October 2012 by The Washington Diplomat

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■ VOLUME 19, NUMBER 10 UNITED STATES

Foreign Policy Enters Race for U.S. Presidency The world is paying close attention to the U.S. presidential race, but that doesn’t mean American voters are necessarily devoting much attention to world affairs, given their preoccupation with the stagnant economy. But as the anti-American protests in the Mideast dramatically show, the world has a way of commandeering attention. PAGE 12

Qatar: arab ascension

Qatar’s new ambassador in Washington, Mohamed Abdulla Al-Rumaihi, says his tiny emirate is using its huge energy wealth to “create a model for the

UNITED STATES

At first glance, foreign policy appears to be neither Joe Biden nor Paul Ryan’s strong suit. But both vice presidential picks do harbor strong views on U.S. engagement with the world — reflecting and influencing their boss’s ambitions. PAGE 13

So far, that model is standing

“Nomads and Networks” traces the evolution of a complex society that debunks misperceptions of the nomad as an aimless wanderer. PAGE 52

government officials who grew up in the difficult years of the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution. Neither of his parents had a good high school education,

nor did they attend college, although both acquired degrees later in life.

PEOPLE OF WORLD INFLUENCE His parents wanted his own schooling to be better, Wan said. So they bought children’s books for him, subscribed to every magazine imaginable, supported him in his studies, and talked to his

teachers.

When Wan developed a love of math in high school, his father wanted him to pursue something practical such as engineering, but his mother per-

suaded him to allow Wan to go for what he describes as his “passion”: physics.

All Quiet on Western Front For Jacobson George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs

Continued on next page

■ INSIDE: The Meridian International

October 2012

Center is taking exchange to

a new level. PAGE 36 ■ Move over football and basketball.

Here comes rugby and cricket.

PAGE 40 ■

EDUCATION

The Washington Diplomat

Page29

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

up to the turmoil buffeting the

Anti-American Protests May Sideline Syria

region, with Qatar precariously positioned as a major global player sandwiched between powerful neighbors. PAGE 19

culture

Ancient Nomads Left Sophisticated Footprint

■ OCTOBER 2012

Yuan Wan is the son of Chinese

As assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, Roberta Jacobson’s portfolio includes Venezuela and Cuba, perpetual thorns in America’s side, but this longtime civil servant says she’s very lucky that the three dozen or so nations under her jurisdiction enjoy unprecedented peace and prosperity. PAGE 6

entire Middle East.”

Presidential Veeps Offer Up Their Own Foreign Policy Visions

by Carolyn Cosmos

U.S.-China Partnership Marked By Collaboration, Competition

The deaths of four Americans in a vicious attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi may have inadvertently killed any chance that the U.S. will stick its neck out to arm Syria’s rebels, some of whom may turn their guns against their Western backers. PAGE 8 ADVERTISEMENT

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The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

CONTENTS THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT

October 2012

12 U.S. foreign policy

29 Chinese students

[ news ] 6

PEOPlE OF wOrld INFluENCE

INTErNaTIONal aFFaIrS

The deaths of four Americans in a vicious attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya may have permanently killed any chances that the U.S. will stick its neck out to help Syria’s rebels.

POlITICS

The conventional wisdom was that foreign policy would take a backseat in this year’s U.S. presidential race, but the world has a way of moving to the forefront of the agenda.

POlITICS As foreign policy gains steam in an otherwise economyfueled election, it’s not just the presidential contenders whose opinions matter — their No. 2s have plenty to say as well.

The educational partnership between China and the U.S. is a yin and yang of close ties and competing undercurrents whereby both countries view education as the driving force behind national prosperity and power.

COvEr: Photo taken at the Embassy of Qatar by Jessica Latos.

TravEl Local businesses are expanding their horizons by hosting trips abroad to exotic locales for their local clientele.

dININg The Pig goes whole hog in its devotion to the whole animal movement, reintroducing this mainstay meat to U.S. palates.

FIlM rEvIEwS In “Step Up to the Plate,” a son tries to stack up to his father’s expectations of haute cuisine greatness.

lOCal gETawayS

At the Sackler Gallery, transient and well-connected denizens of the District can meet their ancient counterparts: the nomadic tribes of Iron Age Kazakhstan.

MuSIC The Post-Classical Ensemble delves into the conflicted life of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, a prodigy in Stalin’s Soviet Union whose creativity was confined by the state.

EvENT vENuES

hISTOry

ThEaTEr Molly Ivins, the Texas liberal whose witty barbs left their mark on many a politician, lives on at Arena Stage.

SPOrTS

[ culture ]

EvENTS The Kids Euro Festival has become the largest performing arts festival for children in the U.S., injecting some much-needed child’s play into the nation’s capital.

MEdICal The Mayo Clinic has been quietly pioneering a little-known treatment for thyroid cancer that eschews radiation or surgery for — of all things — alcohol.

Five decades after its birth, the Meridian International Center is still promoting understanding through the exchange of people, ideas and culture — it’s just exchanging more people, ideas and culture than ever before.

Baltimore is taking its impressive, three-decade-long transformation up another notch, adding a level of refinement not often associated with a city that’s still proudly rough around the edges.

dIPlOMaCy

arT Lalla Essaydi blends tradition with modern subversion to confront Arab, Muslim and African gender stereotypes.

Whether it’s a presidential inauguration for a million people or a power lunch for two, D.C. has a place — and event space — for everyone.

INTErNaTIONal COllabOraTION

[ travel & hotels ]

Despite its economic revolution, China’s embassies and consulates abroad mirror the opacity of the country’s labyrinthine political system.

STudENT ExChaNgE

Sports like rugby, cricket and fencing are challenging their traditional American competitors and leveling the playing field at U.S. schools.

COvEr PrOFIlE: qaTar Qatar’s new envoy, Mohamed Abdulla Al-Rumaihi, isn’t shy about his tiny emirate’s massive energy riches, which he says are being used to build one of the most prosperous nations in the region, and quite possibly the world.

Lalla Essaydi art

[ education ]

Roberta Jacobson admits the U.S. doesn’t always pay as much attention to the Latin countries under her belt at the State Department as it does other hotspots, but that’s also a sign of just how well those Latin nations are doing.

FIlM INTErvIEw American filmmaker Robert H. Lieberman paints a rarely seen portrait of the world’s second-most isolated nation.

62 64 66 69 70 71

CINEMa lISTINg EvENTS lISTINg dIPlOMaTIC SPOTlIghT wOrld hOlIdayS / aPPOINTMENTS ClaSSIFIEdS 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 Talha Aquil Martin Austermuhle, Rachael Bade, Michael Coleman, Carolyn Cosmos, Rachel G. Hunt, Stephanie Kanowitz, Suzanne Kurtz, Ky N. Nguyen, Kate Oczypok, Dave Seminara, Gina Shaw, Gail Sullivan, Gary Tischler, Lisa Troshinsky, Karin Zeitvogel 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. The Washington Diplomat assumes no responsibility for the safe keeping or return of unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, artwork or other material. The information contained in this publication is in no way to be construed as a recommendation by the Publisher of any kind or nature whatsoever, nor as a recommendation of any industry standard, nor as an endorsement of any product or service, nor as an opinion or certification regarding the accuracy of any such information.

October 2012

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PEOPLE OF WORLD INFLUENCE

Roberta Jacobson

State Official Makes Her Mark On Rising Western Hemisphere by Larry Luxner

his past April, during the same Summit of the Americas where U.S. Secret Service agents frolicked with Colombian prostitutes — sparking a national scandal — Roberta Jacobson celebrated her birthday in style at a Havana-themed nightclub in Cartagena.

The party was made even more memorable by the surprise appearance of her boss, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom Jacobson admires deeply. “I love working for this secretary. I’d like to work for her forever,” said the longtime civil servant who, on March 30, 2012, was sworn in as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs. But her confirmation came only after a long, bitter fight in which Sen. Marco Rubio — a Cuban-American lawmaker from Florida and rising star within the Republican Tea Party movement — threatened to block Jacobson’s confirmation until the White House agreed to strictly enforce regulations on U.S. travel to Cuba. In her first wide-ranging, sit-down media interview since taking office, this self-described “nice Jewish girl” and mother of two told The Washington Diplomat she’s incredibly lucky that the three dozen or so nations under her jurisdiction enjoy relative peace and prosperity. “As much as people sometimes complain about us paying not enough attention to Latin America, the truth is that these countries are blessed not to have the same kinds of crises that other parts of the world are undergoing. Therefore they don’t get as much attention,” said Jacobson, whose predecessor, Arturo Valenzuela, also faced a bitter Senate confirmation battle. “Thank God we don’t have a massive refugee crisis or active wars. Most of what’s taking place in the hemisphere is very positive.” Indeed it is.The International Monetary Fund expects Latin America’s economy to expand by 3.6 percent this year, compared to 3.3 percent globally and only 1.2 percent in advanced economies. Much of this growth is driven by commodity exports; soybeans and grains in the case of Argentina; gold and copper for Peru; and beef and rice when it comes to Uruguay. But a recent IMF report also highlights the expansion of Latin America’s middle class and consumptionled growth. In Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay, this sector has expanded an average of 14 percent a year since 2003. “Even in a country like Paraguay, setting aside their most recent problems, they had 12 percent growth,” Jacobson said, alluding to the impeachment of President Fernando Lugo over the summer. “China’s growth is critical for so

Page 6

much of the world’s economy, though some will see slower growth this year because of lower commodity prices. Yet Latin American countries have managed their macroeconomic stewardship well, and 56 million people have entered the middle class as a result.” Jacobson cautioned, though, that democracy must deliver when it comes to raising living standards across the board, especially in a part of the world long known for its deep income disparity between rich and poor. “These countries all realize that reliance on commodities and especially on trade with China is also risky,” she added. “They’ve got to make sure their economies are diverse enough that this won’t be a boom that goes bust at some point.” Raised in the New York suburb of Englewood, N.J., Jacobson attended Brown University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, working for the United Nations Secretariat after college. Her undergraduate thesis Photo: WILLIAM OSTICK / STATE DEPARTMENT

“

As much as people sometimes complain about us paying not enough attention to Latin America, the truth is that these countries are blessed not to have the same kinds of crises that other parts of the world are undergoing. — Roberta Jacobson

”

U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs

was on “Pre-Columbian Grave Robbing,” which focused on the theft of valuable Mayan artifacts. Later on, she worked at the U.N. Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Institute in Costa Rica. “I decided to specialize in Latin America as an undergraduate for two very important reasons: one was I wanted to be able to speak the language. I originally wanted to do Asia, but had already begun to learn Spanish in school.” The second reason, Jacobson explained, is that her undergraduate years — 1978 to 1982 — were marked by political upheaval throughout the region. “Countries were beginning to return to democracy, moving out of authoritarian regimes,” she said. “When I went back to the Fletcher School, I did my master’s thesis on the Jewish community of

Argentina during the dictatorship. I was based at the University of Belgrano and loved living in Buenos Aires. That was my first experience living in Latin America.” In a sad irony, Jacobson did much of her research at AMIA — headquarters of the largest Jewish communal organization in Argentina. Less than a decade later, the building was destroyed in a powerful truck bomb that killed 85 people and injured more than 300. Iran is believed to be behind that blast, which came only two years after a similar bombing at the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires and which remains the worst single instance of terrorism in Latin American history. Earlier this year, Jacobson — who’s traveled to every country in the hemisphere except Guyana, Suriname and Belize — returned to Argentina for the

first time since her college days. The visit underscored an attempt by Washington to improve ties with the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner since the February 2011 seizure of a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane at a Buenos Aires airport amid allegations that the U.S. was attempting to smuggle arms, drugs and spy equipment into the country. “There are lots of things we don’t agree on — obviously the security relationship has been largely frozen — but the fact is, there are a lot of things we do agree on,” Jacobson said of bilateral ties between the United States and Argentina. “We’ve had extraordinary cooperation on counterterrorism and educational issues. While there, I met with 13 university rectors and also signed a sister-parks agreement with Glaciares National Park.” Of far greater concern to the Obama administration is Venezuela, where the Oct. 7 presidential election could return Hugo Chávez to power for another six years. Polls show the 58-year-old populist — elected in 1998 — maintains a clear edge over 40-year-old state governor Henrique Capriles, who’s running against Chávez on a united opposition ticket. Asked whether Chávez, who has undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatment for an undisclosed cancer, will win — and if so by how much — Jacobson took a pass.

The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

“I don’t necessarily predict the outcomes of elections. What we focus on is disappointment that the Venezuelan government has not and does not appear likely to invite major international observers.There are lots of ways in which the playing field is not necessarily level,” she said. “The Venezuelan people must have the opportunity to express themselves at the polls and be free to vote their consciences. Whether that brings Chávez re-election or not, that’s what we’d like to see. It will be difficult without the OAS, the Carter Center or the European Union for us to know.” One thing’s for sure: The State Department isn’t going to send Jacobson down to Caracas anytime soon. Diplomatic relations have been frozen ever since December 2010, when the White House revoked the U.S. visa of then-Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez, following Chávez’s outburst at the Obama administration’s choice of ambassador to Caracas, Larry Palmer. “I don’t think we’re likely to have me go down there,” said Jacobson, former deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Peru.“There has to be enough to talk about.There have been a number of areas in which we have very much wanted to have further consultations, things we used to do fairly routinely — even with the Chávez administration — that they are no longer interested in, like counternarcotics.” Jacobson said that as much as she’d like to see the United States restore full diplomatic relations with Venezuela,“we just don’t see much encouragement from the Chávez regime.Whether that’s likely to change after the elections, I don’t know.” Things look slightly better when it comes to Bolivia, whose populist president, former coca grower Evo Morales, kicked out the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2008. Last November, Morales told reporters that he still considers Philip Goldberg — the U.S. ambassador he expelled that year — to have “conspired” against Bolivia. Even without the DEA being allowed back in, Jacobson says, “We have restarted our dialogue with Bolivia. We signed a framework agreement with them in January, which looks at three areas: counternarcotics, trade and foreign assistance. Step by step, we’re hopeful we can get to a better place with the Bolivians. We’ve also signed a tripartite agreement with Brazil and Bolivia. We feel the next step probably will be getting ambassadors back [in each other’s capitals]. From my perspective sitting here, that is a nearer thing with Bolivia than with Venezuela.” No country in the Western Hemisphere, however, has a worse relationship with the United States than does Cuba — which since 1962 has been the target of a punishing U.S. trade embargo. Cuba is also one of only four countries on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism (the others are Iran, Syria and Sudan). Yet the United States is the only nation in the world to maintain an economic boycott of Cuba. Washington’s enemies in this hemisphere — not to mention many of its friends — have loudly condemned the 50-year-old embargo as anachronistic, useless and mean-spirited. “There’s no doubt that our Cuba policy is not obviously in sync with the rest of the hemisphere,” Jacobson conceded. “It’s one of the reasons there was a considerable amount of huffing and puffing in the press about Cuba at the [Summit of the Americas], and how isolated we were on Cuba. I frankly thought some of that was a bit overwrought. And that’s not likely to change.” President Obama has been both praised and pilloried in South Florida — home to more than 1 million Cuban exiles — for relaxing U.S. travel restrictions on Cuban-Americans hoping to visit family members on the island. Shortly after taking office, the White House reversed policies imposed by the Bush administration that restricted Cuban-Americans from visiting their families in Cuba to only once every three years. Now, those with family on the island can visit as often and for as long as they wish. So-called “people-to-people” travel to Cuba has also opened up, allowing Americans without family connections the possibility of visiting the comOctober 2012

munist-ruled island as long as they’re engaged in “purposeful travel” rather than outright tourism. “The president, the secretary of state and myself obviously feel really strongly that peopleto-people is the right thing to do — for U.S. citizens to be able to interact with Cuban citizens,” said Jacobson. “What we all want, including Sen. Rubio, is a free and democratic Cuba. It is not subversion and it is not regime change, but an effort to open Cuba to the world and try very hard to engage the people of Cuba, because our engagement with the government of Cuba is fairly unproductive.” Rubio, along with Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, have been outspoken in their demands that the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control — which issues licenses to Cuba travel providers — get tough with tour operators. Specifically, these lawmakers want OFAC to crack down on companies that fly Americans down to Cuba not to spread democracy or learn history but mainly to lounge on Varadero Beach, enjoy Havana’s spectacular nightlife, and spend dollars in the island’s statecontrolled economy. “There is no doubt there’s been some abuse of that opening,” Jacobson said. “OFAC has sanctioned organizations and will continue to sanction them if they are [found to be] promoting straight tourism to Cuba. I know Sens. Rubio and Menendez get upset about that, and we do too. We make a very clear distinction between purposeful travel and tourism.” She added: “I think the engagement of U.S. faith-based organizations, academic institutions, cultural institutions and art exchanges has been extraordinarily useful and successful. It’s opened the eyes of Cubans to Americans and vice versa. I will continue to defend those regulatory changes that have made possible increased travel by Americans to Cuba.” Mindful of Florida’s 29 electoral votes and its perennial (some say outsize) importance in national elections, few presidential candidates dare to advocate lifting the U.S. embargo altogether while campaigning in the Sunshine State. This time around, however, there’s another factor making the tropical atmosphere especially poisonous: Alan Gross. In December 2009, the U.S. Agency for International Development subcontractor was arrested for bringing satellite phones and other telecom equipment to Cuba and sentenced to 15 years in prison for “crimes against the state.” Gross claimed he was only trying to connect Cuba’s small Jewish community to the Internet as part of a democracy-building program, but the Castro regime said his actions were aimed at destabilizing the regime. International appeals for his release — including one by visiting Pope Benedict XVI — have fallen on deaf ears, infuriating the Obama administration. “The case of Alan Gross does bring home in a very real and concrete way some of the things that make Cuba an issue. The Cubans have shown no willingness to do the right thing and release him on humanitarian grounds,” said Jacobson.“That makes everything else about the complicated U.S.-Cuba relationship even harder. The jailing and conviction of Mr. Gross for 15 years is a ridiculously excessive sentence that underscores to people how little Cuba has changed.” In mid-September, a senior Cuban diplomat said the government was ready “to find a solution” to Gross’s case, but a State Department spokeswoman dismissed the negotiation offer, telling the Associated Press that, “We have not seen a willingness by the Cuban government to discuss seriously a resolution to this issue.” Jacobson berated the Castro regime for being “cynical enough to think they could get something for Alan Gross.” Havana has reportedly raised the issue of five Cuban agents sentenced to lengthy jail terms in the United States, though it hasn’t explicitly said it is seeking an exchange. In January 2011, Jacobson became the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Gross in prison; the jailhouse visit was hastily arranged just as Jacobson was about to meet 25 to 30 anti-Castro

See Jacobson, page 28

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International Affairs

Arab Spring

Will Anti-U.S. Protests Be Death Knell for Syrians? by Larry Luxner

yrian President Bashar al-Assad’s war against his own people claims new victims every day, with bombings, air attacks and reports of atrocities in Syria’s two largest cities — Damascus and Aleppo — becoming so commonplace they no longer make the front pages of U.S. newspapers. Dominating the headlines instead, at least since Sept. 11, has been the wave of anti-American protests sparked by the now-infamous 14-minute YouTube video that ridicules the prophet Muhammad and Islam. As of press time, those protests had spread from Egypt and Libya, where they began, to more than 20 countries stretching from Tunisia and Morocco to Bangladesh and Pakistan. Yet a particularly vicious attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya — which led to the deaths of four Americans, including U.S.Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens — may have permanently killed any chances that the United States will extend military help to the rebels fighting to overthrow Assad. Libya had already been cited as a case study of why the U.S. should stay out of Syria’s civil war. Unlike the inchoate rebel factions trying to topple Assad, Libyans offered a united front against the Qaddafi regime, with a well-defined territory under their control, a desert landscape more conducive to NATO-led air strikes (as opposed to the close-quarters urban combat in Syria), and a capable transitional government that quickly took the reins of the rebel movement and put a Western-friendly face on the opposition. Last but not least, Libya’s tremendous oil wealth meant the country could get back on its feet without much outside assistance — not the case with Syria. Libya, in short, was ripe for an intervention, evidenced by the relative success story it had become — until, that is, the Benghazi attack. Now questions are being raised about the fragile government’s ability to stabilize a country awash in militias and arms, even though Libya’s leaders are still firmly in the pro-American camp compared to nations such as Egypt. And if Washington is having second thoughts about Libya, just imagine what it thinks about Syria, where intervention is fraught with far more risk. It’s not that the United States doesn’t want to do something about the mess in Syria. To date, an estimated 20,000 people have been killed in that 18-month uprising. According to the United Nations, another 2.5 million people need humanitarian aid, 1.2 million have been displaced within Syria, and an estimated 260,000 have sought refuge — and strained resources — in neighboring Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. In the wake of the increasing bloodshed, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave the White House an “F” for its Syria policy and blasted President Barack Obama’s lack of action as “emboldening Assad and discouraging the dissidents.” Romney has hinted that he would help to arm the rebels, who are now reportedly receiving weapons from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, with the U.S. government offering nonlethal assistance. But the latest explosion of rage throughout Muslim world — especially in Libya, where U.S. help was instrumental in

Page 8

credit: UN Photo / David Manyua

Smoke billows as homes and buildings are shelled in the Syrian city of Homs in June. Despite revulsion over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s brutal campaign against his own people, the U.S. government has been leery of providing arms to Syria’s hodgepodge rebels factions, some of whose ideologies and motives remain dubious.

“

The argument that if we don’t do something big to save the people they’ll hate us forever rings pretty hollow in the wake of efforts we made to support the new leadership in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, and to get the president of Yemen eased out…. It didn’t make us any great new friends in the region. — Richard Murphy

”

nonresident scholar at the Middle East Institute

ousting Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi from power after 42 years — may cause politicians of both parties to think twice about helping pro-Islamist groups that could later turn those guns against the United States. “Personally, I believe it will reinforce our sense of caution in approaching the Syrian civil war,” said Richard Murphy, who served as U.S. ambassador to Syria from 1974 to 1978 and later dealt with Syria issues as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs. “We’ve said repeatedly that we don’t know who’s involved in the opposition. Our intelligence hasn’t been good,” Murphy told The Washington Diplomat.“We’ve been trying for a year to get in touch with the various opposition leaders, be they

in the Syrian National Council or the [Free Syrian Army]. We’re uneasy about seeing arms flowing into the country because that brings back memories of what went wrong in Afghanistan and Iraq. People who got a hold of these arms were not well-disposed toward the United States.” David Mack, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates who’s also served in diplomatic posts in Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya and Tunisia, agrees that the anti-American protests that have convulsed the Arab world over the past few weeks will sour politicians on the idea of arming anti-Assad rebels in Syria, some of whom clearly have links to al-Qaeda. “A lot of people were enthusiastic backers of the idea that we should be going in with a heavy degree of support for Syrian revolutionary groups who remain, in many respects, an unknown quantity both in their ideological approach and in their capabilities,” said Mack, a nonresident scholar at the Middle East Institute.“The approach of the Obama administration — which has been to resist calls for a real urgent injection of U.S. power behind the Syrian rebels — has shown itself to be the correct course.There is already a lot of skepticism based on the Iraqi experience.” Indeed, Iraq — not Libya — may be the ultimate cautionary tale against a Syria intervention. With the Iraq War, Americans learned Colin Powell’s infamous Pottery Barn analogy — you break it, you buy it — the hard way. And if the United States didn’t have the stomach to follow through with the nation-building effort there, it certainly won’t put Syria back together if that country falls apart. But there are other parallels between the two Mideast nations beyond fears that the U.S. would get sucked into another nation-building adventure. Like Iraq, Syria is an ethnically splintered country whose ruling minority Alawites, like

The Washington Diplomat

See Syria, page 10 October 2012

EuropeConference_WashDiplomat:Layout 1 8/29/12 10:38 AM Page 1

A SPECIAL CATO INSTITUTE CONFERENCE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012 9:00 A.M.–6:00 P.M. CATO INSTITUTE 1000 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE, N.W., WASHINGTON, D.C.

urope has long been the model of the modern welfare state. But the economic crisis that started in Greece and now pours through Europe has painfully revealed the true nature of this approach—it is unaffordable, stifles economic growth, and has countries drowning in debt. As Europe now deals with the consequences of its severe fiscal crisis, the United States has an opportunity to gain a wide range of invaluable perspectives and lessons. In addition to covering the full spectrum of the European crisis, the Conference will also underscore how the financial burden of the expanding U.S. welfare state—Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other entitlements—must be resolved if America is to avoid arriving at the same painful destination as Europe. 9:00–10:00 a.m.

BRUCE STOKES

3:30–4:45 p.m.

WELCOMING REMARKS

Director, Pew Global Economic Attitudes

Cato Institute

Professor Emeritus, Université Paris-Dauphine

PANEL 4: LESSONS FOR THE UNITED STATES

JOHN ALLISON

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

PASCAL SALIN MIROLSLAV BEBLAVY

MODERATOR:

MARK CALABRIA

JOSEF JOFFE

Member, Slovak Parliament, and Senior Research Fellow, Centre for European Policy Studies

Publisher and Editor, Die Zeit, and Fellow in International Relations, Hoover Institution

VERONIQUE DE RUGY Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center

10:00–11:15 a.m.

12:45–1:45 p.m.

PANEL 1: THE UNAFFORDABLE WELFARE STATE

LUNCHEON ADDRESS JUHAN PARTS

MICHAEL D. TANNER

MODERATOR:

Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications, Republic of Estonia

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

IAN VASQUEZ Director, Cato Institute Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity

ARISTIDES HATZIS Associate Professor of Law and Economics, University of Athens

PEDRO SCHWARTZ Professor of Economics, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid

FREDRIK ERIXON Director, European Centre for International Political Economy

JAGADEESH GOKHALE Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

2:00–3:15 p.m.

PANEL 3: CASE STUDIES: WHAT WORKS—WHAT DOESN’T

Director of Financial Regulation Studies, Cato Institute

MICKEY LEVY Chief Economist, Bank of America

PIERRE LEMIEUX Associate Professor, University of Quebec

DESMOND LACHMAN Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

4:45–5:15 p.m.

CLOSING ADDRESS RICHARD FISHER President, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

MODERATOR:

JUAN CARLOS HIDALGO Policy Analyst, Cato Institute Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity

5:15–6:00 p.m.

RECEPTION

PEETER KOPPEL Private Banking Strategist, SEB Bank

11:30–12:45 p.m.

PANEL 2: IS AUSTERITY THE ANSWER? MODERATOR:

MARIAN TUPY Policy Analyst, Cato Institute Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity

MARK HALLERBERG Director of Fiscal Governance Center, Hertie School of Governance

CHRIS EDWARDS Director of Tax Policy Studies, Cato Institute

DANIEL J. MITCHELL Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

www.cato.org

For registration and further information: www.cato.org/EuropeConference October 2012

The Washington Diplomat Page 9

from page 8

Syria the Baathists under Saddam Hussein, would sow chaos if their patrons fell to the rebels. The Iraq War also left deep scars in a region that still widely views the United States as an occupying power — no matter how much it may try to be on the right side of history in the Arab Spring. That’s why Murphy, a nonresident scholar at the Middle East Institute, says the Obama administration should continue to be cautious. “The argument that if we don’t do something big to save the people they’ll hate us forever rings pretty hollow in the wake of efforts we made to support the new leadership in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, and to get the president of Yemen eased out,” he said. “It didn’t make us any great new friends in the region.” But Allen Keiswetter, an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland who has held several highlevel positions in the State Department’s Near East Bureau, says the U.S. needs to have patience with nations such as Egypt and Libya and that the events of the past few weeks “reflect in no way” any failure of American policy. “This sort of thing is to be expected. Societies in the Arab Spring states are going through a period of transition and turbulence,” he said. “The most violent states are the ones that are democratizing. The ones that are democracies are the most stable, but the process of getting there, these countries must sort out all sorts of internal problems. More than 100 militia groups are known to operate in Libya, particularly in Benghazi. No one knows how those events occurred in Benghazi, and I suspect it will be weeks before we really find out.” Moreover, it may be years, or even decades, before the West finds out what kinds of governments — democratic, secular, Islamist, an authoritarian repeat of the past — take hold in the Arab world. Concerns over who we’d be arming in Syria get to a much larger question:What kind of govern-

ment would the rebels form if they ever got their act together and ousted Assad? The Syrian strongman’s regime might look like a dream by comparison. Even if Assad goes, radical jihadists could step in to fill the vacuum, or the country could plunge further into civil war as its many different factions vie for power — armed to the hilt thanks to the West’s good intentions. Because of all these unknowns, Mideast hands such Aaron David Miller say the United States should just stay out. “The time for guilting the United States into expensive and ill-thought-out military interventions has passed. Indeed, the reasons to intervene in Syria — the hope of defusing a bloody religious and political conflict and dealing the Iranian mullahs a mortal blow — are just not compelling enough to offset the risks and the unknowns,” the Woodrow Wilson scholar argued in the Foreign Policy article “Why Syria’s Rebels Can’t Have It All.” “The reality is that Syria is in the middle of a complex internal struggle with a divided opposition, regional players with diverse agendas, and competing great powers. There’s no single force on the ground — or constellation of outside powers — that can impose order. For the United States to enter the fray as a quasi-combatant would make matters more complicated, not less.” But Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and other hawkish Republicans say Obama has already complicated the situation by standing on the sidelines. The former Republican presidential candidate wants the United States to join Sunni allies such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia in arming the rebels. He’s also pushing for the establishment of a no-fly zone, though he stops short of calling for American boots on the ground. Critics though say a no-fly zone and other proposals such as “humanitarian corridors” aren’t feasible without inevitably drawing U.S. troops into yet another Mideast quagmire. Moreover, flooding the country with more arms may only make the

credit: UN Photo / David Manyua

U.N. observers survey the damage done to a residential building in Homs, Syria, in June. The bulk of those observers left after U.S. and Western powers failed to convince Russia and China to back stronger sanctions at the U.N. Security Council against the Syrian government.

bloodletting worse. Republicans dismiss that notion, arguing that the slaughter won’t stop until Assad leaves. Discussing his mid-September visit to Turkey and northern Iraq, McCain told the Turkish daily newspaper Hürriyet that other actors are propping Assad up, while the Obama administration remains inexcusably silent. “So far, even though the resistance has made gains, the support of Bashar al-Assad has also increased from Iran, from Hezbollah, from Russia, and also by additional arms and equipment over Iraq from Iran and onto Syria,” said McCain. “Six months ago, we did not see fighter airplanes

attacking towns. We did not see random killings. But obviously the killings have increased. The real shameful part of this is that the U.S. president has not even spoken up on behalf of the Syrian people. That is a radical departure from any president that I have ever known. My question is, how many more have to die?” Lots more, suggests Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Thomas Friedman of the New York Times — at least when it comes to getting other Arabs to care more about fellow Arabs than about using any pretext to vent their perennial anger toward the United States. “Twenty thousand people have been killed in Syria over the last year in fighting. Has a single Syrian embassy been ransacked or attacked in the Middle East?” he said Sept. 16, appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”“There hasn’t been a single protest in the Arab world, yet our embassy in Cairo and our consulate in Libya are ransacked because of a nut-ball film on YouTube. That tells you how confused and fraudulent a lot of these protests are, because I don’t think a YouTube video compares to [the murder] of people created in the image of God.” If anything, perhaps, the deadly protests in Libya and the larger Arab Spring uprisings have exposed America’s inability to control or even shape events in the region. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing, say experts who argue that the Arab revolutions need to belong to the Arab people, and not to Americans trying to dictate their outcomes — which only breeds more anti-U.S. resentment. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, says Murphy, “but this may turn out to be a crisis that gives the Syrian people who will bring it to an end the sense that they did it on their own. This is a Syrian rebellion, and it may lead to a new self-confidence and less of a conviction that they’re surrounded by conspiracies and manipulated by the world.”

Larry Luxner is news editor of The Washington Diplomat.

