexistence between Jews and Arabs.

But it was Baskin who brokered the secret deal that secured the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from his Hamas kidnappers after more than five years of captivity — and now, important politicians are suddenly paying attention to this bearded peacenik from Long Island.

“Fortunately, because of what happened with Gilad Shalit, people at the highest levels are willing to listen to me,” said Baskin. “As long as they have my ear, I’m going to keep on trying.”

What Baskin is trying to do now is warn his fellow Jews that peace talks with the Palestinians are on life support — and Israel must act quickly to resuscitate hopes for a long-term political settlement before it’s too late.

The activist spoke Feb. 16 before 100 people at Washington’s American University. The lecture titled “Is Peace Still Possible?” was co-sponsored by the university’s Center for Israel Studies and the International Peace and Conflict Resolution Program. It was part of a month-long North American speaking tour that took Baskin to dozens of cities in the United States and Canada ranging from Washington to Phoenix to Vancouver.

His message: Israel must not abandon the idea of a two-state solution — even if only to preserve the country’s long-term Jewish character.

“If there’s no territorial division and Israel remains a one-person, one-vote democracy, then the Israeli national identity of the Jewish people will be threatened. The solution of democracy is compelling, but Israelis won’t be willing to give up their identity, and we will have violence,” he predicted. “This is what I think we’re headed for. And as a Jew, an Israeli and a Zionist, this is national suicide.”

Before establishing the Jerusalem-based Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) more than 22 years ago as the world’s only IsraeliPalestinian think tank, Baskin was an “Intern for Peace” and lived for two years in the religiously mixed village of Kafr Qara. He’s also been an adviser on the peace process to the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and for many years has written a political column for the Jerusalem Post.

In recognition for his peacemaking efforts, Baskin received the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity in 2007, as well as the Turkish Foreign Policy Institute’s International Relations Prize for Peace (2004) and the Eliav-Sartawi Award for Middle Eastern Journalism (2005 and 2007).

Yet outside of the academic world, however, Baskin was a virtual unknown until the Shalit kidnapping exploded onto Israeli headlines in 2006. And the resume of this longtime peace activist certainly made him an unlikely mediator between Israel and Hamas.

Yet Baskin’s dogged efforts to create a secret back

photo: Larry Luxner

Gershon Baskin, a 55-year-old New Yorker who moved to Jerusalem in 1978 to promote coexistence between Jews and Arabs, brokered the secret deal that secured the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from his Hamas kidnappers after more than five years of captivity.

“

If there’s no territorial division and Israel remains a one-person, one-vote democracy, then the Israeli national identity of the Jewish people will be threatened.

”

— Gershon Baskin

founder of the Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information

channel that led to Shalit’s release succeeded where countless other diplomats and negotiators had failed.

Shalit was a 19-year-old soldier from the northern town of Nahariya when he was ambushed on June 25, 2006, by Hamas militants in a cross-border raid near Israel’s border with Gaza. He was held as a hostage for more than five years — with the only contact between Shalit and the outside world in all that time consisting of only three letters, an audiotape and a DVD that Israel received in return for releasing 20 female Palestinian prisoners.

Until Baskin came along.

In the November 2011 article “Gilad Shalit and the Rising Price of an Israeli Life,” the New York Times Magazine detailed Baskin’s involvement in the difficult negotiations, stemming from his contact with a Hamas professor he’d met at a Cairo conference shortly before Shalit’s abduction

“Through the professor, Baskin was put in contact with Ghazi Hamad, Hamas’s deputy foreign minister, and it was this relationship, which took place largely through computer chats over a number of years, that ultimately led to the Shalit deal. Starting days after the abduction, through a relentless series of text messages, e-mail and phone calls, Baskin tried to convince the [Ehud ] Olmert government and all other parties involved that he could help broker a deal. For years he was rebuffed as a nuisance by the Israeli officials dealing with the case,” wrote Ronen Bergman.

Baskin tried again when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose David Meidan to be his envoy in the Shalit case last spring.

“Meidan says that it was almost inconceivable that he would enter into a dialogue with the peacenik who said he could mediate a deal on Shalit, but because there was nothing to lose, he decided to try an experiment to see if Baskin’s channel of communication could be trusted. He asked Baskin to convey a message asking Hamas to prove that Shalit was still alive,” Bergman wrote. “Israeli intelligence tracked Baskin’s messages and found that the pipeline was reliable and accurate.”

After tortuous back-and-forth negotiations marked by mutual distrust, Shalit was finally released on Oct. 11, 2011, in return for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners — a complex, delicate operation that had the entire nation of Israel glued to their TV sets day and night.

One thing Baskin is sure of, thanks to his years of painstaking mediation on behalf of the Israeli government, is that it’s still possible to negotiate with Hamas.

May 2012

Continued on next page The Washington Diplomat Page 17

Continued from previous page “Almost everything I thought I knew about Hamas is wrong. Hamas is not an Islamic movement. It’s a Palestinian national movement with an Islamic flavor,” he said.“It’s more political than religious.That’s really good news, because if it’s a political movement, it’s capable of change. If they are acting in the name of God, then change is impossible. It’s not a religious conflict, and we have to avoid — at all costs — it becoming a religious conflict.”

Extremism is not a uniquely Arab trait, however.

“A spoiler assassinated our prime minister and killed the peace process,” Baskin said, recalling Nov. 4, 1995 — the day a religious Zionist Jew named Yigal Amir shot Yitzhak Rabin to death at a Tel Aviv peace rally. “On the Palestinian side, spoilers killed Israeli citizens and turned them against the peace process.They have a great deal of power.”

And just as his Hamas and Israeli interlocutors barely trusted one another, Baskin laments the plummeting “trust deficit” between Israelis and Palestinians.

“For many years, I’ve believed that it takes three to tango.We need someone else at the table with us,” he said. “The problem is that today, we have no one at that table.”

Specifically, Baskin said the United States has not been an effective mediator between the two sides. He pointed out that in his first few days in office, President Obama called for an Israeli freeze on settlements in the West Bank — a position that not even Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, had openly demanded.

“Abbas was trapped into a position that had not been the official position until then,” he argued.“That was never a precondition to negotiating. But during those years of the Oslo peace process, the settlement population tripled.” In fact, when the Oslo peace negotiations began in the early 1990s, there were 200,000 settlers in

areas the international community considers illegally occupied by Israel. Today, there are well over 500,000 Israelis living in the West Bank and in Jewish neighborhoods built in Arab East Jerusalem.

Even so, Baskin argues that the most serious issue isn’t Israeli settlements, but rather the final border between Israel and a future Palestinian state.

“Under international law, there’s no difference between Gilo, a suburb of Jerusalem, and a settlement in the middle of the West Bank. Gilo has 50,000 residents. It will never be a part of the Palestinian state. If Israel builds another 1,000 houses there, it’s not going to change anything,” he claimed. “But today, the Palestinians are locked into a position where they cannot negotiate if Israel builds more — and I know of no situation in the world where problems are solved by not talking. I say forget about the process. Start dealing with the issues.”

On that note, Baskin said he originally had high hopes for Sen. George Mitchell, a Democrat from Maine who in 2009 was appointed special envoy for Middle East peace by Obama.

“He was an elder statesman who had had success in Northern Ireland. But he was doomed from day one because he forgot that he was no longer in Northern Ireland,” said Baskin.

“Sen. Mitchell believed, as he did in Northern Ireland, that the challenge was to get the parties — Protestants and Catholics — to the table, and that once he did that, he could figure out a way to get them to work together. In Northern Ireland it was about process, not final status. In Israel and Palestine, it’s not about process at all.

We’ve had 20 years of process. What we’re lacking is substance.”

He added: “The five Oslo agreements didn’t deal with any of the permanent status issues: the future of Jerusalem, refugees, a land link between the West Bank and Gaza, economic relations and water rights. What was dealt with were the interim issues. Sen. Mitchell also had something

else in his pocket. For the first time in the history of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, there was an agreed-upon mediator who set the agenda and controlled the process. At Camp David, Jimmy Carter was a mediator. Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat never talked to each other.They did not sit in the same room. Jimmy Carter’s team did 26 drafts before they reached an agreement.”

Today, unfortunately, Baskin says both sides are “stuck in a situation where there’s no trust or public support for an agreement on either side.”

Even though he sees no alternative to a two-state solution, he says the clock is ticking.

“The real problem is the change in leadership that’s going to take place soon on the Palestinian side,” Baskin said. “When President Abbas steps down and there are new elections in Palestine, the competition for leadership will not be among those claiming more moderate positions.

The current leaders who control the PLO and are ready to negotiate with Israel will offer other solutions.”

The problem is much the same on the Israeli side. Baskin — who for years was a forceful critic of Benjamin Netanyahu — says the Israeli prime minister must now show the same kind of leadership in dealing with the Palestinian issue that he did in bringing home the 25-year-old soldier Shalit from five long years of captivity in the Gaza Strip.

“In the case of Gilad Shalit, Netanyahu rose to the occasion and made a historic decision that demonstrated a rare form of leadership,” said Baskin, referring to the prime minister’s approval of a controversial plan to win Shalit’s release in exchange for freeing more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some of them guilty of murdering Jews in terrorist attacks.

“Bibi went against everything he believed in

from page 16

Niger manipulated the constitution to stay in power. There was no war in Niger at the time,” Thurston wrote. “But in light of the coup in Niger, it is not surprising that the coup leaders in Mali have taken on the rhetoric of democracy, naming themselves the National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State (CNRDR) and saying, ‘We promise to hand power back to a democratically elected president as soon as the country is reunified and its integrity is no longer threatened.’”

As of press time, that promise remains unfulfilled. But next door, Niger had been making tentative political progress, installing a democratically elected president last April — gains that the Mali uprising threatens to unravel.

So it’s not surprising that as ambassador, Sidikou spends much of his time on Capitol Hill pleading Niger’s case with members of Congress. On May 25, in commemoration of Africa Day, the African Union plans to organize a panel at the Woodrow Wilson Inter­ national Center for Scholars. At least two foreign ministers will discuss the ongoing Sahel drought, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and other threats to regional security.

On that last note, Sidikou is working to sound the alarm about radical Islamists gaining a foothold in Mali, but while he advocates for international assistance, he’s not pushing for a Western military intervention, which may only inflame the conflict and inadvertently help al-Qaeda attract local sympathy.

“What’s at stake right now is not just a small rebellion. It’s fundamentalist Muslims who want to create chaos and ensure that our states remain fragile so they’ll prosper.

All these countries are joining forces in the

Page 18

his whole life, and ended up having the support of 90 percent of the Israeli people. This was remarkable,” he said. “Now we need Netanyahu to be the person who makes peace. Call it Nixon in China. He’s the only one who could do it and not create divisions. The problem is that until now, he has not made the decision. Mahmoud Abbas is ready to move forward, but Netanyahu has rejected the offer of a secret, back-channel negotiation. I don’t know where we’re heading.”

Baskin is equally unsure of the prospects in the United States, where presidential leadership in reviving the long-stalled peace negotiations seems to be sorely lacking in an election year. Asked to comment on the GOP presidential primaries dominating the airwaves in this country, Baskin snickered, though he was just as dismissive of the current occupant of the White House.

“I really don’t know the difference between the various Republican characters running for president. But it looks like they’re all stumbling over their feet trying to prove who’s a bigger friend of Israel,” he said. “You’ve all heard of the expression,‘friends don’t let friends drive drunk.’

Well, they’re putting bigger tanks in the hands of Israel rather than acting as good friends. I don’t know what a Republican victory would mean, because the Obama administration has been a failure in terms of Middle East peacemaking.”

Larry Luxner is news editor of The Washington Diplomat.

Your Source for Diplomatic News. www.washdiplomat.com

fight against terrorism. This is why the region needs support from our partners. But we don’t need anybody to fight for us; we just need normal cooperation in intelligence and logistics,” he said.

“I believe that if the West in particular doesn’t help us defend our territories, you may see al-Qaeda getting a real sanctuary now.What’s at stake here is peace and security. What these people want is chaos, not independence,” he added.

“We’re now in a quandary,” said Pham of the Atlantic Council.“It’s very nice to say we shouldn’t deal with coups. That’s fine as a principle, but it means that until they restore a democratic government, it means we can’t deal with the people in control of the southern half of Mali that hasn’t been overrun by the Islamists. And the whole thrust of U.S. counterterrorism policy since 9/11 in Africa has been this preoccupation with ungoverned spaces.Well, now we have the ungoverned space that’s just been taken over with not one but two, possibly three, different Islamist groups.”

Elizabeth Blackney, an independent scholar specializing in genocide and ethnic cleansing issues, told The Diplomat that the United States and the European Union need to do more — far more than they’ve done so far — to help avert a humanitarian disaster in the Sahel.

“Given the food crisis and other extreme poverty issues, you have a vulnerability of indigenous people to corruption and graft, which increases exponentially when you add into that weapons, violence, drug trafficking and money laundering,” she warned.

“These are troubling signs we mustn’t ignore.There needs to be intense diplomacy to help forestall yet another crisis in Africa.”

Larry Luxner is news editor of The Washington Diplomat.

The Washington Diplomat

May 2012

EDUCATION ■ A Special Section of The Washington Diplomat

■ May 2012

The

‘Stan’ Surge Rise of Central Asian Students In U.S. Reflects Region’s Growth

by Carolyn Cosmos Here’s a puzzle: College campuses across the United States have seen a 32 percent increase in international students since 2000, reports the Institute of International Education (IIE) — even though global test scores show that the U.S. education system is lagging far behind its overseas counterparts such as powerhouses like Finland and Singapore.

High school students in the United States ranked 32nd among nations in math proficiency tests last year and were 17th in reading, according to a study headed by Harvard professor Paul Peterson.

However odd this conundrum, the steady stream of international students coming to

Testudo overlooks McKeldin Mall at the University of Maryland in College Park.

the United States makes sense, said Allan Continued on next page

Photo: University of Maryland

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Goodman, president and chief executive officer of IIE, a nonprofit based in New York City.

“First,” Goodman explained, “it’s demographics: More young people around the world are finishing high school and needing to go to college, and this age group is expanding.”

“We have room. The biggest education shortage in the world is in higher education. And no other country has our capacity when it comes to accredited Photo: Jeff Watts / American University institutions.The United Kingdom has about 250. We have 4,000,” Students walk by Sharjah Plaza outside the new School of International Service building at American he told The Washington University, which hosts both graduate and undergraduate students from Central Asia.

Diplomat.

He concludes that the United States has constructed a tremenBut the biggest advantage America has is quality, Goodman says.

“College and university standards are high across the board.There’s dous higher education system and as the old adage goes, build it relatively little corruption. As a result, people worldwide want and they will come. And come they have — from all over the world. higher education that’s ‘made in the U.S.A.’” Much of this increase has, not surprisingly, come from emerging So you have to decouple those dismal test scores from the university system, Goodman said. Unlike many countries, we send nations such as China and India (also see “Indian Influx: Higher most students onto high school — and test all of them, he also Education’s Frequent Flyers” in the January 2012 issue of The pointed out.“We don’t lack for qualified high school students in this Washington Diplomat). Yet among this surge is a little noticed but country. There’s a big demand for entrance to the top universities important group of countries doing their own nation building with educational construction blocks: the Central Asian “stan” countries — and they get in.”

Goodman has a bird’s eye view of these trends. IIE designs and of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,Turkmenistan,Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Across in the United States in 2011, colleges and universities manages international scholarships, administers the U.S. State Department’s Fulbright Program, recruits scholars in unstable or hosted 3,188 students from Central Asia, according to IIE’s Open war-torn nations, and runs the “Open Doors” data collection initia- Doors data; most were from Kazakhstan (1,890) and Uzbekistan (560).They were enrolled at about 50 institutions across the countive on international students and scholars in the United States.

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May 2012

“I find that the general public here is not quite aware of our region. For many people Central Asia is still a remote area of ‘stans’ next to Afghanistan.”

try, including the universities of Montana, Texas, Chicago, Indiana and Boston, Drexel, Rutgers, Penn State and Arizona State. In the D.C. area, students from Central Asia attended George Mason University, George Washington University, American University and the University of Maryland — Faizrakhman Kassenov at College Park. mid-level diplomat from Kazakhstan and Central Asian countries “are a sleeping master’s degree candidate at Columbia University giant — on the rise economically and politically,” said Fanta Aw, director of international student and scholar services at Similarly, Vladimir Inozemsev of Turkmenistan, a University American University, which hosts graduof Maryland MBA student, said he’s found “very little knowlate and undergraduate students from this edge about the region overall” among Americans and a perpart of the world. ception that all Central Asian countries are the same even Aw told us that these students “are though each has its own unique culture and history. looking to international education as part However, these nations do have a contemporary commonof their programs for development, not ality: All five were formerly part of the Soviet Union. They just looking to Russia or the U.S., but to became independent republics in 1991, with continuing the West overall.” strong central rule and varying degrees of democratization Still, they are an unfamiliar entity to ever since.

Photo: Faizrakhman Kassenov most Americans, and not just because All are also ethnically diverse nations (Kazakhstan boasts Faizrakhman Kassenov, seen with his wife and three children, is a midtheir numbers are relatively low comsome 100 different ethnic groups and at least nine Persiancareer diplomat from Kazakhstan who is working on his master’s degree pared to international students from related languages are spoken in Tajikistan), and they boast at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New China or India. “I find that the general nearly universal literacy — around 99 percent. Islam is the York City. public here is not quite aware of our most common religion and Russian is the lingua franca, with region. For many people Central Asia is still a remote area of ‘stans’ next to Afghanistan,” the use of English on the rise. The region’s development has been bolstered by its subsaid Faizrakhman Kassenov, a mid-career diplomat from Kazakhstan who is working on a stantial oil and gas reserves. master’s degree at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New York City.

Continued on next page

DIPLOMACY WE KNOW EMBASSY ROW. WE KNOW WASHINGTON. WE KNOW DIPLOMACY.

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Continued from previous page Students from Central Asia are smattered throughout the United States. For example, Arizona State University — which has seen a rise in international students at its campus, from 2,991 in 2004 to 4,430 in 2011 — currently has 40 students from Central Asia, most from Kazakhstan.

Likewise, Boston University has one student from Tajikistan, two from Kyrgyzstan, and 61 from Kazakhstan.

Many from Kazakhstan are “Bolashak” scholars, explained Jeanne Kelley, director of Boston’s International Students and Scholars Office. “This is a governmentfunded program that sends students all over the world so they can go back and Photo: Vladimir Inozemsev build infrastructure there,” she said.

Vladimir Inozemsev of Turkmenistan said he The program was created by President chose to pursue his master’s degree at the Nursultan Nazarbayev in 1993 to foster University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School the “skills and knowledge to build a dem- of Business for its “world-class” academics and ocratic and prosperous society,” accord- flexible programs. ing to the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Washington’s website, which notes that “to fill the gap in qualified academic and scientific staff for national universities and engineers for industry, the Bolashak will continue sending Kazakhstan students abroad to study for master’s and Ph.D. degrees, including at top U.S. universities.”

One of those universities is Indiana University at Bloomington, home to more than 7,000 international students, including 43 students from Central Asia — and Kamilya Salibayeva is one of them. A Bolashak scholar, this sophomore neuroscience major from Kazakhstan is already planning on getting her Ph.D. Reflecting on the differences between the education system in her homeland versus what she’s seen in the United States, Salibayeva said,“The Kazakhstan system was inherited from the Soviets and takes a more practical approach. Where you might study reactions in chemistry there, here I took a general chemistry course that started with quantum mechanics.”

Fellow Indiana student Assel Kaziyeva, also from Kazakhstan, holds a

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May 2012

Photo: Assel Kaziyeva

Assel Kaziyeva of Kazakhstan holds a master’s degree in law and business and is currently working on a comparative law degree from Indiana University at Bloomington, home to more than 7,000 international students, including 43 from Central Asia.

master’s degree in law and business and is currently working on a comparative law degree. She said academics in the United States tends to focus on analytical skills and discussion, which is helpful in her profession.“I’m a thirdgeneration lawyer,” she explained.“My grandmother was a judge, my grandfather a prosecutor and my father is a lawyer and economist. My mother teaches.”