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The Washington Diplomat

7/20/12 11:38 AM

October 2012

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The Washington Diplomat Page 11

Politics

United States

Foreign Policy Rears Its Head In U.S. Presidential Election by Dave Seminara and Anna Gawel

he world is paying close attention to the U.S. presidential campaign, but that doesn’t mean American voters are necessarily devoting that much attention to world affairs, given their preoccupation with the stagnant economy. The conventional wisdom was that this year foreign policy would play a far more diminished role compared to previous elections, but the world has a way of demanding attention. A tragic example of this was the death of U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens and three of his colleagues in an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi last month by Muslim protesters angry over an American-made video denigrating the prophet Mohammad. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney wasted no time pouncing on President Barack Obama, saying that a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo urging religious respect — made prior to protesters breaching that mission — amounted to “an apology for American principles.” Other prominent Republicans, however, distanced themselves from that line of attack, perhaps not wanting to politicize the first death of an American envoy abroad in more than two decades. But in a neck-and-neck race, foreign policy will inevitably be subject to politics.As of press time, the crude video, which U.S. officials have denounced, had spawned antiAmerican protests in more than two dozen nations, vaulting the Arab Spring to the forefront of the election, even as job figures continued to paint a grim economic picture for many Americans. If yet another international crisis erupts — Israel strikes Iran, thereby spiking gas prices, North Korea makes a provocative move on the Korean peninsula, or the euro tanks — the optics of the campaign are bound to shift. And the challenger always has the luxury of lambasting the incumbent no matter what course of action they take. Romney has seized on the Arab protests to hammer home his point that Obama is a weak, feckless leader and the “second coming of Jimmy Carter.” Whether those charges stick against the man who took down Osama bin Laden remains to be seen, however. And whether they resonant with Americans — 23 million of whom are unemployed — also remains to be seen. The upheaval abroad may not even register if the protests peter out while the economy continues to slide. Yet the overriding domestic focus of this election isn’t necessarily a new phenomenon. For Americans — and voters worldwide — what’s going on in other nations often takes a backseat to what’s happening in their own backyards.And while potential commanders in chief need to prove their foreign policy mettle, that’s just one of a number of strengths they need to show. In 1999, candidate George W. Bush couldn’t correctly name the leaders of India, Pakistan or Chechnya, but won the election anyway. And a host of other politicians on both sides of aisle have failed foreign policy pop quizzes over the years — some, like Herman Cain’s infamous “Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan” moment, spectacularly so. But most have lived to campaign another day. Damon Wilson, executive vice president of the D.C.based Atlantic Council, says the public doesn’t necessarily expect candidates to have foreign policy experience or

Page 12

Credit: U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Jason Morrison

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Adam Grajewski takes part in a security patrol in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Even though 68,000 Americans are still fighting in Afghanistan, the war has barely registered as an issue in the 2012 presidential race, a reflection of the public’s fatigue with U.S. military adventures abroad.

“

At the end of the day, the judgment of the American electorate will be about, can this person be trusted as commander in chief and leader of the free world? The issue of national security credibility will be in play for voters more than where the candidates are on China or Iran or any specific foreign policy issue. — Damon Wilson

”

executive vice president of the Atlantic Council of the United States

even necessarily a strong command of every conceivable issue around the globe. “The issue is national security credibility,” he said. “At the end of the day, the judgment of the American electorate will be about, can this person be trusted as commander in chief and leader of the free world? The issue of national security credibility will be in play for voters more than where the candidates are on China or Iran or any specific foreign policy issue.” On that front, Democrats hold the upper hand in what traditionally has been a Republican stronghold. Public opinion polls consistently show that Obama has a 10 to 15 point advantage over Romney on foreign policy, with Americans giving the commander in chief high marks for his stewardship of the war on terrorism, improving

America’s image overseas, the Asian pivot, getting U.S. troops out of Iraq, and of course killing bin Laden. Experts say Obama has outflanked the GOP in the foreign affairs arena with an aggressive centrist approach that has surprised and disappointed some on the left, particularly on issues such as the escalated campaign of drone strikes and his failure to close Guantanamo as promised. Despite the president’s surprisingly conservative approach in some quarters, the GOP has attempted to paint him as too soft on the Arab world, Russia, China and Iran and not supportive enough of Israel. “Generally in American politics, Republicans accuse Democrats of being feckless and Democrats accuse Republicans of being reckless,” said James Lindsay, director of studies and senior vice president at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Gov. Romney has accused the president of coddling our adversaries and throwing our allies under the bus, dithering when he should have acted, and not spending enough on defense. What’s remarkable is that the American public is giving the nod to a Democratic candidate on foreign policy — that is very unusual.” Perhaps that’s why Romney devoted just 200 words to foreign affairs and notably failed to mention the war in Afghanistan in his acceptance speech at the GOP convention.That’s to say nothing of Iraq — akin to kryptonite for the Republican Party this election, given that a strong majority of Americans are perfectly fine with extricating U.S. troops from both wars (a Washington Post-ABC poll late last year showed that nearly eight in 10 Americans approved of Obama’s decision to remove combat troops from Iraq). In fact, Romney became the first GOP candidate to not bring up the subject of war in his acceptance speech since 1952. Despite the fact that President Obama has a foreign

The Washington Diplomat

See foreign policy, page 15 October 2012

Politics

United States

Vice Presidential Contenders Wade Into Foreign Policy Debate by Talha Aquil

s foreign policy gains steam in an otherwise economyfueled election, it’s not just the presidential contenders whose opinions matter — their running mates have plenty to say as well. At the Republican convention, Mitt Romney’s vice presidential pick, Paul Ryan, gave a forceful speech that impressed audiences, while on the Democratic side, Vice President Joe Biden also won plaudits for his speech, which played up President Obama’s role in ending the Iraq War and killing Osama bin Laden. And in such a tight race, the performance of the two vice presidential candidates takes on added importance in the upcoming debates and on the campaign trail. At the outset, foreign policy appears to be neither man’s strong suit. Biden has been an asset to Obama’s re-election campaign precisely because of his ability to connect with middle-class voters on breadand-butter issues like jobs. Likewise, Ryan, a Wisconsin representative in the House, is the Republican wiz kid whose bold budget plans have come to define conservative thinking on how to fix America’s economy. But both VP candidates do harbor strong views on U.S. engagement with the world — reflecting and influencing the ambitions of their bosses. Though they represent polar opposite ends of the political spectrum, looked at from a certain angle, Biden and Ryan aren’t as worlds apart as this divisive campaign may suggest. Both men come from working-class backgrounds, both have persevered over tragedies in their private lives, both tirelessly dove into their congressional committee work, and both supported the invasion of Iraq before having strong reservations about the endeavor. The evolution of the Iraq War is critical to understanding the foreign policy mindsets of both men. Subsequent to their support for the war, both flirted with hawkish internationalist views while also taking more nuanced foreign policy positions. Biden in fact brought to the vice presidency a formidable background in foreign affairs. Among his 36 years in the Senate, he served as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Judiciary Committee, where he also served on the Subcommittee onTerrorism and Homeland Security. For a large part of his Senate career, Biden was a proponent of aggressive October 2012

Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

John Nance Garner, vice president to Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1941, once complained that the vice presidency wasn’t worth a “bucket of warm piss.” But times have changed. American intervention abroad. He told the New Yorker in 2005:“There are some really bright guys and women in my party who underestimate the transformative capability of military power, when coupled with a rational policy that is both preventative and nation-building in nature.” His record in the Senate bears out that belief. During the 1999 Kosovo conflict, he cosponsored a bill, alongside Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, authorizing the president to use “all necessary force,” including ground troops, to confront Slobodan Milosevic over Serbian transgressions in Kosovo. Over time, and with the experience of Iraq, Biden’s belief in intervention became far more nuanced. Despite his initial support, he soon became an ardent critic of President George W. Bush’s policies in Iraq, sponsoring bills that opposed permanent U.S. bases in the country, for instance. He also opposed escalating America’s troop commitment in Iraq, sponsoring the Iraq War Policy resolution in January 2007 that stated “it is not in the national interest of the United States to deepen its military involvement in Iraq.” The resolution did not pass but it signaled Biden’s reversal

from his earlier unequivocal, muscular backing of the war. But neither is Biden completely opposed to intervention. In July 2007, a few scant months after his sponsorship of the Iraq resolution, he introduced a resolution alongside Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) advocating military peacekeepers in Sudan’s Darfur region. Biden’s belief in the power of military intervention seems to hinge on where U.S. troops might be useful versus where they may cause harm and only inflame tensions. As such, he’s supported drawing down forces in Iraq while refocusing American resources on what he claimed was the “central front” in the war against al Qaeda: Afghanistan — mirroring Obama’s strategy to redirect resources toward that conflict. But Afghanistan also illustrates Biden’s evolution in thinking, especially as circumstances change. Michael Crowley of the New Republic attributes this change of heart largely to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. “Soon after Karzai took office in December 2001, Biden traveled to Kabul and, over lunch on two successive days, clicked with the new leader,” Crowley wrote in the 2009 article “Hawk Down.”

President Barack Obama talks with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), left, during a February 2010 national televised bipartisan meeting on health insurance reform. Whatever bipartisanship may have existed has long evaporated since Ryan became Mitt Romney’s vice presidential pick.

But within a couple of years, Biden became disillusioned over rampant corruption and Karzai’s inability to establish a strong central government, according to Crowley. “Whereas he had once felt that, with sufficient U.S. support, Afghanistan could be stabilized, now he wasn’t so sure,” Crowley wrote. “The trip also left Biden wondering about the clarity of America’s mission. At the White House, he told colleagues that ‘if you asked ten different U.S. officials in that country what their mission was, you’d get ten different answers,’ according to a senior White House aide. He was also growing increasingly concerned about the fate of Pakistan. Biden has been troubled by the overwhelmingly disproportionate allocation of U.S. resources to Afghanistan in comparison to Pakistan.” So as the Afghan war dragged on and Obama debated substantially increasing troops to the country as part of the 2009 “surge,” Biden pushed for a narrower counterinsurgency strategy that called for 20,000 additional troops (not the 40,000 that the army brass recommended), according to the new book “Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan” by Washington Post correspondent Rajiv Chandrasekaran. Obama ultimately sent

Continued on next page The Washington Diplomat Page 13

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around 30,000 troops. Biden has also reportedly urged Obama to rely more on unmanned drone strikes to weed out Taliban insurgents, both in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama has evidently taken his vice president’s advice, ratcheting up drone strikes while winding down both wars. On other fronts, Biden has been instrumental in Obama’s signature achievement with Russia, the New Start nuclear weapons treaty, and the strategic “pivot” toward Asia to hedge against Chinese dominance in the region (the vice president often served as Obama’s point man on China). As such, Biden’s foreign policy experience was front and center at the Democratic National Convention. Former President Bill Clinton paid tribute to Biden’s role, noting that Obama “trusted him to oversee the successful end of the war in Iraq … and Joe Biden did a great job.” The selection of Ryan to be Romney’s VP pick has also added impetus to the Republican presidential hopeful’s campaign, although Ryan’s specialty clearly lies in the economic domain.As such, his critics charge that the wonky congressman has zero foreign policy experience. It’s true that Ryan is more renowned for his work on domestic issues, notably his budget blueprint that drastically shrinks the size of the U.S. government, but since being vaulted to national stardom, his foreign policy views have begun to come out of the woodwork — ever so slowly. As late as August, James Lindsay of the Council on Foreign Relations complained that “his congressional web page doesn’t even list ‘foreign policy’ as a choice for constituents looking to learn his views.” Currently, Ryan’s congressional web page does have sections on homeland security and the war on terror that convey some of his foreign policy beliefs. The language, though, is cloaked in his domestic role as chairman of the House Budget Committee, as he declares: “I am committed to ensuring that the federal government provides our military with the necessary resources to accomplish the missions that they have set to protect our nation from those who wish to do us harm.” The subject of resources is a recurrent theme for Ryan, who argues that America’s power abroad will be jeopardized if it does not get its fiscal house in order — hence his all-consuming focus on tackling the deficit. “Our fiscal policy and our foreign policy are on a collision course, and if we fail to put our budget on a sustainable path, then we are choosing decline as a world power…. Economic growth is the key to avoiding the kind of painful austerity that would limit our ability to generate both hard and soft power,” he said in a 2011 speech to the Alexander Hamilton Society. Ryan also trumpets a more activist American leadership on the world stage, which mirrors Romney’s core foreign policy argument against Obama that he has been a weak president. Ryan’s speech to the Alexander Hamilton Society offers some of the clearest insights into his worldview. “A world without U.S. leadership will be a more chaotic place, a place where we have less influence, and a place where our citizens face more dangers and fewer opportunities,” he warned, adding that “a central element of maintaining American leadership is the promotion of our moral principles — consistently and energetically — without being unrealistic about what is possible for us to achieve…. A safer world and a more prosperous America go hand in hand.” Thus, Ryan supports the promotion of democratic movements abroad, but he doesn’t seem to fully back the kind of nation-building endeavors launched by George W. Bush.This has led to questions whether Ryan fits the neoconservative or realist wings of the Republican Party. Lindsay of CFR explains that “neoconservatives applaud the ‘so we must lead’ line. Realists take comfort in the caveat that comes with it: not ‘being unrealistic about what is possible for us to achieve.’” However, Matthew Yglesias, writing in the liberal-leaning American Prospect after Ryan’s Alexander Hamilton speech, said Ryan was following “more or less the liberal internationalist vision

Photo: Christopher Dilts / Obama for America

Vice President Joe Biden campaigns for President Obama in Detroit in August.

that’s already at the core” of the current policies of the Obama administration. In contrast to Biden, Ryan was a strong advocate of the surge in Iraq, but like Biden, he’s also shifted on the issue. In 2007, Ryan argued that the surge is “probably the best gamble to take before throwing in the towel and allowing sectarian genocide to take over.” At the same time, he estimated that America could save $1 trillion over the next decade by ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That figure was later adopted by Democrats in Congress and the White House in their own arguments for winding down those two wars. Both Biden and Biden and Ryan’s attachment to the Iraq War faded over time, though for different reasons. And on Afghanistan, Ryan has echoed Biden’s calls for a carefully transitioned drawdown of troops. But one area where Ryan and Biden are sharply divided is free trade. As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Ryan helped to negotiate free trade agreements with Bahrain, Morocco, Oman and Jordan. He was also an early supporter of the Middle East Free Trade Area Initiative announced by the Bush administration in 2003. Ryan sees free trade as critical to spreading American values such as human rights and democracy “This is a way to help expand democratic capitalism, because through each of these trade agreements we require things like the rule of law and forcible contracts, women’s rights, advancements towards openness, transparency and democracy,” he said in a 2009 talk at the Council on Foreign Relations. Biden, despite being a strong proponent of free trade, criticized the Bush administration’s drive on bilateral and regional free trade agreements. He voted against the FTA with Oman in 2006 and against the Central America Free Trade Agreement because he believed it lacked effective provisions to enforce labor and environmental standards. Previously in the 1990s, though, Biden had voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement. Ryan and Biden do find some overlap in their views on the Arab Spring. Both are cautious about unfettered support for democracy in the Middle East. Years before the first stirrings of upheaval, Biden told the American Jewish Committee in 2005 that “there is often a short-term conflict between democracy promotion and our vital security interests.” He added that “pushing too hard, too fast on democracy risks alienating governments whose help we need.” Ryan too spoke in similar terms during his address to the Alexander Hamilton Society. “It is too soon to tell whether these revolutions will result in governments that respect the rights of their citizens, or if one form of autocracy will be supplanted by another,” he cautioned. “While we work to assure the former,American policy should be realistic about our ability to avert the latter.” John Nance Garner, vice president to Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1941, once complained that the vice presidency wasn’t worth a “bucket of warm piss.” But times have changed. Looking at the commanding role former Vice President Dick Cheney had in the Bush administration and even Biden’s influence and steady hand in the Obama administration, it’s clear that the power of a president’s No. 2 should not be underestimated.

Talha Aquil is a freelance writer based in Toronto.

The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

from page 12

Foreign Policy policy record to campaign on, while Romney generally lacks international credentials (quite common for today’s presidential contenders; Obama too was a foreign policy neophyte), the challenger still has an institutional advantage in that he can castigate countries like Egypt, China and Russia, as Romney has done, without having to deal with the consequences in the way a sitting president has to. On that note, many observers say that beyond the rhetorical bluster, Romney and Obama’s foreign policy visions don’t differ all that much, as Peter Baker argued in the New York Times article “Romney and Obama Strain to Show Gap on Foreign Policy.” “They both would press the battle against Al Qaeda through drones and special operations while drawing down troops in Afghanistan. They both would try to stop Iran’s nuclear program through sanctions and negotiations without ruling out a military option. They both would support rebels in Syria while keeping American forces out of the conflict,” Baker wrote.“Even in areas where Mr. Romney has been most critical, like Israel, Russia and China, it is not entirely clear what he would do differently.” Perhaps that’s because, despite the barrage of ads and convention speeches, policy details have been in short supply this campaign season. Romney has pounded Obama over gauzy issues such as American exceptionalism and the hackneyed “leading from behind” charge, saying he would lead from the front, though he hasn’t clarified what that entails. Would he take the hawkish route advocated by John Bolton, for instance, or the more moderate tack of Robert Zoellick, both of whom are advisors to his campaign? Obama has a clear track record that can be scrutinized, but he too has failed to clarify what exactly he would do if he won a second term.

Neither candidate wants to stick their neck out and risk getting bogged down in specifics that might alienate crucial swing voters. Moreover, soaring foreign policy pledges made on the campaign trail don’t often translate into concrete action once in office. Romney projects a far more confrontational tone, but whether he’d actually implement hard-line policies is anyone’s guess. That being said, there are some stark contrasts in policy, especially in the critical national security domain, that distinguish the two candidates and might shape the 45th president’s agenda. These differences, outlined below, will most likely emerge in the presidential debate on Oct. 22. And it’s important to remember that this final debate will focus on foreign policy, so the last impression many voters will have before they cast their ballots will be on world affairs.

Iran With Israel itching to launch a military strike against Iran’s nuclear program, the specter of war looms large for the next U.S. president, whoever he is. Early in his administration, President Obama made overtures to engage the Iranian regime, but the rapprochement strategy was shelved after Tehran’s brutal crackdown on demonstrators following the country’s disputed 2009 presidential election. After a series of troubling reports on Iran’s nuclear weapons program by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Obama galvanized an international coalition to impose harsh sanctions on Iran that included unprecedented measures aimed at choking off the oil-rich country’s banking and petrochemical sectors. (The U.S. also reportedly supported a covert sabotage campaign, along with Israel, targeting Iran’s nuclear program.) Negotiations with Iran, however, remain at loggerheads, though the White House hasn’t given up on its “duel-track” approach, saying it will continue to put the squeeze on Iran’s economy but

that there is still time for diplomacy to bear fruit. Supporters of the administration say the crippling sanctions — and the international support behind them — would not have been possible without that initial outreach toTehran.Republicans counter that Obama’s approach was dangerously naïve and exposed the futility of trying to engage America’s enemies. Romney has repeatedly derided Obama on Iran while vowing that the Islamic republic will not obtain the capability to build a bomb if he’s elected. “If we re-elect Barack Obama, Iran will have a nuclear weapon. If you elect me as president, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,” Romney has said point blank. But he hasn’t specified how he would prevent Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, and both candidates have stated that a military option remains on the table. Romney though has argued that Obama doesn’t carry the same credible threat of force as he does. His more aggressive stance has also won praise in Israel, where, during a summertime trip, Romney declared that if Israel acts unilaterally to strike Iran, he “would respect that decision.” He’s also insisted that his red line for military action would be Iran developing nuclear enrichment “capability” rather than a weapon — unlike the administration, which has so far refused to draw that distinction and says there’s no evidence that Iranian leaders have made the decision to build a bomb. And even then, officials say there would be ample time to stop the regime from crossing the weapons threshold. The Israelis adamantly disagree, and Romney’s “red line” matches up well with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent insistence that the United States set clear conditions and deadlines that, if crossed, would provoke a military response. The administration so far has refused to be boxed into any ultimatums that could derail negotiations, but Netanyahu hasn’t let up on his demands, rendering Iran and the

U.S.-Israel relationship a major issue on the campaign trail — most likely to Romney’s delight.

Israel Indeed, Romney’s most frequent and harshest foreign policy criticism of the president has been his contention that Obama has “thrown Israel under the bus” — a contention that could gain more traction if Israel keeps pushing the “red line” debate. Most recently, Romney slammed Obama for not meeting with Netanyahu at the U.N. General Assembly in September — which the White House dismissed as a scheduling conflict. Yet it’s clear that Obama and Netanyahu have not seen eye to eye over the last four years. Obama in fact was once accidentally caught on tape commiserating with French President Nicolas Sarkozy about how difficult it was to work with the Israeli prime minister. The two butted heads early on when Obama pushed the Israelis to freeze settlement construction in the West Bank and later when he said that peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians should be based on the 1967 borders with mutually agreed land swaps (despite the uproar, Obama hasn’t deviated from longstanding U.S. policy toward the conflict). While Obama’s personal relationship with Netanyahu may not be close, his administration’s record on Israel has been broadly supportive. Despite its small size, Israel remains America’s leading recipient of foreign aid and that assistance has only grown under Obama’s watch. In fact, he’s supported hundreds of millions of dollars to provide Israel with rocket-defense systems such as David’s Sling, Arrow and Iron Dome to help Israel protect itself against rocket attacks from Gaza and a possible Iran counterstrike. The generally supportive line toward Israel was established in the days just prior to Obama’s inauguration, when Israel launched an attack on Gaza

Continued on next page

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in retaliation for missile strikes that resulted in well over 1,000 Palestinian casualties, many of them civilian. Israel’s conduct in the war was roundly condemned in the court of world opinion but Obama remained mostly silent. After more or less abandoning efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the Obama administration has occasionally offered mild rebukes of Israeli settlement expansion but has repeatedly expended diplomatic capital to advance Israel’s interests and shield it from criticism at the United Nations — such as blocking the Palestinians’ 2011 bid for U.N. membership. And his position on peace talks is essentially the same as every other U.S. administration. There are signs, however, that if elected, Romney would shed any pretense of the U.S. being an honest broker and clearly side with Israel in the long-running conflict. He’s said he would drop any demands for a settlement moratorium and promised to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, which he declared to be the capital of the Jewish state, even though U.S. policy says its status should be determined through negotiations. Such declarations stand in contrast to the strange waffling at the Democratic National Convention over whether to affirm Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in the DNC platform.

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The Washington Diplomat

Both candidates recognize that the public has little enthusiasm for America’s participation in the longest war in its history. But Romney, whose position on issues such as pursuing militants in Pakistan and timetables for a U.S. withdrawal have seemingly evolved over time (and often overlapped with Obama’s), has criticized the president for his plan to remove 33,000 troops from Afghanistan that were part of his “surge” plan. Romney has also ruled out negotiating with the Taliban as an exit strategy for the war. President Obama has pledged to withdraw all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan by September 2014, while Romney has vaguely indicated that he plans to seek the counsel of the generals on the ground after he’s elected, though he too has mentioned the 2014 deadline. Perhaps that’s why Romney has for the most part steered clear of Afghanistan during campaigning, even though 68,000 Americans are still fighting in the country. That war was also launched in part to hunt down the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and on that front, it’s difficult for Romney to rob Obama of his foreign policy trump card. At the Democratic National Convention in September, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and others played up the fact that Obama gave the order that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. “Ask Osama bin Laden if he’s better off now than he was four years ago,” Kerry said in one of the convention’s more memorable zingers. It was an interesting turnaround for the former presidential hopeful and for the Democratic Party as a whole, as Politico’s Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen wrote in “The Kerry-ization of Mitt Romney.” “Romney — whose convention speech didn’t include a salute to the troops or a reference to Afghanistan … is getting hit almost daily now by Democratic attacks that he is wobbly and therefore untrustworthy on national security. It’s the same critique Republicans used to undermine Kerry to devastating effect eight years ago,” they wrote. But eight years — let alone 11 years, the length of the Afghan war — is a long time, and reviving the interventionist policies of the Bush years is dangerous territory for Romney. A 2012 Chicago Council Survey of American Public Opinion and Foreign Policy released in September, for instance, showed that while Americans still want the United States to play an active part in world affairs, “given the difficulty and cost in lives and treasure of reshaping events in far-off places and the bruising impact

of the financial crisis and its aftermath,Americans have become increasingly selective about how and where to engage in the world.”

THE ARAb SPRING Perhaps no other issue will test the next president’s engagement policy more than the Arab Spring, as U.S. missions abroad come under fire by angry Muslim protesters, violence continues to roil Syria, and the United States must find its footing with new leaders in Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Tunisia. If anything, the Arab uprisings have laid bare the limits of U.S. influence in the region — a challenge for any president. Obama has eschewed his predecessor’s push to spread democracy in the Arab world — saying,“No system of government can or should be imposed by one nation by any other” — and so far he’s resisted becoming sucked into Syria’s civil war, even though it has claimed an estimated 20,000 lives. The administration’s diplomatic efforts at the United Nations to resolve the conflict went nowhere, and it has refused to provide the country’s inchoate rebels with weapons to battle President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, leaving that to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The president enjoyed more diplomatic success with Libya, securing a U.N.-authorized, NATO-led intervention that ultimately dislodged Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi from power (on the cheap, too, with an estimated U.S. price tag of $1 billion, compared to $1 trillion for Iraq). But Libya was also a double-edged sword. The protests that killed Ambassador Stevens raised serious questions about stability in that war-torn nation (although Libya remains one of the more pro-American governments in the region). Moreover, Russia was incensed by the NATO mission that helped rebels kill Qaddafi, arguing that regime change was not part of the original deal. Whether it’s retribution or reticence, Moscow has since blocked firm U.N. action on Syria, warning it could open the doors to another Western intervention (which, incidentally, might topple one of Moscow’s closest allies). Elsewhere in the region, the president has pursued a cautious, calculated strategy as traditional U.S. alliances have been upended in the name of greater democracy for Arab citizens. His administration has tentatively reached out to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, offering financial assistance and deft relief to the lynchpin Arab country as long as it honors its peace agreement with Israel and doesn’t impose a strict version of Islamic governance. In the wake of the embassy protests, Obama has described the Brotherhood leadership as neither friend nor foe. The State Department has also quietly led an effort to bolster private investment and encourage good governance in transitioning Arab nations such as Tunisia. But Romney and his advisors have blasted Obama for what they call an incoherent, tepid response to the Arab Spring, arguing it betrays America’s core values of promoting freedom and human rights. “Maybe if [Obama] had continued to support democracy and civil society in these countries the way that Bush did, the way they should, maybe the more moderate forces would have been better prepared to compete for political power,” Romney senior foreign policy advisor Rich Williamson told The Cable’s Josh Rogin just before the attack in Libya that killed four U.S. diplomats. Romney has echoed that sentiment, but he hasn’t given a full-throated endorsement of Bush’s “freedom agenda” either — mindful of two costly invasions in Muslim nations that remain deeply unpopular with a war-weary, cash-strapped American public. The bloodbath in Syria might force the next president’s hand, however. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has called for a more muscular U.S. response, but thus far, Romney hasn’t quite followed suit, though he has stated that the U.S. should “work with partners to organize and arm Syrian opposition groups.” In a strange way, by blocking progress at the U.N., Russia has provided diplomatic cover not October 2012

cal concessions. In addition, Romney opposed Russia’s longawaited accession to the World Trade Organization, while Obama says Russia’s entrance into the trade bloc will benefit U.S. businesses. For its part, the Russian press has lashed out at the Republicans for their “backward thinking and confrontational posturing,” as the Voice of Russia’s John Robles put it recently.

China

Credit: UN Photo / Iason Foounten

Demonstrators protest the use of weapons by rebel militias in Tripoli and the general atmosphere of lawlessness in Libya — whose regime change, on the cheap, had been a feather in President Obama’s foreign policy cap, until an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi exposed the challenges that the new government faces in trying to stabilize the country.

only for Syria’s beleaguered president, but also for Obama and Romney, neither of whom has spent much time outlining how or if they’d try to contain the ongoing carnage in Syria.

Russia Romney’s late March statement that Russia was America’s “number-one geopolitical foe” was mocked by a variety of speakers at the Democratic convention, including the president, who called it a “Cold War mind-warp.” But the comment may be emblematic of Romney’s attempts to fire up his base with tough talk reminiscent of just that — the Cold War. The White House’s relations with Russia have been challenging, to say the least, particularly in light of President Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian tendencies and his determination to thwart efforts to sanction Syria and other rogue regimes

at the U.N. Security Council. But it’s the area of nuclear weapons and missile defense where Romney and Obama are clearly split.As Romney himself quipped, he would “reset the reset” that’s been a hallmark of Obama’s relations with Russia. In particular, Romney has criticized the president for backing off his predecessor’s plans to build a long-range missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, which Russia strenuously opposed (a position Romney highlighted by his trip to Poland this summer). Obama, however, says his reconfigured, phased-in system is more technologically sound and will better protect Europe against an Iranian missile attack. Romney has also firmly come out against the New Start treaty with Russia that cut both countries’ nuclear launchers by half, accusing Obama of allowing the Russians to expand their nuclear arsenal while reducing our own without recipro-

China’s state-run press hasn’t exactly warmed up to Romney either. China Daily derisively called his policies “an outdated manifestation of a Cold War mentality.” Yet denunciations by the Russian or Chinese media — not exactly pillars of journalistic integrity — aren’t likely to have an impact on American voters. In fact, they may be a badge of honor for Romney, who says Obama has failed to confront China over its human rights abuses and unfair trade practices. In a 2011 Washington Post op-ed, Romney accused China of “systematic exploitation of other economies” because of its intellectual property theft, domestic subsidization and currency manipulation that has kept the yuan artificially low so Chinese exports are cheaper. To that end, Romney has said that as soon as he enters office, he would brand China a currency manipulator. But such first-day promises, rarely ever kept, could conflict with Romney’s own business instincts because the move would set off a trade war between the two economic giants. Moreover, China-bashing has become routine for most candidates, who often change their tune once elected. For his part, Obama has tried to avoid major blowups with China, recognizing that it’s America’s largest creditor and a key player in the United Nations and other multilateral bodies. Officials say the president’s quiet push on the currency issue prodded Beijing to relax currency controls and let the yuan gradually rise against the

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dollar over the last two years. The administration has also broached the topic of human rights, albeit not very loudly (most notably taking in Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng), and criticized economic imbalances, lodging complaints against China at the World Trade Organization (the most recent one, filed right before a campaign stop in Ohio, accused Beijing of subsidizing its auto and auto parts industries to the detriment of American manufacturers). But the overriding message has been that the U.S. welcomes China’s rise as an emerging power — with the caveat that it be a responsible stakeholder in the global system. Still, Obama has ruffled feathers in Beijing with his Asian pivot that’s shifting military resources to the Asia-Pacific region. While the administration says the move is a natural recognition of Asia’s growing clout, Obama is clearly taking advantage of China’s aggressive posturing in regional disputes over islands in the South China Sea to cement partnerships with nations such as the Philippines and Vietnam and to reassert America’s presence as a Pacific power. Likewise, Romney says he would work to prevent Chinese hegemony in the region with an expanded naval presence, saying that “in the face of China’s accelerated military build-up, the United States and our allies must maintain appropriate military capabilities to discourage any aggressive or coercive behavior by China against its neighbors.”

Defense Charting traditional GOP terrain, Romney has pledged to significantly increase defense spending, claiming that Obama has “put America on course toward a ‘hollow’ force.” He’s slammed the administration for the sequestration cuts set to take hold at the end of the year, which would shave $500 billion from the Pentagon’s budget over the next 10 years.

See Foreign policy, page 26

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“Forging the link with America’s strongest partner in the Gulf”

The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

COVER PROFILE

Ambassador Mohamed Abdulla Al-Rumaihi

Qatar ’s Prosperity As High As Its Geopolitical Ambitions by Larry Luxner

ataris are among the richest people on Earth, but just how rich is a matter of debate. The CIA World Factbook says this Connecticut-sized emirate jutting out into the Persian Gulf has an annual per-capita GDP of $104,300. Qatar National Bank is even more optimistic, projecting per-capita income at $113,000 by year’s end and $114,300 in 2013 — up from a paltry $88,600 in 2010. And if you count only the 250,000 or so native Qatari citizens who constitute a distinct minority in their own country — leaving out the one and a half million Indians, Nepalese, Filipinos and others who do most of the actual labor in Qatar — then annual per-capita income zooms to well over $400,000. Mohamed Abdulla Al-Rumaihi, the country’s ambassador in Washington, doesn’t know the exact number, nor does he seem to care much. “We have been blessed by God, and through our wealth we seek to create a model for the entire Middle East,” said Al-Rumaihi, smiling benevolently as he spoke to The Washington Diplomat in his first exclusive media interview since arriving from Doha — nonstop to Dulles via Qatar Airways — in February. That wealth is obvious throughout this conservative Muslim state that’s home to the third-largest natural gas reserves in the world — from Doha’s gleaming international airport to its glittering skyline, ultramodern shopping malls and world-class, $1 billion Museum of Islamic Art, which opened in December 2008 and sits on an artificial island just off a waterfront promenade along Doha Bay. Earlier this year, Qatar’s royal family acquired Paul Cézanne’s post-impressionist painting “The Card Players” for a staggering $250 million — the highest price ever paid for a single work of art. Yes, except for having to cope with unbearable heat that can easily drive summer temperatures to 122 degrees, the Qataris are a pretty lucky bunch. Citizens enjoy free water, free electricity, free phone service and free health care — and pay no taxes. They can thank geology for that. Until the 1950s, Qatar derived most of its income from pearl diving. But following independence in 1971 and the dramatic surge in world oil prices only two years later, Qatar quickly became an energy powerhouse. According to the Oil & Gas Journal, Qatar today sits on 25.4 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and ranks as the world’s 16th-largest crude oil exporter. Qatar’s real economic might, however, comes from gas; the tiny country controls 14 percent of the world’s proven natural gas reserves (ranking only behind Russia and Iran). Qatar is now the world’s leading liquefied natural gas exporter, shipping LNG mainly to Japan, South Korea, India and Western Europe. “The discovery of gas in the 1990s and the decision by His Highness the Emir to invest massively in those gas fields was a very wise decision,” said Al-Rumaihi. “That’s given us the capacity today to diversify our energy industry and expand the petrochemical sector to produce refined products like gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and polyethylene.” His Highness the Emir would be Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, whose family has ruled this city-state for nearly 200 years. In 1995 — with the support of his family

October 2012

Photo: Jessica Latos

“

We have been blessed by God, and through our wealth we seek to create a model for the entire Middle East.

”

— Mohamed Abdulla Al-Rumaihi ambassador of Qatar to the United States

— Al-Thani deposed his father while the latter was vacationing in Switzerland, and was crowned emir on June 20, 2000. Despite his undisputed status as an absolute monarch, Qatar’s ruler is considered to be among the most progressive in the Gulf. “The emir is a very serious man. He is blessed with knowledge and very good international contacts. He tries to bring peace and stability to other countries, especially the Middle East. This is not an easy task,” said the ambassador in what’s perhaps the understatement of the year.“Meanwhile, our top priority is to ensure stability for the people of Qatar in matters of health, education and social security. It is very important that all Qataris are educated for the future.” Al-Rumaihi’s office occupies much of the fifth floor of the Qatari mission along M Street, just before the bridge to Georgetown. From his desk, huge plate-glass windows offer a commanding view of Rock Creek Park. Everything about this place suggests modesty, from the Brazilian hardwood floors to dark leather couches and selected knick-knacks from Qatar. Of the sampling of books spread out on Al-Rumaihi’s coffee table, two stand out:“The Islamic Art Collection of Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al-Thani” and “Arab and Muslim Civil Rights and Identity: A Selection of Scholarly Writings from the Decade After 9/11.” The father of four sons and three daughters, Al-Rumaihi, 55, graduated from France’s Saint Cyr Military Academy in

1980 and went on to become an officer in the Qatari Armed Forces, rising in rank from lieutenant to major general. From 2002 to 2003, he was Qatar’s ambassador to France and nonresident ambassador to Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the European Union. In 2003, Al-Rumaihi became assistant foreign minister, a position he held up until the emir appointed him to his current position earlier this year. Whereas the ambassador’s predecessor in Washington, Ali Bin Fahad Al-Hajri, almost never spoke to the media and repeatedly declined our requests to interview him,Al-Rumaihi seemed rather at ease with our questions.These ranged from easy ones, like how Qatar is preparing for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, to difficult topics, such as the ongoing upheaval convulsing the Middle East — and the fact that cries for democracy have now been heard in just about every Arab country except his own. (The only protests raging in Doha lately have been those along the capital’s main thoroughfare by Qataris who angrily rallied in mid-September against a 14-minute video made in California that trashes the prophet Mohammad.) “Qatar does not like to see any people suppressed inside or outside their own countries, not getting their rights and not developing themselves,” the ambassador told us.“We say go ahead, create reforms. Empower your people and we will help you. But some leaders don’t like these ideas. We’ve ended up being hated by some of these governments. You can’t just have prosperity and progress without having reforms too.” Patrick Theros, who served as U.S. ambassador to Qatar from 1995 to 1998, told The Diplomat that Al-Thani has shown “a very sophisticated understanding” on this topic and regards democracy as inevitable. “Qatar’s leadership has realized that as you develop a population, you educate them and open their eyes to the outside world,” said Theros, president of the Washingtonbased U.S.-Qatar Business Council (see sidebar).“You can buy the people off with money for a time, but at a certain point, they’re not going to be bought off anymore. They have to

Continued on next page The Washington Diplomat Page 19

Continued from previous page participate in government and feel that they’re actually part of the political process.” To that end, he said, political liberalization in Qatar has happened a lot faster than the population expected. In 1996, Qatar lifted press censorship — the first country in the Arab world to do so — and in 1999, the emir formed a municipal council and allowed women to vote as well as run for office; four years later a constitution was approved. And next year, Qatar will hold its first parliamentary elections; the 90-member parliament will consist of 60 elected representatives and 30 members appointed by the emir. Theros said that as Qatar opens up politically, its quality of life is improving in ways unimaginable half a century ago. “When I first went to the Gulf in 1964, the infant mortality of Gulf Arabs was 90 percent. Literacy among men was below 10 percent, and almost nonexistent among women,” he said.“Now, all those numbers have been stood on their heads. In Qatar, nobody under the age of 50 is illiterate, and 80 percent of college graduates are women.” Yet those impressive statistics apply only to Qatari citizens, who comprise barely 15 percent of Qatar’s 1.8 million inhabitants. By comparison, Indians make up 24 percent of Qatar’s population, followed by the Nepalese; non-Qatari Arabs; Filipinos; Sri Lankans; Bangladeshis; Pakistanis and others. Discrimination and abuse against those of South Asian origin — many of them earning less than $200 a month — is a fact of life in Qatar, as is the case elsewhere throughout the Gulf. According to the State Department’s annual 2012 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, “The Government of Qatar does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but is making significant efforts to do so.” Joseph LeBaron, former U.S. ambassador to Qatar, echoed that sentiment, telling Doha’s Gulf Times that the government’s National TIP Action

Photo: Larry Luxner

Doha’s modern skyline is dotted with glittering skyscrapers and construction cranes. In advance of the country hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar envisions spending between $120 billion and $150 billion on infrastructure alone over the next 10 years.

Plan for 2010-15 “will make Qatar a more humane place to live and work for all foreign workers. It will improve Qatar’s international reputation. In fact, Qatar will have an opportunity … to distinguish itself as a regional anti-TIP leader.” Yet Qatar has already been establishing itself as a political and economic leader in the region for years, most recently inserting itself into the Arab Spring turmoil in a bid to help shape the region’s future. It’s a delicate balancing act for a tiny nation wedged between powerful and conflicting forces such as Saudi Arabia and Iran — and Qatar’s strate-

gic maneuvering has fueled widespread suspicions about what the government is really up to. “Its intentions remain murky to its neighbors and even allies — some say Qatar has a Napoleon complex, others say it has an Islamist agenda. But its clout is a lesson in what can be gained with some of the world’s largest gas reserves, the region’s most influential news network in Al Jazeera, an array of contacts (many with an Islamist bent), and policy-making in an absolute monarchy vested in the hands of one man,” wrote Anthony Shadid in the New York Times article “Qatar Wields an Outsize Influence in Arab Politics.”

“But for all the contradictions in its policies — and there are many — Qatar is advancing a decisive shift in Arab politics that many in the West have yet to embrace: a Middle East dominated by mainstream Islamist parties brought to power in a region that is more democratic, more conservative and more tumultuous,” Shadid wrote. Qataris have in part advanced that agenda by capitalizing on the tumult in Libya and Syria — two countries where the emirate has used its vast oil and gas wealth to help rebels in their efforts to overthrow tyrannical regimes. In his Nov. 14, 2011, dispatch from Doha, Shadid, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who died in February of an asthma attack while covering the bloodshed in Syria, described how Qatari money proved instrumental in the eventual downfall of Libyan leader Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi. “Diplomats say hundreds of millions were funneled to the opposition, often through channels Qatar had cultivated with expatriates here,” Shadid wrote.“A Libyan opposition channel was set up in Doha. Qatar dispatched Western-trained advisers, who helped finance, train and arm Libyan rebels.” Foreign Policy correspondent Blake Hounshell, who lived in Qatar for a year, even noted that in August 2011,“when Libyan rebel fighters stormed Qaddafi’s Bab al-Aziziya complex, they raised a Qatari flag in appreciation.” On that subject, Al-Rumaihi’s only remark was that “we helped protect the Libyan people as part of the international coalition with France, the United States and other NATO allies. Qatar was not the only Arab country.” Exactly which other Arab countries he wouldn’t say, remarking dryly that “as you can see, we are out of the picture now.” But Qatar is not out of the picture in Syria, where along with Saudi Arabia it’s been openly supplying rebels with weaponry, including possibly surface-to-air missiles. At the U.N. General Assembly in September, Al-Thani said that in light of the failure to impose

See qatar, page 22

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Source: Dalbar 2012 update to Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior (QAIB). Time Frame: 20 year period ending December 31, 2011. Average equity investor returns were calculated by applying the retention rates of investors of mutual funds to the returns of the S&P 500 Index. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Not intended to represent the performance of any strategy. Securities and investment advisory services offered through Girard Securities Inc. member FINRA/SIPC. Page 20

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October 2012

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October 2012

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SIDEBAR

Business Council Supports U.S.-Qatar Economic Ties Ten years ago, when Qatar was still relatively unknown outside the Middle East, every TV program Patrick Theros appeared on would begin with the interviewer asking him the same question: “How do you pronounce the name of your country?”

heros would always give the same answer: “Cutter,” as in a Coast Guard cutter — not ka-TAR or QUA-tar. Regardless how you say it, Qatar has money to spend. And now more than ever, Fortune 500 firms are eager to do business with the little emirate, which ranks as the world’s third-largest exporter of natural gas and is, on a per-capita basis, one of the richest nations on Earth. Theros served as U.S. ambassador in Doha from 1995 to 1998. Two years later, he was named president and executive director of the U.S.-Qatar Business Council, a Washingtonbased group formed in the mid-1990s by half a dozen U.S. energy giants eager to tap Qatar’s mammoth North Gas Field. “Since then, they’ve been acquiring each other,” Theros told The Washington Diplomat. “I’ve lost members right and left through mergers and acquisitions.” Today, the council has 40 executive members each paying $10,000 a year. Its nine founding members, each of which pay $25,000 a year, are Al Jazeera, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, Qatar

Airways, Qatari Diar Real Estate, Qatar Petroleum and RasGas Ltd. “Our bread and butter is helping American and Qatari companies network with each other to enhance the bilateral relationship in all fields, especially commercial and financial,” Theros explained. “We’re not a lobbying organization. Rather, we seek to educate Americans about Qatar. In the past, it was an uphill fight, because no one had ever heard of Qatar.” That’s certainly not the case today. In 2011, U.S. exports to Qatar totaled $2.8 billion, making the United States the largest source of exports to the emirate. Most of that consists of capital goods, aircraft, construction equipment and components for the oil and gas industry. On the flip side, Qatari imports to the U.S. amounted to $1.2 billion, almost all of it oil, natural gas and some petrochemicals. Among other things, the U.S.-Qatar Business Council has acted decisively on behalf of its members when trouble loomed. For example, in 2001, when Richard Grasso, then head of the New York Stock Exchange, banned Al Jazeera reporters from the NYSE

trading floor, the council advocated on behalf of the Doha-based TV network, and got the decision reversed. The council also acted when a political group in Washington — which it declined to identify — “attempted to use the emir in a derogatory fashion to advocate a political agenda.” Theros, who’s held U.S. diplomatic posts not only in Qatar but also in Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and the United Arab Emirates, said Qatari investment in the United States has grown substantially during the 12 years he’s headed the council. The largest such investment currently is CityCenterDC, a mixed-use residential, commercial, retail and office complex at Ninth and H Streets that Theros calls “the biggest such project in Washington in a generation.” Opening in 2013 on the former site of the Washington Convention Center, this massive 10-acre citywithin-a-city envisions 520,000 square feet of office space in its initial phase, nearly 700 luxury residential units, 185,000 square feet of retail, and a 20,000-square-foot central plaza. Qatari Diar Real Estate’s $700 million stake in CityCenterDC, which broke ground in April 2011, represents one-third of the project’s total value and ranks as the emirate’s biggest investment in the United States since construction of the Golden Pass LNG Terminal on the Texas-

from page 20

Qatar

stiff sanctions on Syria at the U.N. Security Council,“I think that it is better for the Arab countries themselves to interfere out of their national, humanitarian, political and military duties and do what is necessary to stop the bloodshed in Syria … to guarantee a peaceful transition of power,” the emir told the audience of world leaders, pointing to the intervention of Arab forces in war-torn Lebanon in the mid-1970s as a precedent. “We urge all countries that believe in the cause of the Syrian people to contribute to the provision of all sorts of support to this people until it gains its legitimate rights,” he added, though he didn’t specifically call for arming the rebels. Michael Stephens, writing in the Guardian, says that while no one knows for sure what Qatar’s intentions are, he speculates that “the emir wants to secure a legacy for himself as the man who took the Arab world into a more activist phase of multilateral action — as the man who pushed a lethargic, divided region to stand up and solve Arab problems with Arab action, backed by the use of force for those who don’t seem to get the message.” Stephens warns, however, that things could backfire on the emirate. “There are some who think Qatar has bitten off more than it can chew. A tiny state whose entire civil service numbers less than the staff of Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry cannot surely be expected to make the correct strategic calculations in such a complex and violent conflict,” he wrote in August.“It is a dangerous task and … the winds of the Syrian conflict may yet blow back upon Qatar.” Al-Rumaihi does agree that Qatar can’t do it alone, though he wouldn’t confirm what the government is giving the anti-Assad rebels. “Syria is a very difficult case. It will be solved only if the international community arrives at a real solution,” he said. “Otherwise, the situation will continue as we see it. This is a people who decided to get rid of their government because they don’t respect it. Assad should leave power and let his people live. We don’t know how he will leave, but in the end, he will have to leave.” Perhaps the most influential external factor behind the Arab Spring — which ousted not only Qaddafi from Libya but also forced out longtime leaders in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen — has been the Qatari government-owned TV network Al Jazeera. During the Egyptian revolution in February 2011, thousands of protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square cheered as they watched the news unfold on Al Jazeera that President Hosni Mubarak had stepped down.

Page 22

Photo: Larry Luxner

Doha’s towering Qatar Financial Centre is illuminated at night. Thanks to its tremendous energy wealth — it’s home to the third-largest natural gas reserves in the world — this tiny conservative Muslim emirate boasts a percapita GDP of more than $100,000.

Asked if Al Jazeera succeeded in putting Qatar on the map at a time when few people outside of stamp collectors had ever heard of the country, the ambassador said it’s actually the other way around. “Qatar put Al Jazeera on the map,” he said of the network, which in a recent online poll was ranked as the fifth-most influential global brand — right behind Apple, Google, IKEA and Starbucks.“Al Jazeera is a very important channel. It’s a success story in itself and has taken its rightful place in the world as a representative of the free media.” If anything, said Theros of the U.S.-Qatar Business Council, some Qataris think Al Jazeera is too free.“The reason it’s credible is because it’s the only international TV network in the Arab world that is completely uncensored. They did a fairly sympathetic piece on Israeli settlers being removed from Gaza and got beaten up for that.” Curiously, Al-Rumaihi doesn’t mind advocating violence to get rid of despots like Qaddafi and Assad. But last year — while Qatar was helping to free Libya from Qaddafi’s grasp — his emir also sent troops to Bahrain to help the nearby kingdom put down an uprising by that country’s disenfranchised Shiite majority. Since anti-government protests began in early 2011, nearly 100 Bahrainis have died, more than 2,900 have been thrown in jail, and at least five people are believed to have been tortured and killed while in police custody.

Louisiana border. Upon completion, CityCenterDC is expected to bring 3,700 new jobs to the District and generate $30 million in taxes, the Washington Business Journal recently reported. Back home, Qatar plans to spend upward of $120 billion on infrastructure over the next 10 years as it readies for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. That includes a subway system to rival that of Washington, D.C., a massive causeway linking Qatar to nearby Bahrain, dozens of new skyscrapers and at least 50 new hotels. “There aren’t enough engineering companies in the world to do all the work that has to be done,” Theros said. “It’s going to be enormous.” In addition, Qatar hopes its massive Education City will become the envy of the Arab world, with the participation of six prestigious U.S. institutions of higher learning: Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Texas A&M, Northwestern and Virginia Commonwealth University. “The idea is to become one of the most important cities in the Gulf, but not a Dubai,” Theros said. “They see themselves more as an industrial center, more like Pittsburgh than Las Vegas. They are also absolutely determined to become the educational center for the entire Middle East.” — Larry Luxner

Al-Rumaihi also insists the use of force is unjustified, at least in Israel’s case, when it comes to stopping Iran from acquiring weapons of mass destruction. “We believe the Iranians have a right to civilian nuclear power. Nobody can deny that,” he argues. “We never supported the Israeli [threat] to go and destroy Iran. The international community should decide this. It is not unilateral.We don’t think it’s right that one country executes decisions unilaterally.” Iran is understandably a very touchy subject for the government in Doha.The two countries share a maritime border as well as the North Gas Field, and Qatar frequently touts its “brotherly relations” with Tehran — though it also hosts 8,000 American troops at the largest U.S. military air base in the Persian Gulf. In July, U.S. defense officials announced that the Pentagon is building a missile-defense radar station at a secret site in the Qatari desert. That site will complete the backbone of a system designed to defend U.S. interests and allies such as Israel against incoming Iranian rockets, the Wall Street Journal reported. “The U.S. moves are intended to address the two Iranian offensive capabilities Pentagon planners most worry about:Tehran’s arsenal of ballistic missiles and its threat to shut down the oil-shipping lanes of the Strait of Hormuz by mining them,” said the newspaper. Asked if Qatar feels threatened by its much larger neighbor across the strait, Al-Rumaihi admitted that it’s a “very difficult issue” to discuss. “That depends on how much Iran will respect the rules, and how much the international community will accept them becoming a nuclear power,” he replied. “For the time being, we don’t have any proof that Iran has nukes.” Reflecting its chameleon-like foreign policy, however, Qatar’s relations with Israel aren’t nearly as poor as one might expect. Back in the mid-1990s, it became one of the very few Gulf Arab states, along with Oman, to recognize Israel diplomatically. Following the signing of the Oslo peace accords with the Palestinians, Israel was even allowed to establish a low-profile trade office in Doha. “We did this because we wanted to encourage the Israelis and our brothers in the Arab world to negotiate,” said Al-Rumaihi, whose government pledged to open a similar office in Tel Aviv but never followed through. “The Israeli government rejected the Arab peace initiative in 2003 without thinking about it or giving a reply.Then other issues came up, making it very difficult to continue having relations with Israel.” Theros was serving in Qatar when Israel inaugurated its Doha mission, which was so low-profile it had no Israeli flag flying out

The Washington Diplomat

See qatar, page 24 October 2012

October 2012

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front and wasn’t even listed in the local phone directory. He said the handful of Jewish officials stationed there had a rough time from the getgo. “The average Qatari was reluctant to buy anything Israeli, and getting Qataris to rent homes to Israelis was very hard,” he recalled. “The government had to intervene.” Things got especially difficult after the Israeli invasion of Gaza in December 2008, a threeweek military action sparked by Hamas rocket fire into southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1,200 Palestinians, many of them civ ilians.That prompted Qatari officials to close the Israeli trade office and expel its diplomats. “There are no plans on reopening the office,” said Al-Rumaihi, adding that “we are waiting for somebody [in Israel] to take a step. We believe that [Arab-Israeli] peace is possible. In Qatar, we believe in resolving problems by peaceful means and dialogue.” But peace in Qatar’s part of the world remains elusive, for the time being, and it’s clear that the ambassador would rather talk about Qatar’s hosting of the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup — the most important sporting event on the planet after the Olympics. Qatar already envisions spending between $120 billion and $150 billion on infrastructure alone over the next 10 years. That’s a mind-blowing $48,000 to $60,000 for every man, woman and child expected to be living in the emirate by then. That staggering sum includes the construction of at least a dozen giant sports stadiums, though some question how successful the event

Larry Luxner, news editor of The Washington Diplomat, visited Qatar earlier this year.

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can be given the emirate’s scorching July heat, its conservative dress code and its complete ban on alcohol. (Qatar’s idea of air-conditioning the stadiums, which was one reason it won the bid in the first place, has since been abandoned as unpractical and unsustainable.) Qatar also plans to double the size of its international airport, an $8 billion endeavor. The tiny country’s flagship carrier, Qatar Airways, already offers daily nonstop service from Doha to Washington’s Dulles International Airport, New York’s JFK and Houston; daily nonstop flights to Chicago will begin next April by the airline, which in 15 years has seen its fleet grow to 110 aircraft flying to 118 destinations worldwide. As if that’s not enough, the government will also construct a 40-kilometer-long causeway to Bahrain — which will be one of the world’s longest bridges when completed in 2015 — and has announced a $25 billion deal with German rail company Deutsche Bahn to build a subway system with four lines, 98 stations and more than 300 kilometers of track. There are also plans for another 50 hotels in the country; some $20 billion is being invested in tourism alone. Yet the last thing Qatar wants, says Al-Rumaihi, is to play catch-up to nearby Dubai, home to the tallest skyscraper on Earth — not to mention the world’s largest indoor skiing facility, the world’s glitziest shopping mall and $20 billion Dubailand, the world’s largest amusement park. “I don’t think we need to copy anybody,” said the ambassador. “Dubai is Dubai, and Qatar is Qatar. We don’t have the same goals. We want to focus on education, sports and culture.We have a different objective and a different way of doing things.”

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October 2012

Diplomacy

China

China’s Tepid Openness Does Not Glasnost Make by Karin Zeitvogel

n a blistering hot day in August, the Chinese Embassy in Washington had a sort of “glasnost” moment — the Russian term for “openness” that became a watchword during the dying days of the Soviet Union.

For several hours, around two dozen U.S.-based tour guides were led around parts of the massive embassy building and shown roped-off reception rooms, banquet halls and walls decorated with paintings of sacred mountains and embroidered bamboo forests.They oohed and ahhed as their young Chinese guide consulted her iPhone to make sure she was giving them the right information about the artwork, the history and the architecture of the I.M. Pei-designed building that made a splash on the Washington diplomatic scene when it was inaugurated in 2008. Even though this inside glimpse for the tour guides had an ulterior motive — to get them to travel to the special autonomous region of Macau for the annual international gathering of tour guides in January next year — and was capped off with a viewing of a slickly packaged documentary about Macau’s reunion with the motherland, some still considered the embassy visit to be a bit of a breakthrough for Chinese diplomatic missions. China has been undergoing economic glasnost for the past 30 years, and it’s certainly bolstered its soft power abroad, investing billions in other nations both in its backyard and around the world. Despite the supersonic growth and increasing clout of what is now the world’s second-largest economy, politically, the communist nation remains, well, communist.

“

China’s present public diplomacy does not match its position in the world.

”

— Wang Lili

researcher at Renmin University of China

This month, the country is set to undergo a major government reorganization — a transition that, as always, takes place behind closed doors and is shrouded in secrecy. Even the anointed new leader, Xi Jinping, went missing for a few weeks, fueling rampant speculation over his health and other conspiracy theories. Until he had re-emerged in public life in mid-September, the response of the Chinese October 2012

government to Xi’s mysterious disappearance was to ban his name as a search term on blogs, and to ban references to back injuries,“Xi’s car accident” and liver cancer — all mentioned as possible causes for his sudden absence. In many ways, China’s missions abroad mirror the opacity of its labyrinthine central government. Dealing with Chinese consulates or embassies, not to mention visa offices in China itself, has often been characterized by unanswered phones, difficult, unbending and sometimes downright rude consular officials, and visas being refused with little or no explanation. Here in Washington, there have been signs of a tepid opening. In addition to the recent Macau-related tour, the embassy welcomed more than 300 local schoolchildren for an open house to “experience Chinese culture” and has opened its doors to various other events and fundraisers. Notably, in 2011, the embassy hosted the annual Opera Ball, arguably the social event of the year in Washington, in what was seen by many locals as a debutante’s “comingout” party for Beijing. Likewise, China’s current ambassador to the United States, Zhang Yesui, who previously served as permanent representative to the United Nations, is widely seen as an accessible, personable and highly competent envoy. All of this has led some Americans to think that, finally, China’s diplomatic missions are catching on to the notion of public diplomacy and starting to open up to outsiders. But some who have had dealings with Chinese consular officials, including Andrew Schrage, founder of the personal finance and lifestyle website Money Crashers, are not so sure. At the beginning of 2012, Schrage went to the Chinese consulate in Chicago to obtain — he hoped — a multi-entry visa for China. He wanted to travel there for personal, not business reasons. “When I got to the window and made my request, the employee walked away and left me standing there for nearly 30 minutes without any explanation. It turned out that they were concerned about Money Crashers,” Schrage told The Washington Diplomat. It’s well known that China keeps a tight rein over media in the country, and Schrage

Photo: Larry Luxner

thinks that the consulate in Chicago considered Money Crashers to be a journalistic venture, and him to be a journalist. That’s wrong, the American insists, saying he wanted to go to China to visit members of his extended family and friends. “Money Crashers is a personal finance educational site that had no interest in reporting on China and its inner workings,” he said. So he waited in the visa office until an official eventually said his application was “in process.” He should go home and wait for at least a week, he was told. He was also informed that his application could be rejected. But a week later, Schrage got a call to say his visa had been approved. Delighted, he went to the consulate, paid $140, and reclaimed his passport. “I was excited to be on my way, but when I opened up my passport, I discovered that the visa I was issued was only for a double entry.When I returned to the window to tell them that they issued the incorrect visa, they said that nothing could be done about it. They would not give me a refund — they said, ‘Absolutely not’ — and my only option was to reapply for a multi-

entry visa and pay the visa fee again,” Schrage explained. Schrage ended up going to China with his double-entry visa, but that meant he was not able to visit all the friends and family he would have liked to. He argues that the “extremely high visa fees that China charges” are a barrier to the country’s apparent moves toward greater openness. One of the U.S. tour guides who was treated to the guided visit of the Chinese Embassy in D.C. in August agreed. She audibly gasped when she heard the triple-digit price of a visa — $140, just as it was for Schrage — and said,“I won’t be going.” Schrage is not the only would-be tourist to China who’s had a run-in with officials over a visa application. When friends of Baltimore native Marian Rosenberg, who speaks fluent Mandarin and has been general manager of a foreignowned translation and localization company in China for eight years, applied for visas to travel there back in 2005, “they were yelled at by the visa officer for leaving part of the application blank — a multiplechoice item,” Rosenberg said by email.

Continued on next page The Washington Diplomat Page 25

Continued from previous page The official “wouldn’t tell them what they were supposed to put in the blank. So they filled it out again, brought it up to her, were told it was wrong and do it again. [They] got a new form, did it again, filled it out in a different (but still wrong) way, stood in line again, brought it up to her, were told it was wrong, got a new form, did it again, filled it out in a different way, stood in line again, got yelled at again, and finally were left with circling the only option left.” But that was seven years ago, and when Rosenberg’s parents applied for a visa last year,“the lady at the desk checked all the correct boxes for them, wrote notes about their situation being different, and went through their folder taking the stuff that needed photocopying.” “No glaring. No sending them back to start the line all over again,” she said. To be sure, American consulates have given foreigners their fair share of headaches as well, stemming from bureaucratic ineptitude, high visa fees (just ask the Brazilians) and security barriers that discourage many foreigners from even bothering to apply to come to the United States. And the recent tragedy in Libya, where four U.S. diplomats, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, were slain during an attack on the consulate in Benghazi, painfully illustrates why no country is about to throw open the doors of its missions to outsiders. But even in China, a call has gone out for the emerging powerhouse to improve its public diplomacy outreach. Wang Lili, a researcher at the Public Communication Institute with Renmin University of China, was reported by China Daily as saying that, “Effective public diplomacy is essential if a nation is to promote its national interests and achieve its foreign policy objectives.” Wang added: “China’s present public diplomacy does not match its position in the world and it needs to be improved.” With embassies and consulates serving as the public face of China abroad, they could be at the forefront of that effort, with a first step being greater openness with tourists and businesspeople who want to visit China, and journalists seeking information. My request to the Chinese Embassy in D.C. for information for this story went unanswered.

Karin Zeitvogel is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C. When she applied for a tourist visa at the Chinese consulate in London in 1991, her initial application was refused with no explanation. She went back the next day, re-filed an application, but this time put her occupation down as “teacher,” not “journalist.” She got her visa almost immediately and thoroughly enjoyed her visit to China.

from page 17

Foreign Policy Republicans argue the cuts would devastate the Defense Department and could cost up to 1 million jobs in the security sector. But there’s plenty of blame to go around for those across-the-board cuts, which would also slash nondefense spending. The dreaded sequestration is the result of the failure of a congressional “supercommittee” to agree on ways to reduce the deficit by an additional $1.2 trillion over 10 years. That supercommittee itself was formed in response to the economic showdown sparked by Repub licans’ refusal to raise the country’s debt ceiling last summer. Romney’s vice presidential pick, Paul Ryan, was on that supercommittee, which deadlocked over the issue of tax revenues, and he also voted for the bipartisan deal that included automatic cuts to defense spending in return for raising the nation’s borrowing limit. Obama has vowed that even if the country goes off the so-called fiscal cliff in January, U.S. troops would be protected from sequestration cuts and national security would not be compromised. Nevertheless, the president has clearly targeted the Pentagon for significant cuts over the next decade — on top of the sequestration — to create a more nimble force that better reflects the fact that the country is no longer waging two land wars (defense spending has nearly doubled since 9/11). “Yes, as today’s wars end, our military, and our Air Force, will be leaner,” he said at an Air Force Academy graduation last May. But he added:“We’ll keep our military, and our Air Force, fast and flexible and versatile. We will maintain our military superiority in all areas: air, land, sea, space and cyber.” Romney would take the opposite path and raise defense spending (while most likely targeting diplomacy and development for steep cuts). He’s pledged to invest in modernizing military infrastructure and weapons systems, add 100,000 more active-duty personnel, possibly keep

troops in Afghanistan longer if the military brass advised it, and be more open to use military force in hotspots such as Iran and Syria. “The Obama administration is seeking to reap a ‘peace dividend’ when we are not at peace and when the dangers to our security are mounting,” he warned. To that end, Romney would set a defense-spending floor of 4 percent of GDP, but critics say that level would blow a hole in the deficit, especially without draconian cuts to all other areas of federal spending. Libertarian Republican Ron Paul says Romney’s plan could boost defense spending by more than $2.1 trillion over the next 10 years. In President Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, he countered that Romney was proposing to “spend more money on military hardware that our joint chiefs don’t even want,” while pledging that he’d “use the money we’re no longer spending on war to pay down our debt and put more people back to work— rebuilding roads and bridges, schools and runways.” That plea may resonate with voters of all political stripes. A poll earlier this year by the Program for Public Consultation in collaboration with the Stimson Center and Center for Public Integrity showed that three quarters of Americans favor cutting defense to reduce the deficit — and this majority was bipartisan: 67 percent of Republicans and 90 percent of Democrats were ready to trim Pentagon spending, long considered a sacred cow for both parties. But the ultimate verdict will come on Nov. 2, and despite some very real differences on how the two candidates might interact with the world, polls have consistently revealed another important statistic: Obama and Romney are in a virtual dead heat for the U.S. presidency.

Dave Seminara is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat and a former diplomat based in Northern Virginia. Anna Gawel is managing editor of The Washington Diplomat.

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Page 26

The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

Medical

Cancer

Alcohol Ablation: Little-Known Treatment for Thyroid Cancer by Gina Shaw

magine this: You are a survivor of thyroid cancer. A year, or two, or five later, your doctor tells you that the cancer has returned and invaded the lymph nodes in your neck. You are told that you have two options.