Gulrukh Shakirova, an accomplished pianist from Uzbekistan studying and teaching at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, observed that unlike the United States, Uzbekistan offers music schools for grade-school children.

But here “you have more options” academically and more freedom to choose courses, she said.

Judith Green helps these kinds of students navigate the nuances of different cultures. She serves as director of the Office of International Programs and Services at George Mason University in Virginia, home to about 2,000 international students, including a dozen from Central Asia.

Green said that students from countries sending large numbers to U.S. campuses, such as India, generally don’t need help finding friends or practical advice, while those with fewer compatriots may need that guidance, so it’s particularly important that a university step in with assistance programs.

In addition to offering the usual help with visas, settling in and troubleshooting, Green says her programs avoid the typical “talking heads” student orientations and send new international students on scavenger hunts instead to get to know their surroundings, as well as “jazz night” outings and bus trips to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson.

George Washington University has the largest number of international students in the District of Columbia, 2,837 as of last year. GW graduate student Yulia Usmanova of Uzbekistan, who is studying security issues and conflict resolution at the Elliott School of International Affairs, said she chose the university for its programs, location and pricing.

A former exchange student in California, Usmanova has had had few cross-cultural challenges. She joked that life in D.C. is more fast paced than in California, where suits and ties are far more uncommon than in the nation’s capital.

Columbia University in New York City is one of the nation’s top destinations for international stuPhoto: The George Washington University dents, hosting more than 7,000 in 2011. Columbia currently has students and scholars from all five The George Washington University, Central Asian countries, including 17 visiting pro- whose Elliott School of International fessors or researchers, 32 students, and a range of Affairs is seen above, has the largest institutes, resources and programs geared toward number of international students in the them.

District of Columbia, 2,837 as of last year.

One is the Harriman Institute, home to longstanding Russian, Eurasian and Eastern European studies that recently introduced cutting-edge programs focusing on Central Asia.

Timothy Frye, director of the institute, said Harriman has expanded its research into Central Asia’s post-Soviet development, with highly active programs in energy policies across the region. For example, in April the institute

Continued on next page

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Continued from previous page held a conference on regional pipelines that drew international scholars, officials from Central Asian governments, and a speaker from the White House National Security Council.

Given the combined strength of Columbia’s programs and the Bolashak scholarships, it’s not surprising that the university would draw someone like Faizrakhman Kassenov, Institute of the Kazakh diplomat studying interInternational national security at Columbia’s School Education (IIE) of International and Public Affairs. www.iie.org Kassenov has served as Kazakhstan’s consul to Hong Kong and Macao, and American University’s Global he is the founder and chair of a New Involvement and Public Service York-area Bolashak Student Associa­ www.american.edu/global/ tion. Kassenov, his wife and three children live in Queens, a borough of The George Washington University Elliott New York City, among a Bukharan School of International Affairs Jew community that emigrated from http://elliott.gwu.edu Central Asia. Their oldest child was born in Hong Kong, their second in George Mason University’s Focus Kazakhstan, and their youngest in the on Central Asia program United States. http://mason.gmu.edu/~cenasia/ The incredible melding of and exposure to different cultures among Columbia University’s Harriman Institute these students also reveals fascinating www.harrimaninstitute.org/programs/ aspects of their homelands, as well as changes within central_asian_program.html U.S. society — some good and some bad.

For example, Vladimir Inozemsev, the University of Maryland MBA student from Turkmenistan, is an ethnic Russian, and he said his minority status at home limited his opportunities there.

However, through a U.S. State Department Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX), he became a high school exchange student in Minnesota. He then graduated summa cum laude in economics from an American university in Kyrgyzstan thanks to another State Department scholarship, and chose to attend Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business for its “world-class” academics and flexible programs.

to learn

more

Photo: John T. Consoli / University of Maryland

Professor Ronald Yaros teaches a class in the Knight Hall Journalism building at the University of Maryland in College Park, one of several area universities that welcome students from Central Asia.

On the down side, Inozemsev said he is surprised by “how much people consume here” and the way “the American dream” of upward mobility seems to be disappearing.

But overall, he said he loves living in the D.C. area with “people from all over the world” and admires the U.S. learning process because it “allows a discussion of many diverse perspectives” and encourages “open-minded, creative but critical thinking.”

Carolyn Cosmos is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

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[ camp ]

Endless Summer Area Offers All Kinds of Camps to Keep All Kinds of Kids Happy

Photo: Kali Nine LLC / iStock

S

by Rachael Bade

As an epicenter of politics and history, with its array of prestigious colleges and a colorful arts scene, the nation’s capital has an endless selection of summer camps — from band camps and tennis camps to history camps and even Lego-building camps.

ome of my favorite memories growing up were created during summers spent hundreds of miles from home. Every year, my mom and dad drove me to auditions for summer ballet camps with professional dance companies — Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Austin, San Francisco Ballet,American Ballet Theatre.

When the last school bell rang for summer dismissal in June, my parents would give me five weeks’ worth of goodnight kisses and bid me farewell at the airport. I spent my breaks in square-rimmed studios with dozens of wannabe ballerinas training under some of the world’s best choreographers.

Summer camps — even those located just a few miles away from home — are a constructive way for children of all ages to discover and nurture their special talents. Many don’t just help kids pass the time on those long summer days. They help them figure out what makes them unique.

So when Washington-area schools break for summer recess, parents may want to consider sending their children to one of the several hundred summer camps offered around town, whether they be mere day camps or weeklong immersions.

As an epicenter of politics and history, with its array of prestigious colleges and a colorful arts scene, the nation’s capital has an endless selection of summer camps

— from band camps and tennis camps to history camps and even Lego-building camps.

They’re a great opportunity for children to delve into the topics that interest them. Some even inspire careers — mine did.Today, I perform with local D.C. dance companies.

Beyond that though, summer camps are just plain fun and an easy way to make new friends — and a source of countless childhood memories that will last a lifetime.

How to Camp Shop

If you did a Google search for “summer camp” in early April, you would have received more than 48 million search results.The good news is there’s something for everyone — whether your child is 3 years old or 17.

But finding the right camp requires some research and months of planning to navigate the labyrinth of options.

The quickest way to narrow down the search is to simply ask your child what makes him or her tick. Most parents already know. Maybe it’s computers, painting, acrobatics or sparkly tutus. There are even camps for baton twirling. Parents should comb through programs to find camps that feature a topic or theme that will naturally interest their kids.

The most rewarding summer camps allow children to hone a specific skill set

EDUCATION May 2012

Continued on next page

The Washington Diplomat Page25

The Smithsonian Institution hosts dozens of weeklong camps for children in kindergarten up to the ninth grade during the summertime.

in addition to enjoying themselves. Some camps focus on academics, others on athletics, and others on specific activities like cooking. Still other camps help kids build more abstract skills like leadership or patience.

Next, a good step is to figure out what kind of camp best fits your child’s independence level: day-long camps, half-day camps, weeklong sleep-away camps or even month-long excursions.

Partial-day camps — typically about two or three hours in length — may be better suited to toddlers or children under 5 years old. For parents who don’t yet feel comfortable leaving their children behind, some camps allow parents to stay and participate in the activities.

Most children can handle full-day camps because the days are often jam-packed with activities that keep them busy and focused. I, for example, can’t recall a single dull moment between ballet, jazz and modern dance classes and the fun weekend activities that had me bustling around the cities where I stayed.

When determining whether or not your child is ready for a sleep-away camp, consider his or her independence level: How do they handle sleepovers or leaving for a week away with the grandparents?

After deciding the length of the camp experience that is right for your child, choose how far you’re willing to travel each day. Kids attending sleep-away camps can be flown across the country to reach their destinations, but those attending day camps need to be shuttled before and after work every day.

Other factors many parents consider: the ratio of counselors to kids, excessive “canteens” and the quality of facilities.

Children should be well supervised and mentored by camp counselors for safety reasons and to Photo: Ken Rahaim, Smithsonian Institution ensure a worthwhile experience. There is no magical number for determining how many students should be designated to one camp counselor — it depends on the activity and age of the child.Typically one counselor per 10 to 12 children is fine, but for activities that involve risk, such as archery or swimming, supervision should increase.

Some parents also complain about camp “canteens,” or snack bars that allow children to purchase junk food and souvenirs at any time to raise money for the camps. There’s a time and place for young children to chomp on Snickers and chug Mountain Dew, and it’s definitely not before bed. But some canteens don’t have such restrictions. Parents should inquire about camp canteens to make sure their kids won’t wind up spending hundreds of dollars on unhealthy snacks.

Facilities are often another factor in determining which camp is right for a

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May 2012

Georgetown University

Photo: Isaiah Love / fotolia

child. The best way to learn about the buildings and surrounding area is to simply go there and visit.All legitimate camps should allow some sort of visitation by interested parties — if not, scratch that one off the list.

It’s Academic Parents of children who’d rather build atom models with Styrofoam balls than kick around a soccer ball should take advantage of the myriad high-profile colleges in the Washington area, many of which host their own children’s camps or rent their facilities to programs that do.

American University, for example, is home to iD Tech Camps, a science, tech and engineering company that offers summer computer programs at top U.S. universities such as Stanford, Duke and Yale. Depending on the session they choose, children between the ages of 7 and 18 develop their very own iPhone or Android apps, create movies, build robots, edit digital photos or design websites using the latest cutting-edge technology. iD — which offers weeklong day camps or two-week stay-away immersions — prides itself on balancing work and play and boasts a 1-to-8 teacher-tochildren ratio.The high-tech camp’s prices are, well, pricy, but it may be worth

Continued on next page

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Continued from previous page the added costs to find out whether your child is the next Albert Einstein or Mark Zuckerberg. The two-week overnight stay is $3,499, including room and board, while day camps range from $850 to $950 per week.

Museum Outings Locals should also take advantage of the unparalleled reservoir of museums in the area, most of which offer summer camps for children. The Smithsonian, for instance, hosts dozens of weeklong camps for kids in kindergarten up to the ninth grade from June 18 through August 17.

One weeklong session teaches sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders how to create their own video games, including characters and animation. Another program teaches children about campaigning and running for president, including the art and craft of speechwriting and politics, as well as trips to places where presidents have trod, from the White House to Mount Vernon.

Most Smithsonian programs run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and cost just over $400 per week.

For a very different museum experience, the International Spy Museum offers Spy Camp for kids ages 10 to 13 who dream of becoming the next James Bonds, Jason Bourne or Charlie’s Angel. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.,“reservists” go on missions throughout the city — on the National Mall, through the Smithsonian museums, to the FBI headquarters — and learn the art of Ninja, interrogation techniques and how to piece together clues to uncover hidden secrets.The camp is $415 per week.

Speaking the Language Area diplomats with children who need to brush up on their language skills might want to check out the Washington International School’s Passport to Summer, which is hosted on the school’s Georgetown campus.The summer camp offers language immersion camps in French, Spanish and Chinese for children ages 3 to 11 and English-language camps for ages 9 to 16.

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Photo: International Spy Museum

The International Spy Museum offers Spy Camp for kids ages 10 to 13 who dream of becoming the next James Bonds, Jason Bourne or Charlie’s Angel.

The language immersion programs are designed for non-native speakers and taught by native speakers. Camp counselors use songs, dance, crafts and games to help children master new words and phrases. Like school, the camps feature recess, lunch and quiet times. But unlike a typical language class, the Washington International School’s courses also instruct youngsters on the customs and culture of their area of study.

The school also offers “specialty” summer programs geared toward developing other skills, such as designing pottery, or generating a tornado in a science experiment, or performing the latest hip hop dance move, for example.

All camps start at 8:45 a.m. and run until 3 p.m. with daily exercise — often swimming for older children. Camps range from $160 for half days to $800 per

EDUCATION

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May 2012

Continued from previous page week, though most average between $300 and $400 per program. And parents can pay an extra fee for transportation or extended childcare hours to accommodate a typical workday.

Spotlight on Arts If your child envisions a future on stage or in front of the camera, a performing arts camp may offer the venue to let them shine.

The Adventure Theatre’s Summer Musical Theatre Camp at the Atlas Performing Arts Center on H Street offers two-week long camps for children ages 6 to 12 with classes and workshops on dancing, singing and acting. Their efforts culminate in an end-ofcamp production of either Disney’s “Mulan Jr.” or “Tom Sawyer.”

The two-week day camps are $600.

If your child has an ear for pop music rather than classical theater, Joy of Motion, among many other camps, will host a weeklong hip hop dance camp this summer. For $582, students will learn how to break-dance, pop-and-lock and freestyle — and they’ll perform their new moves at the week’s end.

To feed creative young spirits, also consider summer camps hosted by the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, Washington Ballet School, and Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS).

Adventure in the Great Outdoors

At Nature Camp, kids take two 90-minute classes each day and can choose to “major” in one special area for a total of 15 hours of study. They can “minor” in several other topics as well. Class choices include botany, ecology, entomology, geology, herpetology, ornithology, conservation, astronomy and several others.

Camp-goers also get five to six hours of free time each day, when they can choose to explore the Blue Ridge Mountains on supervised hikes, play in natural water slides, swim in the pools, or participate in sports with their new friends.

Rachael Bade is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

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With the rolling expanse of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia houses a number of sleep-away camps for those seeking outdoor adventures. One option, simply dubbed Nature Camp, mixes outdoor fun with education about conservation, teaching children how to be good stewards of Earth’s resources while enjoying them at the same time.

Located in Rockbridge County, Va. — about three hours from the District — Nature Camp offers two-week, $750 sessions for youngsters in grades five to 12. The children are split up by age, with a counselor-to-children ratio of 1 to 4 or 5. Boys and girls sleep separately in supervised bunkhouses.

Photo: Evan Luthye / Bigstock

Nature Camp mixes outdoor activities with education about conservation in the heart of the rolling Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia.

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EDUCATION

The Washington Diplomat

May 2012

MEDICAL ■ A Special Section of The Washington Diplomat

■ May 2012

Critical Activity

by Gina Shaw

For Mother’s Day, Doctors Advise Women to Take Exercise to Heart How much “moderate to vigorous” exercise do you get a day? According to new research, if you’re an average woman, you get about 18 minutes, compared with 30 minutes for men. That relative inactivity puts women at an increased risk for a nasty constellation of factors known as the “metabolic syndrome,” including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and excess weight around the waistline. In turn, the metabolic syndrome boosts your risk of life-threatening conditions like type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

Continued on next page Photo: Aaron Amat / fotolia

MEDICAL May 2012

The Washington Diplomat Page 31

Continued from previous page In a study published March 31 online in the journal Preventive Medicine, researchers from Oregon State University in Corvallis reported the results of a national study of physical activity, depression and other symptoms in more than 1,000 men and women, using data collected between 2005 and 2006 as part of the well-known National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Although women in the study tended to take better care of their health overall — they smoked at lower rates than men, for example — their relative lack of activity really boosted their disease risk. Just over one out of every three women in the study had metabolic syndrome.

Women who do squeeze in the recommended amount of exercise most of the time tend to benefit from their activity even more than men, the researchers found. “The results indicate that regular physical activity participation was associated with positive health outcomes for both men and women; however, there was a greater strength of association for women,” said coauthor Paul Loprinzi, now an assistant professor of exercise science at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky.

Why aren’t women exercising more? The researchers didn’t specifically study that question, but they point to a tendency for parents to encourage more outdoor play in boys than girls, perhaps setting a pattern for life. Women also still tend to have more childcare responsibilities than men do, so it would be interesting to break down the survey data according to how many children the participants had. I’d say it’s a fair bet that the childless women get a lot more exercise than the women with kids. I’m sure the dads get less exercise than childfree guys as well, but would there be as much difference between the two?

Women should be particularly concerned about their elevated risk for metabolic syndrome because of what cardiovascular disease means to them. Many women are still more afraid of breast cancer than heart disease, but the fact is that heart disease is the leading killer of women in the United States — taking 10 times as many lives as breast cancer, and actually killing more women than all forms of cancer combined.

Women often miss the signs of heart trouble, says Dr. Elsa-Grace Giardina, founder and director of Columbia University Medical Center’s Center for Women’s Health in New York. Rather than the classic “elephant sitting on my chest” crushing pain that men report, “women often experience vague and nonspecific symptoms like shortness of breath, nausea, fatigue or left arm pain,” Giardina says.

Women also do not recover from heart attacks as well as men do.

Women under 50 are about twice as likely as men to die following a heart attack.And women are almost two times as likely as men to die after bypass surgery. They’re also less likely to receive certain vital therapeutic interventions, like angioplasty, aspirin therapy and cardiac stents.

With that dire outlook, it’s obvious that women need to work harder at preventing heart disease in the first place. And with Mother’s Day coming up this month, give yourself — and your family — the gift of your own good health. So moms, celebrate Mother’s Day by going out and playing with your kids — and I mean play! No watching from the sidelines allowed. Run around the playground until you’re panting. Take them for a bike ride. Pursue a seriously competitive game of jump rope. You’re not only doing yourself a healthy favor, you’re setting your children on a better path for life.

Many women are still more afraid of breast cancer than heart disease, but the fact is that heart disease is the leading killer of women in the United States — taking 10 times as many lives as breast cancer, and actually killing more women than all forms of cancer combined.

SIDEBAR

Know Your Numbers The American Heart Association recommends that all women should know their heart numbers, the key measurements of whether things like your cholesterol and blood pressure are in a healthy range or putting you at high heart disease risk. Next time you visit your doctor, make sure you get these checked: • Total Cholesterol: <200 mg/dL • LDL “Bad” Cholesterol: - Optimal: <100 mg/dL - Near/above optimal: 100-129 mg/dL - Borderline high: 130-159 mg/dL - High: 160-189 mg/dL - Very high: 190 mg/dL and above • HDL “Good” Cholesterol: 50 mg/dL or higher •Triglycerides: <150 mg/dL • Blood pressure: <120/80 mmHg • Fasting Glucose: <100 mg/dL • Body Mass Index (BMI): <25 • Waist Circumference: <35 inches You also get age-specific heart health T:7.75can in guidelines for women from the American Heart S:7 in Association online at www.goredforwomen.org/ heart_healthy_at_any_age.aspx.

— Gina Shaw

Gina Shaw is the medical writer for The Washington Diplomat.

S:10 in

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MEDICAL The Washington Diplomat

May 2012

culture & ■ WWW.WASHDIPLOMAT.COM

arts

CULTURE

Spanish Immersion The annual “SPAIN arts & culture” series of programming is bringing cutting-edge Spanish expression to American audiences. PAGE 37

EVENTS

Down-Home Filipinos

entertainment

■ MAY 2012

ALL Aboard!

EVENTS

When you think blues, barbecue and Southern hospitality, Memphis comes to mind. But the Philippines? Not so much. But a major annual festival in Tennessee will change all that. PAGE 38

ONE ARTMONTH. SIXTY EMBASSIES. HUNDREDS OF INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES. ONE UNFORGETTABLE GLOBAL JOURNEY THROUGH THE NATION’S CAPITAL.

Mold Breakers

This year marks the fifth anniversary Around thetheWorld From ill-fated courtONE MONTH. SIXTY EMBASSIES. HUNDREDS OF INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES. of Cultural Tourism DC’s citywide Embassy TourXVI and MarieONE UNFORGETTABLE GLOBAL JOURNEY of Louis THROUGH THE NATION’S CAPITAL. extravaganza of international culture, Passport DC, with a record 70 embassies participating in open houses along with Around the World expanded programming that includes Embassy Tour museum exhibits, street festivals and children’s activities.

PAGE 36 More than 30 embassies open their doors and invite visitors to

Antoinette, to Sister Mary More than 30 embassies open their doors and invite visitors to take onmuch more. experienceCorita’s food, fashion,spiritual art, music, dance, and so Join Cultural Tourism DC for this once-a-year visit into the stately L.A. commercialism, mansions and exclusive buildings that house the embassies. women artists broke the Discover the vibrant heritage and culture waiting inside.

40 mold.

Saturday, MayPAGE 14 10 am – 4 pm schedule of events

Come explore Washington, DC’s international culture and heritage. During the month of May Washington’s embassies and cultural centers open their doors for you to experience the music, art, dance, crafts, and cuisine from such faraway places as Korea,

Short Cut to Europe: European Union Embassies’ Open House DINING MAY 7; 10 AM – 4 PM

The European Delegation and the Embassies of theiconic 27 EU Member States Can Union Roberto Donna, the (and invite visitors to experience the diversity and richness of Europe. Look for authentic music,infamous) dance, food, film, andD.C. art, alongchef, with a rarefind behind-the-scenes view of the redemption European Union Embassies. Various Locations | Admission: Free

experience food, fashion, art, music, dance, and so much more.

National Asian Heritage Festival:JoinFiesta Cultural Tourism DC for this once-a-year visit into the stately MAY 21; 10 AM – 7 PM

mansions and exclusive buildings that house the embassies.

FILM Interview

The Asia Heritage Foundation presents this street festival honoring the Discover the vibrant diverse cultures of Asia. Travel the continent with outdoor craftheritage exhibits, and culture waiting inside. special performances, cooking demonstration, and much more.May Pennsylvania Saturday, 14 10 am – 4 pm “The Ambassador” is a Avenue, NW, between Third and Sixth Streets | Admission: Free

darkly comic look at corruption in Africa and the murky International Children’s Festival National Asian Heritage Festival: Fiesta schedule of events of honorary diplomats. in a low-key Italian trattoria? PAGE 42 MAY 21; 10 AM – 3 PM PAGE 44 underbelly MAY 21; 10 AM – 7 PM

Kids World Cinema

Introduce the next generation of global travelers cultures around the world. Union Embassies’ Open House Short toCut to Europe: European Children will enjoy a day of international performances and educational MAY 7; 10 AM – 4 PM Come exploreactivities Washington, Young cinema fans are sure to enjoy this celebration of children’s films from countries hosted by local embassies andThe cultural organizations.

This festival European Union Delegation and the Embassies of the 27 EU Member States around the world. Presented in partnership with Alliance FrançaiseDC’s de Washington, is presented

by Meridian THIStofor Diplomats. international culture and International Center invite and visitors experience the diversity and richness of Europe. Look for authentic MAY 13-14, 20-22; 10 AM – 4 PM

The Asia Heritage Foundation presents this street festival honoring diverse cultures of Asia. Travel the continent with outdoor craft exhib special performances, cooking demonstration, and much more. Pennsylva Avenue, NW, between Third and Sixth Streets | Admission: Free

[ events ]

Renewed Passport Passport DC Still Opening Doors — And Not Just to Embassies

by Stephanie Kanowitz

P

Photo: Don Tanguilig

assport DC is not just about embassies anymore. Although the open house tours remain the highlight of the month-long cultural celebration, its popularity has helped Passport expand beyond its first iteration to include museum exhibits, street festivals and children’s activities. Still, the original goal is far from forgotten with record participation from about 70 of Washington’s 170 embassies.

In addition, the wide-ranging culture that is showcased is anything but formulaic.

“There’s this really fun juxtaposition of what we think about as international oftentimes being traditional or folk, but what we see with all of this is a lot of the exhibits and concerts and so forth are bringing forward very contemporary art and new trends and new activities,” said Linda Donavan Harper, executive director of Cultural Tourism DC, which puts together Passport DC.“You shouldn’t think about it as what a country has been, but what a country is becoming or doing now as well.”

This year marks the fifth anniversary of Cultural Tourism DC’s citywide extravaganza of international culture, which kicks off with the Around the World Embassy Tour on May 5, featuring more than 40 embassies opening their doors to the public.

Past offerings have included karate demonstrations, sari-wrapping lessons, henna applications and wine tastings.

Other mainstays of Passport DC include Short Cut to Europe: European Union Embassies’ Open House on May 12, the Meridian International Children’s Festival on May 9, and the National Asian Heritage Festival: Fiesta Asia Street Fair on May 19.

A new signature event is also joining the kickoff lineup this year: The National Museum of Women in the Arts’ Global Market Place on May 13 and 14 that blends shopping and art with an array of products — jewelry, textiles and baskets, for instance — created by women in countries where they seek financial independence and security, such as Turkey, Nepal, Brazil, Rwanda and Guatemala. The pieces will range in cost from $15 to $150.

“Besides buying the products, there will be a lot of information from each exhibiPhoto: Cultural Tourism DC tor about where they’re made, why they’re made, how they’re made, what the advantages are, what good you’re doing by buying More than 70 embassies are participating in this year’s Passport the product,” said Lynda Marks, director of retail and wholesale DC, which in addition to embassy open houses will feature a operations at the museum. global marketplace at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, During the marketplace, the museum will host presentations, the Meridian International Children’s Festival, and the National lectures and panel discussions that focus on women in these Asian Heritage Fiesta Asia Street Fair. emerging countries and the changes happening in their lives.

Additionally, the museum’s “Royalists to Romantics:Women Artists so they can know who we are and what we have to offer,” from the Louvre,Versailles, and Other French National Collections” said Kendall Belisle, first secretary of the Embassy of Belize, exhibition focusing on French women artists from 1750 to 1850 another newcomer.“One of the main objectives of any diplofurther ties into Passport’s international theme. matic mission is to promote the country. So, we thought this “The museum is celebrating our 25th anniversary in 2012, and would be a really good opportunity to be able to do that.” we wanted to spread the celebration throughout the city,” said The embassy will offer traditional Belizean food such as Michelle Cragle, the museum’s marketing and media relations rice and beans, chicken, and potato salad, she said. Local folk Photo: Walter Woodward manager. “We’ve been a partner with Passport DC and Cultural music will provide the backdrop.

Tourism DC for the past five years, and so this is really a natural “I think what we want people to take away from this is partnership for us because we would be participating anyway Passport DC that we’re a multicultural society, there are different ethnic because we have an exhibition of French women artists.” groups, but we’re well blended,” Belisle explained.“Everyone from May 1 to 31 Part of Cultural Tourism DC’s mission is to highlight the work is well assimilated and we’re a peaceful democratic country throughout Washington, D.C. of the National Museum of Women in the Arts and other city and we are very environmentally friendly. We have a keen For more information, please call (202) 661-7581 attractions that tend to fly under the radar.The nonprofit coalition interest in conserving the environment. We do have the secor visit www.PassportDC.org. is home to more than 230 culture, heritage and community-based ond largest barrier coral reef in the world.” organizations whose members try to expose residents and visitors Harper attributes the rise in embassy participation to to the nation’s capital beyond the National Mall — and that of course includes the city’s Passport’s history and persistence in developing the event. thriving embassy community.

“This is something that doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world, and the first few years, Passport DC is in fact based on the European Union’s Open House, which was first held we were trying to explain to people what it was and how it worked and how to get involved,” by the EU member states’ embassies in 2007 and then absorbed into Passport DC when it she said.“I think now people have seen it and they appreciate it.” started in 2008. In its first two years, Passport DC encompassed only the first two weeks of “We’ll never have them all,” Harper added of the embassies (some cannot participate for May with three events that attracted 28 embassies. In 2010, it expanded to be a month long security or space reasons). “We actually like having new ones come in and out every year and took on more than 100 smaller international events.This year, happenings will take place because it keeps it fresh for people who come every year.” on Saturday and Sunday to create full weekends of activity. In fact, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray For past coverage of Passport DC in The Washington Diplomat, see “Passport Renews Its has declared May “International Cultural Awareness Month.”

Participating embassies include Argentina,Australia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Japan and Ukraine. First- Washington Around-the-World Tour” in the May 2011 issue and “Jam-Packed Passport: timers this year include Brunei Darussalam, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Montenegro, Peru, St. Itinerary Expands for This Year’s Citywide International Showcase” in the May 2010 issue.

Kitts and Nevis, and Turkey.

“We want to promote our country to visitors, to people who live in D.C. or are visiting D.C. Stephanie Kanowitz is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

[

Page 36

The Washington Diplomat

]

May 2012

[ culture ]

Olé America!

Spanish Art Sweeps U.S. as Part of Embassy-Backed Endeavor Photo: EA&AE

by Stephanie Kanowitz

L

[

atino influence on American culture is hard to escape, whether you find it in food, music, film or architecture.

And though usually associated with America’s southern neighbors in Latin America, much of this cultural imprint can be traced back across the Atlantic, to Spain.

To help Americans — and others — better understand these origins, the Spanish Embassy’s Cultural Office is hosting a wideranging roster of events across the United States as part of the spring/summer 2012 edition of its annual “SPAIN arts & culture” series of programming.

The events, which run through June, feature partnerships with various institutions to bring art, dance, music, literature and film productions to U.S. audiences.

The embassy’s Cultural Office, its network of U.S. general consulates and Cervantes Institutes, as well as the SpainUSA Foundation put together SPAIN arts & culture to link the two countries and promote modern Spanish artistic expression.

The Spain-USA Foundation, for example, a nonprofit established in 1999, has brought dozens of Spanish artists, architects, designers, music bands and exhibitions to the United States. Its honorary steering committee includes personalities such as actor Antonio Banderas, chef José Andrés and award-winning architect Santiago Calatrava.

And despite the grim economic headlines coming out of Spain, the country’s arts footprint, both past and present, remains robust. The SPAIN arts & culture spring/summer programming reflects this vibrancy, encompassing works by famous Spanish artists such as Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró in addition to contemporary ones such as photographer Alberto García-Alix — exhibited for the first time in the States — and guitarist Paco de Lucía.

“We try to connect ideas and initiatives that come from Spain that we think are interesting with American partner institutions,” said Guillermo Corral, cultural counselor at the Spanish Embassy Cultural Office. “We put great importance in partSPAIN arts & culture nering with local American institutions so that the cultural events we produce and Spring/Summer 2012 the people we bring and the movies we runs through June show do find the right audience. We want locations throughout Washington, D.C. to make sure there’s an interest.”

For more information, please call (202) 728-2334 Although the program was born in 2008 or visit www.spainculture.us. as “Preview Spain” in Corral’s office in Washington, it expanded last year to include events in U.S. cities nationwide. This year, SPAIN arts & culture reaches 12 states and 18 cities, including New York and California.

Some of the ideas for the shows originate in the Cultural Office while others are pitched by the institutions, particularly through the 500-member SPAIN RED, the Spanish Cultural Network (spainred.org). It connects artists and anyone in the United States with a vested interest in Spanish culture.

“We’re constantly talking to them, bringing new ideas or sometimes they come up with things they would like to do and we help. It’s an ongoing thing,” Corral said.

]

The Local Lineup One of the events that Corral is particularly fond of because it originated in his office is WEMADETHIS.ES, a digital book of creative work by artists who work online. It will be released in June at a kickoff event at the Hirshhorn Museum on June 7 with an American digital artist presenting two Spanish illustrators.

“It’s specifically interesting that although they work in Spain, they’re from Spain, their work is everywhere,” Corral said. “They’re hired by France, in the U.S. by Nike or by big

Photo: Fernado Trueba P.C.S.A. Estudio Mariscal S.A. Magic Light Pictures

Among the events presented as part of the springsummer edition of “SPAIN arts & culture” were a flamenco festival at Lisner Auditorium, left, the animated film “Chico & Rita,” above, and the performing arts duet “Entomo: Where Insects and Humans Come Together,” top photo, at the Kennedy Center.

telephone companies. They’re doing videos, illustrations, art, and they’re having this fine line in between art and marketing and [are] very global.”

The cutting-edge project unites the Spanish artists with their U.S. counterparts.“The questions the people are asking in this designer community are the same: Where does art finish and it becomes commercial?

How has the economic environment changed things or hasn’t changed them? It’s just one of the consequences of having a world that is so interconnected.”

“Flamenco Soul,” in partnership with Berklee College of Music in Boston, is another can’t-miss, Corral said.

Photo: www.flamencofestival.org The show is based on a record produced and recorded last fall by young people in the flamenco and Latin American jazz scenes. It’s the vision of producer Javier Limón, who wanted to examine the evolving continuum of the dance form, according to Marc Powers, director of marketing at the Howard Theatre, where the show will be held June 23 ($25 in advance, $30 at the door). The program, which consists of a dancer, flautist, violinist, pianist, percussionist and vocalist, will pay tribute to the original styles of this iconic Spanish dance tradition while also looking at its more experimental, modern reincarnations.

Powers contacted the Spanish Embassy to find out how they could work together.

“About a week later the embassy’s cultural manager, Francisco ‘Curro’ Tardio, mentioned that Javier Limón’s production of ‘Flamenco Soul’ was routing an East Coast run,” Powers explained.“Attracted by this dynamic production pairing of Limón with SPAIN arts & culture, we quickly confirmed ‘Flamenco Soul’ in D.C.” Other highlights of this year’s spring and summer lineup — there will be a fall/winter one, too — include “Ñew York,” an exhibition featuring works by young Latin American and Spanish artists residing in New York City that is on display through May 20 at the Art Museum of the Americas.

For something more historical, “Picasso’s Drawings, 1890-1921: Reinventing Tradition”

May 2012

See spain, page 43 The Washington Diplomat Page 37

[ festivals ]

BBQ to Bayanihan Memphis in May Brings Philippines to Tennessee

by Stephanie Kanowitz

W

hen you think blues, barbecue and Southern hospitality, the city of Memphis in Tennessee could come to mind. But the Philippines? Not so much.That’s the beauty of Memphis in May, an annual event in its 36th year that marries the celebration of an American city with the celebration of a foreign country. And this year’s honoree is the Philippines.

“MIM offers a unique opportunity to bring the culture of and business opportunities in the Philippines to the United States, in particular in the Southern states where familiarity with the Philippines is not well established,” said Philippines Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr.“I know Memphis as the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll. I have visited Graceland before with my wife, who is an Elvis Presley fan. I look forward to the opportunity to be back and help create closer relations between Memphis and my country.”

The first MIM festival was held in 1977 as a local community-building initiative that also saluted Japan. The volunteers and organizers who worked on the event thought it would be great to do yearly, said Jim Holt, president and chief executive officer of Memphis in May International Festival Inc. Reflecting on how much the festival has grown, he said the budget for the first one was about $150,000.Today, the nonprofit organization that runs it has an operating budget of $7 million.

Included in the festival are musical, culinary, artistic, business and educational components. The biggest musical event is the Beale Street Music Festival, which attracts more than 100,000 spectators and stars such as Aretha Franklin, Sheryl Crow, Fergie, Cee Lo Green and Carlos Santana.

Performers scheduled to appear at the festival this year, May 4 to 6, include rapper Pitbull, Evanescence and Lupe Fiasco. It also includes at least one performer from the honored country, and this year that is Filipino rock band Sponge Cola.

The most notable culinary element is the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, the world’s largest pork barbecue. Hundreds of teams, including foreign ones, compete for more than $100,000 in prizes.The Filipino team will hail from the Marco Polo Plaza hotel in Cebu City and will prepare lechon, or roasted pig.

The festival’s signature cultural event is “The Philippines! Live from the Islands” at the 2,400-seat Orpheum Theatre on May 10. It features the Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company and Worldwide Family of Modern Arnis, which will present the evolution of Filipino martial arts.“We felt that was a key component of the country’s culture,” Holt noted.

Renowned Filipino chef Claude Tayag of the restaurant Bale Dutung in Pampanga will prepare traditional cuisine during intermission and at the International Gala at the Peabody Hotel on May 11.

“It’s really a comprehensive cultural immersion with the dance and music and martial arts and the cuisine,” Holt said.

For a few lucky students, it’s also the trip of a lifetime, with a student exchange program that features an all-expenses-paid trip to the host country as part of the festival’s month-long educational series of events.

It’s an opportunity to foster business relations, as well. Industry leaders from the Philippines in the fields of business, logistics, architecture, life sciences and commerce will hold lectures throughout the month, and Cuisia will speak on the special relations between the Philippines and the United States. Philippine Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr. is also confirmed to speak at key MIM events to promote the national tourism campaign,“It’s more fun in the Philippines.”

“Memphis is also the distribution center of the U.S. with FedEx For more to and Delta Air hubs located in this city,” Cuisia pointed out. “The information Philippines is also building its logistics capability, given its strategic on Memphis location in Asia Pacific.The West Philippine Sea is a major commerin May, visit cial sea lane.” www.memphisinmay.org.

And throughout the month, the city of Memphis will showcase Filipino culture with exhibits at museums, galleries and public spaces, from the historic “people power” political revolution to the country’s signature handwoven textiles.

“Wherever you travel in the city, it will be hard not to experience some Filipino culture,” Holt said, noting that the friendliness his team encountered traveling to the Philippines in many ways mirrored the hospitality for which the American South is known.

Memphis in May’s International Selection Committee studies and reviews the various

learn

more

Page 38

The Washington Diplomat

Photos: Memphis in May International Festival, Inc.

As part of its salute to the Philippines, the Memphis in May International Festival in Tennessee will showcase Filipino culture, including the Pinoy rock band Sponge Cola, top, the Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company, above, and the martial arts specialists Worldwide Family of Modern Arnis.

countries up for consideration each year, Holt said, beginning with location.

“We start with the geographic area of the world and then we review prospective honorees and rank them under various categories,” Holt explained.

“Obviously the countries to be considered need to have strong diplomatic relations with the U.S. We review trade figures, look at the scope and depth of the country’s culture and history, and narrow it down to a group of four to six countries and vote on them, selecting finalists. Then we travel to Washington to meet with those finalist countries to assess the level of interest in being involved in our program.”

Two years ago, they chose Tunisia, last year was Belgium and this year it was Asia’s turn.

The selection committee narrowed the options down to four finalists: China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.

“The Philippines had been on the list for a while, and we had a very enthusiastic reception at the embassy here,” Holt said, adding that the festival has not honored the country before.

“We’ve got a significant Filipino population here in Memphis.”

Although next year’s honoree will not be announced until August, Holt did say that Europe is back in the rotation for 2013 while 2014 will turn to Central or South America.

The objective of MIM is to bring awareness about foreign cultures to a city that is not traditionally international, Holt told The Washington Diplomat. Likewise, the honored country gets to learn about a slice of Americana.

“While they will not be physically travelling to the Philippines, I hope that these people will indeed feel that ‘it’s more fun in the Philippines,’ and they will be encouraged to see and experience Filipino warmth and hospitality for themselves,” Cuisia said of MIM visitors. “I look forward to the festive mood that the whole city of Memphis will bring.”

The ambassador added: “May is also the fiesta month in the Philippines, and so being in Memphis next month to promote the best of the Philippines will feel like being home.”

Stephanie Kanowitz is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

May 2012

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May 2012

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[ art ]

Like Nun Other Spirited Women Trailblazers From Louis XVI to ’60s L.A.

by Gary Tischler

T

he two exhibits blaze two startlingly different paths, but there is a connection. The journey involved in going from the cumbersomely titled “Royalists to Romantics: Women Artists from the Louvre, Versailles, and Other French National Collections” to the electrically titled “R(ad) ical Love: Sister Mary Corita” seems like a long and torturous one if you want to connect the two exhibitions now at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, which is enjoying its 25th anniversary.

But you want to make the linkage in spite of the seemingly insurmountable differences between the two. Those differences are hardly nuanced: On the one hand, you have 35 female French artists working from 1750 to 1850, during the ascendancy of the ill-fated court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the rise of artistic salons, the disappearance of those salons amid the French Revolution, followed by the reign and fall of Napoleon, as well the restoration of the monarchy.Those were, to say the least, turbulent times in which a woman wanting to be an artist had to navigate the choppy waters of culture, religion, gender and politics to even be allowed to paint and play with the big boys. Some of these women, for example, may have been banned from formal training but flourished with the support of such aristocratic patrons as Marie Antoinette; others were subjected to accusations of sexual immorality simply for being artists.