You can undergo a course of radioactive iodine therapy, which may require hospitalization and will definitely leave you giving off radiation for some time after treatment — meaning you’ll need to be isolated from friends and family for a period of time and will have to take other precautions, like washing your linens separately from everyone else in the house. You may also experience other side effects, such as nausea, headaches, dry mouth and impairment of your fertility. If that doesn’t work, you will need to have surgery to have the affected lymph nodes removed altogether — delicate surgery near the important veins of your neck, like the carotid and jugular. On the other hand, you could have surgery first and then the radioactive iodine treatment. Now imagine that you’ve learned about a third option: Guided by ultrasound, a doctor injects a solution of 95 percent ethanol alcohol into your neck.The alcohol acts to cut off the blood supply to the cancerous cells in the lymph nodes of your neck, and they ultimately die.You’re not hospitalized.You do not undergo surgery. You go home the next day, with nothing more than a sore neck to remind you of the procedure. I know which procedure I’d pick, given the option. And so did Penny Mills, the executive vice president and CEO of the American Society for Addiction Medicine (ASAM), who faced just such a choice in early 2012 after learning that the papillary thyroid cancer For 20 years, doctors at Mayo Clinic, which has an expansive research program, have she thought she’d beaten some three years earlier had returned been performing a little-known treatment for thyroid cancer called alcohol ablation and invaded at least two lymph nodes in her neck. that can eliminate the need for invasive surgery or radiation therapy. “My endocrinologist told me I had two options: radioactive iodine first or surgery first,” recalls Mills.“Then I went to the surgeon, who said he’d need to operate. I just didn’t want to go through that again.” ters per cubic meter after two years. In 12 of the 14 patients, the ablation successMills had already had a thyroidectomy, neck dissection and radioactive iodine fully controlled all known metastatic disease; the other two patients developed furtreatment during her initial bout with thyroid cancer. She spent that night researchther metastases at around two years after ablation and had successful surgical ing her options online, particularly on the ThyCa website run by the Thyroid Cancer treatment. Survivors’ Association. It was there that she first Mills recently wrote an opinion piece for learned about alcohol ablation as a treatment for CareDiary.com, asking, “Why don’t more thyrecurrent thyroid cancer.The next day, her endocancer patients know about alcohol ablaOn the thyroid cancer support forums, roid crinologist called her and said, “There’s one tion?” other option I hadn’t told you about…” That’s a very good question indeed. people talk about recurrent disease and He strongly recommended that Mills go to the It’s being done at the Mayo Clinic, not a flyMayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where the by-night burgers, fries and thyroid cancer having to go through radiation again and procedure had been pioneered by Drs. Ian Hay treatment drive-in. It has very few side effects and J. William Charboneau. Hay thought Mills (hoarseness and neck soreness chief among again. There is an alternative! would be a good candidate for alcohol ablation, them), and is an alternative to more significant and soon she was undergoing the procedure. “I procedures. Yes, it’s not suitable for everyone, — Penny Mills received two treatments that were provided by but what cancer treatment is? papillary thyroid cancer patient an interventional radiologist. The procedure is And yet, as far as I can tell, the Mayo Clinic very similar to an ultrasound-guided biopsy. is the only major institution that offers alcohol Other than a sore neck, there was no other complication and I could take a plane ablation. Online thyroid cancer support groups make mention of doctors at M.D. home the afternoon of the second treatment!” she said. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Columbia University Medical Center in Mills was lucky, of course:Alcohol ablation isn’t for everyone. Hay recommends it New York that might offer alcohol ablation, but when contacted, the doctors at these only for those patients with recurrent thyroid cancer that’s limited to five or fewer institutions say they don’t provide the procedure and shy away from talking about lymph nodes. And there’s always a chance that the cancer won’t respond and the it. procedure will need to be repeated. But when Mills returned in June to check her Why? Perhaps someone who reads this column will have more information. nodes (after her treatment in February), both the size of the affected nodes and the Penny Mills is equally baffled.“It just blows me away that it’s not being used more,” blood flow to them had decreased. She’ll return to see Hay in November. she said.“On the thyroid cancer support forums, people talk about recurrent disease This isn’t a new procedure: Hay and his colleagues at Mayo have been performing and having to go through radiation again and again. There is an alternative! It may it for some 20 years. In the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism in not work for everyone, but even if only some people could take advantage of this September 2011, he reported on a case series of 14 patients treated between 1993 option, shouldn’t it be more available?” and 2000. All of the nodes treated with alcohol ablation decreased significantly in volume — from a mean of 492 millimeters per cubic meter to a mean of 20 millimeGina Shaw is the medical writer for The Washington Diplomat.

Photo: Mayo Clinic

“

”

October 2012

The Washington Diplomat Page 27

nascent private sector could account for up to 40 percent of Cuba’s GDP, compared to less than 5 percent today. “We’re watching these changes very closely,” said Jacobson. “We’re as riveted to the possibility of change in Cuba as everydissidents. She suspects the timing was not a coincidence. body else. As we watch these things, the possibility for economic Jacobson noted that both she and Gross — who’s lost nearly opening and freedom is critically important to Cubans. 100 pounds in prison and is reportedly in poor health (which the “The problem we have is that they’re halfway measures,” she Cuban government denies) — are residents of Potomac, Md., and argues. “Change is possible and the United States will encourage, attend the same synagogue. reward and respond to change.The way we responded to change “We have lots of people in common, which made for a very in Burma is very instructive, I think. We are not absolutists in the personal conversation, close to two hours,” she recalled. “He has sense that we’re going to sit with our arms folded until everya daughter with breast cancer and a mother with lung cancer thing is done.” who just turned 90. The United States allowed René González [a Region-wide, Jacobson said the Obama administration remains Cuban national convicted of spying in the U.S. on behalf of the focused on the same four goals as when it came into office: Castro regime] compassionate leave to go to Cuba to see his improving citizen security, strengthening democracy, expanding dying brother, and yet the Cubans will not permit Alan to come economic opportunity, and reducing social inequality. here. It’s just outrageous.” “The fundamental goal that runs throughout all of those goals She added: “In our conversations with colleagues around the is partnership,” she told The Diplomat. “As the president said in hemisphere about Mr. Gross, I do think all these countries agree Cartagena, there’s really no such thing as junior and senior partthat the sentence is excessive and that he should be allowed to nerships. What’s new about that is the capacity of our partner come home as a humanitarian gesture, even if on the broader countries to act domestically, in the region and globally. Our partareas we don’t have the same nerships include Brazil, Mexico,and Canada, Colombia and Chile — NOTE: Although every effortpolicy.” is made to assure your ad is free of mistakes in spelling In the meantime, said theup detention of Gross “has countries with proof. strong democratic institutions and the capacity to contentJacobson it is ultimately to the customer to make the final clearly stimulated a review” of USAID’s pro-democracy programs really bring something to the table that the United States can’t.” in Cuba. Some of the biggest international meetings in the last year, she The “For first years, two faxed changes will be made at no cost to the advertiser, subsequent changes the United States has had programs in places that noted, took place in Latin America, even though they weren’t will billedand at adangerous. rate of $75 perafaxed alteration. Signed ads aretoconsidered approved. werebe difficult We have commitment to continue specific Latin America. helping democracy activists, working with incipient civil society, Jacobson also cited a “rare moment of bipartisanship” in the Please check ad carefully. any your ad. but we’ll do that in a way that this reduces as much as Mark possible thechanges recent to passage of U.S. free trade agreements with Colombia and dangers to people working there,” she said. “Some of the guide- Panama. differentsign thanand theyfax were want to make sure needs “Even the opponents of free trade recognize that not having If thelines ad are is correct to:before. (301)We 949-0065 changes people remain safe while having an impact.” the agreements does not improve the labor or environmental Despite the lack of a political opening under President Raúl situation,” she said. “Sometimes, people have irrational exuberThe Washington Diplomat (301) 933-3552 Castro since he took over the leadership of Cuba from his older ance about what FTAs can really achieve. They’re not the entire brother Fidel four years ago, the regime has unveiled several dra- answer on labor and environment, just as they’re not the entire Approved __________________________________________________________ matic economic reforms.These include the birth of a private real answer in growing trade and exports.They’re critically important estate market, the dismantling of money-losing state companies, and they help enormously, but you must also have solid domestic Changes ___________________________________________________________ and the rise of small self-employment ventures known as cuenta- legislation, enforcement and sanctions if people don’t abide by ___________________________________________________________________ propismo. Even the government predicts that by 2015, the the rules.”

from page 7

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The next logical step, said Jacobson, is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which seeks to eliminate trade barriers across the entire Pacific region. In addition to the United States, the TPP’s original members include Chile and Peru, and now Mexico and Canada have been invited to join. In addition, Panama and Colombia are interested in becoming part of the TPP as soon as possible, while Costa Rica may sign up as well. “[If] you look at U.S. Latin America policy since Bush 41, there’s been a lot of bipartisanship on this hemisphere. When I go up [to Congress] and brief them over the last four years on the Mérida Initiative and CARSI [Central America Regional Security Initiative], I do not get partisan pushback.” Another priority for Jacobson is expanding academic opportunities throughout the hemisphere. She noted that Latin American universities rarely make it to the list of the world’s top 100 educational institutions. “Unless these countries invest in their educational systems, this growth of the middle class won’t be sustained,” warned Jacobson — which is one reason she’s pushing for academic exchanges that will some day allow 100,000 young Americans to study in the region, and 100,000 Latin Americans to study in the United States. (Currently, the numbers are roughly 40,000 and 60,000, respectively). For now, says Jacobson,“I’m grateful to the Senate every day for confirming me, but I’m a late arrival in the Obama administration, so I do feel a certain amount of urgency. I’m hoping for a second term for this president. I want to deliver on what we promised.”

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EDUCATION ■ A Special Section of The Washington Diplomat

■ October 2012

Yin Yang and

by Carolyn Cosmos

U.S.-China Partnership Marked By Collaboration, Competition Yuan Wan is the son of Chinese government officials who grew up in the difficult years of the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution. Neither of his parents had a good high school education, nor did they attend college, although both acquired degrees later in life. His parents wanted his own schooling to be better, Wan said. So they bought children’s books for him, subscribed to every magazine imaginable, supported him in his studies, and talked to his teachers. When Wan developed a love of math in high school, his father wanted him to pursue something practical such as engineering, but his mother persuaded him to allow Wan to go for what he

George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs

describes as his “passion”: physics.

Continued on next page PHoto: JeSSiCa MCCoNNell BuRt / tHe GeoRGe WaSHiNGtoN uNiveRSitY

■ INSIDE: The Meridian International Center is taking exchange to a new level. PAGE 36 ■ Move over football and basketball. Here comes rugby and cricket. PAGE 40 ■

October 2012

EDUCATION

The Washington Diplomat Page29

The first two faxed changes will be made at no cost to the advertiser, subsequent changes will be billed at a rate of $75 per faxed alteration. Signed ads are considered approved. Please check this ad carefully. Mark any changes to your ad. If the ad is correct sign and fax to: (301) 949-0065 Continued from previous page The Washington Diplomat (301) 933-3552

needs changes

Wan now has two physics degrees from Nanjing University and is working toward his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., in the Approved __________________________________________________________ university’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. As an international student, Wan has plenty of company. The Washington Changes ___________________________________________________________ metropolitan area attracts students from other countries by the tens of thou___________________________________________________________________ sands. Its universities drew nearly 36,500 foreign students in 2011, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE). Virginia leads the region, with 15,056 foreign students in the state, followed closely by Maryland and then the District. And as an international student from China,Wan also has plenty of company. China, in fact, sends the largest numbers here — a pattern that extends not only across the United States, but worldwide as well. The People’s Republic had a

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total of 157,558 students traveling to the United States in 2011, according to IIE. Business and management, along with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM studies), are the most popular subjects, with 60 percent of international students worldwide getting degrees in these fields. In university physics programs in the United States, a striking 44 percent of first-year Ph.D. students in 2009 were from another country, according to the American Institute of Physics. In some schools and departments, students from China have a commanding presence. Daniel Reich, a professor in the Johns Hopkins Department of Physics and Astronomy, said his department currently has 118 graduate students enrolled (all of them working on Ph.D.s); 47 are citizens of other countries, with 32 of them coming from China. If you look beyond the astounding numbers, it’s clear that both competition and collaboration mark the relationship between China and the United States at all academic levels, a yin and yang of tight ties and competing forces whereby many people in both countries view education as the driving force behind national prosperity and power. On the U.S. side, many Americans view the Chinese relationship through the prism of competition — perhaps a natural consequence of an — YuAN WAN established power being leery of an emerging doctoral candidate one. from Johns Hopkins university While overall, U.S. universities remain the envy of the world,America’s education system is riddled with problems, from high school dropouts to test scores that continually slip behind nations such as Singapore and Finland. Not a day goes by without warnings that the United States isn’t investing enough in education to compete in a globalized world. As New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman put it in a recent column: “Average is over.” “There is no good job today that does not require more and better education

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EDUCATION

October 2012

ONTH.

oriented education system that “goes to get it, hold it or advance in it,” he wrote. back over a thousand years,” to pro“Which is why it is disturbing when more mote American-style creativity and studies show that American K-12 schools independent thinking. Meanwhile, the continue to lag behind other major indusAmericans, admiring the discipline and trialized countries on the international rigor of Asian schooling, have been education tests.” moving toward a test-based system in Likewise, Charles O. Holliday, former their public schools. head of DuPont, the place where a Science itself is a competitive field, Harvard University invention called nylon regardless of nationality, said Danru Qu, was first churned out, sounded the alarm one of Yuan Wan’s fellow Ph.D. students about the state of America’s education at Johns Hopkins. That’s because “you system in a recent editorial in Science know there are other groups in the magazine. world who share the same interests,” “U.S. universities have been the incushe said. “It is especially intensive if bators of the nation’s prosperity,” he several groups are working on the same wrote. “The talent and knowledge prosubject.” duced by research universities underpin Wan said he believes that while many of the finest U.S. achievements, Chinese scientists maintain high interfrom seeding the modern agricultural national standards in research,“China is system to enabling the World Wide Web. Photo: The George Washington University Photography still far behind in science. The flow of But new challenges are putting these Students speak outside the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University, knowledge has been largely one way important national assets in danger.” which recently launched a cooperative agreement with Suzhou Industrial Park in Jiangsu, China, to [into China] in the past,” with Chinese Holliday cited the destructiveness of develop advanced degrees in finance and accounting for Chinese students. students going to the United States and education funding cuts by states and the other developed countries to “vacuum federal government — as well as business supporters and nonprofits alike — along with bureaucratic inefficiencies, overregula- up” knowledge and expertise. Reich observed that the newer generation of students is taking that knowledge and tion and sclerotic infrastructure. Universities are “critical to [U.S.] competitiveness in an expertise back home. “Students started coming from China in large numbers from the innovation-based economy,” he warned. Competitive anxieties exist on both sides of the Pacific, however. “Reforming Chinese 1980s and a great many were staying and making their careers here.That’s changing. China Education:What China Is Trying to Learn from America” is the title of an April 2012 article is making great investments in its research, and the quality of research at Chinese universities is increasing very fast. Students are increasingly getting training and going back to published in the Solutions Journal by Yong Zhao of the University of Oregon. He writes that China, which has all but eliminated illiteracy, is concerned about its rela- China.” Wan is one of those students.“My future lies in China,” he said.“The first decade of the tively small number of inventions, its lack of patents, and the thin number of Chinese scholars who are intellectual superstars. He says the country needs to improve its educa- 21st century witnessed the rapid growth of the Chinese economy. Now the Chinese govtion system to transform its economy from one based on low-skilled, cheap labor to one ernment is investing massively in fundamental research and science infrastructure. For based on knowledge and high-value innovation. To change that, Zhao writes that the Chinese government wants to loosen a rote, testContinued on next page

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Continued from previous page instance, Chinese scientists are building the largest radio telescope in the world, a project fully endorsed by the central government. I believe that there will be significant demand for physicists in the foreseeable future.” Nevertheless, he glorifies the U.S. system: Wan chose Johns Hopkins for its expertise in his area of specialized physics research and because “the Institute for Quantum Matter at Johns Hopkins is a place where you can find close collaboration among chemists, experimental physicists, and theorists,” he said.“This is precisely how condensed matter physics research is supposed to be done. As a theorist, I deeply appreciate the chance to collaborate with experimentalists. Their data are the source of my inspiration.” In physics, he added,“The United States is second to none. I came to the U.S. for its exciting intellectual environment and its working culture” that promotes the free exchange of ideas and collaboration.

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“Seminars are held on a regular basis, and visitors come Yuan Wan of China said from all over the world to present their research,”Wan said he chose to get his of the U.S. university system.“The chances of meeting and doctorate at the Johns learning from leading scientists are abundant. People from Hopkins University in different groups are willing to discuss their research and Baltimore, Md., because exchange insights.” of its top-rated Institute Physics graduate student Qu agrees. The daughter of a for Quantum Matter. mathematics professor and an engineer, she too spoke about the openness of the science subculture in the United States and its collegiality. “If I have a sample, and I tested it, but I cannot understand the data generated, I can ask a theorist’s help to build a model,” she said.“We learn from each other in order to contribute to our field.” She said she turned to physics to discover the deeper truths beneath natural phenomena and chose Johns Hopkins because the physics department is working at the “frontiers” of discovery.

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EDUCATION

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October 2012

“My future lies in China…. The first decade of the 21st century witnessed the rapid growth of the Chinese economy. Now the Chinese government is investing massively in fundamental research and science infrastructure.” — Yuan Wan, doctoral candidate from Johns Hopkins University The surge in U.S.-China educational exchanges is a tricky new “frontier” for both sides as well, carrying promise and pitfalls, as illustrated in the article “The China Conundrum” published by the Chronicle of Higher Education. “Colleges, eager to bolster their diversity and expand their international appeal, have rushed to recruit in China, where fierce competition for seats at Chinese universities and an aggressive admissions-agent industry feed a frenzy to land spots on American campuses,” wrote Tom Bartlett and Karin Fischer. “College officials and consultants say they are seeing widespread fabrication on applications, whether that means a personal essay written by an agent or an English-proficiency score that doesn’t jibe with a student’s speaking ability. American colleges, new to the Chinese market, struggle to distinguish between good applicants and those who are too good to be true.” On the flip side, they write,“Once in the classroom, students with limited English labor to keep up with discussions. And though those students are excelling, struggling, and failing at the same rate as their American counterparts, some professors say they have had to alter how they teach. Colleges have been slow to adjust to the challenges they’ve encountered but are trying Burke Diplomat Ad August:Layout 1 to8/16/12 10:30 PM Page new strategies, both better acclimate students and to1deal with the application problems.” Indeed, schools and institutions across the Washington area are working to

Continued on next page

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Resources

Continued from previous page

studied in Taiwan during his undergraduate years and conducted his doctoral research in neering or math to remain in the Shanghai, China. United States.) So it’s little surprise that China To keep GWU on top of its game, Johns Hopkins university is a key part of Guthrie’s strategy. Guthrie has launched an education http://www.jhu.edu To that end, in March the School model that combines collaboration of Business launched a cooperaand competition into one promising tive agreement with Suzhou enterprise. He wants to “create a The George Washington university Industrial Park (SIP) in Jiangsu, forum for business education unlike School of Business China, whereby GWU will work any other” and instill a deeper sense http://business.gwu.edu with China’s Ministry of Education of ethical responsibility and underand Renmin University to develop standing of global issues into tomorSuzhou Industrial Park (SIP) advanced degrees in finance and row’s business leaders. http://www.sipac.gov.cn/english/ accounting for Chinese students. “The current discussion of finan“The George Washington cial reform, which reverberates from English Now! University School of Business is Shanghai to Berlin, will be echoed in interested in developing a deep classrooms, posted on our fac- and www.english-now.com NOTE: Although every effort is made to assure your adour is free of mistakes in spelling relationship with the Chinese govulty blogs and examined in our content it is ultimately up to the customer to make the final proof. ernment and Ministry of Education media interviews as we engage the on multiple levels,” said Guthrie. community beyond our campus,” he The first two faxed changes will be made at no cost to the advertiser, subsequent changes declares on his bio page. “We will look at the politics of U.S.- “This new partnership will increase the university’s growing will be billed at a rate of $75 per faxed alteration. Signed are considered approved.issues that challenge educational presence in China and will significantly expand Chinaads relations, and other geopolitical educational opportunities for Chinese students.” international businesses.” The industrial park is one of China’s major development While he’s only been at GWU for three years, his impact is Please check this ad carefully. Mark any changes to your ad. already being felt on campus. For instance, students created zones. “Twenty years ago it was rice paddies. Now it’s the the GWU Business Gives Back group that supports responsible country’s number-one investment destination, a small city of If the ad is correct sign and fax to: (301) 949-0065 needs changes business practices and raises money for charities. At a recent 700,000 people,” Guthrie said. The next step, he told us, will be to launch a global certifiBusiness Gives Back celebration, Guthrie joined a student band The Washington Diplomat (301) 933-3552 on guitar in a rocking rendition of “Proud Mary,” the 1968 hit cate program for Chinese executives. It will take them to a series of cities, including Shanghai, Washington, D.C., Berlin by Creedence Clearwater Revival. and London.“I’m interested in a collaborative academic frameGuthrie can think outside the box because he’s never lived Approved __________________________________________________________ inside one. He holds a degree in East Asian languages and civi- work that focuses on the global economy.” Changes ___________________________________________________________ lizations with a concentration in Chinese literature from the ___________________________________________________________________ University of Chicago. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, he also Carolyn Cosmos is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

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[ exchange ]

World of Collaboration With Flurry of New Programs, Meridian Moves With the Times

Photo: Meridian International Center

by Gail Sullivan

n 1919, after retiring from the Foreign Service, Irwin Boyle Laughlin built Meridian House at 1630 Crescent Place in Washington, D.C. But retirement didn’t suit him, and he returned to the diplomatic corps, serving as ambassador to Greece, and then Spain until 1933. Like its owner, Meridian House found renewed purpose in the service of international diplomacy: In 1960, the Laughlin family sold the house to a newly created nonprofit dedicated to international understanding. Today, the Meridian International Center, which occupies Meridian House and the adjacent White-Meyer House, is a leading nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering innovative international diplomacy through the exchange of people, ideas and culture. And more than 50 years after its birth, Meridian is ramping up that exchange to an unprecedented degree, launching a flurry of new partnerships spanning from India to China and programs that range from global leadership forums to timely discussions on the Arab Spring, U.S. elections, world economy and other issues of the day.

Page 36

From left, Bernard Jackson of the DC Green Corps, Meridian Ambassador Sharon Wilkinson, Chloe Bacon, wife of the Fiji ambassador Queenie Thompson, Danial Orange, and Ambassador of Fiji Winston Thompson plant 100 trees in Oxon Run Park in Southeast Washington as part of a local service partnership with the Meridian International Center.

Enduring Exchange As the State Department’s principal partner in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), Meridian facilitates an exchange program that brings thousands of leaders in various fields from around the world to meet with their professional counterparts in different cities across the United States. These visitors not only learn about American political, social and cultural life, but they share their own culture and perspectives with their U.S. hosts. Past participants include former Presidents Álvaro Uribe of Colombia and Nicolas Sarkozy of France, as well as former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, among others. To date, Meridian has conducted exchange programs for more than 65,000 foreign professionals over the last 50 years In a city known for its pundits and talking heads, Meridian also provides a rare space for meaningful exchange of ideas: It hosts monthly breakfast meetings where business leaders

EDUCATION

Photo: Joyce Boghosian

Najah Almugahed of Yemen speaks at a discussion on the Arab Spring hosted by the Meridian International Center and the International Visitor Leadership Program.

The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

“Our focus is on providing a forum for leaders to gather, to deliberate, collaborate, and actually get some things done.”

Christchurch School

— Stuart Holliday president and CEO of the Meridian International Center

and ambassadors meet to discuss economic opportunities and challenges in a featured country; Meridian’s Global Dialogue Dinners are “salon-style,” off-therecord conversations that encourage highlevel officials to move beyond talking points and have thoughtful conversations about global policy;and Insights at Meridian presents ambassador-moderated talks on U.S. domestic policy issues with experts and opinion leaders (two recent programs previewing the U.S. elections were moderated by Costa Rican Ambassador Muni Figueres and Ambassador Claudia Fritsche of Liechtenstein, for instance). Both Fritsche and Figueres have also been on hand for various other Meridian events, in particular those focusing on women’s issues, a burgeoning area of the center’s programming. For instance, Meridian recently hosted events for women ambassadors, entrepreneurs and climate leaders, as well as a gala premiere for the documentary “Half the Sky,” which chronicles how women around the world live, and a discussion on how Pakistani women are combating radicalization and injustice in a highly conservative, patriarchal society. Finally, to further international understanding through cultural exchange, Meridian works with arts organizations and museums on traveling exhibitions abroad, and offers training programs aimed at strengthening the role of museums in cultural diplomacy. In fact, it’s organized cultural exhibitions at 357 host venues in 44 U.S. states and 55 countries around the world. The house itself boasts impressive rotating exhibitions. Past shows have highlighted contemporary ceramic painting from China (profiled in the November 2011 issue of The Washington Diplomat in “Ancient Capital of Ceramics Goes Modern in ‘CHINA Town’”), sacred icons from Ukraine (profiled in “Iconic ‘Glory’:Ancient Artifacts, Religious Items Tell Story of Ukraine” in the December 2010 issue) and efforts to safeguard the world’s cultural heritage sites (“Preserve and Protect: Meridian Showcases Mission to Safeguard World’s Endangered Sites” in the May 2010 issue). Meridian has many more programs — all highlighted on a new website rolled out earlier this year. Some, like IVLP have

Photo: Joyce Boghosian

Ambassador Stuart Holliday, president and chief executive officer of the Meridian International Center, opens the program for a screening of the documentary “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.”

long been the bread and butter of the organization; others represent a forwardlooking approach to global engagement. Meridian’s mission today is the same as it was more than five decades ago, but its strategy has evolved to keep pace with a dynamic, increasingly globalized society. “[Meridian] is adapting to the new reality that American businesses, and well as governments and NGOs, need to be part of that conversation,” said Ambassador Stuart Holliday, president and chief executive officer of the Meridian International Center. “So what we’ve done is taken our traditional work and we’ve also begun working with the private sector to create public-private partnerships.”

Fruitful Partnerships Last year saw the launch of Meridian’s office in New Delhi, India, and its partnership with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) as well as the China International Culture Association. These new partnerships with the world’s largest democracy and the world’s fastest-growing economy will serve as a platform for dialogue on issues relevant to U.S.-India and U.S.-China relations. Building on its historical ties to France — the White-Meyer House was built by Henry White, an ambassador and Treaty of Versailles signatory, and later housed a French mission — Meridian also kicked off the U.S.-France Leadership Dialogue this year. The two-year initiative with the French Embassy will bring together French and American policy leaders in government, business and the nonprofit sectors to identify areas of bilateral cooperation. Locally, a new partnership was forged with the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in D.C. to jointly host events such as the Meridian International Children’s Festival, trade del-

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EDUCATION

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The Washington Diplomat Page37

Continued from previous page egations, international visitors’ meetings and art exhibitions.

Advancing Leadership

Photo: Kaveh Sardari

The Meridian Center created the International Children’s Festival, attended by more than 6,000 people last year, as a way for embassies to connect with young people in Washington.

To facilitate these new partnerships and equip decision-makers with the necessary skills, Meridian is expanding its focus on leadership development. “We are making a long-term investment in developing global leadership,” Holliday wrote in a recent op-ed.“Our strategy is to keep decision-makers involved beyond the initial time of their program.” This summer’s Innovation Summit is an example of that long-term investment. In partnership with the State Department, Meridian invited 65 young African business and social entrepreneurs to a leadership summit focused on creating economic opportunities for young people and strengthening U.S.-Africa economic ties. “What’s happening in Africa is really quite amazing,” Holliday told The Washington Diplomat. “There’s this new generation of civic actors in the business world and NGO world who are really doing amazing things with technology [and] with innovation in terms of how to improve their communities and how to grow jobs.” The latest project is the Meridian Global Leadership Institute, which will provide high-level executive business training through a series of courses that prepare corporate leaders for entering overseas markets. The ambitious program is aimed at Fortune 500 executives and emerging leaders at multinational companies, as well as small- to medium-size business. Courses will prepare business leaders “to operate in an international environment where collaboration exchange and understanding other cultures is very important,” Holliday said. The launch date for the Meridian Global Leadership Institute will be announced Oct. 12, the day of the 44th Annual Meridian Ball, a crown jewel in Washington’s social calendar.The

Photo: Meridian International Center

The Meridian Center’s Curtis Sandberg, right, discusses the “CHINA Town” exhibit with Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yesui.

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EDUCATION

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October 2012

annual event attracts a cross-section of notables from the diplomatic, political and business spheres as well as the who’s-who of Washington’s social scene. This year, Meridian is capitalizing on the popularity of the ball by hosting the first annual Global Leadership Summit the same day.The summit was created to “continue the dialogue and exchange and networking that typically happens at the ball in a more structured way,” said Meridian spokesperson Emily Jansen. The inaugural summit will be co-hosted by Gallup and the Ronald Reagan Building and co-chaired by General Dynamics CEO Jay L. Johnson and Sydney McNiff Johnson, a principal at SNR Denton’s global energy practice.

SOluTiOn-OriEnTED APPrOAch

It created the International Children’s Festival, attended by more than 6,000 people last year, as a way for embassies to connect with young people in Washington through dance, music, costumes and food. Among other things, Meridian’s Live Local, Think Global initiative offers free public education programs that bring speakers to D.C. schools and digitally connect local classrooms to those in other countries. And every summer, Meridian coordinates the Dupont-Kalorama Museum Walk Weekend, which includes free admission to nine “off-the-mall” museums. In both the global and local community, the Meridian International Center is striving to serve as a model of civic engagement and diplomacy. Ever mindful of our changing world, Meridian is brokering partnerships and building leaders to navigate a complex global society.And in the second half century of its existence, Meridian remains an innovator in international collaboration.

With an increased focus on engaging leaders, Meridian’s programs increasingly go beyond proGail Sullivan is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat. viding information or a venue for networking. They work toward solutions. “There are probably the same number of events here at Meridian,” says Holliday, “but they’re more focused on outcomes in terms of actually gathering people together to work NOTE: Although every effort is made to assure yourversus ad issimply free oftomistakes in spelling together provide content to an and K-8 • co-ed • nonsectarian content it is ultimately up to theaudience. customer to make final proof. There are a lotthe of groups in Washington that are competing to provide information to ” he pointed out.“Our focus is on proThe first two faxed changes will be made at audiences, no cost to the advertiser, subsequent changes viding a forum for leaders to gather, to deliberate, will be billed at a rate of $75 per faxed alteration. Signed ads are considered approved. collaborate, and actually get some things done.” • October 10 As an example, Holliday cited a summit in Please check this ad carefully. Mark any changes to your ad. Madrid that took place in March of this year. The PHoto: JoYCe BoGHoSiaN • November 13 global gathering, which grew out of a program Assistant Secretary of State If the ad is correct sign and fax Meridian to: (301)started 949-0065 needs changes here in Washington, provided a forum for corpofor the Bureau of african • December 6 rate, government and nonprofit leaders to discuss how civic service affairs Johnnie Carson The Washington Diplomat (301) 933-3552 and volunteerism can address the challenges created by the ecoshares remarks at the • January 11 nomic crisis in Spain, the United States and other countries. Holliday african innovation Summit. said the summit is just one example of Meridian’s effort to move Approved __________________________________________________________ 2400 Russell Road Alexandria,VA 22301 beyond the stereotypical “all talk, no action” dialogue model to a solution-oriChanges ___________________________________________________________ ented approach. 703-548-4804 www.acdsnet.org ___________________________________________________________________ Though Meridian’s focus is international, it has a strong local presence, too.