On the other hand, Sister Mary Corita (1918-86) was very much a modern artist, even if she was a Roman Catholic nun restricted Photos: Collection of the Associated Sulpicians of the United States; Corita Art Center, Immaculate Heart Community, Los Angeles to some degree in what she could do, or communicate.

Although the time and place were very different — Los Sister Mary Corita, top, elevated advertisements into artistic Angeles in the 1950s and ’60s — like her French predesocial commentary in works such as “the juiciest tomato of all,” cessors, Corita also shattered norms and defied stereoabove. Meanwhile, works such as Adrienne Marie Louise types with her unique brand of pop art that boldly Grandpierre-Deverzy’s “The Studio of Abel de Pujol,” left, were transformed slogans and designs from print advertisecreated during a time of upheaval in 1800s France. ments, street signs, billboards and product packaging into artistic prints that conveyed spiritual and social messages advocated for their acceptance into the Académie of the era, from racism and poverty to the Vietnam War Royale de peinture et de sculpture.These women rose and culture wars. through the ranks — and deservedly so. VallayerFrom a distance, her work resembles the kind of art Coster’s flowers practically burn with the kind of deep that Andy Warhol would have loved, absent his cynicism colors rarely achieved by other artists. about the commerce of art that he manipulated so brilThe problem is that there are also plenty of lessliantly. Looking at Corita’s work though, you have to recognizable names and paintings — the result of deft, wonder what Warhol or other pop gurus might have arduous and complicated maneuverings. During the achieved if they glowed with the spiritual warming of days of Louis XVI, women artists gained entrance into Photo: Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris / THE BRIDGEMAN ART LIBRARY her vision. the highly selective and restrictive French salon Sister Mary Corita (and Corita Kent after she left based on personal connections.

Royalists to Romantics: Women Artists her order in 1968) was an art professor at the With the collapse of the monarchy, art took a comfrom the Louvre, Versailles, and Other Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles for more mercial turn whereby the marketplace became than two decades. Since the 1950s, the college was French National Collections important absent the salon. Here, while perhaps known for its progressive attitudes and innovative art through July 29 more accepted, women faced fierce competition — department, but its liberal approach was further boland an equally unlevel playing field as before. For R(ad)ical Love: Sister Mary Corita stered in 1962 when the second Vatican sought to instance, most women could scarcely afford the stanthrough July 15 modernize religious teachings. This shift gave rise to dard artistic journey made by their male counterthe “modern nun,” exemplified by Corita, who meldNational Museum of Women in the Arts parts who traveled to Italy and other parts of Europe ed her art with social activism that mirrored the 1250 New York Ave., NW to paint and be bathed in the light of classical greatlarger cultural protests of the time.

For more information, please call (202) 783-5000 ness. Plus, they had to deal with what was basically Like Corita, women in 18th- and 19th-century or visit www.nmwa.org. the prudish nature of revolutionary fervor, which France had plenty of societal changes to reflect disapproved of women artists altogether on moral upon, although their working environment was considerably tougher. grounds.

The French exhibition features 77 paintings, prints and sculptural works from the Another problem for women was that French cultural mavens simply would not Louvre,Versailles and other collections, many never before seen outside of France.These accept women painting epic or historic subject matter, deeming that they lacked granworks tell a different story — about the fight of women artists to educate themselves, diose imaginations. Of course, this is hardly the case with the examples seen here by to work, to get noticed, and to be treated with the same seriousness as their male coun- women such as Antoine Cecile Haudebourt-Lescot and especially Césarine Henriette terparts.

Flore Davin-Mirvault and her impressive portrait of Askar Khan Afshar, the Persian There are some recognizable names among the artists in “Royalists to Romantics,” ambassador to France circa 1808.There are also some exciting, haunting and evocative including Sophie Rude, Anne Vallayer-Coster and Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun — the latter two appointed to court by their aristocratic patron, Marie Antoinette, who also See women, page 43

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The Washington Diplomat

]

May 2012

[ theater ]

The Real ‘1776 ’ Ford’s Brings History Alive by Humanizing Founding Fathers

by Lisa Troshinsky

T

[

hose whose memories of history class are less than stellar will be unexpectedly pleased with the Ford’s Theatre’s revival of the 1969 musical “1776.”What might be recalled from grade school as the subject of overkill, the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence, is infused with fresh life in this production through vibrant music, inspired singing, and delicious details not caught in traditional annals.

By retelling our country’s shaky historical beginnings through a personal outlook, Ford’s Theatre lets its audience be a fly on the wall in the sweltering pressure-cooker of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. That’s where John Adams,Benjamin Franklin andThomas Jefferson attempt to persuade the 13 colonies to separate from British rule after a string of abuses by King George. But this production finds most of the representatives of those 13 British colonies homesick, disgruntled and bickering, wishing they were home with their wives and families rather than putting up with a growing apathy for the new colonies’ democratic process.

It’s not exactly the pretty picture Americans have formed of their idealized founding fathers — but surely it’s a more entertaining and realistic one.

Instead of the one-dimensional, upstanding and distinguished men that plaster history textbooks, we get to witness a tipsy, testy Stephen Hopkins, the Rhode Island congressman (played delightfully by Floyd King), drinking and pissing his way through the congressional sessions; and a flawed John Adams, played in a larger-than-life performance by Brooks Ashmanskas. Adams is deemed “obnoxious and disliked” by all his cohorts and almost loses the cause for freedom due to his unpopularity.And let’s not forget the licentious Thomas Jefferson, played by the dashing William Diggle, who requires a carnal visit from his wife Martha before he’s inclined to write the famous document.

The play’s authenticity really hits home in the rousing number sung brilliantly by Gregory Maheu, who plays Loyalist Edward Rutledge from South Carolina.The emotional “From Molasses to Rum” blatantly exposes the hypocrisy of the Patriots, specifically Adams and Jefferson, for wanting to keep the “no slaves clause” in the Declaration that proclaimed “all men are created equal.”The “no-slavery” clause was stricken from the final version after Rutledge threatened to vote against adopting the paper if the passage wasn’t removed. His song illustrates just how the northern states’ hands were bloodied from the slave trade and how Jefferson himself was a prominent Virginia slaveholder. This exchange of hostile sentiment not only brings to the surface messy behind-the-scenes deals that have been a part of politics since the infancy of the United States, but also shines a brighter light on the extreme national tensions that led up to the 1776 Civil War. through May 19 Also bringing the often-comic script back to Ford’s Theatre sobriety are frequent letters sent to the Congress by a downtrodden George Washington fighting 511 10th St., NW in the field, as well as a touching musical number, Tickets start at $15.

“Momma, Look Sharp,” sung by the courier about For more information, please mothers finding their slain sons on the battlecall (202) 347-4833 or visit www.fords.org. field.

No doubt contributing to the success of this production are Peter Flynn’s adept direction, Tony Cisek’s scenic design, Nancy Schertler’s lighting and Wade Laboissonniere’s costumes. Although Ford’s stage isn’t massive, somehow Cisek’s intricate, step-leveled congressional boardroom manages to simultaneously house 20 congressmen, a secretary, a custodian and a courier.They all move about seamlessly (sometimes in dancing formation), thanks to Flynn’s expert blocking and choreography by Michael Bobbit. The set rarely alters, but Schertler’s clever use of lighting indicates time changes in day and night without missing a beat

]

Photos: Carol Rosegg

The Ford’s Theatre production of the musical “1776,” directed by Peter Flynn, lets audiences be a fly on the wall in the sweltering pressure-cooker of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, where John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson try to persuade representatives of the 13 colonies to sign the Declaration of Independence.

of the action. Balancing out the aesthetic picture are magnificent 16th-century waistcoats, breeches, stockings, buckled shoes, wigs, coats and walking canes for the men; and ruffled gowns and petticoats for the women.

Although the script is dominated by men, two founding women are featured who stand out in talent and add a welcome diversion from the macho bravado. The devoted Abigail Adams (Kate Fisher) makes several appearances in John Adams’s thoughts and letters; the two also sing beautiful duets, showcasing her flawless soprano. Erin Kruse, as the young and feisty Martha Jefferson, delights with “He Plays the Violin,” confessing to Adams and Jefferson what she loves most about her mate.

This production — the handiwork of writers Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone — is not without its flaws, however. Act II outstays its welcome (the show is almost three hours), with congressman after congressman showcased in song.There’s a bit of overdone campiness, predictable humor and at times, the acting doesn’t match the quality of the singing. But overall, the show is spirited and entertaining, and the fact that it’s at the historic Ford’s Theatre in the nation’s capital makes the fun-poking at this motley crew of congressmen even more ironic.

Although “1776” promises a mostly lighthearted evening, its serious sentiment runs deep — a message implanted in the forefront of the audience’s mind. A scrim at the start of the play poignantly orders, “Join or Die,” while a painted backdrop of Revolutionary soldiers in combat constantly reminds us that U.S. freedom was indeed hard-fought. Finally, a lasting image of the Declaration with all of the equally hardfought required signatures looms on the final curtain.

Whether you planned to or not, you’re likely to leave the theater more patriotic than when you entered.

Lisa Troshinsky is the theater reviewer for The Washington Diplomat.

May 2012

The Washington Diplomat Page 41

[ dining ]

Casual Comeback Can Low-Key La Forchetta Resurrect Roberto Donna?

by Rachel G. Hunt

T

he much-acclaimed and much-talked-about chef Roberto Donna has returned, once again, to Washington, D.C. Joining forces with Hakan Ilhan, a highly successful local restaurateur, Donna has taken the executive chef role at La Forchetta, an Italian trattoria in the Spring Valley neighborhood on the edge of American University’s campus.

When Donna left the area after Galileo III, his highly touted comeback venture, shuttered last fall amid widely reported legal and financial troubles, it looked like it would finally be the end of an era marked by incredible highs and lows. A protégé and partner of iconic chef Jean-Louis Palladin, Donna himself was responsible for developing many of the area’s top chefs in his various kitchens.

Donna’s biography reads like a history of the evolution of Washington dining, his growth as a chef paralleling the increasing quality of restaurants in the nation’s capital. In 1984, less than five years after arriving in Washington (at the age of 19) to seek his fortunes, Donna opened Galileo with partner Savino Racine to almost instant critical acclaim. The James Beard Award winner went on to open or lead many of the city’s best Italian restaurants, at one time having 11 establishments with nearly 500 staff under his belt.

Then the empire collapsed. Donna may be an exceptional chef, but he was also exceptionally bad at business apparently.A litany of lawsuits and court appearances stemming from bounced employee paychecks all the way up to felony embezzlement brought the man whom Washington Post dining critic Phyllis Richman called “a national treasure” crashing down, with the debt from three cases alone totaling more than $1 million.

Galileo III, a reincarnation of his flagship hit Galileo and Laboratorio del Galileo, was meant to resurrect the battered chef’s career in 2010, but only a year later, it too drowned under the weight of financial complaints from fed-up landlords, waiters, bartenders and high-profile chefs (the widely anticipated restaurant was sued even before it officially opened).

“It’s a grim legal reality that runs counLa Forchetta ter to the image of a humble, hard-working 3201 New Mexico Ave, NW chef trying to make amends for past sins.

(202) 244-2223 Or trying to reclaim past glories,” wrote www.laforchettadc.com the Washington Post’s Tim Carman in “The reduction of Roberto Donna” last year.

Lunch: Mon. - Fri., 11:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.; “The circumstances would seem to echo

Sat., Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. (brunch) similar events that led to the downfall of Bebo Trattoria, Donna’s restaurant in Dinner: Sun.- Thu., 4 - 10 p.m.; Crystal City, which closed in April 2009

Fri., Sat., 4- 11 p.m. amid a rent default of $500,000 and a fedPizza: Daily from 11:30 a.m. - 11 p.m. eral lawsuit alleging labor and wage violaSmall plates: $5 to $16 tions.”

Can Donna make yet another comePizza: $7.95 - $13.95 back, showcasing his famous talent withEntrées: $16.95 - $19.95 out unleashing the bad business habits that made him infamous? La Forchetta may Desserts: $7.95 - $8.95 hold the key.

La Forchetta is a new type of venture for both Roberto Donna and Hakan Ilhan that has them meeting in the middle. Ilhan, noted for his success in local fast food ventures such as Einstein Bros. Bagels, is branching out into more upscale terrain with the opening of La Forchetta. Donna, a celebrity chef with a raft of awards to his name, will be trying his hand at a more casual setting.

Ilhan tapped Norris Design in Atlanta to transform the former Balducci’s space into an American version of the trattorias found in large urban centers in Italy.The look is sleek, with a basic white, black, and gray color scheme accented with splashes of orange in the seating

[ ] want to

go?

Page 42

The Washington Diplomat

Photos: Jessica Latos

One of D.C.’s most talked-about chefs, Roberto Donna returns to the kitchen at La Forchetta, an Italian trattoria managed

by Hakan Ilhan, the businessman behind successful local fast food ventures such as Einstein Bros. Bagels.

and panels. Steel racks for the wood and wine bottles and exposed ductwork add an industrial dimension.

Working with the open kitchen concept, the space is broken into sections by a pizza oven island in the center and a demonstration kitchen along the side, set off from the main dining area by a wall of openwork panels that sport concrete counter tops and fixed stools, giving diners front-row seats to the Donna show. Lighting, which is just right though some have complained it’s too harsh, comes from a series of interesting black crystal chandeliers, pendant lamps and track lights.

Donna’s opening menu for La Forchetta is expansive, offering diners samplings of his signature dishes as well as new variations on familiar themes. The house-made pastas and risottos demonstrate that the chef’s brief sojourn in the southwest has not dimmed his enthusiasm for classically prepared dishes.The pasta pillows filled with ricotta, spinach and mascarpone cheese are nothing short of superb and rival anything prepared at Galileo.The meat version, Agnolotti “Gobbi” all’Astigiana, filled with roasted veal, pork and sausage and tossed in butter, sage, roast jus and parmesan cheese is heavier but equally delicious. The Calamarata pasta with seafood is another hearty dish. Thick rings of pasta that look like oversize squid are served with squid, shrimp and mussels, seasoned with cherry tomatoes, garlic and basil.

Risotto offers diners another glimpse of Donna’s immense talents. One version with shrimp, cuttlefish, zucchini, saffron and sun-dried tomatoes is sharply flavored and reminiscent of classic Spanish paella. Gorgonzola dolce, pistachio and parmesan cheese combine for a richer and milder option.The fresh asparagus and asparagus puree risotto will be even better as we move into asparagus season and the vegetable can be obtained locally.

La Forchetta’s menu also includes an excellent selection of hot and cold small plates that can be purchased individually and in samplings of three or six (a better bargain), as well as a collection of distinctive soups and salads. Encompassing vegetarian, fish and meat dishes, many of these classic Italian combinations embody the beauty of simplicity with their limited ingredients and straightforward preparations. Sicilian eggplant caponata with olives and capers is a bit sweeter than one might expect, while the charred roasted peppers dressed with capers and anchovies have a salty kick. Long slices of zucchini marinated with garlic,

May 2012

mint and vinegar served with fresh mozzarella are tasty but a tad oily. Complemented with grilled bread and olive oil, the cod mantecato — salt cod beaten with olive oil until an almost creamy paste — tastes far more complicated than it actually is. For those who prefer milder fish flavors, the salad of white bean and tuna with slivers of red onion, vinegar and salt is a good choice.

Warm roasted dates stuffed with a sweet gorgonzola, wrapped in pancetta and dressed with honey and balsamic vinegar is a standout among the warm plates — as is the mild but rich parmesan cheese pudding with stracciatella topped with crunchy fried shallots. Short logs of fried polenta with stracchino cheese are bland yet appealing.The soft polenta, functioning as a base for sautéed shrimp and spicy lemon jus, shows us just how versatile this corn dish can be. A fried egg over tomato and bruschetta accompanied with rich burrata cheese and salty bottarga is a perfectly satisfying combination that would enliven any brunch.

Donna has selected several main dishes to round out the casual but deftly crafted menu, offering Cornish hen, beef short ribs, beef hanger steak, veal skirt steak, pork shank, veal scaloppini and house-made sausages. Each is prepared simply to let the basic flavors stand out.The luganega sausage, a Northern Italian specialty of veal and pork grilled with potato and rosemary, is particularly striking, as is the hanger steak marinated in red chili, garlic and olive oil so that it’s tender enough to cut with a fork.

Ilhan is positioning La Forchetta to rival 2Amys as the best pizza joint in town. And Ilhan knows pizza. He is the brainchild behind Pizza Autentica, a fast-casual pizza chain that sells the pie by the slice, along with strombolis, paninis and gelato in venues also designed by Norris Design studio.

Ilhan’s chain is more upscale than most other similar spots, but La Forchetta brings the concept to a very different level, offering many of the characteristics of a fine dining establishment but in an appealingly casual setting.

A handsomely tiled wood-burning pizza oven sits in an island at the center of La Forchetta. Bar

from page 40

Women works here by Louise Josephine Sarazin de Belmont, Marguerite Gérard and Adrienne Marie Louise Grandpierre-Deverzy.

The sheer list of long, hyphenated names hints at a long-lost world where aristocracy billowed and then all but disappeared; where clothing came close to theatrical costume; and where the serenity of country Photo: RMN - Jean-Pierre Lagiewski / Château de Fontainebleau landscapes or royal portraits belied the turbulence outside the frame.

Antoine Cécile Hortense Haudebourt-Lescot’s Sister Mary was also inspired by her sur- “The Kissing of the Feet in St. Peter’s, Rome” is roundings, though they look very different on display in the “Royalists to Romantics” exhibin her frame — or, to be exact, the serigraphs it at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. she created out of mainstream commercial Photo: Jessica Latos gests an awakening social consciousness, advertising.

The 1960s pop culture of love, sex, drugs rather than a caffeine-sugar rush.

A handsomely tiled wood-burning pizza oven sits In her works, popular phrases became and rock ‘n’ roll seeped into everything, from in an island at the center of La Forchetta, where bar radical leftist politics, to peaceniks and hip- something else, bigger in thought and emoseating gives diners a ring-side seat from which to pies, to the pervading commercialism seek- tion.Alluding to a tomato company’s ad that watch pizzas being built. claimed their tomatoes were the juiciest, she ing to exploit that cultural change.

Although every effort is made to assure your ad is free of mistakes in spelling and seating gives diners a ring-side seat from which to NOTE: Sister Mary Corita tapped into all of it — boldly stated, “Mother Mary is the Juiciest content it is ultimately up to the customer to make thethat final proof. watch pizzaiolo Panetta Giuseppe build his pies. all,” noting tomato slang newspaper headlines about the Watts Riots, tomato of them The oven is not the only weapon in the arsenal. cereal boxes, television ads, slogans in Life meant woman and angering the church at Ilhan and Donna have brought in state-of the-art The first two faxed will be thecost time.to the advertiser, subsequent changes magazine, lyrics changes by the Beatles, andmade poetryat no equipment including a Pietro Berto dough mixer She once said:“The of ads and billby billed E.E. Cummings Langston Hughes.alteration. will be at a rateand of $75 per faxed Signed ads shape are considered approved. from Italy that kneads 50 pounds of flour at once.

What emerged were spiritual odes, like a boards are today’s forms. There’s nothing Donna credits the consistency of the light, airy ugly any … if you notice and about poke in the eye, to love, togetherness, toler- that’s Please check this ad carefully.

Mark changes to care your ad. crust to the machine. ance and understanding. Perhaps because things, there is tenderness.”

Cooked at 700 degrees until the crust is In a way, the French women who dogshe was a nun, no one dared take her work is correct sign and fax to: (301) 949-0065 needs changes slightly charred and dressed in a dozen differentIf the adlightly. gedly pursued their art careers were inspired guises, the pizzas at La Forchetta offer a nice After all, not everyone can drop words by a similar sentiment: We can paint anyrange of flavors — from classic combinationsThe Washington (301) 933-3552 like thoseDiplomat in her 1966 print, “Come Alive; thing that anyone else can paint, and nothsuch as marinara with tomato, garlic, olive oil and Tomorrow, the stars,” referring to the 1960s ing is out of bounds. oregano, to complex and unusual varieties such Pepsi ad that encourages consumers to __________________________________________________________ as fennel and bottarga with tomato, pecorino,Approved“Come Alive,You’re in the Pepsi Generation.” Gary Tischler is a contributing writer mozzarella and grey mullet roe. The quattro stag-ChangesUnlike ___________________________________________________________ the ad, however, Corita’s text sug- for The Washington Diplomat. ioni featuring fresh tomato, mozzarella, basil,___________________________________________________________________ oregano, olives, mushrooms, artichokes and ham is particularly delicious.

Donna has put together a nice collection of

See dining, page 45

RichaRd G. LuGaR,

from page 37

Statesman of the Senate

Spain runs through May 6 at the National Gallery of Art. With 55 pieces, it shows the progress of Picasso’s drawings over 30 years, including his use of cubism and collage (also see “Drawn to Destiny: Picasso’s Sketches Forged His Pioneering Movements” in the April 2012 issue of The Washington Diplomat).

Picking up where Picasso leaves off is “Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape,” from May 6 to Aug. 12, also at the National Gallery. This exhibit features 120 of the Catalonian’s paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints within a framework of three principal periods: the defining of Catalan identity in the 1920s; the response to the Spanish Civil War and the fall of France between 1936 and 1941; and the demise of dictator Francisco Franco’s regime, 1968 to 1975.

For more Miró, visit the Kreeger Museum through July 31, when its complete collection of his works will be on display for the first time.

A Proven Record Corral attributes the program’s success to the saturation of Spanish heritage in the United States.

“Spain cannot do cultural promotion in the U.S. just like any other country because of the fact that such a large part of the American popu-

By John T. Shaw

New book is a balanced and careful account of the senator’s work The “Flamenco Soul” project, which fuses the traditional Spanish dance form with modern reincarnations, takes center stage at the Howard Theatre on June 23.

"This book takes us on a fascinating journey through the political life of a giant in American foreign policy...

An impressive account of Richard Lugar's rich political work and versatile political persona."

lation — now 50 million people — are somehow related to Spanish cultural heritage,” Corral said.

“Although they don’t come from Spain, they do come from different countries mostly in South America or they are born here.

“We think that one of the bigger cultural trends in the 21st century in America is this increasing presence of the Latino presence in the community, in the cultural mainstream of the U.S.,” he added.

Jan Eliasson, former president of UN General Assembly, former Swedish foreign minister and former Swedish ambassador to the United States

"A close-up look at the dedication, effectiveness, and outstanding public service of Senator Dick Lugar."

Sam Nunn, former US Senator, CEO of Nuclear Threat Initiative

Stephanie Kanowitz is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

In the April 2012 issue, Vladimir Krasavin was incorrectly identified as the deputy chief of mission at the Russian Embassy in the article “Ping-Pong Diplomacy Makes Comeback at Kazakh Embassy.” Krasavin is an attaché at the Russian Embassy.

"John Shaw deploys his reportorial skills to excellent effect...The result is a trenchant study of statesmanship as practiced from the legislative branch of our government."

Strobe Talbott, president, Brookings Institution

Photo: Zarmik Moqtaderi

CORRECTION

A.E. Fletcher Photography

"Dick Lugar is a true 'statesman of the Senate,' who, from the Reagan years to the present, has had a major influence on US foreign policy."

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.

George Shultz, former US Secretary of State

To puRchaSe youR copy: www.iupReSS.indiana.edu

May 2012

The Washington Diplomat Page 43

[ film interview ]

‘Ambassador ’ for Sale Diplomatic Imposter Goes Undercover to Expose Corruption in Africa

by Dave Seminara

H

ow does one become a Liberian diplomat?

For Mads Brügger, the Danish director of the new documentary “The Ambassador,” all it took was a $150,000 payment to a Dutch diplomatic title broker.Three weeks later, he had a Liberian diplomatic passport and credentials naming him the Liberian ambassador-at-large to the Central African Republic (C.A.R.), signed by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

“The Ambassador” is a darkly comic look at corruption in Africa in which Brügger uses his diplomatic status to conspire with corrupt C.A.R. officials to transport blood diamonds out of the country. Along the way, Brügger exposes the murky underbelly of honorary diplomats, some of whom buy their diplomatic status to conduct shady business deals.

“I was looking for a failed African state, an out-of-sight, out-of-mind country,”Brügger toldTheWashington Diplomat in a recent interview.“In the world of diplomacy, being sent to the C.A.R. is the ultimate punishment. It had to be that you drank too much or maybe were involved in some criminal affair, so the diplomats who end up in places like the C.A.R. have to be very strange people.”

The film premiered at Sundance last month. Brügger’s first film,“The Red Chapel,” a documentary about an absurd cultural exchange in North Korea, won the World Cinema Dramatic Jury Prize at Sundance in 2010. Both documentaries had the director using a fake identity — he went to North Korea with two friends posing as a pro-communist comedy troupe for “The Red Chapel” — to enter dangerous territory and expose its secrets using satire that doubles as a sad commentary on reality.

And while highly entertaining (Brügger comes to the C.A.R. to supposedly build a match factory staffed by pygmies for their “magical” qualities), that reality was also deeply disturbing to some viewers. Brügger’s Liberian “ambassador” is an eccentric, scheming, semi-racist opportunist whose machinations to smuggle blood diamonds may have had real-life repercussions — a top security figure, who met with the director several times, was assassinated over the course of the film.

Brügger talked to The Washington Diplomat about his African adventure and the broader theme of shady diplomats exploiting their bought titles in developing countries.

Q: How did you get the idea to buy a diplomatic title?

A: In 2007, I became aware of these diplomatic title bro-

kers who sell diplomatic status on the Internet. There are desperate African countries and some Pacific Ocean states where you can buy diplomatic status. Actually for some time, I was in the pipeline to become a trade associate for Vanuatu.

Q: What’s the point of buying a diplomatic passport?

A: The advantages you get and the protection you get from

becoming a consul in these places like the Central African Republic is worth a lot of money, to some people.

Q: So how did you go about buying your way into this

world?

A: I found about 10 of these companies and some are con men and some are bona fide and actually will deliver.

I paid $150,000, but it depends on what kind of position you want. Do you want to be a low-level diplomatic envoy, or would you like to be a consul or a trade Page 44

Photo: Mads Brügger

Danish director Mads Brügger, left, shakes hands with the Jean Francois Bozize, the defense minister of the Central African Republic, who is also the president’s son. Brügger paid a Dutch diplomatic title broker $150,000 to obtain fake Liberian diplomatic credentials for his eye-opening documentary “The Ambassador.” attaché? From Liberia, I purchased an ambassador-atlarge title and an honorary general consul title. I got two.

It was an offer they made and I said, ‘The more the merrier’ — like a two-for-one special.

Q: Who are these people selling diplomatic passports?

A: In the film, we encounter two diplomatic title brokers.

First, I dealt with the Evans brothers, who run diplomaticpassport.com. Now their site is more or less closed down — I think because of my film. They are based in Portugal, but they’re British, and they’re actually a second-generation diplomatic title brokerage.

Q: How common is it for countries to sell diplomatic titles?

A: Well, I also dealt with a Dutch diplomatic title broker

named Wilhelm Sissen, who is based in Sierra Leone. They sell diplomatic titles for Sierra Leone and Liberia and they told me they had actively secured 25 diplomatic titles for their clients. Sissen befriended the former minister of finance in Liberia, during the Charles Taylor administration, who is well connected in Liberia. In the ’90s, some 2,000 diplomatic titles were sold in Liberia. Guinea also sells titles and so do some countries in the South Pacific.

Q: Why did you choose the C.A.R. as your setting for the film?

A: I was looking for a failed African state, an out-of-sight, out-of-mind country. I got a passport and accreditation.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf fired all of her ministers for massive corruption, including the minister of foreign affairs, whom I was dealing with at the time, so everything was stalled.

Q: But eventually you were able to buy a diplomatic passport from Liberia?

A: Yes, I had my passport about three to four weeks after I paid. I was playing the role of consul of Liberia to the C.A.R. and I was pretty scared of what would happen if someone would call Monrovia and ask ‘who is this guy,’ because who

knows what they’d say.

Q: Does corruption go all the way to the top in these countries?

A: In the film, I met with the current minister of finance in Liberia who signed my accreditation papers, so that’s a good example of what level we are talking about. My accreditation papers were also signed by Ellen Johnson, the president of Liberia.

Q: Did you meet other bogus diplomats in the C.A.R.?

A: The Danish consul in Bangui is a Frenchman; he’s also

the ambassador of the Knights of Malta. He spoke no Danish. He had pictures of the Danish queen and prince framed in my office, but it was my impression that he’d never been to Denmark.

Q: But are some of the “honorary” diplomats legit?

A: Some of them are genuine for sure. As a journalist, I’ve

been to lots of places off the beaten track and when you go to third world countries, the diplomats you meet there, they are usually really weird people. If you’re sent to the Central African Republic, in the world of diplomacy, that is a punishment. That is the ultimate punishment. It had to be that you drank too much or maybe were involved in some criminal affair, so the diplomats who end up in places like the C.A.R. have to be very strange people.

Q: Did you have a plan involved for how the film would play out, or did you just go there and see what happened?

A: Once I set out on this journey of becoming a diplomat, I wondered where it would go — what kind of people I’d meet, what I’d encounter. The ultimate goal is to document and expose this very hidden world. My cover story was that I was going to start a matches production company. I partnered with this very corrupt, sinister member of the C.A.R. parliament, Mr. Gilbert — he was like a comic book villain, but I needed him to gain access to the blood diamonds.

The Washington Diplomat

May 2012

He’s a comic book villain with a big Mercedes and a gold tooth. I invested in one of his diamond mines. We flew into the wilderness to inspect the mine and get diamonds in return.

Q: How long were you in the C.A.R. filming?

A: Seven weeks. I was pushing the envelope, so

after seven weeks I thought it was time to go.

Q: How did you get away with this? No one asked you who the hell you were?

A: No one ever questioned who I was or what I

was doing there. I was dressing as a weird colonial character from the ’70s with tight business suits, knee-high leather boots and so on. I would tell people I was the consul and ambassador-atlarge to the Central African Republic. The Austrian consul asked me who I was once. I said my father made some investments in logging in Liberia. That was it and then I asked him if he’d like to have more caviar.

Q: Were you filming surreptitiously?

A: We shot the film with a hidden camera in an

office and the scenes outside the office were made with a small Canon EOS camera. It looks like a cheap, touristic camera, but it shoots hidegrade HD video. In the C.A.R., everyone thought that a camera this small couldn’t possibly be related to television or film. I told people the cameraman was my press officer and he was documenting my adventures in the C.A.R., but no one cared really.

Q: So officials were willing to engage in shady deals right on tape?

A: Mr. Gilbert would be sitting there telling me that what we are talking about is extremely secret and if anyone finds out, he and I would go to jail.

At the same time, the camera was literally five inches from his face. He thought nothing of it. No one ever told me to turn the camera off. I even met with Minister of Defense Jean Francois Bozize. He had no problem with me filming him.

from page 43

Dining sweets to finish off the menu. The domeshaped tiramisu served with a demitasse of hot chocolate and caramelized hazelnut is among the very best in the area. Bombolini, small and surprisingly light fried dough balls rolled in lemon sugar and served with hot chocolate sauce for dipping, simply redefine fried bread. Perhaps the most interesting yet lightest of the desserts is the Coppa Rinfrescante. A tart and slightly grainy lemon apricot sorbet topped with a mound of freshly whipped cream, it is served over poached apricots and almonds with a pizzella wafer.

And if you didn’t have pizza as part of the meal, there are several sweet varieties including a delightful pear, ricotta cheese, almond paste and chocolate concoction, as well as pineapple and orange marmalade versions topped with crumbled savoiardi cookies. There is also a heavenly but dense calzone filled with Nutella and banana.

Ilhan has made some interesting choices in staffing la Forchetta — and not only in bringing Donna back into the kitchen. Eric Felten, a cocktail historian and James Beard Award winner for drinks, has been tapped to create the cocktail list. A culture columnist for the Wall Street Journal and author of “How’s Your Drink?: Cocktails, Culture and the Art of Drinking Well,” Felten has never created a cocktail list for a restaurant. His initial offerings include American-style cock-

Q: Did you bring lots of money to bribe people?

A: I brought a lot of money with me, because I

knew we’d need to hand out a lot of ‘envelopes of happiness,’ but in that way, it’s a very transparent film. All the corruption and bribery I was involved in is declared in the film.

Q: How much did all those bribes cost you?

A: I didn’t add it all up in total. Tens of thousands

including the investment in the diamond mine.

Q: What did you do with the diamonds — did you actually smuggle them out of the country?

A: No, I didn’t leave the country with the diamonds. They were blood diamonds with no papers on them from the north of the Central African Republic. I took them to a Syrian-Armenian diamond dealer in Bangui to sell them. We gave the money we made to local partners to facilitate the incorporation of the matches factory. When I left Bangui for Paris, inside the custom area, the mining gendarme said, ‘Good morning, Monsieur Consul, how many karats do you have?’ — because they knew I’d been to the mining area.

Hotel Bangui. No one said, ‘What are you actually doing here?’ The C.A.R. is the ultimate hideaway, a country like this attracts the weirdest kind of shady people.

are only six to seven countries outside North Korea. There’s a gap of 50 years in knowledge; they don’t know about the Beatles, let alone iPods.

Q: And what’s been the result of the film so far?

A: The Dutch diplomatic title broker diplomatic

Q: Where there any other Westerners in North Korea when you were there?

services filed a lawsuit against us. He accused me of being a crook and a villain on Dutch TV.

Q: You’re a family man right? How does your wife feel about you jetting off to places like North Korea and the C.A.R. to make films?

A: Yes, I have a wife and two boys, [ages] 3 and 6. This comes after me having been in North Korea, so my wife is used to dealing with such situations, she’s used to it. She knew that was part of the package when she married me.

Q: Was it more difficult making your first film in North Korea or this one?

Q: Did you feel like you were taking a huge risk in making a movie like this in an unstable country like the C.A.R.?

A: The North Koreans were easier to deal with.

They’re hard-line Stalinists — once you’ve made a deal with them, they stick to it. North Korea is the ultimate slave state. The worst dictatorship in mankind. There’s an ambience of pure horror that stays with you for a long time. It’s terrible beyond anything you would encounter anywhere else.

A: The normal modes of social interaction don’t

Q: In your first film, “The Red Chapel,” you duped

work there, so while you are enjoying yourself having drinks with the son of the president, you could later on find yourself locked in a dungeon for something completely out of control. Once you realize that, you relax in a weird kind of way.

Before I was there, there was a group of Slovenian tourists who were arrested and charged with plans to create a coup there. I tried to stay away from diplomats from countries who would have the resources to look into what kind of person I am.

Q: So you kept a low profile?

A: Not that much. I rented the penthouse of the

tails made with distinctly Italian ingredients such as grappa, Averna Amaro (a liqueur made of herbs, roots and spices) and Cocchi Americano (a bitter-sweet Italian aperitif wine).

As with all new restaurants, there are still some kinks to be worked out. The front of the house is not yet functioning as smoothly as one might expect. Most of the wait staff is knowledgeable and eager to discuss the menu, but do not consistently manage the timing of dishes that well — all issues that can easily be remedied.

And with Donna strictly behind the kitchen and Ilhan managing the business side of the endeavor, La Forchetta may finally be the accomplished chef’s recipe for renewed success, albeit on a more modest scale. While Donna may have had serious difficulties running restaurants, his abilities in the kitchen have never been in doubt. Collaborating with Ilhan will allow him to focus on what he does best. Ilhan, on the other hand, has proven himself an adept businessman with the success of his other 21 eateries.

And because La Forchetta offers a comprehensive menu in the mid-price range, Washingtonians now have a unique opportunity to taste some of the genius that has marked Donna’s culinary career of extreme highs and lows — with the pendulum perhaps swinging back to the high side thanks to a low-key pizza joint.

Rachel G. Hunt is the restaurant reviewer for The Washington Diplomat.

the North Koreans into believing you were going there to document a Danish-North Korean cultural exchange. Was there any blowback once that film came out?

A: The North Korean ambassador to Sweden faxed a letter to the Danish Broadcasting Corp. saying that I’m a despicable person. You’ll never get into the minds of a North Korean person. You’ll meet well-educated people there who think there

A: There was just me and a Norwegian marathon runner. This was 2006. They let other people compete but they’re not allowed to win. I think they faked the ending — the Norwegian looked to be winning but then suddenly he wasn’t seen any more, they cut to two North Koreans crossing the finish line.

Q: What kind of film do you hope to make next?

A: I have some ideas but they won’t involve role-

playing as extreme as this. I think I’ve reached the end of this method for me. No one I dealt with on this project was able to find out about me just by Googling my name, but now I think I’d really need to change my appearance to get away with extreme role-playing again. I used my full name, which is Mads Cortsen Brügger, this time and I think that confused some people.

Q: Did you keep any souvenirs from your time in the C.A.R.?

A: I still have my diplomatic passport. It’s still valid. It’s the ultimate souvenir. I won’t use it again though. My career in African diplomacy is over.

Q: Perhaps you could apply for a U.S. visa using your Liberian diplomatic passport?

A: Maybe. And two hours later, I’d be in Guantanamo.

Dave Seminara is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat and a former diplomat based in Northern Virginia.

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May 2012

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The Washington Diplomat Page 45

[ film ]

CINEMA LISTING *Unless specific times are listed, please check the theater for times. Theater locations are subject to change.

Arabic Where Do We Go Now? (Et maintenant on va où?)

Directed by Nadine Labaki (France/Lebanon/Egypt/Italy, 2011

A group of Lebanese women try to ease religious tensions between Christians and Muslims in their village. (Arabic, Russian and English) Theater TBA Opens Fri., May 18

Little Otik Directed by Jan Svankmajer (Czech Republic/U.K./Japan, 2000, 132 min.)

Inspired by the folk tale “Otesánek,” in which a childless couple adopts a tree stump and treats it as their own baby, the “Little Otik” of the title grows disturbingly large and eventually consumes everything in its path.

National Gallery of Art Sun., May 27, 4:30 p.m.

English The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Directed by John Madden (U.K., 2012, 124 min.)

A group of British retirees decide to “outsource” their retirement to less expensive and seemingly exotic India. Enticed by ads for the newly restored Marigold Hotel, they arrive to find the palace a shell of its former self.

AFI Silver Theatre Opens Fri., May 11 Landmark’s E Street Cinema Opens Fri., May 4

The Cherry Orchard Directed by Michael Cacoyannis (Greece/France/Cyprus, 1999, 141 min.)

A spoiled, aging aristocratic lady returns from a trip to Paris to face the loss of her magnificent Cherry Orchard estate after a default on the mortgage. (English and French) National Gallery of Art Sun., May 20, 4 p.m.

Chimpanzee Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield (Tanzania/U.S., 2012, 78 min.)

Working together, a chimpanzee and his family — including his mom and the group’s savvy leader — navigates the complex territory of the forest.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story Directed by Jonathan Gruber and Ari Daniel Pinchot (U.S., 2012, 84 min.)

In 1976 Uganda, led by Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, crack Israeli commandos burst inside a non-descript airline terminal, killing stunned terrorists and evacuating 103 hostages. A lone shot sounds in the night, and Yonatan Netanyahu, brother of current

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

The Avalon Theatre Opens Fri., May 4

The Passenger

Gambit

Journalist Jack Nicholson is covering a conflict in North Africa. When he discovers the dead body of an acquaintance who resembled him, he assumes the dead man’s identity to explore his life — which turns out to be a dangerous one.