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The Washington Diplomat Page39

[ sports ]

Sporting Chance Rugby, Cricket, Fencing, Other Sports Take on Traditional American Athletics

Photo: Perry Street Prep Public Charter School

by Martin Austermuhle

hen you think of the stereotypical American high school jock, what comes to mind? It’s probably a beefy football player sporting a varsity jacket, less concerned with education than excelling on the gridiron. Or maybe a tall basketball star who has been recruited by the nation’s top university sports programs, lured by the promise of scholarships and stardom. Those may still exist, but for many area schools, traditional U.S. sports like football, baseball and basketball are being supplemented by teams and clubs that offer new athletic opportunities — many of them in sports that may have huge followings abroad but have until now remained on the fringes of American life. And these “foreign” sports go far beyond the most obvious transplant: soccer, which — although not as popular on the professional level in the United States as it is around the world — is widely played by American schoolchildren (hence the cliché “soccer mom”). Both in physical education programs and competitive sports leagues, area schools are expanding their athletic offerings and in the process redefining what it means to be a jock. That may be no more evident than with the gentleman’s game rugby. First played in England in the 19th century, rugby remains one of the world’s most widely played sports — according to the International Rugby Board, it’s played in at least 100 countries across five continents. Over the last decade, the board says, rugby in the United States has exploded, jumping 350 percent

Page 40

At the 2012 Collegiate Rugby Championship in Philadelphia, Pride Rugby won the high school division of the National Invitational Tournament, sweeping all five games.

since 2004 and becoming the third-fastest growing sport in the country. The game has made inroads locally and now boasts a number of club and varsity teams at area high schools. Marcus Wood, a coordinator with Washington D.C.Youth Rugby (http://washingtondcyouthrugby.org), says that local high schools have sponsored rugby teams since the 1980s, but it has been over the last decade that more and more schools have adopted it as a varsity sport. In 2008, he said, schools with existing teams founded the Metro Area Varsity Rugby Conference, which is made up of 11 private, public and public charter schools in the region. Alongside powerhouse private school teams like Washington’s Gonzaga and Bethesda’s Landon, the conference includes Calvin Coolidge Senior High School, a D.C. public school, and Perry Street Prep, a small public charter school in the city. Perry Street, located in the Northeast neighborhood of Brookland, is home to Pride Rugby (www.priderugby.org), one of the region’s most storied rugby teams. It’s been profiled by the New York Times and CBS News, among various other outlets — both because of its on-field performance and because it stands as one of the first all-African American rugby teams in the country. Started in 2000 by Tal Bayer, the school’s athletic director and a former rugby player himself, the team has grown from the original six to eight kids who warily eyed the sport to a high school team that today consists of between 40 and 45 players and regularly bests opponents who have played

EDUCATION

The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

autumn OPEN HOUSE Saturday, October 27 Photo: Perry Street Prep Public Charter School

Perry Street Prep Public Charter School in D.C. is home to Pride Rugby, one of the region’s most storied rugby teams, both because of its on-field performance and because it stands as one of the first all-African American rugby teams in the United States.

run, pass, tackle, carry the ball and even score. Rugby forces every player to get involved because supporting your teammate is key to ball retention and, eventually, winning the match,” he said. Wood also noted that interest in rugby has surged since it was announced in 2008 that rugby sevens (in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches) will be included for the first time ever in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The game’s international popularity is an invaluable opportunity for players, added Bayer, who said that this summer he sent his eighth- and ninth-grade students to a six-week training camp in

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Sa O tu rd H pe at ay, ou n 10 No se :0 v. 0 3, am 2 01 2

the game for much longer. Bayer attributes the popularity of the sport to the camaraderie it engenders and the potential it allows for all players to participate.“I no longer have to sell it. The kids want to play it,” said Bayer. “I guarantee that every kid is going to play. Every kid, no matter the size, is going to run the ball. He’s not going to be sitting on the sideline — he’ll get to tackle like everyone else.” Wood agrees. “Rugby has grown due in part to high school athletes who may not be as physically or genetically gifted, who desire to play a contact varsity sport. I myself was an unfulfilled high school football player who had an itch to scratch and rugby provided that opportunity. It was a perfect match. All players on a rugby team are expected to

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Page 42

New Zealand. “It’s an amazing opportunity for these kids to see a world beyond the city,” he said, noting that four of his players recently received USA National Team Trials invitations for December and if they make the squad, they will go to England in May and Argentina in June. Likewise, rugby allows international teams to experience life in Washington.“On the flip side, when people come we often try to host them here as well, so they provide an opportunity to give a positive image of urban African American families. Unfortunately, for a lot of the internationals, their worldview is limited to what they see on TV and news, and unfortunately it’s not always a positive perspective. Our kids do a great job breaking down those stereotypes,” he said. Perry Street Prep is hosting a team from South Africa this spring, and in November it will continue its longstanding relationship with the Embassy of New Zealand in Washington through the 16th Annual Ambassador’s Shield, a match pitting a combined U.S. services team against a squad from New Zealand. Local high school teams play as well, and since 2002, the event has also been used to raise funds — close to $125,000 — for Perry Street’s team. With the success of schools like Gonzaga and Perry Street, rugby’s growth throughout the region’s schools seems assured in coming years. According to Clark Ray, the statewide athletics director for the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, D.C. may soon expand rugby to more public and public charter schools. Other sports are also working their way into local schools, including another gentleman’s sport from England: cricket. Though played by millions across the planet, cricket remains on the fringes of American athletics — especially in schools. That is slowly changing, a product of the growth in immigrant populations from India and Pakistan. Last year, the U.S. Youth Cricket Association, which is based outside of Baltimore, Md., and the Washington Warriors Cricket Club visited dozens of schools in Maryland and Virginia to sell educators on

EDUCATION

Children of all ages and athletic ability can play in the Washington D.C. Youth Rugby Warriors, founded in 2004.

the merits of the sport. Youthful cricketers have plenty of mentors to look up to locally and resources to draw upon. There are two leagues with 30 teams each in the Washington metro region, and the Youth Cricket Association has handed out 500 cricket sets to school in Maryland and more to schools in Virginia.A member of the 2011 U.S. national under-19 cricket team is himself a local — Waleed Karimullah graduated from Virginia’s Annandale High School in 2011. Schools in the region have also toyed with fencing, badminton — the Badminton Club of DC used to play at St. Albans School — skiing and even bowling. Earlier this year, 17 D.C. public schools introduced bowling as a varsity sport for girls, hoping to move the school system toward better compliance with a federal law that requires gender equity in federally funded institutions. All told, some 50 bowlers participated. New sports and activities aren’t only limited to after-school teams, though, as more schools incorporate nontraditional sports into their physical education curricula. In one example, two years ago D.C. public schools reintroduced archery, which is now provided at 15 schools through the National Archery in the Schools Program. Other students are taking fly fishing, playing ultimate Frisbee or clambering up rockclimbing walls. The point, says Heather Holaday, a health and physical education program manager with D.C. Public Schools, is to offer students a new slate of activities that they can excel at — instead of be excluded from. “We’re looking to introduce more lifetime activities in the physical education program,” she said. “We’re looking for new ways to motivate students to be physically active.” Martin Austermuhle is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat and editor in chief of DCist.com.

The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

T R A V E L &

HOTELS ■ A Special Section of The Washington Diplomat

Let’s Get Together

■ October 2012

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center PHoto: RoNald ReaGaN BuildiNG aNd iNteRNatioNal tRade CeNteR

Washington, d.C., is no stranger to events large and small. Whether it’s a presidential inauguration on the National Mall for a million people or an everyday power lunch for two, the district has a place for everyone.

Washington Offers Vast Array of Venues for Every Event

October 2012

by Stephanie Kanowitz

So to help you plan your next gathering, we’ve compiled a list of some of the area’s top spots based on event size, type and fun details such as high-tech perks, historical details and the ghosts of famous visitors past.

TRAVEL & HOTELS

Continued on next page

The Washington Diplomat

When Welcoming the Diplomatic Community The Choices Are Clear

“A Superb Central Location On Embassy Row” Superior Service and Newly Renovated Accommodation Welcoming Hospitality, Multilingual Staff Call 202-296-2100 1615 Rhode Island Avenue, NW • Washington, D.C. 20036 www.beaconhotelwdc.com

Continued from previous page

Great Place for Multiple Uses: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW www.itcdc.com Owned by the General Services Administration (GSA), the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center is based on a public-private partnership and houses a high-powered mix of tenants: the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection; privatesector companies such as the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate and Aflac insurance; as well as the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business D.C. campus and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In fact, the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, opened in 1998, is the first and only federal building dedicated to both government and private use. As its name suggests, one of its chief missions is promoting trade, commerce and cross-cultural dialogue, although that’s just one facet of the building’s wide-ranging portfolio. The massive complex, which occupies a prime chunk of real estate along Pennsylvania Avenue, is the largest building in D.C. — at 3.1 million square feet, it’s the second-largest facility ever built by the federal government; only the Pentagon is bigger. If that weren’t enough, it’s home to 65,000 square feet of flexible event space, a 625-seat amphitheater, a 15-room conference center and six Signature Spaces for a more dramatic ambience. As such, the multifunctional building is no

stranger to embassies.The Embassy of Georgia celebrated 20 years of U.S.-Georgia relations in the spring there, for example, and ambassadors regularly hold talks or participate in conferences at the building. Notable visitors have included Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as her predecessors Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell, among many others. Annually, the building hosts Cultural Tourism DC’s Embassy Chef Challenge and the Washington DC International Food and Wine Show, a fourday extravaganza of food, drink and crafts. Many events such as the Embassy Chef Challenge take place under the building’s most stunning architectural feature: a coneshaped, horizontal glass skylight that soars over the 170-foot-diameter Atrium, which can be transformed depending on the décor and mood of the event (see photo on page 43). The sheer size of the building also allows for a variety of spaces to be used at the same time for different purposes. On average, the building hosts roughly 28 events each week ranging from breakfast meetings, panel discussions, movie premieres, car shows, press conferences, product launches and large galas. Another plus is the building’s direct access to Metro and large underground parking facility, along with the fact that it’s within walking distance of the White House, Capitol and National Mall. The site of the Ronald Reagan Building was not always so auspicious, however. It was known in the 1890s as “the plague spot of Washington” for its brothels and saloons, and it spent 50 years as a parking lot when the Depression hit in the 1930s. In 1987, Congress passed the Federal Triangle Development Act, authorizing a federal building complex and

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TRAVEL & HOTELS

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October 2012

international cultural and trade center to complete the redevelopment of Pennsylvania Avenue. Today, the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center stands as a crown jewel in Federal Triangle, one that’s equally versatile playing host to a sparkling evening reception as it is holding a serious trade symposium.

Great for Large Galas/ Fundraisers: Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium 1301 Constitution Ave., NW www.mellonauditorium.com When it was built between 1932 and 1934, the classical Mellon Auditorium was the largest government-owned meeting space in D.C. Today, the column-lined auditorium continues to do its original job. In the 77 years since the space was inaugurated, it has borne witness to history. On Oct. 29, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt started the Selective Service System lottery there. On April 4, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty, establishing NATO, was signed there, and most recently, NATO held its 50th anniversary summit in the building. The Mellon Auditorium also hosts more than 100 events a year, although the General Services Administration must approve them first. The building is authorized for commercial, cultural, educational and recreational uses, and common events include nonprofit galas, fundraisers, inaugural balls and corporate gatherings. Named for a former U.S.Treasury secretary, the auditorium’s 14,000 square feet of event space can be divvied up to accommodate as many as 1,000 guests, depending on the configuration of tables and other needs such as booths. “It is very much a blank slate and can be used in many different configurations,” said Sarah Cooper, an event emissary at the auditorium. “We are solely an event venue, which allows each group significant time to set up a large-scale production without having to work around other exhibits or museum restrictions. We also have extensive experience working with high-level security events, which appeals to many of our clients in the D.C. area.” Federal organizations can rent the space for $7,500 on weekdays and $12,000 on weekends, while nongovernment entities can claim it for $12,000 any day. Most events run $15,000 to $20,000 for the building rental and support costs, Cooper noted.

Photo: Hay-Adams Hotel

Top of the Hay directly overlooks the White House and Lafayette Square.

Great Rooftop Spots: Top of the Hay and POV Roof Terrace 800 16th St., NW www.hayadams.com 515 15th St., NW www.wwashingtondc.com Keep tabs on White House comings and goings from either the Hay-Adams or the W hotels, whose rooftops offer up-close views of Washington’s most iconic residence.

October 2012

At the Top of the Hay, you’ll get a more direct vantage point from the 3,262-squarefoot space atop the historic Hay-Adams. An intimate group of four or a party of 340 can look out over Lafayette Square during a corporate reception, product launch, executive board meeting or wedding. The spot has also been used for embassy signing ceremonies, and in June, Secretary of State Clinton and Israeli President Shimon Peres held a joint discussion there hosted by the Brookings Institution. “The White House view is unparalleled. It is not just the best view in Washington, but truly the best view in the world,” beamed Colette Marquez, director of operations at the HayAdams, which has $10,000 event rental and $25,000 food and beverage requirements. At the W, Obama family-watching happens more from the side than head-on. The POV Roof Terrace, however, unlike the more traditional digs at the Hay-Adams, has a chic modern flair that attracts hipsters from across the city. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have history, either. Indeed, Elvis met with President Richard Nixon at the property, Harrison Ford once bought rounds of drinks for the crowd, and parts of “The Godfather: Part II” were shot on the rooftop. More recently, the 8,000 square feet of event space atop the Beaux Arts hotel has welcomed the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, held national days for African countries such as Gabon, and hosted the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council and US-China Business Council. Another appetizing detail: Event menus are designed by Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s award-winning J&G Steakhouse.

Great for Large Conferences:

which opened in May, is a new 15,000-squarefoot outdoor water venue that features the Potomac River as a backdrop.

Events that have taken place here include book signings by Ron Reagan (President Ronald Reagan’s son) and Mark Shriver, a member of the Kennedy clan, in addition to the Global Health Corps reception with former first lady Laura Bush. “Plume is known for its very intimate space that is sectioned for privacy by appropriate columns,” said Joan Esposito, director of sales at the Jefferson. “Nooks and crannies add to the privacy and intimacy. Tucked away in a discreet corner of Plume, the Bird’s Nest is the most romantic dining setting in D.C. for its discriminating guests.” The circular velvetdraped nook sits under a 110-year-old chandelier. On average, lunches cost $25 per person and dinners $85 per person. Special touches that add to the refined ambience include the cellar, which contains many of the vintages enjoyed by 18th-century President Thomas Jefferson as well as the country’s largest collection of Madeiras, some dating to 1780.

NOTE: Although every effort is made to assure your ad is free of mistakes in spelling a The Bird’s Nest at Plume offers a it discreet dining Great Weddings: content is ultimately up to for the Small customer to make the final proof. Photo: The Jefferson Hotel

spot that sits under a 110-year-old chandelier.

Bluemont Vineyard

Bottom Va. subsequent chang two faxed changes will be18755 madeFoggy at no cost Road, to theBluemont, advertiser, GreatThe forfirst Private Meetings: will be billed at a rate of $75 perhttp://bluemontvineyard.com faxed alteration. Signed ads are considered approved Plume at the Jefferson 1200 16th St., NW Located about an hour and 15 minutes Please check this ad carefully. Mark any changes to your ad. from the bustle of the nation’s capital, www.jeffersondc.com/dining-lounge Bluemont Vineyard feels like another, more If themeetings ad is correct signin and to: (301) needs changes Good can happen small fax spaces. serene949-0065 world. With the Blue Ridge Mountains Plume, the über-elegant restaurant inside the serving as the backdrop, the vineyard offers revamped Jefferson hotel, is ideal for a dis-(301) four 933-3552 options for weddings, rehearsal dinners The Washington Diplomat creet meeting because of its size: 607 square and other events. feet (plus another 393.6 square feet if you The most popular wedding spot is the Approved __________________________________________________________ count the Greenhouse area). Plume can 4,800-square-foot Stable, which overlooks accommodate only 64 diners — or 100 if you Loudoun Valley and can accommodate 200 to Changes ___________________________________________________________ do it reception-style and include the ___________________________________________________________________ Greenhouse. See venues, page 50

Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center 201 Waterfront St., National Harbor, Md. www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-national/ The Gaylord National, whose management is set to be taken over by Marriott International this fall as part of a $210 million deal, opened in 2008 as an anchor to the new entertainment complex at National Harbor in Maryland. Located eight miles south of Washington, D.C., the 2,000-room hotel has an attached 470,000-square-foot conference facility and is the largest combined hotel and convention center on the East Coast. The space includes four ballrooms ranging in size from 8,000 to 50,000 square feet; 82 meeting rooms that run from 600 to 6,000 square feet; and an 180,000-square-foot Exhibit Hall. The 50,000-square-foot Potomac Ballroom has a Broadway-scale permanent stage that can be used for presentations or performances. Various international organizations have held events here. On May 27, the Gaylord hosted the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Cultural Mission’s graduation ceremony for the King Abdullah Scholarship Program that included 6,000 Saudi graduates from U.S. universities (also see “A King’s Vision” in the education section of the September 2012 issue). The facility has also hosted the Ugandan North American Association Dinner and events for the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America and all four branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. One of the advantages of the Gaylord is that it offers everything under one roof: event space and meeting rooms, guest rooms, banquets and catering, networking areas, eventplanning vendors, nightlife and a spa. The setting is also attractive. The 8,000-square-foot Cherry Blossom Ballroom is set inside the hotel’s 19-story tropical atrium, filled with trees, plants and a fountain that shoots water 60 feet up into the war. RiverView Terrace,

It’s our pleasure to serve the Embassy Community – rates starting at $129! The State Plaza Hotel features: Spacious All-Suite acommodations with full kitchens in every suite. Walking distance to the World Bank, State Department, PAHO and IMF Complimentary Fitness Center, daily newspaper delivery, high speed internet access, full in-room kitchens.

TRAVEL & HOTELS

Please contact our Embassy Liason, Shazia Tara: stara@rbpropertiesinc.com or 202.833.6966

2117 E Street NW, Washington DC 20037 • 202.861.8200

The Washington Diplomat

[ baltimore ]

Charm Offensive Four Seasons Leads Renaissance of Baltimore’s Harbor East District

Photo: Larry Luxner

by Larry Luxner

“We’re contributing to the rebirth of Baltimore by bringing in an upscale product that prior to our arrival was lacking. Harbor East is an enclave, and the unique thing is that the Four Seasons is a contemporary building in a city with a lot of tradition.”

The 256-room Four Seasons Hotel boasts sweeping views of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor from its sleek glass tower, seen on the opposite page.

downtown Baltimore — in an area ALTIMORE — A Japanese that not long ago was dominated by restaurant that has the East vacant parking lots and derelict wareCoast’s largest selection of houses. sake. A 10,200-square-foot Today, the Four Seasons has plenty spa featuring 11 treatment of company, including the nearby Legg rooms offering everything Mason Tower, the Baltimore Marriott from salt scrubs to aroWaterfront Hotel, the Johns Hopkins matherapy massage. And a commanding School of Medicine, 650 Exeter, 800 view of the Inner Harbor from Baltimore’s Aliceanna, Spinnaker Bay and The Vue most spectacular infinity pool. luxury condominiums — all part of It’s almost enough to convince visitors Harbor East, a $1.67 billion mixed-use they’re not really in Charm City at all. development project founded by two But then again, Baltimore — Maryland’s — Julien Carralero local visionaries: John Paterakis and largest city — has changed dramatically in general manager of the Four Seasons Baltimore Michael S. Beatty. the last few decades, evolving from a gritty, The Washington Diplomat recently blue-collar manufacturing hub into a revivisited the Four Seasons, housed in a talized waterfront destination, anchored sleek 18-story glass tower, with public relations manager Audrey Slade and by the bustling Harborplace retail complex that opened in 1980. But Baltimore is taking that transformation up another notch, adding a level Julien Carralero, the hotel’s general manager. The affable Carralero arrived in Baltimore in mid-2011 direct from Hungary, of luxury and sophistication not often associated with a city that’s still proudly rough around the edges — and the gleaming new Four Seasons Hotel is a cor- where he spent nine years running the Four Seasons Gresham Palace in Budapest. Before that, he was second-in-command at the Four Seasons George nerstone of those high-end ambitions. Inaugurated last November, the 256-room luxury property sits conveniently V in Paris. The hotelier’s impressive resume also includes stints at the Four between the Inner Harbor and Little Italy, just off South President Street in Seasons in San Diego and the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City in Arlington, Va.

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The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

Carralero, a Spaniard who was raised in Geneva, said Four Seasons — which operates 88 luxury hotels in 35 countries from Argentina to Azerbaijan — sees a bright future for Baltimore despite its wellknown reputation for crime and neglect. “There’s a need for us to be in this market. We’re investing long term, not just for the next two or three years,” he told us over lunch in the hotel’s signature restaurant, Wit & Wisdom.“We’re contributing to the rebirth of Baltimore by bringing in an upscale product that prior to our arrival was lacking. Harbor East is an enclave, and the unique thing is that the Four Seasons is a contemporary building in a city with a lot of tradition.” H&S Properties Development Corp. has already completed more than 5.5 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, retail, entertainment and parking space in Harbor East. According to the company website, Harbor East supports around 10,000 jobs and has generated $1.2 billion in business that in turn has boosted the Baltimore City economy by $1.5 billion, resulting in $58.5 million in state and local tax revenue. The Four Seasons alone represents a $200 million investment and opened with 240 employees; that’s since grown to 400 as it’s expanded with Pabu restaurant, the infinity pool deck and other amenities. “The Four Seasons and the Legg Mason tower are the crown jewels of Phase I for Harbor East,” said the company’s vice president of development, Michael Ricketts. “The Four Seasons is the best hotel you could imagine, and it’s performing just like we anticipated it would. The feedback we’re getting from the community is phenomenal.”

Photos: Larry Luxner

Baltimore’s famous Katyn Forest Massacre Monument lies at the heart of the $1.67 billion Harbor East mixed-use development project that has replaced the neglected warehouses that once dominated the neighborhood with posh hotels, shopping and residences.

Among other unique little touches, the Four Seasons features selected pieces of art from the Washington Color School, a visual art movement of the late 1950s through the mid-1970s that focused on largely abstract works. Private cabanas around the heated infinity pool offer an urban oasis. And its Wit & Wisdom tavern, a restaurant by Michael Mina, has become one of the swankiest culinary hotspots in town, serving local delicacies wherever possible. So does the Japanese-themed Pabu, a collaboration between Mina and restaurateur Ken Tominaga. “We try to source products from Maryland growers as much as possible,” said Carralero, noting the presence on the menu of items like greens and herbs from Hamilton Crop Circle; Maryland blue crabs from J.M. Clayton Seafood Co. in Cambridge; beef from

Continued on next page

from the Port of Baltimore

Gateway to your Getaway!

October 2012

TRAVEL & HOTELS

The Washington Diplomat

SIDEBAR

Baltimore: Shaking Up World’s Sake Map Those seeking an unusual Japanese dining and drinking experience can look no further than Baltimore, of all places, at the recently opened Four Seasons. The luxury hotel’s newly opened Pabu restaurant offers its patrons an array of Japanese delicacies and — in the tradition of izakayas, or Japanese pubs — at least 100 brands of sake, including 30 by the glass. “There are a few such places in New York and D.C., but nothing like this in Baltimore,” says Pabu’s manager, Josh Liberman. “Because we’re a pub, everything is designed to be casual, but it also meets Four Seasons standards.” The eclectic menu here includes items like tako (grilled octopus) for $9 and Maryland crab okonomiyaki (fried egg, pork belly, karashi mayo) for $10. The signature item is Pabu’s “Happy Spoon” — a combination of oyster, uni, ikura, ponzu créme fraîche with sesame ($5.88), which Saveur magazine recently said was one of the best reasons to visit Baltimore. When it comes to drinking, however, sake wins hands-down at this establishment. Sake (pronounced “SA-kay”) is a fermented rice beverage containing 12 to 21 percent alcohol. Produced for the last 2,000 years, it is the Japanese national drink — and at least 18,000 versions of sake are known to exist. “It has to be produced in a traditional method that’s congruent with the outlines laid out by Japan’s Department of Taxation,” explained Tiffany Dawn Soto, beverage manager at Four Seasons and the first non-Japanese woman ever to earn the title of “kikizake-shi” — master sake sommelier. “I always liken sake now to where wine was in the 1980s,” said Soto, president of the North American Sake Institute. “Back then, people looked at wine as something you drank only when you

to store it properly.” went to a steak house. It wasn’t The self-described sake something people drank at home maven says that above all, the with dinner. Sake is now in its infanbeverage must be stored properly. cy. You have to work really hard to “Light is the enemy of all alcohol, make it more acceptable and more a but sake is more sensitive than part of the dining experience.” wine. It must be refrigerated and Born in San Diego and raised in kept in the dark,” she told us. “It Las Vegas, the 30-year-old Soto has a shelf life of one and a half or majored in advertising at the two years, but if stored improperly, University of Nevada. That’s where you can have it go bad in a month she took a wine-tasting class and or two.” discovered her calling in life. Her Economically, she said, it husband, Ryan Cianci, is also a sommakes more sense to buy sake melier and law student at the than wine “because it lasts three University of Baltimore. In his spare Photo: Larry Luxner weeks in the refrigerator after time, he lobbies for an organization Pabu, the new restaurant at the Four Seasons in Baltimore, is opening, so you don’t have to rush called Marylanders for Better Beer a Japanese-style pub with more than 100 brands of sake, to drink it.” In addition, it has oneand Wine Laws, which claims including 30 by the glass. third the calories of wine and no 25,000 members. sulfites. And because there’s very “I was a wine sommelier first little residual sugar, sake is unlikely to give you a hangover. and a sake sommelier second. I’ve always loved both,” Soto told As if that’s not enough, sake is also gluten-free, vegan and in The Diplomat in between shifts at work. “I happen to be very good some cases even kosher. at sake. The whole beverage world has always been important to Soto said Pabu stocks bottles ranging in price from $12 to me. This was the perfect mix for me, to have multiple outlets [at the $1,500, though most of its brands fall into the $50 to $100 range. Four Seasons] and multiple beverage programs.” “I prefer to serve it in a glass that best amplifies whatever is special To educate the public on the joys of sake, Soto has begun about that sake,” said Baltimore’s own kikizake-shi, adding that a teaching classes the second Saturday of every month at 4:30 p.m. common misconception in this country is that sake should always at Pabu. be served hot. “We’ve had three classes so far. It costs $25 and it’s a long Cool or cold is much better, Soto insists, though she concedes class, but you get to taste amazing sake and eat amazing food,” that “we will gently warm sake if a guest really wants it that way.” she said, noting that no prior knowledge is necessary. “The more people know about sake, the more commonplace it will become. We’re working with wine stores to carry sake, teaching them how — Larry Luxner

Continued from previous page

163 ROOMS & SUITES

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Piedmont Ridge; shrimp from Marvesta Shrimp Farms; and Chesapeake Bay oysters from Rappahannock River Oysters. None of this comes cheap — dinner entrées at Wit & Wisdom for example range from $26 to $48. And therein lies the challenge for the Four Seasons: Can Baltimore sustain such an upscale brand? Moreover, a glut of hotels have opened in recent years in the city despite the economic downturn, leading to an oversupply of rooms that has tempered occupancy rates. But the travel industry has been steadily recovering, both regionally and nationwide, and the Four Seasons is betting that not only will Baltimore continue to grow, it will attract clientele willing to pay top dollar for top-tier service and amenities. That kind of optimism also motivated the developers behind Harbor East to invest in reviving the neighborhood. “We’re very lucky to have Michael Beatty and the Paterakis family as a driving force to keep cultivating that great image we’re trying to develop,” Carralero told us. He said the Baltimore of today is a far cry from 30 years ago, when the city was desperately teetering on bankruptcy. One of the first buildings to sprout up in the area was The Vue, Carralero said. “The Marriott came right after that. Obviously there was an ongoing sense of vision of how Harbor East could contribute to Baltimore as a destination. When we bring meeting planners here, if they remember Baltimore in the ’70s or ’80s at all, they say that it’s changed a great deal.” Carralero noted that the global financial crisis of 2008-09 hit Baltimore hard,

TRAVEL & HOTELS

but that business is on the upswing again.Yet crime is still a major worry. “It’s definitely a concern, primarily when we see things blown out of proportion. But crime has come down slightly and continues to decrease. We have a commitment from the mayor’s office to reduce crime.” Even so, he said,“Harbor East is a very secure, self-contained area, and crime hasn’t deterred people from coming here and doing business with us.” Indeed, right outside the hotel are dozens of high-end retailers including J. Crew and Anthropologie. All these upscale boutiques and nearby luxury apartment buildings are clustered around Baltimore’s famous Katyn Forest Massacre Monument — a 30-foottall sculpture that commemorates the 1940 massacre of thousands of Polish army officers and prominent citizens not by Nazis but by Soviet troops during World War II. Over the Labor Day weekend, Baltimore hosted its annual Grand Prix auto race, and during the annual Preakness Stakes — one of the nation’s premier horseracing events — Four Seasons hosted several top corporate events along with a series of food and beverage specials themed around the “middle jewel of the Triple Crown.” Professional baseball and football lures thousands of out-of-town fans to this sports-crazy town, says Carralero. He expressed hope that one day — in addition to Baltimore’s beloved Orioles and Ravens — Maryland’s largest city will boast its own professional basketball team as well. Ricketts agrees. “Baltimore is a twosport city, so we have baseball and football,” he said. “We don’t have a winter basketball or hockey team, but if we had

The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

all 12 months covered, it would make a difference.” To be sure, the Four Seasons isn’t the only game in town; nearby competition comes from the Marriott Waterfront, the Hilton Garden Inn and the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court. Yet it’s clearly in a league of its own as the priciest property in the city. A city-view room in mid-October cost about $359 and the presidential suite — complete with Kawai baby grand piano and stunning views of the harbor — can go for $7,000 a night. “Not everyone can stay at this hotel,” group sales manager Sanae Harrison admits. But high prices are no deterrent for one of this luxury property’s most lucrative guests: wealthy foreigners, especially Arabs, in need of medical treatment. Health care is one of the main drivers of business to the Four Seasons Baltimore, home to Johns Hopkins Hospital, the University of Maryland Medical Center and Mercy Medical Center. It’s one of the reasons Four Seasons chose to open a hotel here in the first place. Harrison said that 80 percent of her overseas guests fly in from the Middle East, and that international sales have jumped by 30 percent since the hotel’s inauguration. She said the bulk of that business comes from Saudi Arabia, with the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait supplying most of the remainder. It certainly helps that earlier this year, the UAE opened the 355-room Sheikh Zayed Tower at nearby Johns Hopkins Hospital — a gift valued at $200 million. Before its opening, many of Four Seasons guests previously stayed in Washington, D.C., and received medical treatment in Baltimore. “We do not discuss why they are here. You never want to ask why. It’s a very sensitive subject,” said Harrison. “We’re here to make them comfortable.”

Pro copy Wash Diplomat Lev 9 APR ad 12-FP.indd 1

October 2012

Photos: Larry Luxner

Baltimore, Maryland’s largest city, has changed dramatically in the last few decades, evolving from a gritty, blue-collar manufacturing hub into a premier waterfront destination.

That explains why this hotel offers its guests as many as 15 Arabic-language satellite TV channels, not to mention halal food prepared according to Islamic tradition. “Some of them have never been here before, so we really try to make their arrival experience special,” explained Harrison, who’s originally from Morocco.“We put arrows on the wall pointing to Mecca. We also purchased prayer mats that tell you which direction to face when praying. I’ve not seen that anywhere else.” She added: “Around Ramadan, we come up with a customized menu because of the fasting, adding things like apricots and top-quality dates.We have an espresso machine in every room.They love it.” These Arab guests are particularly important because they often stay for a month at a time, and together with their royal entourages can take up to two dozen rooms.

Tiffany Dawn Soto, beverage manager at the Four Seasons in Baltimore, is the first non-Japanese woman ever to earn the title of “kikizake-shi” — master sake sommelier.

Larry Luxner is news editor for The Washington Diplomat.

TRAVEL & HOTELS

3/16/12 6:01 PM

The Washington Diplomat

from page 45

Venues 250 guests for $3,000 to $6,000. Most bridal parties opt to hold the ceremony on the lawn, cocktail hour on the veranda and the rest of the celebration inside, said Debbie Zurschmeide-Schoeb, who handles Bluemont’s wedding event sales and is the chief experience orchestrator at Great Country Farms. “We assign an in-house event planner and a day-of coordinator to every event,” Zurschmeide-Schoeb said. “We also only do one event per day,” with an average of one to three events per week between March and December. For rehearsal dinners, she recommends the 1,200-square-foot Cellar, which is situated at 951 feet above sea level and offers 280-degree views of the valley. Two other options are the Shed at Great Country Farms, which can seat 75 under cover or more on the lawn, and the Corn Crib at the farms, a 19th-century granary covered in lights and grapevines that accommodates up to 40. Each rents for a flat $250 fee plus $10 per person.

Great for Large Weddings: National Building Museum 401 F St., NW www.nbm.org The National Building Museum is dedicated to the history and impact of America’s “built environment” — its architecture, engineering and design — but this majestic structure also adheres to one of its original

intended uses: “to provide a suitably grand space for Washington’s social and political functions.” Today, the Great Hall, which has about 28,000 square feet of event space, is available for an average of $26,000, exclusive of food, drink, decorations, music and other party elements. That buys you enough room to welcome up to 1,600 seated guests or 2,000 standing ones in a soaring space punctuated by 75-foot-tall Corinthian columns Photo: House of Sweden and a 1,200-foot terra cotta frieze. In addition to housing the Swedish Embassy, the House “Size and location are a big facof Sweden features an art museum, event center, and tor, but I think the architectural conference and exhibition hall. and historic appeal of the building are the big draws,” said Chris Frame, Great Out-of-the-Box director of special events. “Our proximity to the Capitol makes it a big draw when trying Location: to appeal to members of Congress to attend House of Sweden the event, and our ability to seat large num- 2900 K St., NW bers for a fundraising dinner help organiza- www.houseofsweden.com tions plan really large events.” New presidents’ inaugural balls have been “House” is a misnomer for this sleek venue, held here, as well as a G20 economic summit, which hosts four to six events a week rangwhen the president hosted 20 world leaders ing from corporate receptions, dinners and inside the museum. Notably, Hillary Clinton award ceremonies. Although it does house ended her bid for the presidency here in June the embassies of Sweden and Iceland, it’s also 2008, when she gave her concession speech part art museum, event center, and conferand endorsed Barack Obama. ence and exhibition hall. The building’s allOn a lighter note, it’s also hosted countless glass walls provide spectacular vistas of the couples looking for a grand space for their Potomac River, just steps away along the nuptials — one with a hint of Washington Georgetown Waterfront, as well as of the Kennedy Center, Air Force Memorial and history. “Knowing that you’re hosting an event in Watergate. The House of Sweden has 12,000 square the same exact location that Benjamin Harrison had his first inaugural ball [in 1889] feet of event space — which can handle up is always an interesting little touch I suspect to 500 people — and is no stranger to famous faces. It has hosted former Vice many aren’t even aware of,” Frame said. President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Clinton and singer Jimmy Buffett. Each year the Swedish ambassador hosts the Nobel Laureates, too. “Our versatility is a function of our space and of our creativity,” said Cecilia Browning, general manager of the House of Sweden. “Most of the building material is from Sweden, most meeting spaces are decorated with Swedish arts and textiles, and it gives the building a different feel — a touch of Sweden here in Washington, D.C.” The building, a striking example of contemporary Scandinavian architecture, is also environmentally friendly, with recycling bins, LED lighting and a filtered Nordaq drinking water filtration system to eliminate plasticbottle waste.

Photo: Washington Hilton

The Washington Hilton has 110,000 square feet of state-of-the-art meeting space.