Directed by Ronald Neame (U.S., 1966, 109 min.)

Cockney cat burglar Michael Caine enlists the aid of Hong Kong hoofer Shirley MacLaine to distract wealthy art collector Herbert Lom long enough for Caine to swipe a priceless objet d’art.

AFI Silver Theatre Tue., May 15, 7 p.m., Wed., May 16, 9:30 p.m.

Hidalgo

Czech

Page 46

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, lay dead.

THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT

Directed by Joe Johnston (U.S., 2004, 136 min.)

Viggo Mortensen stars as an American cowboy who competes with his mustang Hidalgo in the Ocean of Fire, a 3,000-milelong race across the Arabian Desert traditionally reserved for purebred Arabian horses, AFI Silver Theatre Sun., May 13, 7:45 p.m.

The Island President Directed by Jon Shenk (U.S., 2011, 101 min.)

This documentary looks at the tiny islands of the Maldives and the country’s first democratically elected president (recently ousted in a coup), Mohamed Nasheed, as he fights to sound the alarm about climate change. (English and Dhivehi) Landmark’s E Street Cinema

The Lady Directed by Luc Besson (France/U.S., 2011, 127 min.)

Michelle Yeoh stars in the story of Aung San Suu Kyi, as she becomes the core of Burma’s democracy movement, and her relationship with her husband, writer Michael Aris. (English and Burmese)

Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni (Italy/France/Spain, 1975, 126 min.)

AFI Silver Theatre May 12 to 17

Patton Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (U.S., 1970, 172 min.)

George C. Scott’s magnetic, Oscar-winning performance as controversial General George S. Patton, Jr. ranks as one of the screen’s great larger-than-life performances, as he recounts the battles of North Africa and the liberation of France.

AFI Silver Theatre Sun., May 27, 1 p.m., Mon., May 28, 1 p.m.

Pom Poko Directed by Isao Takahata (Japan, 1994, 119 min.)

A forest-dwelling Japanese community of tanuki — mysterious, mischievous raccoon-like creatures with the power to change shape — rallies into action to defend their homes from a new housing development.

AFI Silver Theatre Sat., May 12, 11:05 a.m., Sun., May 13, 11:05 a.m.

Porco Rosso Directed by Hayao Miyazaki (Japan, 1992, 94 min.)

The star of this animated film is a swashbuckling tough guy aviator who just happens to be a pig, doing battle with pirates and other evildoers in 1920s Italy.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

AFI Silver Theatre Sat., May 5, 11:30 a.m., Sun., May 6, 11 a.m.

The Man from Snowy River

Princess Mononoke

Directed by George Miller (Australia, 1982, 102 min.)

Kirk Douglas heads to the Australian lowlands to earn enough money to buy back his family’s ranch and horses, playing two brothers who haven’t spoken in years: one a peg-legged old prospector, the other a heartless rancher in this down-under Western.

AFI Silver Theatre Sun., May 13, 3:30 p.m.

Marley Directed by Kevin Macdonald (U.S./U.K., 2012, 145 min.)

Director Kevin Macdonald’s documentary of Bob Marley is the definitive life story of the musician, revolutionary and legend, from his early days to his rise to international superstardom.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones (U.K., 1975, 89 min.)

King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Grail, converting Arthurian legend into uncontrollable lunacy.

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki (Japan, 1997, 134 min.)

This epic fable on ecology and spirituality set a new benchmark in philosophical and artistic sophistication for anime, as a pack of wolf-gods and their titular warrior princess, a girl they raised from a foundling, defend their forest home from the encroachment of humans and the malefaction of marauding demons.

AFI Silver Theatre May 25 to 28

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Directed by Lasse Hallström (U.S., 2012, 111 min.)

A visionary sheik believes his passion for the peaceful pastime of salmon fishing can enrich the lives of his people, so he enlists the help of a British fisheries expert and overzealous press secretary to bring the sport to the not-so-fish-friendly desert.

AFI Silver Theatre

Surviving Progress Directed by Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks (Canada, 2011, 86 min.)

This intelligent and compelling documenta-

May 2012

ry explores the concept of progress in our modern world, guiding us through a sweeping but detailed survey of the major “progress traps” facing our civilization in the arenas of technology, economics, consumption and the environment.

Arabic)

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

This smash hit from France follows the daily lives of a tight-knit team of men and women working in the Child Protection Unit of the Parisian police.

Whisper of the Heart Directed by Yoshifumi Kondô (Japan, 1995, 111 min.)

Through a curious and magical incidents during her summer vacation before high school, Shizuku meets and establishes a connection to Seiji — who dreams of becoming a famous violinmaker in Italy, while she aspires to become a writer.

AFI Silver Theatre Sat., May 19, 11:05 a.m., Sun., May 20, 11:05 a.m., Mon., May 21, 6:45 p.m.

Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin) Directed by Wim Wenders (W. Germany/France, 1987, 128 min.)

After an eternity of looking after mortal beings, observing their lives, their loves, their passions and pains, intrigued angel Bruno Ganz decides to join them, crossing over to live life as they do and discovering love with a circus acrobat.

AFI Silver Theatre May 25 to 29

French Elles Directed by Malgoska Szumowska (France/Poland/Germany, 2011, 96 min.)

A provocative exploration of female sexuality, “Elles” stars the fearless Juliette Binoche as a well-off Parisian journalist investigating the lives of two student prostitutes for a magazine article.

The Avalon Theatre

Farewell, my Queen (Les adieux à la reine) Directed by Benoît Jacquot (France, 2012, 100 min.)

At the eve of the French Revolution, aristocrats and servants desert the palace of Versailles, leaving the royal family alone.

But Sidonie Laborde, a young queen’s reader, refuses to flee, feeling secure under the protection of Marie-Antoinette.

La Maison Française Mon., May 21, 7 p.m.

Free Men (Les homes libres) Directed by Ismaël Ferroukhi (France, 2011, 99 min.)

In World War II Paris, an Algerian immigrant is inspired to join the resistance by his unexpected friendship with a Jewish man.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema Opens Fri., May 4

Monsieur Lazhar Directed by Philippe Falardeau (Canada, 2011, 94 min.)

At a Montréal public grade school, an Algerian immigrant is hired to replace a popular teacher who committed suicide in her classroom, and while helping his students deal with their grief, his own recent loss is revealed. (French, English and

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Polisse Directed by Maïwenn (France, 2011, 127 min.)

Landmark’s E Street Cinema Opens Fri., May 25

German The Last Hour of Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu (Die letzten Tage der Ceausescus) Directed by Milo Rau and Simone Eisenring (Germany, 2010, 72 min.)

Based on authentic video footage and eyewitness accounts, this film examines the final days of Nicolae Ceausescu, head of the communist regime in Romania, and his wife Elena, who were considered the most despotic rulers in post-war Europe.

Goethe-Institut Mon., May 14, 6:30 p.m.

Westwind Directed by Robert Thalheim (Germany, 2011, 90 min.)

In 1988, inseparable 17-year-old twins travel from their East German town to Hungary’s Lake Balaton to train for an upcoming rowing competition, but when they impetuously accept a ride from a West German teen and his mates, resulting attractions threatens the girls’ bond.

Goethe-Institut Mon., May 7, 6:30 p.m.

Greek Electra (Ilektra) Directed by Michael Cacoyannis (Greece, 1962, 120 min.)

A rocky landscape photographed in striking black and white becomes “Electra’s” extended stage, completely open and exposed but also hermetic and eternal in Michael Cacoyannis’s theatrical yet blunt rendition of the Greek classic.

National Gallery of Art Sat., May 26, 3:30 p.m.

Hindi Bobby Directed by Raj Kapoor (India, 1973, 168 min.)

Raj Kapoor’s charming paean to youth, starring his son Rishi, follows a young couple who hit the road pursued by a zany horde of bounty-hunting bandits.

AFI Silver Theatre Sat., May 26, 4:10 p.m.

My Name Is Joker (Mera Naam Joker) Directed by Raj Kapoor (India, 1970, 199 min.)

Raj Kapoor’s legendary film maudlin, about a mopey, love-obsessed clown and his three pathetically failed affairs, is a compulsively watchable, astonishing train

The Washington Diplomat

May 2012

wreck of a film.

AFI Silver Theatre Sun., May 19, 3 p.m.

Where the Ganges Flows (Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai) Directed by Radhu Karmakar (India, 1960, 182 min.)

Raj Kapoor stars as a bumbling pilgrim to the Ganges who tries to convert a band of brigands into modern-day Robin Hoods.

AFI Silver Theatre Sat., May 12, 3:30 p.m.

Italian The Salt of Life (Gianni e le donne) Directed by Gianni Di Gregorio (Italy, 2011, 90 min.)

A middle-age retiree contends with an aristocratic, spendthrift mother, a wife who is more patronizing friend than romantic partner, and a daughter with a slacker boyfriend.

(Japan, 1957, 110 min.)

Transforming “Macbeth” into a medieval Japanese legend, Akira Kurosawa masterfully establishes the right mood of obsessive madness and is even more ruthless than the Shakespeare original.

National Gallery of Art Fri., May 4, 2 p.m.

Kashmiri Valley of Saints Directed by Musa Syeed (India/U.S., 2012, 82 min.)

A frustrated tourist boat operator on Kashmir’s Dal Lake dreams of escaping with his best friend, but when he meets a beautiful American scientist, their blossoming romance disrupts his friendship and dreams for a new life.

Freer Gallery of Art Sun., May 13, 2 p.m.

Korean The Unjust

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Directed by Ryu Seung-wan (South Korea, 2010, 119 min.)

We Have a Pope (Habemus Papam)

Nicknamed “The Action Kid” in Korea, filmmaker Ryu Seung-wan delivers the best film of his career with this sprawling tale of corruption in the South Korean criminal justice system.

Directed by Nanni Moretti (Italy/France, 2011, 105 min.)

A cardinal who suddenly finds himself elected as the next pope panics as he’s presented to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square. To prevent a worldwide crisis, the Vatican calls in an unlikely psychiatrist who is neither religious nor all that committed. (Italian and multiple other languages) Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Japanese Equinox Flower (Higanbana) Directed by Yasujiro Ozu (Japan, 1958, 118 min.)

Yasujiro Ozu’s first color film returns to one of his favorite themes, finding stability in a discordant family “condition,” which in this case is arranged marriages at a time when they were being challenged by the postwar generation.

National Gallery of Art Sat., May 5, 3:30 p.m.

AFI Silver Theatre Tue., May 22, 6:45 p.m., Wed., May 23, 9:20 p.m.

Norwegian Headhunters (Hodejegerne) Directed by Morten Tyldum (Norway/Germany, 2011, 100 min.)

This period piece about a bored 20-something looking back on her childhood beautifully evokes both the 1960s and 1980s, and the quintessential drama of Japanese school-day nostalgia.

AFI Silver Theatre Wed., May 2, 7 p.m.

Throne of Blood (Kumonosu-jô) Directed by Akira Kurosawa

The Hungry Wolves (Aç kurtlar)

The Poor (Zavallilar)

Directed by Herbert Brenon (U.S., 1924, 105 min.)

In this version long thought to be lost and recently restored, teenager Betty Bronson stars as Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up, and charms Wendy Darling and her brothers to fly with him to Never-Never Land.

AFI Silver Theatre Sun., May 20, 4:15 p.m.

Turkish Bride of the Earth (Seyit Han) Directed by Yilmaz Güney (Turkey, 1968, 78 min.)

The first film that Yilmaz Güney acknowledged as a fully realized effort, Bride of the Earth stars the director himself as a man separated from his bride-to-be by the superstitions and feudal conditions of rural life.

Russian The Other Chelsea A Story from Donetsk (The Other Chelsea - Eine Geschichte aus Donezk)

Silent The Little Princess Directed by Marshall Neilan (U.S., 1917, 62 min.)

“America’s Sweetheart” Mary Pickford stars in this early adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic tale about a strong-willed girl who struggles to fit in at her new boarding school with its cruel headmistress, sent there while her beloved father has gone off to war.

Directed by Yilmaz Güney (Turkey, 1969, 70 min.)

Both hunter and hunted, a bandit (director Yilmaz Güney) lives in a desolate snowscape, where he becomes increasingly desperate to protect his family from his enemies.

Freer Gallery of Art Sun., May 6, 2 p.m.

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da) Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey/Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2011, 157 min.)

A murder suspect leads a convoy of police to the site of the crime, but the killer cannot recall where he left the body, so the convey travels through the deserted countryside as conversations along the way reveal not only the facts of the crime but political attitudes and personal longings.

Directed by Yilmaz Güney and Atif Yilmaz (Turkey, 1974, 78 min.)

On a winter night as three convicts are released, a complex structure of flashbacks describes how they came to be imprisoned, revealing that their lives have been marked with betrayal, degradation and violence stemming from their poverty.

Freer Gallery of Art Sun., May 6, 3:30 p.m.

Yol Directed by Yilmaz Güney (Turkey, 1982, 114 min.)

The lives of five prisoners are revealed when they’re allowed a week to return home, where tradition is as much of a prison as a jailhouse itself.

Goethe-Institut Mon., May 21, 6:30 p.m.

Freer Gallery of Art Sun., May 20, 2 p.m.

Elegy (Agit) Directed by Yilmaz Güney (Turkey, 1971, 80 min.)

The macho braggadocio and violence of four smugglers working in a desolate, mountainous region is contrasted with the quiet determination of a doctor who ministers to the impoverished villagers as best as she can.

Freer Gallery of Art Sun., May 20, 3:30 p.m.

At a seaside resort, a wealthy aristocrat from an impoverished small town finds himself reunited with a childhood friend in this film that examines the alienation of the Turkish middle classes by contrasting their empty lives with the struggles of the peasantry.

Only Yesterday Directed by Isao Takahata (Japan, 1991, 118 min.)

Peter Pan

Landmark’s E Street Cinema Opens Fri., May 4

Goethe-Institut Wed., May 2, 6:30 p.m.

This plaintive account of the impending demise of a geisha house depicts the relationships among a range of women.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema Opens Fri., May 11

The Friend (Arkadas)

National Gallery of Art Sat., May 5, 1 p.m.

Directed by Mikio Naruse (Japan, 1956, 117 min.)

Goethe-Institut Wed., May 16, 6:30 p.m.

An accomplished headhunter risks everything to obtain a valuable painting owned by a former mercenary. (Norwegian and Danish)

Directed by Jakob Preuss (Germany, 2010, 88 min.)

In a poor coal-mining area of Ukraine, a billionaire invests heavily in the local football club, which is becoming a major European force during the season — yet this sporting success funded by an oligarch fortune only seems to highlight the wider social and political stagnation of the region.

Flowing (Nagareru)

AFI Silver Theatre Sat., May 19, 1:30 p.m.

Directed by Yilmaz Güney (Turkey, 1974, 100 min.)

Freer Gallery of Art Fri., May 11, 7 p.m.

The Herd (Sürü) Directed by Yilmaz Güney (Turkey, 1978, 129 min.)

“The Herd” has a simple premise that it utilizes to devastating effect: The economic survival of a Kurdish family depends on its ability to drive its herd of sheep from the mountains to Ankara.

Goethe-Institut Wed., May 9, 6:30 p.m.

READIN’

ART

’RITING ’RITHMETIC

Royal dukes are squaresville.

They have no rhythm.

And they wear crowns.

Give your kids a chance to succeed. Up their daily dose of art.

Hope (Umut) Directed by Yilmaz Güney (Turkey, 1970, 100 min.)

When one of his horses is killed in a car collision, a cab driver must find a way to keep his large family afloat, so he and a friend set out on a journey across the desert to retrieve a mythical buried treasure — their last remaining hope.

May 2012

The Washington Diplomat Page 47

[ around town ]

EVENTS LISTING **Admission is free unless otherwise noted.

All information on event venues can be found on The Washington Diplomat Web site at www.washdiplomat.com. Times and locations are subject to change. Unless listed, please call venue for specific event times and hours of operation.

ART May 4 to June 29

Le Temps Devant (Our Time Ahead)

The Alliance Française de Washington presents works by Frédéric Nauczyciel, who recognizes and reveals the anachronism of the survival of a utopic life that exists in the countryside among people who have explicitly chosen a rural life in the 21st century.

Honfleur Gallery Through May 5

15

To celebrate 15 years as an international gallery in Washington, International Visions’ next exhibit is a group show featuring artists who have worked with at the gallery over the years, including Stanley Agbontaen, Annette Isham and Helen Zughaib.

International Visions Gallery Through May 5

A Thousand and One Faces of Mexico: Masks from the Ruth D. Lechuga Collection

Masks have always been an integral part of a society’s rituals and ceremonies. This exhibit displays more than 140 masks from the expansive collection of Ruth D. Lechuga (1920-2004), who traveled around Mexico for 50 years collecting more than 10,000 pieces, including 1,200 masks, which constitute one of the most important folk art collections in Mexico.

Mexican Cultural Institute Through May 6

Innovative Sweden

This exhibit showcases the latest in the fields of clean technology, information and communication technologies, life science and gaming — from hydrogen fuel cells and eye-tracking devices to cleaning water with sunshine and cameras that see in the dark.

House of Sweden Through May 6

Picasso’s Drawings, 1890-1921: Reinventing Tradition

Through some 55 works, this exhibition presents the dazzling development of Pablo Picasso’s drawings over a 30-year period, from the precocious academic exercises of his youth in the 1890s to the virtuoso works of the early 1920s, including the radical innovations of cubism and collage.

National Gallery of Art Through May 6

Shadows of History: Photographs of the Civil War from the Collection of Julia J. Norrell

Inspired by the 150th anniversary of the Civil War — one of the first conflicts to be extensively documented by photography — this focused collection developed in recent

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years by Washington collector Julia Norrell captures a wide range of images, from soldiers and officers at rest, to the death and destruction of battle.

Corcoran Gallery of Art Through May 6

Snapshot: Painters and Photography, Bonnard to Vuillard

Approximately 200 snapshots made by renowned post-impressionist artists like Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard using the new technology of the Kodak handheld camera, most previously unpublished, are displayed with 70 paintings and works on paper that the snapshots inspired, revealing fascinating parallels in cropping, lighting and vantage point.

The Phillips Collection Through May 6

Tim Hetherington: Sleeping Soldiers

Between 2007 and 2008, photographer Tim Hetherington (1970-2011) was embedded with U.S. Army soldiers in a remote and dangerous post in northeastern Afghanistan. This exhibition includes photographs and a video installation that juxtaposes chaotic scenes of combat with still images of soldiers at rest.

THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT ist Ai Weiwei’s monumental installation 2005 “Fragments,” in which he turned pillars and beams of ironwood (or tieli) salvaged from several dismantled Qing dynasty temples into a large-scale, seemingly chaotic work, which he calls an “irrational structure.”

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Through May 13

Åland – Paradise Found

Stunning photographs by Daniel Eriksson celebrate 90 years of autonomy for the Åland Islands, a beautiful, unspoiled archipelago of Finland that’s home to 6,500 islands and 27,500 people.

Embassy of Finland Through May 13

Suprasensorial: Experiments in Light, Color, and Space

“Suprasensorial” is the first exhibition to re-evaluate the evolution of the international Light and Space movement through the work of five pivotal Latin American artists.

Coinciding with the show, a 360-degree projection by Doug Aitken will illuminate, animate and transform the Hirshhorn’s entire façade.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Corcoran Gallery of Art

Through May 16

May 6 to Aug. 12

En Foco has developed the first permanent collection in America dedicated to U.S.based photographers of Latin American, African, Asian and Native American heritage, creating a parallel history of photography by bringing together artists and images largely absent from the mainstream photography field and unseen by the public.

Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape

Through some 120 paintings, drawings, sculptures, and prints from a career spanning almost a century, the exhibition reveals a politically engaged side to Joan Miró’s work, including his passionate response to one of the most turbulent periods in European history as well as his sense of Spanish — specifically Catalonian — identity.