Great for Techies: Washington Hilton 1919 Connecticut Ave., NW thewashingtonhilton.com History meets the Information Age at the Washington Hilton, where on-site audio-visual specialists provide event support throughout the hotel’s 110,000 square feet of meeting space. The International Ballroom, for instance,

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TRAVEL & HOTELS

boasts a 48-foot hydraulic stage with a dividing mechanism that allows for two stage sets at the same time and has loading capabilities for vehicles to be brought into the ballroom. Guests can find their way through the hotel using digital directional Wayfinding with touch-screen capabilities that map current locations and create a travel path to the desired location. More than 50 digital touch screens also let users pull up a map of Washington and search for nearby dining, attractions and more. Tucked away in the Hilton’s vast expanse of meeting space — broken into four regions — is a specially designed holding room for the U.S. president, who routinely goes to the iconic hotel for the Presidential Inaugural Ball (held here every four years since 1969), the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and the National Prayer Breakfast. “The hotel has been hosting D.C.’s most notable events for nearly 50 years. With that comes a tremendous amount of experience in providing exceptional service delivery, exceeding attendees and planners’ expectations,” said Steve Cowan, general manager at the Washington Hilton, adding that the hotel has 300 bilingual team members who, combined, speak nearly 40 languages.

Photo: Brookside Gardens

Brookside Gardens, a 50-acre garden in Wheaton Regional Park, has a variety of indoor and outdoor options for weddings.

Great Place to Get Back to Nature: Brookside Gardens 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton, Md. http://montgomeryparks.org/brookside/ Part of Montgomery County’s park system, Brookside Gardens is a 50-acre garden within Wheaton Regional Park. It includes gardens dedicated to aquatic life, azaleas, butterflies, roses, as well as a Japanese-style and children’s garden in addition to the Woodland Walk, a one-acre expanse of forested wetland. The formal garden areas include a Perennial Garden, Yew Garden, the Maple Terrace and Fragrance Garden. For events, Brookside has eight indoor and outdoor site options. The largest indoor space, the Reception Hall, can hold up to 125 seated guests, and a tent in the gardens can accommodate twice as many. More intimate gatherings are better suited for the Anderson Pavilion on an island in the aquatic garden’s pond, the Japanese Tea House or even two classrooms. Rates vary for Montgomery County residents and nonresidents and range from $300 up to $4,200 (renters are responsible for bringing in dance floors, catering and all set-up and clean-up). Stephanie Kanowitz is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

culture & ■ WWW.WASHDIPLOMAT.COM

arts

entertainment

■ OCTOBER 2012

The term “nomad” implies a lack of direction, or even arrested development…

ART

Pattern of Confrontation Lalla Essaydi’s multilayered mosaic of art juxtaposes feminine imagery with the traditional text often used by men to challenge notions of womanhood in the Muslim world. PAGE 53

EVENTS

Child’s Play If you’ve been wanting to take the kids to Europe but the economy is holding you back, the Kids Euro Festival may be just the ticket. PAGE 54

THEATER

‘Kick-Ass’ Homage “The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins” takes over Arena State, where Kathleen Turner does justice to the outspoken journalist who pushed the political envelope and professional glass ceiling. PAGE 56

Photo: Viktor kharchenko / a. kh. Margulan institute of archaeology, alMaty

ART

But the nomadic horsemen of the Eurasian steppe were no aimless wanderers. “Nomads and Networks: The Ancient Art and Culture of Kazakhstan”reveals how they built a sophisticated society — not unlike today’s well-connected, transient denizens of D.C. PAGE 52

Aim-Full

NOMADS

DINING

FILM REVIEWS

The Pig is all about, what else, the pig, and paying homage to this tasty, underrated porcine. PAGE 59

A son takes over a father’s culinary dynasty in the engrossing “Step Up To the Plate.” PAGE 60

[ art ]

Nomadic Direction

‘Nomads and Networks’ Traces Sophisticated Unsettled Society by Gail Sullivan

[ Page 52

t the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, transient and well-connect well-connected denizens of the Dis-trict can meet their ancient counterparts: the nomadic tribes of Iron Age Kazakhstan. “Nomads and Networks: The Ancient Art and Culture of Kazakhstan” is the first U.S. exhibition devoted entirely to the nomadic culture of ancient Kazakhstan. It includes more than 150 recently excavated objects of gold, horn, precious gems and organic materials from the eighth to third centuries BC. The term “nomad” implies a lack of direction, or even arrested development. It’s a word you might use to describe a kid bumming around Europe after college instead of applying to grad school, or the friend who always seems to be trading one job or city for another. Settled society has long considered itself superior to those who wander. But recent archeological discoveries in the Altai Mountains of eastern Kazakhstan, near the border with Russia and China, call into question common assumptions about nomadic peoples.This exhibit reveals a complex ancient society built around nature, with strategic migratory routes based on the seasons, for instance, intricate rituals, and active exchange networks. In addition to challenging the notion that nomadic tribes were less sophisticated than their settled contemporaries, these artifacts dispel comcom mon misperceptions about their country of origin by presenting a cultural and historical richness noticeably absent from news coverage of the region and contradictory to stereotypes like those presented in the film “Borat.” Geographically, Kazakhstan bridges the gap between Europe and Asia, covering an area four times the size of Texas.“One of our goals for this exhiexhi bition was to bring territory that is in Asia but not at all present in American minds to a Washington, D.C., audience,” said Alexander Nagel, curator of ancient Near Eastern art at the Freer and Sackler Gallery. “Washingtonians are by nature nomads who are traveling through the city for a limited period of time, giving the exhibition a unique connection to D.C.,” he added. To put the artifacts in context, the exhibit opens with an introduction to the Nomads and Networks: landscape and history of archeological The Ancient Art excavation in Kazakhstan. Petroglyphs, images carved on rock face, that might and Culture of Kazakhstan have once demarcated sacred places feathrough nov. 12 ture animals the nomads would have Arthur M. Sackler Gallery encountered in everyday life and depict 1050 independence ave., sW scenes that may refer to their mythical or spiritual beliefs. For more information, please call (202) 633-4880 On a bronze tray atop a conical stand, or visit www.asia.si.edu. the figure of a man kneels before a horse. The tray, perhaps used to burn incense or oil, conveys the deep connection between the nomads and the natural world.Animals, especially, played an important role in their way of life and belief system, often appearing in decorative motifs or ritual practices. A highlight of the exhibit are recently excavated artifacts from a cluster of 70 burial mounds, or “kurgans,” that have been superbly preserved in the frozen soil, or “permafrost.” Here, the elite of nomadic society were laid to rest, accompanied by valuable treasures and sacrificial horses clothed in ornate decorative garb. One of the most striking pieces is a wood-and-gold-leaf horse headdress resembling ibex horns. In an adjacent room, a cluster of large bronze cauldrons crouch like spiders on bent spindly legs. These too are decorated with animal motifs. Archeologists are not certain what purpose the cauldrons served, but it is easy to imagine people gathering around them, telling stories while preparing a communal meal. Because they left no written record, these discoveries provide important insight into

]

The Washington Diplomat

Photos: the central state MuseuM of the rePuBlic of kazakhstan, alMaty

More than 150 recently excavated objects reveal the sophistication of ancient nomadic culture in the eurasian steppe, including items such as a Belt terminus with granulation and argali decoration, above, a horned deer with folded legs, left, and a round tray with figures of a seated man and standing horse.

what life was like for the nomadic horseman of the Eurasian steppe. In addition to revealing complex rituals and social customs, several artifacts provide evidence of trade and cultural exchange with neighboring empires. A diadem from the Kargaly region is a stunning example. This golden crown is inlayed with precious gems and depicts imagery from Chinese celestial iconography.The appearance of a winged ibex on other decorative objects in the exhibit suggests a link to Persia, where the motif is commonly seen in artifacts found at the ancient city of Persepolis in modern-day Iran. This link is supported by carvings found at Persepolis that depict nomads (identifiable by their pointed hats) bringing tribute to the Persian king. It is unclear if the decorative objects on display were acquired through trade, by looting, or were made by the nomads themselves. There is some evidence though that nomadic artisans added their own interpretive touch to objects acquired through trade. What is clear is that this was a flourishing and prosperous society. These objects tell the story of a sophisticated people who traveled strategic migratory routes and maintained networks of communication and cultural exchange with their neighbors.Though it is a small exhibit, “Nomads and Networks” presents a compelling portrait, replacing the image of the aimless wanderer with that of the horseback warrior, skilled artisan, prosperous pastoral herder, and culturally savvy trader. Gail Sullivan is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

October 2012

[ art ]

Subversive Mosaic

moroccan-Born Essaydi Shatters Gender Stereotypes Photo: north carolina MuseuM of art, raleigh

by Suzanne Kurtz

[ October 2012

rawing on her own life, Lalla Essaydi blends tradition and modern interpretation in her provocative multimedia artwork now on display at the National Museum of African Art. With a collection of nearly 30 pieces, the Moroccan-born, New York-based photographer and painter challenges Arab, Muslim and African perceptions of female identity with the exhibition “Lalla Essaydi: Revisions.” Johnnetta Betsch Cole, director of the National Museum of African Art, said Essaydi’s work is not only “visually stunning,” but it also confronts “deeply entrenched historical notions about femininity and womanhood through images of the Muslim world. Her work is vital and offers a fresh new voice and needed insight as it challenges the stereotype and perception of Arab, African and female identity. The beauty and brilliance of her work is singular.” It’s also mesmerizing. Essaydi is largely known for her photographs of women clothed in white fabric inscribed with intricate, sepia-tinted Arabic calligraphy. Similar henna patterns are also etched on the visible parts of the women’s bodies, while the backgrounds are draped in calligraphy-covered cloths as well. The result is a multilayered mosaic that juxtaposes feminine imagery with the traditional text often used by men (who primarily transcribe the Koran and other sacred literature). These intimate portrayals of women against Arabic-inspired backdrops form a quietly powerful commentary on gender and society — created by an artist rooted in liberal values who transcends different cultures and clearly believes in freedom of expression. Essaydi has described her work as “intersecting with the presence and absence of boundaries — of history, gender, architecture and culture — that mark spaces of possibility and limitation.This is my story as well.” Born in Marrakech in 1956, Essaydi lived with her husband and children for several years in Saudi Arabia before moving in the 1990s to Paris, where she attended the École des BeauxArts. After relocating to the United States, Essaydi earned a bachelor’s of fine arts degree from Tufts University in 1999 and a master’s from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 2003.Today, she lives and works in New York City. “In a sense I am a Western artist, making art in a style I was unable to use in my home country,” said Essaydi. Indeed, the artist’s thought-provoking work seeks to debunk stereotypes and broach subject matter that remains taboo in many traditional societies. For instance, despite studying and admiring the work of 19th-century Lalla Essaydi: Revisions Orientalist painters like Eugène Delacroix and Jean-Auguste-Dominique through feb. 24 Ingres, she rejects their objectifying National Museum of African Art representations of North African 950 independence ave., sW women, who were often hidden For more information, please call (202) 633-4600 behind harems and referenced as exotor visit http://africa.si.edu. ic play-toys for men. With her series “Les Femmes du Maroc,” Essaydi poses her models in positions similar to those found in well-known Orientalist paintings, yet strips her renditions of eroticized and romanticized overtones. By removing all the decorative elements and inserting her own handwriting in its place, Essaydi ensures that the women in her works emerge as the center of the image, demystifying the Orientalist fantasy. “In the context of Orientalism, beauty is quite dangerous, as it lures the viewer into accepting the fantasy,” she said.“I want to expose the distortions these paintings

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Photos: edWynn houk gallery, neW york

Lalla Essaydi is largely known for her photographs of women clothed in white fabric inscribed with intricate, sepia-tinted arabic calligraphy, as seen in pieces such as, from top, “silence of thought #2,” “converging territories #24,” and “harem #2.”

present and provoke the viewer into a different kind of seeing, one that shapes a new understanding.” Many of the images in her photographic series “Silence of Thought” were taken in a Moroccan harem similar to the family home where Essaydi grew up as one of 11 children to a father who owned olive groves and had four wives.The title of the series draws inspiration from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “The Three Silences of Molinos,” which praises the three silences of thought, speech and desire — the expectations, Essaydi says, of women in her native country. “My photographs [of Morocco] grew out of a need I felt to document actual spaces, especially those of my childhood,” she explained. “Even now they serve as symbolic reminders of my past.” Likewise, the still-life images of her series “Converging Territories” references Essaydi’s past. Here, the application of henna, traditionally used to adorn a bride’s hands and feet on the eve of her wedding, is infused with Essaydi’s memories of her own bridal experiences. In this series, groups of women, as well as the customary gifts they bring to these celebrations — flowers, eggs, sugar cones and candles — are all delicately decorated with a henna calligraphy that tells the artist’s personal story. “It was important for me as an artist to go back and confront the feelings I had attached to this place, to re-encounter the child I once was, in order to understand the woman I had become,” said Essaydi. “I created an imaginary space where the voice of these women, through written text, became both their walls and their freedom, where they can be who they want without restraint or hindrance.” Suzanne Kurtz is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.

The Washington Diplomat Page 53

[ events ]

Capital Playground massive Kids Euro Festival is No mere Child’s Play by Kate Oczypok

[ Page 54

f you’ve been wishing to take the kids to Europe but the economy is holding you back, the Kids Euro Festival may be just the ticket for a family excursion — with no passport required. The citywide celebration, taking place from Oct. 17 through Nov. 13, is the largest performing arts festival for children in the country. The annual festival is made specifically for children ages 2 to 12 and boasts more than 200 European-themed events that are not only familyfriendly, but also friendly on the wallet — because they’re all free. Kids can experience European culture through a series of performances in puppetry, dance, music, storytelling, theater and more.The events take place not only at the embassies of European Union member states in Washington, but also at various venues throughout the area, including local schools and workshops at each of the 25 D.C. Public Library branches and most of the Prince George’s County Memorial Library locations, as well as the Library of Congress, Children’s National Medical Center and the National Children’s Museum. Marie-Hélène Renaud Zavala, project manager for the festival, helped launched the event in 2008. The cultural initiative was designed to coincide with the French presidency of the European Union that year. Five years later, the French Embassy, along with fellow EU members, have continued a partnership that now includes nearly 30 American cultural institutions, such as the Smithsonian Associates, Washington Performing Arts Society and D.C. Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative, all of whom team up to transform the nation’s capital into a European playground. “We thought it would be great to show Europe to American children,” Zavala said. “This is an effort that not only enhances cultural relations but also benefits our community as a whole,” said Susan Lehrman, a well-known philanthropist in the D.C. area who was first approached about getting involved with the festival by Roland Celette, longtime cultural attaché of the French Embassy, and Kimberley Heatherington, director of operations and development for the French-American Cultural Foundation. Lehrman has served as chairwoman of the Washington National Opera’s annual Opera Ball and is founder and advisory chair of American University’s Initiative for Russian Culture. “I strongly believe that, especially in today’s world, there is nothing more important than reaching the hearts The Kids Euro Festival and minds of our young people,” she from oct. 17 to nov. 13 said. “The impressions we receive at an early age can be lifelong and often throughout the city will affect our views regarding others activities are free but some require reservations. — both people and nations.” For more information, please visit www.kidseurofestival.org, Cyprus, who holds the EU presior follow updates on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ dency until the end of this year, will KidsEuroFestival or on Twitter at @KidsEuroFest. be bringing a touch of its own cultural flair to the festival with a workshop on Alexander the Great. “Our motto for this marvelous festival is ‘toward a better and peaceful world for our kids,’” said Cypriot Ambassador Pavlos Anastasiades. “We want to see a better Europe, true to its high ideals and capable of facing more effectively the global challenges of today and tomorrow.” A Europe that is closer to its neighbors and global partners, Anastasiades added, makes their world more hospitable and offers more to its children.

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The Washington Diplomat

Photos: kids euro festiVal

Among the 200 europeanthemed events in the kids euro festival: hand puppetry by leo Peterson of the netherlands, top; “Presto” by magician Meelis kubo from estonia, above; the greek children’s mystery “short dragon’s code,” left; and “Videk’s new shirt” from slovenia, far left.

Zavala noted that all 27 members of the European Union are participating in the festival.“Artists from all 27 countries will be coming from abroad,” she said. “We work on this festival eight months in advance, starting in February and March, so it’s almost all-year planning for us,” Zavala explained. “You have to reserve spots in venues and bringing in artists takes time.” According to Zavala, with events taking place at venues such as the Kennedy Center, Shakespeare Theatre and Strathmore, the draw of these prestigious spaces has helped to double the number performances in the past five years. Likewise, the total number of attendees for both public and school performances reached nearly 25,000 last year, an increase of 44 percent since the festival’s inception. With only a small team of three, though, Zavala is not necessarily trying to make the festival grow. Instead, they “just plan to expand the number of activities” as the years progress. “This year we will have four artists-in-residence,” she noted. “They stay here for a week and it’s an expensive project but worth it.” Last year, 240 activities were divided among workshops, film screenings and myriad performances. “The various presentations will offer the opportunity for a unique sampling of European culture for an entire month and act as a vibrant transatlantic cultural bridge that brings Europe to the national capital,”Anastasiades said. Kate Oczypok is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

October 2012

THANK YOU.

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ONE GOAL. MILLIONS OF LIVES. TM

The National Mall • Washington, D.C. THANK YOU to the runners, walkers, survivors, volunteers, sponsors and teams that participated and fundraised for the 2012 Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure®. This year Susan G. Komen for the Cure® will fund more than $11 million in grants to provide screening, treatment, education and research here in the D.C. area. Our work is possible because of your efforts. Thank you for joining our mission—providing under-served women access to these life-saving tools and, ultimately, to ﬁnd the cures. Together, we can ﬁnish this race.

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October 2012

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The Washington Diplomat Page 55

[ theater ]

Piercing ‘Patriot’

ivins’s Resonating Voice lives on, loud and Proud at Arena by Lisa Troshinsky

[ Page 56

hat could be timelier than staging a fictional evening with a political pontificator during a highly charged presidential race? That’s what Arena Stage is doing with the D.C. premiere of “Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins,” a one-woman show about the late, great Molly Ivins. The spirit of the outspoken Texas liberal, whose no-holds-barred writing made her an icon of political journalism, lives on — loud and proud — in the intimate Kogod Cradle, Arena’s space for new plays. Inhabiting the larger-than-life Ivins is none other than iconic screen and stage actress Kathleen Turner, whose identification with the character and command of the stage does Ivins justice. Ivins, a syndicated columnist, used satirical humor and irony to deliver her populist broadsides against politicians and skewer her home state of Texas. She earned praise and scorn for such antics as nicknaming former President George W. Bush “Shrub” and quipping that Pat Buchanan’s screed against liberals, abortions rights and gays at the 1992 Republican convention “probably sounded better in the original German.” A female pioneer who pushed the political envelope and professional glass ceiling, hers was a time when newsrooms were white and male, social justice issues were on fire, and writers banged away on manual typewriters and kept a pack of Marlboros and a flask handy. Ivins’s colorful jabs at Republicans and what she deemed social injustices graced the pages of the large Texas papers, the New York Times and two bestselling books: “Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush” and “Bushwhacked.” Unfortunately, her spirited life was cut short at the age of 62 after battling breast cancer. Although “Red Hot Patriot” reads like a tribute to Ivins and preaches to a liberal choir, the script isn’t meant to romanticize Ivins, according to Margaret and Allison Engel, the twin sisters who wrote the play. “This isn’t a valentine to Molly,” they told The Washington Diplomat, stressing that Ivins wasn’t perfect.“It’s a description of a complicated, interesting life, not a starstruck portrait of her. People who don’t know a lot about her may know her for her funny lines, but she was more than that. She was a serious commentator, a diligent reporter who was interested in a wide array of topics and took on unpopular themes.” The sisters, former well-known newspaper journalists themselves who also coauthored a series of books on America’s best food, were inspired to write “Red Hot Patriot,” their first play, after attending a conference in which Jane Fonda and Sally Field implored the audience to write theater starring women over the age of 50. “Despite their renown, Fonda and Field said they are given little theatrical material of value,” wrote the Engels. The sisters said they chose to write about Ivins because “Molly was about five years older than us; we started in journalism a little after her, and we admired and followed her writing for 15 years.” Their script leaped from page to stage virtually overnight, a success Red Hot Patriot: that the Engels attribute to karma. The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins They knew someone who presented through oct. 28 the script to Kathleen Turner, who Arena Stage immediately wanted to do it, and one 1101 6th st., sW of the sister’s colleagues had a connection to Arena. tickets are $46 to $94. “Happy accidents are not the norm. For more information, please call (202) 554-9066 Molly must have orchestrated this or visit www.arena-stage.org. from above,” Margaret Engel said. The script itself is bittersweet. Although filled with laughs, it chronicles Ivins’s strengths and vulnerabilities, her joys and painful moments, and reminds us that life, albeit worth fighting for, can at times be unfair and fleeting. Ironically, it starts with Ivins struggling to write an obituary of sorts about her conservative, authoritarian father, but the play ends up being her own eulogy. The script chronicles Ivins’s life, using her own storytelling, an overhead projector for

The Washington Diplomat

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Photos: Mark garVin

Kathleen Turner gives a touchingly realistic performance as sharptongued political columnist Molly ivins in “red hot Patriot: the kick-ass Wit of Molly ivins,” now at arena stage.

visuals, and the help of an ancient AP teletype that coughs up focal articles that Ivins has written over the years. After she loses her battle with breast cancer, Molly’s “office” — an old desk with a manual typewriter and a sculpture of an armadillo — joins an office graveyard, thrown into a heap of upturned, discarded desks and chairs arranged upstage as part of John Arnone’s simplistically potent set. In addition to its witty and well-researched script, the success of this production hinges on Turner’s touching and realistic performance, as well as David Esbjornson’s direction. It is to her credit that Turner’s long-ago movie debut as a young temptress in “Body Heat” and this fiery, middle-age journalist have nothing but passion in common.Turner transforms into Ivins — Texas drawl, red cowboy boots and all. Esbjornson directed the 2010 world premiere of “Red Hot Patriot,” also starring Turner, with the Philadelphia Theatre Company and is known for directing major Broadway premieres, including Edward Albee’s “The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?” and Alfred Uhry’s “Driving Miss Daisy.” Another major appeal of the play, perhaps, is that it is about a prominent female. Regrettably, in the same way Ivins was uncommon — a liberal in oil country, a woman in a man’s world — so are biographies of women in the theater world.They exist, but are far and few between. “If stage audiences can spend thousands of nights with Mark Twain and Will Rogers over the years, why not with Molly?” asked the Engels. After all, like Ivins and the Engel sisters, audiences enjoy a good fight for the right cause now and again. Lisa Troshinsky is the theater reviewer for The Washington Diplomat.

October 2012

[ music ]

Homeland Heartache Post-Classical Delves into Shostakovich’s Soviet Conflicts by Rachael Bade

[ October 2012

o the rest of the world in the early-to-mid 20th century, Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich seemed a precious angel atop Joseph Stalin’s Soviet pedestal. U.S.S.R. officials spotlighted the Saint Petersburg native’s bold, regal compositions inspired by Russian stalwarts Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky. Shostakovich was considered a profoundly important Soviet-era composer and a “citizen artist” during communist-party rule. His music was the pride of his nation — sometimes. Other times, however, it was attacked as “Muddle Instead of Music,” as the communist newspaper Pravda put it in 1936, and it veered dangerously close to falling out of favor among party officials — notably Stalin himself — for anti-state “formalism.” During Stalin’s Great Purge in the mid1930s, Shostakovich saw many colleagues and even family members sent away to labor camps, or worse, so he knew all too well what fate awaited those who defied or displeased the Politburo. As a result, his entire career was spent balancing his true artistic expression with conforming to the system that gave him an outlet for that expression, albeit not on his own terms. Thus, after his death in 1975, a new side of Shostakovich surfaced — a far-lessloyal, some say decidedly anti-Soviet streak that had been stifled for decades. The man, as it turned out, was no precious angel but a prisoner of sorts lifted begrudgingly into the U.S.S.R.’s limelight. Under Stalin’s watchful eyes, his artistry was suppressed and his freedom of composition forbidden from incorporating outside influences. “Shostakovich bore the weight of a hypocritical order that threatened to destroy his life while at the same time decorating him with awards and promoting him abroad as the Revolution’s musical prodigy,” reads one biography of the man in Classical Net, a music history website. Shostakovich’s conflicted relations with his homeland take center stage at a month-long music festival organized by the Post-Classical Ensemble (PCE), a D.C.based “experimental orchestral laboratory” that produces thematic, cross-disciplinary musical programming (also see “Comprehensive Composition: Post-Classical Reignites Stravinsky’s Russian Undercurrent” in the April 2011 issue of The Washington Diplomat). PCE Music Director Angel GilOrdóñez takes tremendous pride in for more information offering a holistic view of composers on the Post-classical ensemble’s and their music by linking the classics Interpreting Shostakovich to other art forms such as theater or and Dvořák and America festivals, dance. “Interpreting Shostakovich,” which starts Oct. 5 with a lecture and please call (202) 677-5773 or visit http://postclassical.com. recital featuring violinist Oleg Rylatko at Georgetown University, will incorporate several film screenings at the National Gallery of Art, including several Shakespearean plays set to Shostakovich’s music along with other films showcasing the composer’s work. One of those is the 1960 Soviet film “Five Days, Five Nights,” about a communist’s labor of love to restore his bombarded hometown after the destruction of World War II. Writing the score for such Soviet propaganda protected Shostakovich by putting him in Stalin’s good graces. The murderous dictator was a well-known movie buff, and by keeping Stalin happy, Shostakovich was able to keep himself funded — and alive.

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Photo: toM Wolff

Post-Classical Ensemble, under Music director angel gil-ordóñez, left, produces thematic, cross-disciplinary programming that examines the work of musical greats such as russian composer dmitri shostakovich, whose conflicted relationship with soviet authorities takes center stage in “interpreting shostakovich.”

Shostakovich first became a political tool under the Leninists in the 1920s. He was seen as musical prodigy who could rally the people around the communist party. But his work became suspect a decade later when the composer began experimenting with “avant-garde forms, brash harmonies, and sarcastic idioms,” according to one analysis of his work — innovations that the Stalin regime frowned upon. Officials squashed his experimental phase quickly. “He had to change things in his music; he had to delude the music in order to make it sound more ‘patriotic,’” said Gil-Ordóñez. Simultaneously, the Soviets showered Shostakovich with gifts and award. But the artistic suppression haunted him. “To me he seemed like a trapped man, whose only wish was to be left alone, to the peace of his own art and to the tragic destiny to which he, like most of his countrymen, has been forced to resign himself,” observed fellow Russian composer Nicolas Nabokov. Music theorists say Shostakovich just barely aired his rebellious thoughts by weaving haunting undertones into his compositions that expressed the very opposite emotions that the songs were expected to project. The dissonance in his work will be discussed in talks at the PCE’s film screenings. The highlight will undoubtedly be the 1988 film “Testimony,” an award-winning

see FESTIvALS, page 71 The Washington Diplomat Page 57

[ travel ]

Trippy Locals Businesses Take Patrons from Corner Store to Corners of World by Kate Oczypok

group of people from Bethesda, Md., is gearing up for a trip to Italy. Some downtown dwellers are planning on venturing to Cuba, while literary buffs who frequent a particular Connecticut Avenue bookstore are jetsetting to India early next year. In what seems like an emerging trend, local businesses are expanding their horizons — and bottom lines — by hosting trips abroad to exotic locales for their local clientele. Domenico Cornacchia, chef and owner of Assaggi Mozzarella Bar in Maryland and Assaggi Osteria in Virginia, is taking fans of his cuisine to the place where it all started — Italy — during the second week of October. “We’ve been talking to customers at the restaurant about where I go when I travel,” Cornacchia told The Diplomat. “From there, the idea came about [for this trip] and people were very interested in the sites where I travel when I go on vacation on my own.” Cornacchia — who was born in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, and first became an apprentice at the age of 12, making fresh pastas and other specialties by hand — is excited to take a group to the northeast side of Italy on what will be the third year that Assaggi sponsors such a trip. He takes patrons from all three of his area restaurants to Italy’s historic landmarks, quaint farms and, of course, its restaurants and wineries, touring the region from a chef’s perspective. “They know that when I go I know the country, all the way down to Sicily,” he said in heavily accented English.“I know a lot of sites tourists wouldn’t necessarily be able to pick up.” If you’re one of the lucky dozen to 15 people attending the trip, expect to cover and concentrate on a 100-mile radius.“We make sure we take advantage of local activities and festivities,” Cornacchia noted. He’s partnered with Bethesda Travel Center to give visitors an inside view of both the culinary and cultural highlights of his native Italy.The northern region they’ll be touring is well known for its wine, cheese-making, and specific types of delicacies. But the wide-ranging trip will also feature activities such as an excursion to the mountain shrine of San Romedio and a tour of the Giulietta e Romeo castles, which inspired Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Experiencing Italy firsthand never comes cheap, of course. The price for the Assaggi-Bethesda Travel Center tour is nearly $5,000 a person for double occupancy accommodations, but that includes airfare, four-star hotels, all meals, transportation, English-speaking guides, entrance fees and taxes. Despite a tough economy, Cornacchia said most clients who go on the trip go overseas once or twice a year and can afford such a unique vacation.“Their idea with us is that they can see specific areas and sites that by themselves would be very difficult to find,” he said.“It’s an unbelievable experience for the amount of money they do spend.” Those who’d like a taste of another exotic destination — one with more of a Latin flair — can hop aboard Cuba Libre’s trip to Cuba. Guillermo Pernot, the Buenos Aires-born chef of the Penn Quarter restaurant, is planning to bring a group of around 16 travelers to Cuba in what will be the second trip of its kind (also see “Culinary Trek to Cuba” in the April 2012 edition of the Diplomatic Pouch online). “We wanted to show people the authenticity of the cuisine we make at Cuba Libre,” Pernot told us.“I wanted to show people what types of food Cubans are making right now.” During Pernot’s first trip earlier this year, a group of travelers from D.C., New York, Philadelphia and St. Louis spent five days in Havana and “ate 24 hours a day.” This upcoming trip takes place in January, which Pernot said is the ideal time to visit because the danger of hurricanes is minimal and the weather is warm but

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The Washington Diplomat

Photo: larry Weiner

Patrons of Cuba Libre in Penn Quarter were able to take a culinary tour to cuba earlier this year, above, while domenico cornacchia, chef and owner of assaggi Mozzarella Bar in Maryland and assaggi osteria in Virginia, leads culinary-based trips to his native italy. Photo: assaggi / Bethesda traVel center

not too hot. “We usually pick five-star hotels and stay in Havana,” he said.“I hope it will be as successful as the first trip.” Pernot said the concept of restaurants and businesses sponsoring trips abroad for local patrons is “great.” “Chefs should be able to demonstrate the knowledge they have and the only way they can do that is by bringing people to specific countries,” he said. Pernot also believes the costs are well worth it because the guided trips are once-in-a-lifetime experiences — especially when they take you to places like Cuba, which, despite its close proximity to the United States, is still a world away for most American tourists, who are only allowed to visit the communist-controlled island for “purposeful travel” such as learning exchanges. And that’s exactly what happens on Pernot’s trips. “So many people learn about the warmth of the Cuban people and how welcoming they are to Americans,” he said.“Cubans are very happy they can demonstrate the advances they made in the culinary world.” For learning of a different kind, the popular Politics & Prose Bookstore has teamed up with D.C.-based Academic Travel Abroad to host a trip to India this January. Participants will visit the Jaipur Literature Festival, the largest literary festival in the Asia-Pacific region. Susan Coll, director of events and programs at Politics

see TOuRISTS, page 70 October 2012

[ dining ]

Whole Hog At the Pig, No Animal (Part) Is Left Behind by Rachel G. Hunt

hen founders David Winer,Antonio Oquendo and Josh Hahn created EatWell DC in 2003, they wanted to give local residents good and affordable diningout options in Logan Circle and the surrounding area, options they believed were sorely lacking at the time. Beginning with Logan Tavern, the group expanded to include Commissary and the Heights, also bringing Winer’s previously owned Grillfish into the fold. While the company keeps growing, the opening of its newest place, the Pig on 14th Street just north of Logan Circle, represents a departure, and downsizing, of sorts. The Pig is a cozy neighborhood spot that’s smaller than other EatWell establishments — seating only 80 diners (with another 15 at the bar). It’s also more of a concept-driven destination than its sister ventures, which focus more broadly on American cuisine. But that doesn’t mean the Pig is any less ambitious — quite the opposite. It goes whole hog, literally. That’s because the concept behind the Pig is just that — the pig. It’s not a barbeque joint as the name might suggest. The décor does create a casual BBQ feel, with reclaimed wood wainscoting, butcher-block tables, white tile accents, cement floor, simple place settings and an interesting collection of enlarged excise tax stamps.And the menu does sport an excellent Carolina smoked BBQ. But the Pig is a prime example of the whole animal movement that is gaining traction among environmentally conscious diners. This nose-to-tail concept is an extension of the slow food movement that emphasizes locally sourced, sustainable ingredients.Advocates of the approach focus on using the entire animal as opposed to the more typical (and wasteful) practice of using just recognizable cuts.The Pig buys entire pigs from a local producer and does all its own butchering. While the Pig may be challenging for some Americans who are disinclined to eat offal, chef Garret Fleming has cleverly put together a menu based on small plates that allow diners to taste just a bit of the unfamiliar ingredients rather than facing an entire entrée. The porchetta, for instance — roast pork belly stuffed with brains and hazelnuts and served with hog gravy and greens — will probably win over devotees once it’s sampled. Crispy pig ears, unusual but delicious, are less intimidating when served in a salad of caramelized onions, arugula and tomatoes with marrow vinaigrette. Pig Of course, not all of the Pig’s offerings 1320 14th St., NW are unfamiliar. For sausage lovers, the Pig has charcuterie plates dubbed “Little Pig” (202) 290-2821 and “Big Pig.” Each includes a sample of www.thepigdc.com pork-based cured meats with houseDinner: Nightly, from 5 p.m. made pickles, condiments and grilled breads.The Big Pig also includes a chef’s Brunch: Sat., Sun., 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. terrain and cheeses. Small plates: $8 - $36 Elsewhere on the menu, the chops, Main plates: $15 - $19 shank, cheek, ragu, barbeque, meatballs and ravioli are all are pork based. The Desserts: $6.50 wild boar ragu and braised cheek are Reservations: Available at limited times standouts. The ragu, served with pecoriDress: Casual no and broad ribbons of pappardelle that support the meaty rich sauce, is a hearty dish that’s perfect for the cold weather. The cheek is braised until meltingly tender and is well balanced with an aromatic sofrito and stone-ground grits. Though the small plates are categorized as “Pig” and “Less Pig,” even the “Less Pig” choices incorporate a touch of porcine.The ravioli is stuffed with sweetbreads and bacon, the gnocchi is accented with crispy pork belly, and the shrimp and grits is kicked up a notch with a spicy pork chorizo sausage. The menu only includes three dinner-size plates, but all are worth a try.The pork shank is a hefty portion served with a mushroom spoon bread that stands out all by itself. The buttermilk-fried chicken is dark and slightly spicy, with Thai chili gravy. And the burger — pork belly of course — is a crispy delight. Not surprisingly, the Pig does not exactly cater to vegetarians, though the menu does make a few concessions in a puff pastry with mushrooms and a mac and cheese dish. Sides of cauliflower, beets and greens are also tasty, and there is an excellent chickpea hash suit-

[ ] want to

go?

October 2012

Photos: Jessica Latos

Chef Garret Fleming cleverly incorporates pig, including unfamiliar cuts and offal, into all the dishes at the new Logan Circle eatery the Pig.

able for a vegan diet. But you just can’t get around the tasty pink porker at the Pig, where the nose-to-tail theme weaves its way into the meal from beginning to end.The waiter proudly announces that a lavenderinfused butter and lard mixture accompanies the opening breadbasket, for instance. The house special dessert, sundae bloody sundae, is an intensely chocolate confection that takes its name from the fact that pig blood is used to darken and intensify the taste of the chocolate ice cream, which, somewhat surprisingly, it does. Admittedly, the idea of blood-based ice cream may be off-putting to some, but the salty-sweet bacon-peanut brittle that comes with the sundae has been a real crowd pleaser. The berry shortcake provides another opportunity to squeeze in a pork product — with the richness of the lard-based biscuit cut by a slightly sharp ginger whipped cream. In keeping with the local-sourcing trend, the Pig’s beverage program features local labels. Cocktails are made with spirits from the Catoctin Creek Distillery Co., for example, while the beer menu offers DC Brau on draft. The owners of EatWell DC have made a commitment not only to locals in the area, but also to their staff. Pay exceeds minimum requirements and turnover is consequently lower than industry rates.This philosophy shows in the service. Once you get past the front door, where the flow is a bit awkward given the configuration of the space, the service is excellent. The staff has been consistently knowledgeable, agreeable and genuinely proud to be part of this new venture. In today’s health-consciousness (or obsessed, depending on perspective) dining scene, it is surprising and somewhat refreshing to find an establishment that’s unabashedly unconcerned about what their food might be doing to your arteries. On the other hand, the Pig takes the environment and dining responsibly very seriously. EatWell DC even recently bought a former tobacco farm in La Plata, Md., to help ensure a consistent source of locally grown organic produce; the farm now supplies produce to all of its restaurants. But a trip to the bathroom at Pig is not for the sentimental.The walls are papered with pig imagery including many adorable piglets that even the hardest heart would be hard pressed to resist. Designers might want to reconsider that one. Many a confirmed carnivore prefers to believe that meat comes from packages at the store not pig pens at slaughter houses. Still, the Pig embraces the whole animal — cuteness, innards and all — and in the process, it’s educating diners to do the same, putting the often-underappreciated pig on a culinary pedestal. Rachel G. Hunt is the restaurant reviewer for The Washington Diplomat.

The Washington Diplomat Page 59

[ film reviews ]

Gastronomic Succession At Top French Restaurant, Son Prepares to ‘Step Up to the Plate’ by Ky N. Nguyen

M [

eciding to give up the cherished family business to your child is never easy — whether you run a mom-and-pop corner Photo: Adopt Films store or you’re the world-renowned chef behind a Michelin three-star restaurant in Léa Seydoux plays the titular role of a young woman an idyllic slice of France. living off the generosity and petty-thieving wits of her In the mesmerizing new documentary younger brother in “Sister.” “Step Up to the Plate,” French director Paul Lacoste, an amateur cook, looks at a dynastic succession in the sleeping around. Though only 12, Simon becomes world of haute cuisine, one whose familial struggles the family’s breadwinner, riding the ski lift up the strike universal cords. mountain to lofty heights where he steals ski gear Ten years ago, Lacoste made a 50-minute television from wealthy vacationers. Back down in the valley, documentary about internationally renowned French he fences the purloined goods to locals, generating chef Michel Bras. In 1992, the legendary hotel and resenough cash to support a meager existence for taurant eponymously named Michel Bras opened in him and his sister, for which she’s grateful. But Laguiole, France. Made mostly of glass with granite and Photo: The Cinema Guild when Simon pairs up with a criminal migrant slate, the strikingly modern structure appears to rise worker, the situation gets rather dicey for both Renowned French chef Michel Bras, left, and his son Sébastien Bras cook up a storm together out of the middle of nowhere, overlooking the lush Simon and his sister. in Paul Lacoste’s documentary “Step Up to the Plate.” pastoral landscapes in the South of France, where the Meier designed “Sister” and the role of Simon Bras family has lived for three generations. specifically for Klein after his distinctive turn in her prior film “Home” (2008). That quirky family In 1999, Michel Bras acquired the coveted Michelin-three-star ranking awarded to only 106 res- farce, her first theatrical feature, garnered a slew of honors. taurants worldwide. In 2003, to reflect his son Sébastien’s growing partnership in the kitchen and Meier’s long anticipated follow-up,“Sister,” was a smash at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival before its the business, the restaurant was officially renamed Michel et Sébastien Bras, though it’s commonly successful tour of the international festival circuit. Rumors peg “Sister” as a leading contender for referred to simply as Bras. Switzerland’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. For “Step Up to the Plate,” Lacoste returned to Laguiole in 2010 to capture Michel’s retirement “Sister” largely lives up to all the hype. Meier’s as he formally hands over the reigns of the family trade to Sébastien, nicknamed Sébo. streamlined direction and Agnès Godard’s crisp cineEven if Sébastien is ready to run one of the world’s top restaurants by himself, it’s not easy to matography keep the action centered primarily on Sister escape the shadow of his father. That’s especially true Simon. “Sister” mainly serves as a revealing character (L’enfant d’en haut) when Michel still goes into the restaurant just about study of young Simon, using his relationship with (French with English subtitles, 97 min.) Step Up to the Plate every day, a “retirement” scoffed at by Michel’s wife. In Louise to flesh out the taut storyline. Klein and (Entre les Bras) The Avalon Theatre the kitchen, it’s not entirely clear to the staff who’s in Seydoux form a talented thespian pair who deserve charge as Michel overrules Sébastien at times. Still, they the lavish attention they’ve been getting for their star(French with subtitles; 90 min.) Wed., Oct. 17, 8.p.m have a thoughtful and loving relationship that’s revealed tling brother-sister performances. Landmark’s E Street Cinema West End Cinema in their respectful, if not entirely balanced, interaction Angelika Mosaic throughout their numerous ★★★★✩ Opens Fri., Oct. 19 ‘Somewhere Between’ acts of collaboration: gathering top-quality ingredients from the market, picking fresh vegetables and China and America ★★★★✩ herbs straight from the garden, testing and tasting new recipes, even American filmmaker Linda Goldstein opening a new restaurant in Japan. Knowlton’s poignant documentary “Somewhere Between” follows four Chinese The Japanese connection adds to the many ways in which “Step Up to girls adopted by American parents. Her film is not the first documentary about the Plate” is readily compared to “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” David Gelb’s international adoption, but previous stories are largely told from the perspective of dreamy documentary about 85-year-old Jiro Ono, arguably the world’s the (generally white) adoptive parents. Otherwise, we hear from the adopted child top sushi chef. Like Michel, aging Jiro has reduced his daily responsibililong after he or she matures into adulthood. Knowlton herself was inspired to make ties — if only due to physical limitations — but has had difficulty com“Somewhere Between” after she and her husband adopted a 7-year-old Chinese girl pletely letting go for the inevitable takeover by his fully competent son. named Ruby. Both films focus on the master chef’s intense dedication to the very The four girls featured in the film were all adopted as the result of China’s strict best cuisine possible by demanding that every detail is perfected. They Photo: Linda Goldstein Knowlton “one-child” policy, which has inadvertently led to hundreds of thousands of babies have substantive, enlightening interviews but eschew the constant talking heads often plaguing documentaries. Dubbed food porn, many capti- Haley Butler, 13, treks to Anhui Province being discarded. And in a traditional society that strongly favors males, the babies vating scenes — largely silent — beautifully illustrate the physical and in China to find her biological parents in given up to orphanages tend to be mostly female — in fact, 175,000 children, mostly girls, were adopted by foreign parents in 26 countries, including 80,000 children intellectual processes behind the creation of culinary masterpieces that “Somewhere Between.” adopted into American families. double as aesthetic works of art. But “Somewhere Between” is something different than a straight commentary Somewhere Between on China’s population-control measures. It focuses more on how these girls ‘Sister’: You Can’t Pick Family come of age in today’s America as trans-racial adoptees. (English; 88 min.) Indeed, it’s unusual to hear young adopted girls, especially of color, speaking A recent article in the New York Times poured praise on 14-yearLandmark’s E Street Cinema about their own lives. The four teenage protagonists in “Somewhere Between” old Kacey Mottet Klein, looking even younger, for his standout porOpens Fri., Oct. 12 grew up immersed with American cultural icons like “Sesame Street” and are trayal of 12-year-old Simon in “Sister,” French-Swiss director Ursula called “bananas” — Chinese on the outside and white on the inside — by others Meier’s sophomore sensation. Klein was already a budding star after ★★★✩✩ as well as by themselves. But the joke doesn’t seem so funny as they become playing Lucien Ginsburg in 2010’s “Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life.” Here, he plays a young boy who has to support his perpetually dysfunctional older sister Louise adolescents who question their identity, leading each on different journeys (though they all wind (Léa Seydoux).The siblings are on their own, residing in a shabby apartment complex in an impov- their way back to China) to reconcile with their roots. erished, blue-collar town at the base of the Swiss Alps, a stark contrast with the fancy ski resort above them. Louise can’t keep a job very long, snoozes in bed all day, and prowls bars at night Ky N. Nguyen is the film reviewer for The Washington Diplomat.

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The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

[ film interview ]

Myanmar Question Mark ‘Lifting the Curtain’ Gives Voice to People of Burma, Including Aung San Suu Kyi by Ky N. Nguyen

tion, reveals a country that’s both beautiful yet beaten down by decades of repression. Lieberman, who’s also a senior physics lecturer at Cornell University and a novelist, merican filmmaker Robert H. Lieber spoke with The Washington Diplomat about man’s intriguing documentary, “They his time in the country, where he secretly Call It Myanmar: Lifting the Curtain,” shot more than 120 hours of film and interpaints a rarely seen portrait of viewed over 100 Burmese, including Suu modern-day Burma (renamed Kyi, whose house arrest ended shortly after Myanmar by its authoritarian govher interview. ernment), a country that is anyThe director said he was constantly thing but modern. dodging the authorities during his shoeLieberman shot the film clandestinely string filming.“Some woman passed me by, over two years, offering a rare glimpse inside tapped me three times on the shoulder, and the second-most isolated nation in the world then disappeared. I knew, oh boy, I’m in (the hermit kingdom of North Korea takes trouble. I quickly packed everything and top honors as the most closed-off nation). took off,” he recalled. “I had a young film Lieberman in fact says he would like to director who was with me in downtown. I make his next film about North Korea. That left him somewhere else. I didn’t want him wish may seem quixotic, but who would with me while I was filming. I sort of cirhave imagined just a few years ago that he’d cled around and picked him up. You’re not be able to collect hours and hours of such allowed to film. And you’re not allowed to remarkable footage of life inside Burma. film, of course, anything army, police, or For that matter, who would have ever Photo: Robert H. Lieberman/ PhotoSynthesis Productions anything like that.” imagined that after nearly 50 years of ironLieberman was already familiar with the fisted military rule that plunged the once- Democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, left, spoke with American filmmaker Robert H. pariah country, having visited Burma multiflourishing Southeast Asian nation into Lieberman for his documentary “They Call It Myanmar: Lifting the Curtain.” ple times over the years — the first time as abject poverty, the military junta would begin a political opening that in the course of a year would lead to an unprecedented a Fulbright specialist working at the U.S. Embassy. In an interesting parallel, the professor also lived in Eastern Europe just as communism thaw in U.S.-Burmese relations. Equally unimaginable is the fact that Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader of Burma’s opposition, now a free woman, is participat- was crumbling.“I had a Fulbright in the former Czechoslovakia when the [Berlin] Wall fell,” he said.“The level of fear in Burma was multiples that of Eastern Europe. People are really ing in the very government that put her under house arrest for 15 years. Last month, Suu Kyi, one of the subjects in “They Call It Myanmar,” made her long- afraid. If you get onto the radar, if the regime locked on you, they throw you in prison. awaited first official visit to the United States, where she was lavished with a Congressional Prison there is no joke — broken people, disease….They put you in solitary confinement. Gold Medal, met with President Obama, and called for U.S. sanctions to be eased in light One guy, a translator I had here in the States, he told me they placed him in a concrete tube and closed the end. He couldn’t stand up and couldn’t stretch out. How long would of the country’s recent progress. To coincide with her highly publicized visit in mid-September, Robert H. Lieberman you last? I wouldn’t last three minutes.” came to the Washington area to host screenings at the American Film Institute (AFI) Silver Theatre of his documentary — which, despite the recent moves toward political liberalizaSee film interview, page 63

Repertory Notes

by Washington Diplomat film reviewer Ky N. Nguyen

Japanese benshi (silent film narrator) Ichiro Kataoka provides a rare live narration performance for Japanese master director Yasujiro Ozu’s comedy “I Was Born, But…” (Sun., Oct. 21, 2 p.m.). The “First China Onscreen Biennial” opens with “Beijing Flickers” (Fri., Oct. 26, 7 p.m.), the latest from Sixth Generation director Zhang Yuan (“Beijing Bastards”), based on Zhang’s hundreds of interviews with Chinese “lost-generation” twenty-somethings to prep for his photography exhibition “Unspoiled Brats.”

Medium Magazine named her one of the top 30 journalists under the age of 30 in 2011. The “Rediscovering Berlin” program includes the series “Berlin: City of Reinvention” (through Nov. 5), presenting the films “Latest from the Da-Da-R (Letztes aus der DaDaeR)” (Mon., Oct. 22, 6:30 p.m.) and “Berlin Today: The Wall and After” (Wed., Oct. 24, 6 p.m.). The series theme is tied to D.C. with the program “Washington Selections: Our City Film Festival,” which includes “Community Harvest” and “Chocolate City” (Mon., Oct. 15, 6:30 p.m.). “Rediscovering Berlin” also includes German auteur Wim Wenders’s beloved “Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin)” (Sat., Oct. 27, 6:30 p.m.) and the doc “Rimini Protokoll: Soil Sample Kazakhstan (Bodenprobe Kasachstan)” (Mon., Oct. 29, 6:30 p.m.).

(202) 357-2700, www.asia.si.edu/events/films.asp

(202) 289-1200, www.goethe.de/ins/us/was/kue/flm/enindex.htm

Goethe-Institut

American Film Institute (AFI) Silver Theatre

In the film and discussion program “Our Shared Future: Islamic Culture in Germany” (Mon., Oct. 1, 6:30 p.m.), Kübra Gümüsay, a noted German writer of Turkish descent now based in Oxford, presents a topical film of her choice before a talk with the audience.

“The Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival” (Oct.10-18) showcases selections from around the globe: British director Susan Jacobson’s “The Holding” (Thu., Oct. 11, 5 p.m.); the British anthology “Nazi Zombie Death Tales” (Thu., Oct. 11, 10 p.m.); Polish film-

Please see International Film Clips on the next page for detailed listings available at press time.

Freer Gallery of Art

October 2012

maker Michal Kosakowski presenting his German-Austrian doc “Zero Killed” (Fri., Oct. 12, midnight); Canadian director-producer Casey Walker’s “A Little Bit Zombie” (Sat., Oct. 13, 7:15 p.m.); Canadian director-writer Steven Kostanski’s “Manborg” (Sat., Oct. 13, 11:45 p.m.); Brazilian filmmaker Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro’s “Beyond the Grave” (Mon., Oct. 15, 7 p.m.); Canadian filmmaker Donna Davies’s “Beyond the Grave” (Tue., Oct. 16, 7 p.m.); Georgian filmmaker Levan Bakhia discussing “247 Degrees Fahrenheit” (Wed., Oct. 17, 7 p.m.); Taiwanese helmer Joe Chien’s “Zombie 108” (Wed., Oct. 17, 9:30 p.m.); the U.S. premiere of Brazilian director-writer Paulo Biscaia Filho’s “Nervo Craniano Zero” (Thu., Oct. 18, 7 p.m.); and Australian director-writer Paul China’s “Crawl” (Thu., Oct. 18, 9:30 p.m.). The always popular “AFI Latin American Film Festival 2012” continues through Oct. 10, showcasing leading new Latin American films curated by cultural officers stationed in D.C. embassies. “Opera & Ballet in Cinema” presents the Bolshoi Ballet in “La Sylphide” (Sat., Oct. 13, 10:30 a.m.; Mon., Oct. 15, 7 p.m.) and Teatro Comunale di Bologna in “L’Italiana in Algeri” (Sun., Oct. 14, 10 a.m.). (301) 495-6700, www.afi.com/silver

The Washington Diplomat Page 61

[ film ]

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

Arabic The Source (La source des femmes) Directed by Radu Mihaileanu (Belgium/Italy/France, 2011, 135 min.)

The women of a patriarchal North African village threaten to withhold sex if their men refuse to fetch water from a remote well (opening night film of the 2012 Arabian Sights Film Festiva). Embassy of France Thu., Oct. 25

Czech

How to Survive a Plague Directed by David France (U.S., 2012, 109 min.)

Faced with their own mortality, an improbable group of mostly HIV-positive young men and women broke the mold as radical warriors taking on Washington and the medical establishment. Landmark’s E Street Cinema

A Little Bit Zombie Directed by Casey Walker (Canada, 2012, 87 min.)

Infected by a virus during his bachelor party, a mild-mannered HR manager attempts to fulfill his overwhelming desire for brains and avoid the obsessed zombie hunter hot on his trail. AFI Silver Theatre Sat., Oct. 13, 7:15 p.m.

Katka Directed by Helena Trestíková (Czech Republic, 2010, 90 min.)

For 14 years, documentary director Helena Treštíková followed her subjects Katka, Lada and Jana through their world of drugs, prison, love and responsibility on the streets of Prague. The Avalon Theatre Wed., Oct. 10, 8 p.m.

Nazi Zombie Death Tales Directed by Jim Eaves, Pat Higgins, Alan Ronald (U.K., 2012, 98 min.)

Sex! Zombies! War! From the insane creators of the blood-soaked “Bordello Death Tales” comes this terrifying anthology set against the backdrop of World War II. AFI Silver Theatre Thu., Oct. 11, 10 p.m.

English 247 Degrees Fahrenheit Directed by Levan Bakhia (Georgia, 2011, 87 min.)

Four friends plan to spend their weekend having fun at the cabin of Uncle Wade, and as one might expect when a group of twenty-somethings goes to a cabin in the woods together, things take a turn for the worse. AFI Silver Theatre Wed., Oct. 17, 7 p.m.

Crawl Directed by Paul China (Australia, 2011, 80 min.)

A seedy bar owner hires a mysterious Croatian to murder an acquaintance over an unpaid debt, but a planned doublecrossing backfires and an innocent waitress suddenly becomes involved. AFI Silver Theatre Thu., Oct. 18. 9:30 p.m.

A Day with Tortoise (Un día con Tortoise) Directed by Sergio Castro San Martín (Chile/U.S., 2011, 60 min.)

Chicago post-rock pioneers Tortoise reflect on their career and musical influences in this cinematic rock doc. (Spanish subtitles) AFI Silver Theatre Sat., Oct. 6, 11:30 p.m., Mon., Oct. 8, 9:30 p.m.

released into Taipei and all hell breaks loose.

Spanish

Chicken with Plums (Poulet aux prunes)

AFI Silver Theatre Wed., Oct. 17, 9:30 p.m.

Las Acacias

Directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud (France/Germany/Belgium, 2011, 91 min.)

Portuguese

After his beloved violin breaks, Nasser Ali Khan, one of the most renowned musicians of his day, loses all taste for life and confines himself to bed to await death.

Directed by Burt Sun, Andre Costantini (Brazil, 2012, 95 min.)

A truck driver and his passenger, who’s moving to the city to start a new life with her 5-month-old daughter, engage in an extended conversation on a road trip from rural Paraguay to Buenos Aires.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Sister (L’enfant d’en haut) A young boy supports his wayward sister with petty-thieving at a post Swiss ski resort.

Beyond the Grave (Portos Dos Mortos)

The Avalon Theatre Wed., Oct. 17, 8.p.m. West End Cinema Angelika Mosaic Opens Fri., Oct. 19

Step up to the Plate Directed by Paul Lacoste (France, 2012, 90 min.)

Tradition, creativity and one of the most important transitions in the food world takes place as renowned French chef prepares to hand over the reigns of his culinary empire to his son Sébastien.

Greek Homeland (Hora proelefsis) Directed by Syllas Tzoumerkas (Greece, 2010, 105 min.)

AFI Silver Theatre Tue., Oct. 16, 7 p.m.

In a country shaken by major political events, three generations of a Greek family clash over an inside-the-family adoption.

The Other Dream Team

The Avalon Theatre Wed., Oct. 3, 8 p.m.

Directed by Marius A. Markevicius (U.S., 2012, 91 min.)

Japanese

Landmark’s E Street Cinema Opens Fri., Oct. 5

Somewhere Between Directed by Linda Goldstein Knowlton (U.S., 2012, 88 min.)

“Somewhere Between” tells the intimate stories of four Chinese girls given to orphanages and eventually adopted by American families. Landmark’s E Street Cinema Opens Fri., Oct. 12

Zero Killed

Directed by Susan Jacobson (U.K., 2011, 89 min.)

Directed by Michal Kosakowski (Germany/Austria, 2012, 81 min.)

Cassie Naylor killed her husband to protect her daughters from him. When a charming drifter shows up eight months later, Cassie’s terrible secret comes back to haunt her in the most horrifying way.

Between 1996 and 2007, Polish filmmaker Michal Kosakowski asked more than 160 people to act out their murder fantasies on camera. “Zero Killed” includes excerpts from the videos and follow-up interviews with participants.

AFI Silver Theatre Thu., Oct. 11. 5 p.m.

AFI Silver Theatre Fri., Oct. 12, midnight

Known as “the People’s Picasso,” Brazil’s manic multimedia artist Bel Borba has plastered his hometown streets of Salvador de Bahia with colorful folk art for the past 35 years.

Directed by Ursula Meier (France/Switzerland, 2012, 97 min.)

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

This is the true story of the 1992 Lithuanian Olympic basketball team, a group of trailblazing athletes who won the bronze at the Barcelona Olympics and left an indelible mark on history as symbols of democracy.

Bel Borba Aqui

AFI Silver Theatre Mon., Oct. 8, 9:15 p.m.

Directed by Donna Davies (Canada, 2011, 93 min.)

This documentary explores the fascinating, high-stakes world of special FX makeup and creature design through the eyes of one of the industry’s key players, Greg Nicotero.

October 2012

French

Nightmare Factory

The Holding

Page 62

THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT

Mrs. Judo: Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful

Directed by Yuriko Gamo Romer (U.S., 2012, 66 min.) Throwing thousands of years of tradition to the wind, Keiko Fukuda chose to follow her own destiny and become the highestranking woman in judo. Freer Gallery of Art Fri., Oct. 5, 7 p.m.

Mandarin Beijing Flickers Directed by Zhang Yuan (China, 2012, 93 min.)

Directed by Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro (Brazil, 2010, 87 min.)

In a devastated post-apocalyptic world where the rules of reality are transformed by magic and madness, a vengeful police officer searched for a possessed serial killer (Portuguese, Japanese and Guarani). AFI Silver Theatre Mon., Oct. 15, 7 p.m.

Father’s Chair (A cadeira do pai) Directed by Luciano Moura (Brazil, 2012, 93 min.)

When his 15-year-old son disappears, having sold all of his belongings and left town on a newly acquired black stallion, a successful São Paolo doctor goes to great lengths not only to find his son, but to rediscover himself. AFI Silver Theatre Fri., Oct. 5, 9:30 p.m., Mon., Oct. 8, 7:10 p.m.

Heleno Directed by José Henrique Fonseca (Brazil, 2011, 107 min.)

Legendary 1940s Brazilian soccer star Heleno de Freitas dreamed of bringing home a World Cup for Brazil. But World War II cancelled two tournaments, and his declining health dashed his hopes in the postwar years. AFI Silver Theatre Thu., Oct. 4, 5 p.m.

Nervo Craniano Zero Directed by Paulo Biscaia Filho (Brazil, 2012, 88 min.)

Author Bruna Bloch fears failure and enlists the services of a doctor who’s invented a chip that, once installed in a brain nerve, causes nonstop creativity — and eventually nonstop terror. AFI Silver Theatre Thu., Oct. 18, 7 p.m.

“Beijing Flickers” captures the vulnerability, energy, and romanticism of the new “lost generation” bypassed by China’s entry into the globalized / market economy.

Silent

Freer Gallery of Art Fri., Oct. 26, 7 p.m.

In search of the elusive current of interconnection that runs through our lives, this documentary, filmed over five years in 25 countries on five continents, transports viewers to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes and natural wonders.

Zombie 108 Directed by Joe Chien (Taiwan, 2012, 88 min.)

After a catastrophic accident at a topsecret research lab, a deadly virus is

Samsara Directed by Ron Fricke (U.S., 2011, 99 min.)

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Directed by Pablo Giorgelli (Argentina/Spain, 2011, 82 min.)

AFI Silver Theatre Sat., Oct. 6, 11:05 a.m., Tue., Oct. 9, 5:05 a.m.

Anna’s Struggle (La lucha de ana) Directed by Bladimir Abud (Dominican Republic/Mexico, 2011, 90 min.)

Anna ekes out a living selling flowers at the local market to care for her only son. But when he gets caught up in a drug deal gone wrong, Anna takes on a corrupt judicial system and an apathetic society to bring her son’s murderer to justice. AFI Silver Theatre Fri., Oct. 5, 9:45 p.m., Sun., Oct. 7, 9 p.m.

Beauty (Nosilatiaj. La belleza) Directed by Daniela Seggiaro (Argentina., 2012, 83 min.)

The demanding family that employs a silently suffering maid in Argentina’s Wichí community insist she get a makeover, forcing her to cut off her flowing black hair — the pride of Wichí women (Spanish and Wichí Lhamtés Vejoz). AFI Silver Theatre Mon., Oct. 1, 7:20 p.m.

Calvet Directed by Dominic Allan (Nicaragua/Costa Rica/U.S./U.K./France, 2011, 86 min.)

Now a successful artist who’s happily married in Nicaragua, Jean Marc Calvet, a former street hustler in Nice, is haunted by guilt and the memory of the wife and son he left behind in France (Spanish, French and English). AFI Silver Theatre Mon., Oct. 1, 5:30 p.m.

La Casa del Ritmo: A Film About Los Amigos Invisibles Directed by Javier Andrade (Ecuador, 2012, 98 min.)

This is the story of how five friends from Caracas came together and caught their big break to become Venezuela’s innovative, chart-topping acid jazz/disco-funk combo (Spanish and English). AFI Silver Theatre Sat. Oct. 6, 9:30 p.m., Sun., Oct. 7, 9:30 p.m.

Check Mate (Jaque Mate) Directed by José María Cabral (Dominican Republic, 2012, 80 min.)

Popular game show host David Hernandez seems to have it all, until a deranged caller informs the host and television audience that he is holding David’s family hostage, making them the stars in a demented reality show. AFI Silver Theatre Fri., Oct. 5, 11:30 p.m., Tue., Oct. 9, 9:40 p.m.

The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

Chocó Directed by Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza (Colombia, 2011, 80 min.)

In an impoverished Afro-Colombian village, Chocó ekes out a meager existence for herself and two children, no thanks to her drunk gambler husband — until one day Chocó decides to put an end to the deprivations her husband visits upon her. AFI Silver Theatre Wed., Oct. 3, 5 p.m.

Clandestine Childhood (Infancia clandestine) Directed by Benjamín Ávila (Argentina/Spain/Brazil, 2012, 108 min.)

During the Argentine junta of the late 1970s, 12-year-old Juan goes through the typical ups and downs of adolescence but lives under an assumed name, because his parents are undercover insurgents. AFI Silver Theatre Fri., Oct. 5, 7:15 p.m., Sat., Oct. 6, 3 p.m.

Collesieum: The Champions (Coliseo: Los Campeones) Directed by Alejandro Rossi (Peru/Cuba, 2011, 92 min.)

his daughter 20 years ago, when she was kidnapped during the Guatemalan civil war, but he always held out hope, keeping a diary of his years of adversity and survival to one day share with her (Spanish and Maya dialects). AFI Silver Theatre Sun., Oct. 7, 12:30 p.m., Wed., Oct. 10, 6:15 p.m.

The Fantastic World of Juan Orol (El fantástico mundo de Juan Orol) Directed by Sebastián del Amo (Mexico, 2011, 90 min.)

A clever camp homage to B-movie schlock Juan Orol, this film playfully explores the Mexican filmmaker’s cult legacy. AFI Silver Theatre Tue., Oct. 2, 9:30 p.m., Thu., Oct. 4. 9:30 p.m.

Here and There (Aquí y allá) Directed by Antonio Méndez Esparza (Spain/U.S./Mexico, 2012, 110 min.)

After years of working odd jobs in the U.S., Pedro returns home to his mountain village in Mexico, where he is a stranger in his own home.

His parent’s Lima tent show threatened with closure, a strong-willed young dance impresario makes a bid to save the business by entering the national Huaylarsh dance pageant.

AFI Silver Theatre Thu., Oct. 4, 7:10 p.m.

AFI Silver Theatre Fri., Oct. 5, 5:15 p.m., Sat., Oct. 6, 11:10 a.m.

Directed by Alejandro Brugués (Cuba/Spain, 2011, 94 min.)

The Delay (La Demora) Directed by Rodrigo Plá (Uruguay/Mexico/France, 2012, 94 min.)

A hard-working single mom who barely has a moment to herself between work, children and her senile 80-year-old father makes a desperate move to remedy her increasingly untenable position. AFI Silver Theatre Sun., Oct. 7, 7 p.m., Tue., Oct. 9, 9:30 p.m.

Distance (Distancia) Directed by Sergio Ramírez (Guatemala, 2011, 75 min.)

Based on a true story, Tomás Choc last saw

from page 61

Film Interview Lieberman says he doesn’t know how government officials have reacted to his film, but that he plans to go back for another visit later this winter. “Unless I get funding, I’m not going to make a new movie. I could do a follow-up, but I don’t think things have changed as dramatically as the news media portrays them,” Lieberman says, pointing out that even though Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won nearly every parliamentary seat that was open in a by-election last April, the military still dominates the legislature — by design. “There was a constitutional vote, a so-called vote, but it was really a rigged election in which the new constitution was approved. This was before Suu Kyi was released. As a result, 25 percent of the [parliamentary] seats are held by the military. You can’t do any constitu-

Juan of the Dead (Juan de los muertos) After a zombie plague breaks out in Havana, lazybones Juan becomes an entrepreneur, starting a zombie disposal business that mercifully (though not gently) puts your loved ones out of their walkingdead misery. AFI Silver Theatre Fri., Oct. 5, 11:45 p.m., Sat., Oct. 6, 11:45 p.m.