National Gallery of Art May 9 to Aug. 31

Daniel Libeskind: Architecture for the Angel of History

Photographs depict the striking work of Daniel Libeskind, who designed several museums of national significance as well as living expressions of memory, including the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the Military History Museum in Dresden. On May 18 at 2 p.m., Chase W. Rynd, executive director of the National Building Museum, discusses what role architecture plays in the culture of memory?

Goethe-Institut Through May 12

Leading Contemporary Latvian Painters

A selection of evocative paintings from nine contemporary artists in Latvia brings together romantic realism, playful primativism, hypnotic portraits and geometric abstraction to illustrate the many ways in which artwork helps us reflect on contemporary realities and widen our vision of the world. For information, visit www.latviausa.org.

Embassy of Latvia May 12 to April 7

Perspectives: Ai Weiwei

This exhibition features prolific Chinese art-

En Foco | In Focus

Art Museum of the Americas Through May 20

Floating World: 19th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints

Borrowed from the Sakai Collection of the Japan Ukiyoe Museum, “Floating World” consists of 70 UKIYOE pieces of 19th century woodblock prints that concentrate on the Sakura theme and the beginning period of U.S.-Japan cultural exchange.

American University Katzen Arts Center Through May 20

Ñew York

Works by outstanding young Latin American and Spanish artists residing in New York City pay tribute to a long-lost artistic exchange and revive innovative communication channels between Latin and Spanish plastic and visual artists, reflecting on mobility in an era of widespread displacement where both global and local barriers are broken down.

Organization of American States Art Museum of the Americas Through May 20

Shakespeare’s Sisters: Voices of English and European Women Writers, 1500-1700

This exhibition explores those women who were writing during Shakespeare’s time, reimagining the “conversations” of these early women writers — with each other as members of families or groups, with the Bible, with spiritual and secular ideas, and

May 2012

with male writers of the time — in hopes of expanding their overshadowed voices.

Folger Shakespeare Library Through May 20

Thousand Regards

Japanese-American artist Tomokazu Matsuyama’s “Thousand Regards” blends Eastern and Western aesthetics into painting and sculpture that resists categorization and cultural belonging.

American University Katzen Arts Center Through May 30

Costantino Nivola: 100 Years of Creativity

On the 100th anniversary of his birth, the Italian Cultural Institute is paying tribute to one of Italy’s most acclaimed sculptors, Costantino Nivola (1911-88), renowned for combining architecture with sculpture in his bas-relief and semi-abstract artwork, as well as for his technique of sand casting in cement.

Italian Cultural Institute May 31 to June 14

2 Museums, 2 Nations, 1 Identity

This yearlong art initiative linked youth in El Salvador with those of Salvadoran origin in Washington, D.C., as part of the State Department’s strategic efforts to strengthen people-to-people connections through museums worldwide.

Art Museum of the Americas Through June 1

Contemporary Uruguayan Artists

To honor Uruguay and the city of Montevideo, site of the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank, 13 artists specializing in painting, print, sculpture, mixed media and photography offer a panorama of contemporary Uruguayan creativity, revisiting history and changes that have transformed the nation’s culture, environment and traditions.

Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center Through June 2

The Style that Ruled the Empires: Russia, Napoleon, and 1812

Paintings, porcelain, glassware, metal ware, attire, Napoleonic armor and other items commemorate the bicentennial of Russia’s triumph over the French army in 1812, which dealt an arresting blow to Napoleon and his pursuit of European conquest while also igniting a collective Russian pride and production of decorative arts that persists today.

Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens Through June 17

Hokusai: 36 Views of Mount Fuji

The most acclaimed print series by Japan’s most famous artist, “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” by Katsushika Hokusai (1760– 1849) contains images of worldwide renown, including “The Great Wave.”

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Through July 6

Alberto Schommer: Portraits and Scenarios

Alberto Schommer, one of Spain’s most

prominent photographers, has pioneered a path challenging conventional forms, including a series of psychological portraits, always guided under the influence of the oeuvre of Irving Penn and William Klein.

Part of the “Spain arts & culture” series (www.spainculture.us).

Embassy of Spain Through July 8

Masters of Mercy: Buddha’s Amazing Disciples

Kano Kazunobu’s (1816–1863) phantasmagoric paintings reflect a popular theme in Edo art: the lives and deeds of the Buddha’s legendary 500 disciples.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Through July 29

From the Library: The Fleeting Structures of Early Modern Europe

In early modern Europe, state visits, coronations and weddings were among the occasions that gave cities a chance to stage lavish productions in which artists and architects designed elaborate structures and decorations, allowing them to experiment with new ideas or encourage city officials to consider new uses of public space.

National Gallery of Art Through July 31

Joan Miró from the Collection of the Kreeger Museum

Joan Miró was a perfectionist who insisted he was a “self-taught amateur” to transgress traditional techniques, especially in pursuit of printmaking as a medium for his breathtaking expressions of Catalan culture. This exhibition marks the first time the Kreeger’s complete collection of works by Miró will be on view, including T”he Mallorca Suite,” “Makimono,” and “El Vol de l’Alosa (The Flight of the Lark).”

The Kreeger Museum Through Sept. 26

To Know Wisdom and Instruction: The Armenian Literary Tradition at the Library of Congress

The era of Armenian printing began in 1512, when Hakob Meghapart (Jacob the Sinner) opened an Armenian press in Venice. To mark the quincentenary of that event and UNESCO’s designation of the Armenian capital of Yerevan as its Book Capital of the World 2012, the Library of Congress highlights the Armenian literary tradition from the era of manuscripts to contemporary publishing.

Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building Through Jan. 6

Dragons, Nagas, and Creatures of the Deep

In the Spirit of the East Asian calendar’s Year of the Dragon, this exhibition highlights objects drawn from cultures as diverse as the ancient Mediterranean world, imperial China and contemporary South America, portraying dragons as everything from fire-breathing beasts to beneficent water gods.

The Textile Museum

The Washington Diplomat

May 2012

DANCE Sat., May 5, 8 p.m.

Tango Mania

More than two dozen performers, including dancers and musicians from the Pan American Symphony Orchestra, demonstrate the fiery romance and intense intimacy of Argentine tango. Tickets are $30 to $45.

GW Lisner Auditorium Sat., May 5, 8 p.m., Sun., May 6, 6 p.m.

Nruthyanjalie: Traditional and Folk Dance of Sri Lanka

CityDance presents “Nruthyanjalie,” an evening of traditional Sri Lankan dance where intricate movements, drum rhythms and elaborate costumes build on thousands of years of traditions in everyday village life, Buddhist religious customs, and ceremonial celebrations for the island’s royalty.

Tickets are $25.

Music Center at Strathmore May 9 to 13

¡Noche Latina!

The Washington Ballet’s all-new mixed repertory program celebrating Latin music and dance includes world premieres by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Edwaard Liang, and the company premiere of Trey McIntyre’s “Like a Samba.” Tickets are $20 to $125.

Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater May 29 to June 3

Bolshoi Ballet: Coppélia

Led by Artistic Director Sergei Filin, Moscow’s renowned Bolshoi Ballet performs the evening-length production of Petipa and Cecchetti’s “Coppélia,” one of classical ballet’s greatest comedies. Tickets start at $29.

Kennedy Center Opera House

Events Highlight When it comes to Iraq, the ravages of war still dominate the headlines, but long before today’s turbulence, the country known in classical antiquity as Mesopotamia was home to the oldest civilizations in the world, with a cultural history spanning more than 10,000 years.

That’s the side of the country that the Iraqi Cultural Center in Washington has been working to highlight.

Embodying that storied past, as well as hopes for Iraq’s future, is the Two Rivers ensemble of Middle Eastern and Western musicians who combine jazz with the traditional style of Arabic music known as maqam. The group performs May 11 and 12 at the cultural center as part of an Embassy Series-hosted concert.

Iraqi-American trumpeter Amir ElSaffar was behind the group’s 2008 debut album “Two Rivers,” whose title referred to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, as well as to the twin rivers of human blood spilled when Baghdad (a pillar of 13thcentury civilization) was sacked by the Mongols. It also represented two streams of musical thought that merged Western jazz improvisation and Iraqi classical music.

“These artists are unique in the American scene and

FESTIVALS May 17 to May 25

Urban Corps: A Transatlantic Hip-Hop Festival

Urban Corps unites French and American hip-hop dance crews and experts who share the distinctive French story of this powerful, socially driven art form with performances and complementary events that highlight the interpretation of hip-hop by classically trained French dancers who integrate contemporary dance, theater, mime, circus, capoeira and other styles into their art. For information, visit www. francedc.org.

Various locations

Wed., May 2, 7 p.m.

Sun., May 20, 2 to 9 p.m.

The monthly “Wine Tasting 101” soirées — with veteran wine journalist Claire MorinGibourg — explores the regions and vineyards in France, as well as tasting techniques, with May’s tasting featuring Château Lafon-Rochet and owner and winemaker Basile Tesseron. Tickets are $70.

Kennedy Center Opera House

Fusion of ‘Two Rivers’

DISCUSSIONS Le Studio: Wine Tasting 101

can’t have — is still celebrated as one of Massenet’s finest works 120 years after the opera’s premiere. Tickets start at $25.

Italians in DC Festival 2012

The Italians in DC Festival presents Italy and contemporary Italian pop culture to Washingtonians through a juried art show, live concert, food, wine and educational activities for children. Admission is free; tickets for a wine or aperitif tasting are $30.

Fri., May 4, 6:30 p.m.

Library of Congress Montpelier Room Wed., May 16, 6:30 p.m.

Fire and Ice

From the Pacific’s Ring of Fire to the fjords of Patagonia, we live in a world of extremes. To understand what this reveals about our planet, planetary geologist Jim Zimbelman takes us on a virtual tour of the great volcanoes on Earth. Tickets are $30; for information, visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.

S. Dillon Ripley Center

Venetian Ball

Things to Do in DC’s third annual Venetian Ball features an Italian open bar and desserts, as well as an orchestra performance, Venetian ballroom dance presentation, Venetian casino, masquerade contest and late-night DJ and dancing. Tickets are $89; for information, visit http://thingstododc.com.

WANT TO GO? Tickets are $80, including Middle Eastern buffet. For information, please call (202) 625-2361 or visit www.embassyseries.org.

Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium

Tue., May 15, 6:30 p.m.

Fri., May 4, 8:30 p.m.

— Anna Gawel

Refugees International’s 33rd Anniversary Dinner will honor social entrepreneur Lauren Bush Lauren with the McCallPierpaoli Humanitarian Award, which recognizes those who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership and commitment to humanitarian action, and will be presented by Queen Noor of Jordan. Tickets are $400.

GALAS

The Phillips Collection

many are of Iraqi origin,” said Jerome Barry, founder and artistic director of the Embassy Series. “When they performed with us last year, people were enthralled with the high quality and entertainment value of their music. We feel that artists like this are great examples of musical diplomacy at work, the hallmark of the Embassy Series.”

Refugees International 33rd Anniversary Dinner

La Maison Française

The Phillips Collection’s Annual Gala offers dining among the museum’s masterpieces followed by a Havana-themed after-party in the stunning ballroom of neighboring Anderson House, with all gala proceeds supporting the museum’s education programs. For ticket information, call (202) 459-0867 or email phillipscollectiongala@ linderassociates.com.

The Shakespeare Theatre Photo: Embassy Series

Thu., May 10, 6:15 p.m.

Sat., May 5, 8 p.m., Sat., May 19, 8 p.m.

A discussion with Romanian-born author Herta Müller — hailed by the Nobel Prize Committee for depicting the “landscape of the dispossessed” with “the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose” — discusses and reads from her works, which are most striking in their stirring description of everyday life under a totalitarian system. To RSVP, call (202) 2891200 ext. 164 or email rsvp@washington. goethe.org.

The wily servant Truffaldino devises a zany scheme to double his wages by serving two masters at once, but mayhem erupts when identities are mistaken, engagements are broken, and lovers are reunited in this commedia dell’arte masterpiece. Tickets are $39 to $95.

National Mall

MUSIC

The Phillips Collection Annual Gala

The Servant of Two Masters

Trust for the National’s 4th Annual Ball on the Mall — held on the National Mall — for dinner prepared by Design Cuisine, followed by dancing and a live band, all to help realize the Trust’s goal to revitalize and improve the National Mall, home to the enduring symbols of our democracy. Tickets are $175; for information, visit www.nationalmall.org/events/ball-on-the-mall.

Woodrow Wilson Plaza and Aria Restaurant

An Evening with Nobel Prize Laureate Herta Müller

May 15 to June 24

Debussy 150th Birthday Festival

The National Philharmonic presents two concerts that celebrate the rich, evocative works of Claude Debussy in this festival marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of the most important French composers — with an all-Debussy program featuring pianist Brian Ganz (May 5) and Debussy’s “Martyrdom of St. Sebastian” (May 19). Tickets start at $28.

Trust for the National’s 4th Annual Ball on the Mall

More than 1,000 guests will gather for the

May 6 to July 1

Xanadu

Funky legwarmers and neon glow sticks are back with the Washington premiere of the musical comedy hit “Xanadu,” as Kira, one of seven quirky Greek muses, emboldens struggling artist Sonny to create the first roller disco. Tickets start at $63.

Signature Theatre

Las Quiero a las Dos (I Want Them Both)

A husband packs to run off with his lover, but his wife locks him in as she waits for “the other one” to unleash a scandal in Teatro de la Luna’s comedy that uses the classic love triangle as the base for an intelligent theatrical game that examines what happens when people want no ties, social or legal. Tickets are $30 to $35.

Gunston Arts Center May 12 to 27

Werther

With its lush score of tragically beautiful music, “Werther” — the story of a young poet desperately in love with a woman he

THEATER Through May 6

Long Day’s Journey Into Night In Eugene O’Neill’s autobiographical

Kennedy Center Terrace Theater Through May 20

The 39 Steps

With four actors playing over 150 characters, this classic Hitchcock thriller takes a comedic turn when Richard Hannay agrees to take home a mysterious woman he meets at the theater — and unexpectedly finds himself thrown into a world of spies and adventure. Tickets start at $26.

Olney Theatre Center Through May 20

SCENA Theatre presents Conor McPherson’s story set in in a coastal suburb north of Dublin city, where James “Sharky” Harkin tries to stay off the bottle while contending with his hard-drinking, blind older brother and his own haunted conscience. Tickets are $25 to $35.

H Street Playhouse Through May 21

For the first time in its 56-year history, Washington National Opera (WNO) presents Giuseppe Verdi’s early masterpiece “Nabucco,” which tells the Biblical tale of the defeat, enslavement, and exile of the Jews in Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.

Tickets start at $25.

Kennedy Center Opera House May 31 to July 1

Home of the Soldier

The world premiere of this new textbased play commemorates the heroism of the armed forces with a dynamic story that follows a young American through the landscape of war. Tickets are $45 to $55.

Synetic Theater at Crystal City

CULTURE GUIDE

Oh Happy Day Brunch

The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C.

A Japanese treasure, Mansaki Nomura’s company is known for captivating interpretations of Kyogen, a style of spoken drama based on laughter and comedy. Tickets are $40.

Nabucco

May 10 to June 2

Sun., May 20, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

An inspiring gospel performance by a local gospel choir will resonate throughout the Ritz’s ballroom as Sunday brunchers enjoy executive chef Yves Samake’s buffet of Southern cuisine with a “side” of joyful gospel singing to benefit Boystown’s mission of improving the lives of at-risk youth.

Brunch is $75, including tax and gratuity.

The Mansaku-No-Kai Kyogen Company

The Seafarer

Arena Stage

Music Center at Strathmore

Embassy of Italy Sat., May 5, 6 p.m.

masterwork, delusion and disenchantment have pitted the Tyrone family members against one another for decades, until they’re forced to either confront their defeated dreams or be forever doomed to a cycle of guilt and resentment.

Call for ticket information.

Thu., May 17, 7:30 p.m.

Plan Your Entire Weekend.

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May 2012

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The Washington Diplomat Page 49

DIPLOMATIC SPOTLIGHT

The Washington Diplomat

May 2012

Francophonie 2012

Photo: gail scott

Ambassador of Switzerland Manuel Sager, left, and French Embassy Cultural Attaché Roland Celette attend the opening reception of the 2012 Francophonie Cultural Festival at the Embassy of Luxembourg.

Ambassador of Mauritius Somduth Soborun, left, and Ambassador of Cape Verde Maria de Fatima Lima da Veiga attend the opening reception of the 2012 Francophonie Cultural Festival.

From left, wife of the Luxembourg ambassador Louise Akerblom, Ambassador of Bulgaria Elena Poptodorova Petrova, and Ambassador of Luxembourg Jean-Paul Senninger attend the opening reception of the 2012 Francophonie Cultural Festival at the Embassy of Luxembourg.

Director of the Austrian Cultural Forum Andrea Schrammel, left, and Executive Director of Alliance Française Thomas Chaurin attend the opening reception for Francophonie 2012, an annual celebration of the French-speaking world in Washington, D.C.

From left, Economic Minister Counselor at the Belgian Embassy Bruno Jan, Ambassador of Belgium Jan Mathyssen and his wife Agnes Mathyssen, President of Francophonie in Washington Bernard Geenen, who is also the Belgian Embassy economic and commercial counselor and liaison officer to World Bank and IDB Groups, and his wife Natalie Geenen attend the opening reception of the 2012 Francophonie Cultural Festival at the Embassy of Luxembourg.

THIS for Diplomats Spring Soiree

From left, Valentina Devoto and Johanna Nutter join Ambassador of Ukraine Olexander Motsyk and his wife Nataliia Terletska at the THIS for Diplomats Spring Soiree held at the Meridian International Center.

Wife of the Swiss ambassador Christine Sager, left, joins wife of the Monaco ambassador Ellen Noghes at the opening reception for Francophonie 2012, which presents various events around D.C., from literary salons, culinary tastings and concerts, to exhibitions, film and theater.

From left, Filippe Savadogo of Burkina Faso, the permanent observer of La Francophonie to the United Nations; John Hutchison, a professor at Boston University’s African Studies Center and 2012 recipient of the Prix Spécial de la Francophonie; President of Francophonie in Washington Bernard Geenen; and Ambassador of Gabon Michael Moussa-Adamo, who was a former teaching assistant to professor Hutchison, attend the opening reception of the 2012 Francophonie Cultural Festival.

Joan B. Keston, president of THIS for Diplomats (formerly The Hospitality and Information Service for Diplomats), left, joins THIS Development Committee Chair Nan Coughlin at the THIS for Diplomats Spring Soiree at the Meridian Photos: thomas coleman International Center, featuring a silent auction and jazz by Lena Seikaly and the Burnett Thompson Trio.

Ambassador of Monaco Gilles Alexandre Noghes, left, and Ambassador of Lebanon Antoine Chedid attend the opening reception for Francophonie 2012, an annual celebration of the French-speaking world.

Memphis in May

Photo: thomas coleman

From left, President and CEO of the Memphis in May International Festival James L. Holt, Ambassador of the Philippines Jose L. Cuisia Jr., and Memphis in May Board Chairman Calvin Anderson brief reporters on the upcoming Memphis in May Festival at a luncheon at the Philippine Embassy.

From left, Liz and Richard Klass, Leda DiLeonardo and Hi Sun Rotondo attend the THIS for Diplomats Spring Soiree held at the Meridian International Center.

Ambassador of Fiji Winston Thompson and his wife Queenie attend the Spring Soiree for THIS for Diplomats, a nonprofit volunteer organization that welcomes and assists diplomats and their families during their postings in Washington, D.C.

Malaysian National Day

From left, Ambassador of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov, Nowruz Commission co-founders Bijan R. Kian and Nasser J. Kazeminy, and Deputy Commander of U.S. Central Command Vice Adm. Robert Harward attend a black-tie gala celebrating the arrival of spring held at the Organization of American States and organized by the Nowruz Commission.

Page 50

From left, Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), Ambassador of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov, and Judge Eugene Sullivan attend a celebration hosted by the Nowruz Commission, co-founded

by Idrissov in 2008 to help preserve the tradition of Norwuz (New Year) and the spirit of spring.

Ambassador of Afghanistan Eklil Hakimi and his wife Sultana Hakimi attend the Nowruz Commission Gala held at the Organization of American States.

Ambassador of Ukraine Olexander Motsyk and his wife Nataliia Terletska attend the Nowruz Commission Gala, which featured performances by musicians from Kazakhstan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, the Kurdish communities of Iraq and the Iranian community in the U.S.

The Washington Diplomat

May 2012

Canadian Forum

Japanese Celebrations

Photos: Kaveh Sardari

Former U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, now head of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, left, greets Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, right, as Canadian Ambassador Gary Doer, center, looks on at a director’s forum featuring Harman and Harper at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

Photo: Larry luxner

Ambassador of Japan Ichiro Fujisaki speaks at the opening ceremonies of the 2012 National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Ambassador of Japan Ichiro Fujisaki greets guests at the “Hanami After Dark” reception at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, where a sushi chef cut a giant tuna for guests at this benefit for Tomodachi, a public-private partnership to support Japan’s post-earthquake recovery.

From left, Jane and Calvin Cafritz join wife of the Japanese ambassador Yoriko Fujisaki at a dinner at the National Gallery of Art in honor of “Colorful Realm: Japanese Bird-and-Flower Paintings by Ito Jakuchu (1716–1800).”

From left, Andrew F. Gelfuso, director of the Office for Trade Pro­ mo­tion at the Ronald Reagan Building and In­­ternational Trade Center, talks with Sara Hradecky, ambassador of Canada to Mexico, and Deborah Lyons, deputy chief of mission at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, at a director’s forum featuring Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Artist of the Light Photos: thomas coleman

From left, President of Nikkei America Hisao Tonedachi, President and COO of Toyota Motor North America Inc. Yoshimi Inaba, Ambassador of Japan Ichiro Fujisaki, President of the National Gallery of Art Vicki Sant, President and CEO of Airbus Americas Inc. Barry Eccleston, and Director of the National Gallery of Art Earl A. Powell Jr. welcome guests to a gala reception dinner at the National Gallery in honor of “Colorful Realm: Japanese Birdand-Flower Paintings by Ito Jakuchu (1716–1800),” an exhibit of 30 18th-century, hand-painted silk scrolls by master Edo artist Jakuchu.

EU Youth Orchestra

From left, Angela Lore, Elizabeth Croog, and Nancy Powell attend a dinner for the exhibit “Colorful Realm: Japanese Bird-and-Flower Paintings by Ito Jakuchu (1716–1800).”

Photo: Donovan Marks

Contemporary Irish artist Roisin Fitz­ patrick, formerly of the U.N., left, is celebrated by Irish Ambassador Michael Collins for her exhibit “Artist of the Light” at La Luna Gallery.

From left, President of the Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) Neale Perl, Thorunn Ashkenazy, Six-time Grammy-winning pianist and EUYO conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Grace Hobelman attend a reception celebrating the U.S. tour of the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO).

Photo: European Union / 2012 / Momenta Creative

Ambassador of the European Union João Vale de Almeida, left, and Joy Bryer, who co-founded, along with her husband Lionel, the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) in 1976, host a reception at the EU Residence in honor of EUYO’s U.S. tour, the first since 1988.

Photos: Jeremy Norwood

From left, Mrs. and Ambassador of Ireland Michael Collins talk to Jessica Grimes at a reception honoring the European Union Youth Orchestra, which is comprised of 116 musical prodigies from all 27 member states.

Members of the European Union Youth Orchestra, with European Union Ambassador João Vale de Almeida in the center, pose on the Kennedy Center Terrace following a performance by this ensemble of Europe’s finest young musicians hosted by the Washington Performing Arts Society.

Women’s History

Night in Vienna

Photos: DSharp photography

From left, maestro Lorin Maazel, who had just conducted a two-hour performance by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, is joined by Christina Co Mather, Gary Mather and Washington Performing Arts Society President Neale Perl at a post-concert dinner hosted by WPAS.

Ambassador of Austria Hans Peter Manz talks to the 200 guests gathered for a dinner following a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.

Photos: Jeremy Norwood for WPAS

From left, Washington Performing Arts Society supporters Jay and Robin Hammer join Arne and Ruth Sorenson at a dinner hosted by WPAS following a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Lorin Maazel.

From left, President of Du Plain Enterprises Jan Du Plain, Chair of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Judith Terra, Ambassador of Botswana Tebelelo Seretse, and wife of the ambassador of Brunei Mahani Abu Zar attend a reception celebrating the National Women’s History Museum held at the home of Judith Terra.

May 2012

From left, Dame Pamela Gordon-Banks, the first female premier of Bermuda and Judith Terra’s daughter-in-law; Joan Wages, president and CEO of the National Women’s History Museum; and Judith Terra, chair of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, attend a reception celebrating the National Women’s History Museum.

The Washington Diplomat Page 51

DIPLOMATIC SPOTLIGHT

The Washington Diplomat

May 2012

Bangladeshi Independence

Farewells with Flair

Photos: Eddie Arrossi

Outgoing Ambassador of Chile Arturo Fermandois said goodbye to Washington with a bang, hosting a live musical farewell event at his residence, performing with his rock band Rockasaurios and dancing with his wife Carolina and guests until 2 a.m.

From left, chef and restaurateur José Andrés, outgoing Ambassador of Spain Jorge Dezcallar de Mazarredo, restaurateur Rob Wilder, AOL cofounder Steve Case, and 9:30 Club owner Seth Hurwitz attend a farewell reception for Ambassador Dezcallar held at the redesigned Jaleo, the Spanish tapas restaurant brand created by Andrés, Wilder and Roberto Alvarez in 1993.

Photos: thomas coleman

Didi Cutler, left, joins Teresa Valente, wife of the Spanish ambassador, at her husband’s farewell reception held at the newly redesigned Jaleo restaurant on 7th Street, NW.

From left, Mrs. and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Bangladeshi Embassy Md. Jashim Uddin, Ambassador of India Nirupama Rao, and Mrs. and Ambassador of Bangladesh Akramul Qader attend the Bangladeshi Independence Day reception.

From left, Ambassador of Nepal Shankar Prasad Sharma, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Geoffrey R. Pyatt, and Ambassador of Bangladesh Akramul Qader attend a reception marking Bangladesh’s 41st anniversary of independence.

From left, Mrs. and Defense and Air Attaché at the Japanese Embassy Maj. Gen. Atsushi Hikita, Defense, Military, Naval and Air Attaché at the Embassy of Ghana Brig. Gen. George Eduam Amamoo, and Defense and Military Attaché at the Embassy of the Philippines Brig. Gen. Cesar Badong Yano attend the Bangladeshi Independence Day reception.

From left, Mrs. and Ambassador of Bangladesh Akramul Qader welcome Ambassador of Djibouti and Mrs. Roble Olhaye, dean of the diplomatic corps, to the Bangladeshi Independence Day reception at the embassy.

New Moroccan Embassy

Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the Organization of American States (and former DR ambassador in Washington) Roberto B. Saladin and his wife Bertha Nin Saladin attend a farewell reception for Spanish Ambassador Jorge Dezcallar de Mazarredo at Jaleo.

From left, President of the Inter-American Development Bank Luis Alberto Moreno, chef José Andrés, and U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco J. Sánchez attend a farewell reception for Spanish Ambassador Jorge Dezcallar de Mazarredo at Andrés’s restaurant Jaleo.

Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Thomas R. Nides, left, and Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Saadeddine Othmani break ground on the new Moroccan Embassy in Washington, D.C.

From left, Ambassador of Morocco Mohamed Rachad Bouhlal, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Thomas R. Nides, and U.S. Ambassador to Morocco Samuel L. Kaplan attend a ground-breaking reception for the new Moroccan Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Brunei Independence Day

Photo: larry luxner

Serbian National Day From left, Ambassador of Peru Harold W. Forsyth is greeted

by Ambassador of Serbia and Mrs. Vladimir Petrovic at the Serbian National Day reception held at the Meridian International Center.

Page 52

From left, Queenie Thompson, Ambassador of Brunei and Mrs. Dato Paduka Haji Yusoff bin Haji Abdul Hamid, and Ambassador of Fiji Winston Thompson attend the Brunei Independence Day reception at the embassy.

Joseph Yun, deputy assistant secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, speaks at the reception marking Brunei’s 28th anniversary of independence held at the embassy.

From left, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James P. Zumwalt, Ambassador of Afghanistan Eklil Hakimi, Ambassador of Brunei Dato Paduka Haji Yusoff bin Haji Abdul Hamid, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Jennifer Park Stout attend a reception marking Brunei’s 28th anniversary of independence.

The Washington Diplomat

May 2012

AROUNDTHEWORLD

THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT

HOLIDAYS ALBANIA

May 1: Labor Day

ALGERIA

May 1: Labor Day

ANDORRA

May 1: Labor Day May 17: Ascension May 27: Pentecost

ANGOLA

May 1: International Workers’ Day May 25: Africa Day

ANTIGUA and BARBUDA

May 1: Labor Day May 28: Whit Monday

ARGENTINA

May 1: Labor Day May 25: Anniversary of the May Revolution

May 2012

Send Us Your Holidays and Appointments ARMENIA

May 1: Labor Day May 9: Victory and Peace Day May 28: Republic Day

AUSTRIA

May 1: Labor Day May 17: Ascension May 28: Whit Monday

AZERBAIJAN

May 9: Victory Day May 28: Republic Day

BAHAMAS

May 28: Whit Monday

May 9: Day of National Emblem and National Flag May 9: Victory Day

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA

BELGIUM

May 1: Labor Day May 17: Ascension

May 1: Labor Day May 17: Ascension May 27: Whit Sunday May 28: Whit Monday

BELIZE

May 1: Labor Day May 24: Commonwealth Day

BENIN

May 1: Labor Day May 28: Whit Monday

May 1: Labor Day May 17: Ascension May 28: Whit Monday

BELARUS

BOLIVIA

BARBADOS

May 1: Labor Day

May 1: Labor Day

May 1: Labor Day

BOTSWANA

BRAZIL

May 1: Labor Day

BULGARIA

May 1: Labor Day May 6: St. George’s Day/ Day of the Bulgarian Army May 24: Day of the Slavic Alphabet and Bulgarian Culture

BURKINA FASO

May 1: Labor Day May 17: Ascension

BURMA (MYANMAR) May 1: May Day

Fax to: The Washington Diplomat at: (301) 949-0065 E-mail to: news@washdiplomat.com Mail to: P.O. Box 1345, Silver Spring, MD 20915-1345

BURUNDI

May 1: Labor Day May 17: Ascension

CAMBODIA

May 1: Labor Day May 9: Royal Ploughing Ceremony

May 25: Africa Day May 28: Pentecost Monday

CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

CAMEROON

CHAD

CONGO, REPUBLIC OF

May 1: Labor Day May 20: National Day

CANADA

May 23: Victoria Day

CAPE VERDE

May 1: Labor Day

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC May 1: Labor Day May 17: Ascension

May 1: Labor Day May 25: Africa Day

May 1: Labor Day

May 8: Victory Day of 1945 May 17: Ascension May 27: Pentecost May 28: Pentecost Monday

COSTA RICA

May 1: Labor Day

GABON

CHILE

May 1: Labor Day May 21: Battle of Iquique

CHINA

May 1: Labor Day

COLOMBIA

May 1: Labor Day May 17: Ascension

May 1: Labor Day

CÔTE D’IVOIRE

May 1: Labor Day May 17: Ascension May 28: Whit Monday

APPOINTMENTS Azerbaijan Emin Ibrahimov assumed the position of third secretary on Feb. 10. Ibrahimov joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2007 and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in international relations.

Rashad Najaf assumed the position of first secretary on Feb. 1, having previously worked at the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources.

Konul Suleymanli assumed the position of third secretary on Jan. 1, replacing Kamilla Mammadova, who departed the post Nov. 10. Suleymanli joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2008 and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in international relations.

Chile Felipe Bulnes was appointed ambassador of Chile to the United States in April.

Ambassador Bulnes most recently served as Chile’s minister of education (2011) and minister of justice (201011). He also previously served as a member of the Political Commission of the Ambassador Renovación Nacional Party Felipe Bulnes elected for three successive periods (2001-2010), and director of the Law and Justice Chapter of the Grupos Tantaucos organization, in charge of preparing the presidential program of then-candidate Sebastián Piñera (2008-10). In addition, he is a top-ranked litigation lawyer who has worked for several well-known law firms in Chile, his latest position being senior partner with Bulnes, Pellegrini, and Urrutia (2006-10). Ambassador Bulnes also worked in academia, including as professor of civil law and professor of law and economics at the Catholic University of Chile and at the Adolfo Ibáñez University. Ambassador Bulnes has been a member of various legal bodies, including the Board of the Chilean Bar Association (2001-05); the Arbitration Body of the National Arbitration Center and the Santiago Chamber of Commerce (2006 and 2009); the Consulting Board of the School of Government at the Adolfo Ibáñez University (2008-10); and the Antitrust Chapter of the Chilean Bar Association (2008-10). He holds a law degree from the Catholic

Choi previously served as South Korea’s permanent representative to the United Nations from 2005 to 2007, after which U.N. SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon appointed him to be his special representative for Côte d’Ivoire.

Djibouti Prior to that, he was the vice minister for foreign affairs and Said Mohamed Farah assumed the position of first Photo: UN / Jenny Rockett trade (2004-05) as well as secretary (finance) on Feb. 3, replacing Mahdi Aden Ambassador chancellor of the Institute of Guirreh, who departed the post Jan. 31.

Choi Young-jin Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS), also in the Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2003-04). In Mohamed Bin Abdulla addition, he was ambassador to Austria and Al-Rumaihi was appointed Slovenia, and permanent representative to all interambassador of Qatar to the national organizations in Vienna (2002-03), as well United States on Feb. 28. as deputy minister for policy planning and internaAmbassador Al-Rumaihi previtional organizations, responsible for foreign policy ously served as assistant forplanning, North Korean affairs, the United Nations eign minister since 2003, dursystem, disarmament and nonproliferation, and ing which time he attended democracy and human rights (2000-01). various international conferAmbassador Choi also served as assistant secretaryences and participated in the general for peacekeeping operations at the United U.N. General Assembly. Among Ambassador Mohamed Bin Nations (1998-99), during which time he oversaw his work, he was head of the Abdulla Al-Rumaihi planning and support for 17 peacekeeping operaGovernment Committee for tions, including those in Kosovo, Timor-Leste, Sierra Delineating Maritime Borders Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. and the Working Team of the U.N. Security Council From 1995 to 1997, he was deputy executive direc(200-07), as well as head of the organizing committor of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development tees for international conferences such as the F77, Organization, based in New York City, where he overChina 2005, New and Restored Democracies 2006, saw a $5 billion project to construct two light-water Gulf Summit 2007, Financing Development Summit nuclear reactors in the Democratic People’s Republic 2008, Arab Summit 2009, and Arab and Latin America of Korea. Other postings include director-general of Summit 2009. Prior to serving as assistant foreign the International Economic Affairs Bureau in the minister, he was Qatar’s ambassador to France and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1994-95); first senior nonresident ambassador to Belgium, the Swiss coordinator in the ministry’s Office of Policy Planning Federation, Luxemburg and the European Union (1991-93); economic counselor at the Korean (2002-03). Ambassador Al-Rumaihi was also an offiEmbassy in Washington, D.C. (1988-90); senior cer in the Qatari Armed Forces, rising in the ranks assistant to the minister for foreign affairs in Seoul from lieutenant in 1980 to major general in 2001. He (1987); director of the ministry’s International was director of the joint Qatari-French Sagr al-Khaleej Organizations Division (1986); political counselor at military exercise in 2001, and he was awarded the National Order of Merit of the French Republic in the Korea Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia (1983-85); polit1999 and the Order of Honor of the French Republic ical officer in Paris, France (1979-81); and political in 2009. He completed his secondary school educaofficer in Dakar, Senegal (1977-78). Ambassador tion in 1976 and graduated from the Saint Cry Choi holds master’s and doctorate degrees in interMilitary Academy in France in 1980. Ambassador national political science from the University of Paris Al-Rumaihi, who was born in 1956, is married and I (Panthéon-Sorbonne) and a bachelor’s degree in has four sons and three daughters. political science and international relations from Younsei University in Seoul. He is fluent in English South Korea and French and knows 3,000 characters in Chinese.

Born March 29, 1948, in Seoul, Ambassador Choi is Choi Young-jin was appointed ambassador of South married with two sons.

Korea to the United States in March. Ambassador

May 1: Labor Day

CUBA

May 1: International Workers’ Day May 1: Labor Day

CZECH REPUBLIC

GEORGIA

May 26: Independence Day

GERMANY

May 1: Labor Day May 17: Ascension May 28: Whit Monday

May 1: Labor Day May 8: Liberation Day

GHANA

DENMARK

GREECE

May 1: May Day

May 1: Workers’ Day May 7: Store Bededag May 17: Ascension May 27: Whit Sunday May 28: Whit Monday

May 1: Labor Day

DJIBOUTI

May 1: Labor Day

May 1: Labor Day

DOMINICA

May 1: May Day May 27: Whit Sunday May 28: Whit Monday

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC May 1: Labor Day

EAST TIMOR

GRENADA

May 28: Whit Monday

GUATEMALA GUYANA

May 1: Labor Day May 5: Indian Heritage Day May 26: Independence Day

HONDURAS

May 1: Labor Day

May 1: Labor Day May 20: Independence Day

HUNGARY

ECUADOR

ICELAND

May 1: Labor Day May 24: Anniversary of the Battle of Pichincha

EL SALVADOR

May 1: Labor Day

EQUATORIAL GUINEA

May 1: Labor Day May 28: Whit Monday May 1: Labor Day May 17: Ascension May 27: Whit Sunday May 28: Whit Monday

INDONESIA

May 17: Ascension

May 1: May Day May 25: Africa Day

IRELAND

May 24: Liberation Day

ISRAEL

ERITREA

ESTONIA

May 1: Spring Day May 27: Pentecost

ETHIOPIA

May 28: National Day

EUROPEAN UNION

May 9: Soloman Day

FINLAND

May 1: May Day

FRANCE

May 1: Labor Day

May 2012

GAMBIA

May 1: Labor Day

CROATIA

CYPRUS University of Chile and was the recipient of the Catholic University of Chile Scholarship in 1995, the same year he was awarded the Fulbright scholarship.

From 1995 to 1996, he studied at Harvard Law School, where he obtained a master’s in laws. Born in Santiago in 1969, Ambassador Bulnes is married to Mónica Pellegrini and they have a son.

May 1: Labor Day May 17: Ascension May 26: Mother’s Day May 28: Pentecost Monday

May 7: Bank Holiday May 6: Second Passover May 10: Lag B’Omer May 26-28: Shavuot

ITALY

May 1: May Day

JAMAICA

May 24: Labor Day

JAPAN

May 3: Constitution Memorial Day May 4: National Holiday

See holidays, page 54

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May 1: Labor Day

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May 1: Labor Day

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May 1: Labor Day May 5: Cinco de Mayo

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May 10: Constitution Day

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FOR SALE OR RENT

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EMBASSY ROW AREA —

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Beautiful townhouse for longterm lease. Best value in Bethesda. All brick townhouse, features 4 spacious bedrooms, three and half baths, in an open layout. Access the Capital Crescent Trail from the parking lot. Walk to shops and groceries.

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FEES includE: greenS feeS, golf cart, range ballS, beverage cart, cookout lunch, receptIon, cocktaIlS, dInner, awardS preSentatIon.

lIke us oN fACebook

* reStrIctIonS apply

g o T o W W W. WA s h d I p l o m AT. C o m T o l e A r N m o r e Page 56

The Washington Diplomat

May 2012