As Luck Would Have It (La chispa de la vida)

Mon., Oct. 1, 9:30 p.m., Wed., Oct. 3, 9:40 p.m.

October Film Events 13th Annual DC Asian Pacific American (DC APA) Film Festival For its 13th edition, DC APA (Oct. 4-7) offers a compressed four-day schedule, so don’t dawdle! The opening night film at Landmark’s E Street Cinema, “Mr. Cao Goes to Washington” (Thu., Oct. 4, 7.p.m.), will boast attendance by filmmaker Leo Chiang and his subject, former Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La.), the first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress and the only Republican who voted for Obama’s healthcare plan. The documentary “Mrs. Judo: Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful” (Fri., Oct. 5, 7 p.m.) screens at the Freer Gallery of Art. At the U.S. Navy Memorial, the closing night film features are “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey” (Sat., Oct. 6, 6 p.m.) — Ramona S. Diaz’s documentary about the super band Journey’s unlikely Filipino lead singer — and the DC APA Best Narrative winner, Daniel Hsia’s “Shanghai Calling”

The Return

(Sat., Oct. 6, 8 p.m.). The GoetheInstitut has an array of screenings Oct. 5 to Oct. 7. Most features are accompanied by shorts; the Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening programs are followed by receptions. www.dcapafilm.org

Family-Friendly Fairy Tale Films Partnering with the Goethe-Institut, the Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital honors the 200th anniversary of the 1812 publication of “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” with the series “FamilyFriendly Fairy Tale Films” (Sept. 30-Dec. 9). On 10 Sundays at 2 p.m., 10 new fairytale adaptations, with each one-hour-long film originally produced for German public television (ARD), will play at the Hill Center in German with English subtitles.. (202) 289-1200, www.goethe.de/ins/ us/was/ver/en9806937v.htm — Ky N. Nguyen

the money follow?

(Argentina, 2011, 99 min.)

AFI Silver Theatre Tue., Oct. 9, 7:15 p.m.

Memories of a lazy summer, first love and awakened desires come flooding back when Bruno, Lisa and Lalo meet for the first time in 30 years.

El Medico: The Cubaton Story Directed by Daniel Fridell (Cuba/Sweden, 2011, 85 min.)

Communism and capitalism clash in this multifaceted musical documentary, as a Cuban doctor who raps as El Medico and his European music producer fight over the way to the top of the Cubaton music scene (Spanish, English and Swedish).

AFI Silver Theatre Tue., Oct. 2, 7:30 p.m.

Pacha Directed by Héctor Ferreiro (Bolivia/Mexico, 2011, 88 min.)

A one-time advertising wunderkind is now desperate for a job. Things get worse when he stumbles over a guardrail at Cartagena’s excavated Roman amphitheater, impaling himself on an iron rod. The media swarms to cover his plight, but will

AFI Silver Theatre Thu., Oct. 4, 9:45 p.m.

(Un amor)

A La Paz shoeshine boy gets caught up in a demonstration by indigenous people over land rights and oil drilling and is led to safety by a mysterious woman, who takes him to a dream world version of Bolivia high in the Andes (Spanish and Aymara).

Directed by Paula Hernández

AFI Silver Theatre

tional changes. She won only 7 percent of the seats,” he said, noting that the byelection set for 2015 will be an even bigger test of the government’s commitment to reform. “I worry about [Suu Kyi] being coopted.The only leverage she has now is sort of U.S. aid — that could be turned off or turned on,” Lieberman said. “Suu Kyi talks of herself as a politician. Friends of mine suggest that she should not have gone into politics, that she should have been a moral force like Bishop Tutu or Gandhi because once you get into politics, you’re negotiating, you’re wheeling and dealing, and you’re compromising.The question is, was that a smart move? I don’t know; I can’t answer that.” But the director does harbor a more cynical take on the recent rapprochement between the United States and Burma, whose economic lifeline, in the wake of Western sanctions, had long been China. “Are you aware of the forces that have been driving this? One is geopo-

litical.The West is interested — and the United States — in counterbalancing China, which has been a main trading partner of Burma,” he said. “The West has been dying to do business there — gas reserves, oil, minerals, timber, agricultural lands.” He also takes a hard view of the government despite its recent overtures. “They want to send their kids to Cornell or wherever. They want to be able to travel free. All these persons in the military took off their uniforms and put on suits. Some of the big tycoons, or cronies, are trying to cast themselves as philanthropists. “What’s going to really change?” Lieberman wondered.“Right now, nothing on the ground. People are just as poor, if not poorer.… The question really is, what’s going to happen to the average Burmese? Is this going to turn into a democracy? That’s a big, big question mark. How much is [Suu Kyi] going to have to compromise? What are the political realities? Anybody who tells you they know the answer is lying. It’s

a mystery,” mused Lieberman. The filmmaker has observed concrete changes, however — some as simple as being able to openly hang pictures of Suu Kyi and her revered father, General Aung San. “The fear level is lower. People were really scared, and they hated the government. So the Burmese are somewhat optimistic now, but they feel like a friend of mine says, ‘It’s all moving at a snail’s pace.’ That’s his assessment. I think expectations were enormously high when she was released, but now the reality is setting in, or whatever the reality is.” Asked what he would view as more palpable change, Lieberman touched on some of the deep-seated problems that have yet to be addressed.“The educational system has been wrecked. The poverty is horrendous, which you can see. Child labor is a major problem,” he said. “The whole social structure has been decaying and rotting for half a century — 50 years of decay.The country is going to have to be built up. It’s

Directed by Álex de la Iglesia (Spain/France/U.S., 2011, 95 min.)

One Love

October 2012

(El regreso)

Directed by Hernan Jimenez (Costa Rica, 2011, 95 min.)

After a decade in New York, Antonio begrudgingly returns to his family home in Costa Rica, where he finds his father’s health in decline and his sister a struggling single mother. But a chance encounter with an old childhood friend might give him a reason to stick around. AFI Silver Theatre Sun., Oct. 7, 11:05 a.m., Mon, Oct. 8, 5:15 p.m.

A Secret World (Un mundo secreto) Directed by Gabriel Mariño (Mexico, 2012, 87 min.)

Troubled Mexico City teen Maria is a lone wolf whose oddly placid demeanor — including passively consenting to sex with seemingly anyone who asks — conceals a roiling emotional interior. AFI Silver Theatre Sat., Oct. 6, 7:30 p.m., Sun., Oct. 7, 5 p.m.

La Sirga Directed by William Vega (Colombia/France/Mexico, 2012, 88 min.)

Alicia arrives at her aunt and uncle’s ramshackle inn, La Sirga, by a lake high in the Colombian Andes, and by day assists the couple in fixing up the inn, while by night, she sleepwalks. AFI Silver Theatre Wed., Oct. 3, 9:30 p.m., Sat., Oct. 6, 1 p.m.

Violeta Went to Heaven (Violeta se fue a los cielos) Directed by Andrés Wood (Chile/Argentina/Brazil/Spain, 2012, 110 min.)

This biopic of the influential folksinger and political activist Violeta Parra features an electrifying, charismatic performance by Francisca Gavilán (Spanish and French). AFI Silver Theatre Sat., Oct. 6, 5:15 p.m., Sun., Oct. 7, 2:45 p.m.

not going to change overnight.This is a decade’s of work. “This is years of having to rebuild a country that’s been destroyed. It’s been isolated from the rest of the world for 50 years. I think you have to start with education and deal with the poverty and disease.” Though intimately familiar with Burma’s problems and politics, Lieberman, whose novels have dealt with social themes such as climate change, insists that his film was not intended to send a political message. “We don’t hit people over the head with a message. It’s a novelist’s eye view of the country,” he explained.“I want to take you on a trip. I want to show you this country. I want to show you the good, the bad, the ugly, everything. But I want you, the viewer, to start asking questions. How did it get like this? I want you sufficiently curious that you want to learn more.” Ky N. Nguyen is the film reviewer for The Washington Diplomat.

The Washington Diplomat Page 63

[ around town ]

EVENTS LISTING **Admission is free unless otherwise noted. All information on event venues can be found on The 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 Wed., Oct. 3, 7 p.m.

Rendez-vous in the Gardens

The D.C. opening of the traveling exhibit “Photographing Gardens, 1851 to 1987” (on its way to the French Embassy in Berlin) presents a selection of 50 photographs from 1851 to 1987 from the collections of the Médiatheque de l’Architecture et du Patri moine (architecture and heritage media center). La Maison Française

Oct. 4 to Nov. 13

Evalds Dajevskis: Place, Art and Identity

This retrospective of Evalds Dajevskis — encompassing works painted between 1938 and 1989 in Latvia, Germany and the U.S. — explores the Latvian artist’s roots in the tra ditions of the ancient Baltic peoples, the 20th-century Latvian experience of dis placed persons in both Europe and the United States, as well as Dajevskis’s film and theater career as a scenic artist on Broadway. For a schedule of exhibition hours, visit www.latvia-usa.org/exevdapartan.html.

human destruction of the natural world. The Phillips Collection Through Oct. 14

Elegance and Refinement: The Still-Life Paintings of Willem van Aeist

Few artists were more skilled than Dutch still-life artist Willem van Aelst (1627–83) at depicting luscious fruits, luxurious fabrics, and spoils of the hunt — 28 examples of which are featured in this first exhibit devoted solely to the artist. National Gallery of Art Oct. 14 to Jan. 13

Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective

In the first major exhibition since Roy Lichtenstein’s death in 1997, more than 100 of the artist’s greatest paintings from all periods of his career will be presented along with a selection of related drawings and sculptures. National Gallery of Art Through Oct. 21

Occupy This!

“Occupy This!” combines art, photojournal ism, historic documents and films to con sider — in a broad, historic context — the causes, activities and representation of the Occupy Movement, which celebrates its one-year anniversary on Sept. 17, 2012. American University Katzen Arts Center

Embassy of Latvia

Oct. 25 to Jan. 13

Through Oct. 6

Ripple Effect: Currents of Social Engaged Art

New Works by Michael Platt and Stan Squirewell

Michael Platt combines elements of Australian and Aboriginal cultures with his signature techniques of using digital images, conventional photography, drawing and printmaking to explore the human condition, while Stan Squirewell creates a visual vocabulary that blends ancient forms and spiritual symbols influenced by the African Diaspora with contemporary technology. International Visions Gallery Oct. 6 to Jan. 6

Per Kirkeby: Paintings and Sculpture

One of Europe’s most celebrated living art ists, Per Kirkeby is a Danish painter, sculptor, geologist, filmmaker, writer and poet. In the most comprehensive display of his work in the U.S. to date, 26 richly layered paintings and 11 striking bronze models reveal Kirkeby’s belief that art, like science, is constantly in flux. The Phillips Collection Oct. 7 to February 2013

Ai Weiwei: According to What?

This major survey of Ai Weiwei, one of China’s most prolific and provocative artists, aims to reveal the rich and varied contexts that he has interwoven within the broad spectrum of his work, from sculpture, pho tography and video to site-specific archi tectural installations. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Oct. 11 to Jan. 13

Picturing the Sublime: Photographs from the Joseph and Charlotte Lichtenberg Collection Eleven photographs document how artists use the camera to capture the sublime beauty and

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In this collaborative project, artists instigate conversations on broad themes such as en vironmentalism, social justice and immigra tion, while providing poetic and often concrete solutions, exploring specific social issues as the environmental blight of illegal dumping, the social stratification of D.C., and the ongo ing struggle against violence in Mexico. OAS Art Museum of the Americas Oct. 25 to March 16

Words Like Sapphires: 100 Years of Hebraica at the Library of Congress A century ago, New York philanthropist Jacob H. Schiff purchased an initial collec tion of nearly 10,000 Hebrew books and pamphlets for the Library of Congress. This gift formed the nucleus of what is today one of the world’s greatest collections of Hebraic materials, comprising some 200,000 items. Library of Congress Through Oct. 28

Charlotte Dumas: Anima

Dutch-born artist Charlotte Dumas travels the world making evocative portraits of ani mals, characterized by their utility, social function or by the way they relate to people. “Anima,” her first one-person museum exhibition in the U.S., centers on the majes tic burial horses of Arlington National Cemetery that carry soldiers to their final resting place in traditional military funerals. Corcoran Gallery of Art Through Oct. 31

The Big Picture: A Photography Exhibition in Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the IDB Cultural Center

Comprising 44 striking images from the Inter-American Development Bank’s per manent collection, as well as pieces previ

THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT

October 2012

ously shown at other art events held by the D.C.-based international finance institution, “The Big Picture” highlights the cultural wealth and diversity of the Latin America and the Caribbean, as seen through the lens of 22 leading contemporary photographers from 13 countries.

form mundane materials into extraordinary experiences of art, presents a new body of work in response to architect Philip Johnson’s celebrated design for the Kreeger home as a space for art and musical performance.

Dulles International Airport Gateway Gallery

Through Dec. 30

Through Nov. 2

Prêt-à-Papier: The Exquisite Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave

Parks and Passages: Art and Public Space in Berlin and Washington This summer, Provisions Library sent a team of D.C.-based artists and researchers to Berlin to study urban transformation in repurposed places to spark ideas for the redevelopment of Dupont Underground, an abandoned streetcar tunnel beneath D.C.’s Dupont Circle. Goethe-Institut Through Nov. 4

Argentine Fall Salon 2012

This annual salon features cutting-edge artists from Argentina, with this year’s roster spotlighting Delia Cordone, Analía Jaimovich, Carla Nano, Ana Rendich and Marcela Siniego, among others.

The Kreeger Museum

A selection of iconic costumes and haute couture dresses — reflecting the rich histo ry of fashion in European paintings and designs of the grand couturiers — are rein terpreted in trompe l’oeil paper masterpiec es by Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave. Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens Through Jan. 6

Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power

Organized by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the exhibition highlights the flashpoints, the firsts, the celebrated, and the lesser-known women who have influenced the genre from its inception through today.

Oct. 4 to 5

Voices of Strength

Celebrating the diversity and talent of con temporary African choreographers, Voices of Strength is a moving mixed repertory pro gram that explore race, culture and gender. Tickets are $45. Kennedy Center Terrace Theater Oct. 5 to 7

Royal Drummers and Dancers of Burundi

From a tiny country in Central Africa comes one of the most gifted and celebrated per cussion ensembles in the world — whose performances are based on ancient sacred traditions yet resonant with contemporary beats. Tickets are $23 to $46. George Mason University Center for the Arts (Oct. 5-6) Hylton Performing Arts Center (Oct. 7) Oct. 16 to 21

Mariinsky Ballet

Embassy of Argentina

Through Jan. 27

St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Ballet, boasting an artistic legacy that spans more than 200 years, returns with Alexei Ratmansky’s stunningly rendered “Cinderella.” Tickets are $29 to $150.

Through Nov. 9

Shock of the News

Kennedy Center Opera House

BALGO: Contemporary Australian Art from the Balgo Hills

A riot of color and energy, “BALGO” explores the stories, lives and history of the Kukatja speakers in the small western Australian community of Balgo Hills, whose artists are renowned for their vivid palettes that blend the spiritual with the political, and the abstract with representations of landscapes.

National Museum of Women in the Arts

This exhibit traces how visual artists in Europe and America after the turn of the 20th century began to think about the newspaper more broadly — as a means of political critique, as a collection of readymade news to appropriate or manipulate, a source of language and images, a typo graphical grab bag, and more. National Gallery of Art

Embassy of Australia

Through Feb. 3

Through Nov. 16

Citizens of the Republic: Portraits from the Dutch Golden Age

Once Upon a Time in Almería

During the 1960s and 1970s, the region of Almeria, Spain, was host to dozens of film makers who constructed elaborate movie sets, invoking locations from the American Southwest to Bedouin Arabia for films such as “Cleopatra” and “Patton.” D.C.-based photographer Mark Parascandola revisits the architecture and locations used in these classic films over the years. Embassy of Spain Through Dec. 9

African Cosmos: Stellar Arts

In the first major exhibition to explore the historical legacy of African cultural astrono my and its intersection with traditional and contemporary African arts, some 100 objects consider how the sun, moon and stars and celestial phenomena such as lightning and rainbows serve as sources of inspiration in the creation of African art from ancient times to the present. National Museum of African Art Through Dec. 16

Revelation: Major Paintings by Jules Olitski

“Revelation” draws together more than 30 monumental canvases by Russian-born artist Jules Olitski, renowned as one of America’s last classic modern painters. American University Katzen Arts Center Through Dec. 29

Dan Steinhilber: Marlin Underground

Dan Steinhilber, known for his ability to trans

Stalwart Dutch citizens, distinguished for their contributions to the arts and the state, are sensitively rendered in a selection of 17th- and 18th-century engravings. National Gallery of Art Through Feb. 10

Shadow Sites: Recent Work by Jananne Al-Ani

Inspired by archival archaeological and aer ial photographs, as well as contemporary news, Jananne Al-Ani’s video works exam ine enduring representations of the Middle Eastern landscape. Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Through March 10

The Sultan’s Garden: The Blossoming of Ottoman Art

More than 50 sumptuous textiles and other works of art illustrate the stylized floral designs that became synonymous with the wealth, abundance and influence of one of the world’s greatest empires. The Textile Museum

DANCE

Oct. 24 to Nov. 4

The Washington Ballet: Dracula

The Washington Ballet presents Michael Pink’s chilling blockbuster “Dracula,” a wildly theatrical and voluptuous ballet that’s also a breathtaking story of passion, yearn ing, cruelty and sacrifice. Tickets are $25 to $125. Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater

DISCUSSIONS Tue., Oct. 2, 8 a.m.

EUNIC: Building Inclusive Societies

As part of the EU Rendez-Vous series hosted by the EU Delegation to the U.S., this halfday seminar compares American and European perspectives on migration, inte gration, multiculturalism, citizenship and identity. For information, visit www.acfdc.org. Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies Thu., Oct. 4, 4:30 p.m.

Embassy Night 2012

The World Trade Center Institute’s annual Embassy Night brings together ambassadors and diplomats from more than 30 countries to connect with 300 senior business leaders from companies such as Legg Mason, Johns Hopkins and BWI. At the 4:30 pre-event breakout session, Doug Guthrie, dean of the George Washington University Business School, will talk about “The Role of Uni versities in the Global Economy,” while Miles & Stockbridge and George Mason University will share their knowledge of “Imports and Consumer Product Safety.” Tickets are $225; for information, visit www.wtci.org. Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center

Wed., Oct. 3, 8 p.m.

Ballet Folklorico de Mexico

Tue., Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m.

Music Center at Strathmore

Dr. Cecelia Porter, a well-known classical music critic who has been working for the Washington Post for over 22 years, discuss es her latest book, “Five Lives in Music: Women Performers, Composers, and Impresarios from the Baroque to the

Conjuring images of centuries of culture, from fierce Aztec Jaguar warriors to the brilliant-hued, ruffled swirl of a village fiesta, this internationally renowned company is a Mexican treasure. Please call for ticket information.

Dr. Cecelia Porter

The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

Present,” with accompanying music pro vided by soprano Rosa Lamoreaux and the pianists Stan Engebretson and Ann Schein, one of the musicians featured in the book. Embassy of Austria Wed., Oct. 17, 2 to 5 p.m.

Cyber Security – A Mutual Challenge

Modern societies are increasingly depen dent on IT, and accordingly more vulnera ble to cyber attacks. This seminar features Swedish, American and other stakeholders discussing how to deal with current and future challenges in cyber security on the technical and the political level (followed by reception). To RSVP, visit http://cyberse curity-eorg-eorg.eventbrite.com/. House of Sweden Sat., Oct. 20, 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

Great Capitals of Eastern Europe

Krakow, Warsaw, Bratislava, Prague and Budapest — their names evoke images of glorious pasts as well as the destruction and hardship of war. But as much as they are part of Europe’s tumultuous history, discover how these cities are also shaping the continent’s future. Tickets are $120; for information, visit www.smithsonianassociates.org. S. Dillon Ripley Center

FESTIVALS Oct. 14 to 24

The Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival

This year’s Jewish Literary Festival features 15 events with celebrated authors and scholars, including Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon speaking on his latest book, “Telegraph Avenue: A Novel,” and Nobel Prize winner Eric Kandel in con versation with New York Times columnist David Brooks. Washington DCJCC

MUSIC Thu., Oct. 4, 7:30 p.m.

Lorenzo Gatto, Violin Robert Giordano, Piano

Tue., Oct. 16, 7 p.m.

The Mutual Inspirations of Miloš Forman A luminary of the Czech New Wave rode cinematic success to cinematic notables such as Gustav Machatý, a legend of the the United States, where, despite some early bumps, he shined a silent film era, at the National Gallery of Art; AFI Showcase presents Forman’s Hollywood features; Contemporary Czech Cinema light on issues such as personal freedom, social conformity and takes place at the Avalon Theatre; Docs in Salute highlights docuindividual oppression. mentaries with Jewish themes at the Library of Congress; and Those themes are particularly evident in iconic films such as Film and Beer offers up a collection of Czech films accompanied “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Amadeus,” the Oscarby Pilsner Urquell beer. winning hits that made Miloš Forman one of the most pivotal Upcoming highlights include a screening and Q&A with filmmakers in the United States — and a bridge between Czech Helena Třeštíková, the award-winning director of “Katka,” a docuand American culture. mentary that follows a drug addict over 14 years (Oct. 10 at 8 This symmetry comes together at the 2012 Mutual p.m. at the Avalon Theatre), and a performance by Inspirations Festival, an annual initiative organized by Czech street theater troupe Geisslers Hofcomedianten at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington that the embassy (Oct. 20, 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.). Additionally, focuses on an influential Czech personality and highon Oct. 28 the National Museum of American History lights the threads of mutual inspiration between Czech screens Forman’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s and American cultures. For more information about Nest” followed by a panel discussion. This year, Mutual Inspirations celebrates the the festival, please visit www.mutualinspirations.org. “Cuckoo’s Nest” transformed Forman’s Czech-American director on his 80th birthday American career. Although he’d achieved acclaim and showcases the best of Czech cinematogin his native Czechoslovakia with films such as “Loves of a raphy as well as the accomplishments of the transatlantic film Blonde,” his U.S. debut after immigrating to New York in 1967, industry. “Taking Off,” was a flop. The festival, which runs until Oct. 31, features internationally A few years later, however, Jack Nicholson’s indelible turn as renowned directors, artists and historians at more than 30 events an insane asylum patient in “Cuckoo’s Nest” cemented Forman’s throughout the Washington area. Screenings, concerts, lectures, reputation in Hollywood, and the Czech-born director would go exhibitions and on to make acclaimed films such as “The People vs. Larry Flynt” theater performances related to film and photography take place at venues such as AFI Silver Theatre and the Library of Congress. and “Man on the Moon.” The Mutual Inspirations Festival began in 2010 as a pilot projA special component of this year’s festival is also a countrywide ect at the Czech Embassy, expanding to a broader audience in retrospective: “A Tribute to Miloš Forman,” 2011, when it showcased Czech composer Antonín Dvořák and featuring the director’s work at select U.S. cities. welcomed more than 10,000 people at events featuring over Washingtonians can experience Czech-American film culture 500 local and international artists throughout the nation’s capital. in a variety of ways: Film Club is a series of roundtable discussions with industry professionals held at the Embassy of the — Joe Corcoran Czech Republic; Masters of Cinema will screen works by Czech

to learn

Sun., Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m.

Fri., Oct. 19, 7:30 p.m.

Celtic Thunder: Voyage

Fairfax Symphony Orchestra

Following the incredible success of “Heritage,” Celtic Thunder continues to explore their Irish and Celtic musical roots in their latest project, “Voyage.” Tickets are $65 or $75. GW Lisner Auditorium

From the age of 12, violinist Lorenzo Gatto has played at famous festivals and renowned halls throughout Europe, from the Palais des Beaux-Arts and Flagey in Brussels to the Salle Cortot in Paris. Tickets are $100, including buffet. For information, visit www.embassyseries.org.

Tue., Oct. 16, 7:30 p.m.

Embassy of Latvia

House of Sweden

Wed., Oct. 10, 7:30 p.m.

Veronika Dobi-Kiss, Mezzo-Soprano

Veronika Dobi-Kiss extensively performs church music both in Hungary and abroad, including the Rudolfsheim church of Vienna, while her operatic roles include Puccini’s “Sister Angelica” and Bizet’s “Carmen.” Tickets are $80, including Hungarian buffet. For information, visit www.embassyseries.org. Embassy of Hungary Fri., Oct. 12, 7:30 p.m.

Wax Tailor

Wax Tailor’s brand of orchestral hip-hop is almost cinematic in its scope, using samples as characters to tell brilliant sonic tales in the short span of a rap. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. La Maison Française Sat., Oct. 13, 7:30 p.m.

Tomorrow’s World

The duo behind Tomorrow’s World creates cinematic and emotional noir-pop love songs that explore femininity, darkness and timeless feelings with electro minimalist tunes. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. La Maison Française

Immanu El

Up-and-coming Scandinavian band Immanu El, which composes beautiful post-rock harmonies with a Nordic undercurrent, performs in its first U.S. tour. Please call for ticket information. Tue., Oct. 16, 7:30 p.m.

Thomas Dunford, Lute and Theorbo

With a combination of passionate sensitivity and technical proficiency rare in such a young artist, 23-year-old Thomas Dunford has caught the notice of music critics both in Europe and abroad. Tickets are $25. La Maison Française Oct. 17 to 20

Songs of Migration

Created by internationally acclaimed South African trumpeter, composer and lyricist Hugh Masekela, “Songs of Migration” is a musical tribute to the great songs of migrants across the African continent. Tickets are $30. Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra presents its first chamber orchestra concert at the Austrian Embassy, celebrating two great Austrian masters of the classical era as well as a composer who pays unconventional homage to both of them. Tickets are $55, including reception. For information, visit www.embassyseries.org. Embassy of Austria Thu., Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m.

Israel Chamber Project Winner of the 2011 Israeli Ministry of Culture Outstanding Ensemble Award, the Israeli Chamber Project brings together some of today’s most distinguished young Israeli musicians for chamber music con certs and educational and outreach pro grams both in Israel and abroad. Tickets are $55, including reception. For information, visit www.embassyseries.org. Venue TBA Fri., Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m.

Alexandre Tharaud, Piano

Dubbed the “French Glenn Gould” by the musical press, Alexandre Tharaud has firmly established as an acclaimed pianist known for deeply personal interpretations of the great keyboard repertoire. Tickets are $25. La Maison Française Wed., Oct. 31, 7:30 p.m.

Andrej Goricar, Silent Film Pianist

THEATER Through Oct. 7

El desdén con el desdén/ In Spite of Love

In one of the most popular comedies to come out of Spain’s Golden Age, Princess Diana disdains love and marriage, so to win the affection of the indifferent princess, Count Urgel feigns his own disdain for her and sets off a series of madcap comic situ ations. Tickets are $36 and $40. GALA Hispanic Theatre Oct. 9 to Nov. 17

15th International Festival of Hispanic Theatre

Teatro de la Luna presents the 15th International Festival of Hispanic Theatre featuring “Otelo… Sniff (Othello… Sniff)” from the Dominican Republic, “Jesucristo (Jesus Christ)” from Argentina, “Cartas de las Golondrinas (Letters from the Swallows)” from Spain and other works from Ecuador, Venezuela and the United States. Tickets are $35; for information, visit www.teatrodelaluna.org. Gunston Arts Center – Theater Two Fri., Oct. 12, 8 p.m., Sun., Oct. 14, 2 p.m.

Virginia Opera: The Pearl Fishers

Bizet’s dazzling opera is the spellbinding tale of friendship, jealousy, loyalty, love, and religious duty. Tickets are $44 to $98. George Mason University Center for the Arts Through Oct. 13

Collectively led by drummer and vocalist Guillermo E Brown, bassist Keith Witty and saxophonist Christophe Panzani, Thiefs is a grammatically incoherent jazz troupe that weaves elements of modern composition and improvisation into a boundary-less foundation of beats. Tickets are $25.

Slovenian-born pianist Andrej Goricar has performed, either playing his own compositions or improvising at the piano, a wide repertoire of silent classics and many silent film retrospectives both at home and abroad. The featured film will be F.W. Murnau’s “Sunrise (U.S., 1927, 95 min.). Tickets are $55, including buffet reception. For information, visit www.embassyseries.org.

La Maison Française

Embassy of Slovenia

Kennedy Center Opera House

Thu., Oct. 18, 7:30 p.m.

Thiefs

Don Giovanni

Powerhouse Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov stars in the Washington National Opera’s season-opener: Mozart’s musical master piece “Don Giovanni,” which follows leg endary rake Don Juan as he descends into excess and immorality, while the women he has discarded seek revenge. Tickets start at $25.

October 2012

Kafka’s Last Story: An Evening of Film and Theater

Part detective story, part artistic reimagin ing, “Kafka’s Last Story” crosses geo graphic, cultural and chronological bound aries to follow the fate of Kafka’s writings and papers. In addition to the film, Theater J’s Delia Taylor presents a theatrical read ing of excerpts from Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” (part of the Jewish Literary Festival; cosponsored by the Embassies of Israel, Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany). Tickets are $11. Washington DCJCC Oct. 19 to 21

Cirque Chinois: Direct from Beijing, the National Circus of the People’s Republic of China

One of China’s most acclaimed and influ ential circus troupes introduces a spectac ular new production for its inaugural North American tour. Tickets are $24 to $48. George Mason University Center for the Arts (Oct. 19-20) Hylton Performing Arts Center (Oct. 21) Oct. 19 to 20

DruidMurphy: Famine

The villagers of Glanconnor face the real prospect of starvation as the second crop of potatoes fails in 1846. Tickets are $35 to $65. Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater Through Oct. 21

Fly

Based on the experiences of the Tuskegee Airmen, “Fly” is the powerful story of four African-American military pioneers who proved themselves as officers and pilots during World War II. Please call for ticket information. Ford’s Theatre Through Oct. 21

Jekyll and Hyde

Synetic Theater continues its proud tradition of reimagining literary classics with “Jekyll and Hyde,” a bold, wordless retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s timeless caution ary tale about conflicting impulses and desires. Tickets are $35 to $55. Synetic Theater Oct. 23 to Nov. 25

Conference of the Birds

In this fable based on a 12th-century Persian poem that ponders the search for the divine and the quest for truth, the birds of the world take flight on an extraordinary pilgrimage to find their king. Tickets are $40 to $68. Folger Shakespeare Library Oct. 23 to Nov. 11

War Horse

Winner of five Tony Awards, “War Horse” is a powerfully moving and imaginative drama brought to life by astonishing life-size pup pets of horses that are strong enough for men to ride. Tickets are $25 to $175. Kennedy Center Opera House Through Oct. 28

The Government Inspector

The first Russian play to be staged by the Shakespeare Theatre, Nikolai Gogol’s “The Government Inspector” is a lampoon of pro vincial bureaucracy, as a civil servant who is running out of money travels from Saint Petersburg to a small Russian town, where his imagination runs rampant. Tickets are $43 to $95. The Shakespeare Lansburgh Theatre

For a complete list of events, please visit our Web site at www.washdiplomat.com.

The Washington Diplomat Page 65

DIPLOMATIC SPOTLIGHT

The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

34th Annual Ambassadors Ball

photos: thomas coleman

From left, National Multiple Sclerosis Society-National Capital Chapter President Chris Broullire and his wife Annie Broullire join Jane Grunstra and Dr. Neal Grunstra, chair of the National Capital Chapter Board of Trustees, at the 34th Annual Ambassadors Ball benefitting the National Capital Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Ambassador of Cambodia Hem Heng, left, and James Connelly, vice president of Lincoln Property, attend the 34th Annual Ambassadors Ball held at the Ritz-Carlton in D.C.

Photo: Tracy Timmester, Timmester Photography

Newly appointed Ambassador of Egypt Mohamed M. Tawfik and his wife Amani Amin attend the predinner reception at the 34th Annual Ambassadors Ball honoring the Washington diplomatic corps.

Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago Neil Parsan and his wife Lucia Diane Mayers Parsan attend the 34th Annual Ambassadors Ball to benefit the National Capital Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Ambassador of Malta Joseph Cole and his wife Bernadette Cole lead the traditional ambassadorial waltz at the 34th Annual Ambassadors Ball, held at the Ritz-Carlton Washington, D.C.

Harold Doley III of the Lugano Group, left, and Ambassador of St. Vincent and the Grenadines La Celia A. Prince attend the 34th Annual Ambassadors Ball.

From left, Ambassador of Slovenia Roman Kirn and his wife Jovana Kirn join Tony Podesta of the Podesta Group at the 34th Annual Ambassadors Ball benefitting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s National Capital Chapter. To date, the Ambassadors Ball has raised nearly $17 million, with more than $850,000 of that being raised in 2012 alone.

Recently appointed Ambassador of Singapore Ashok Kumar Mirpuri and his wife Gouri Mirpuri attend the Ambassadors Ball, which welcomes newly assigned ambassadors and their spouses to the city and honors the diplomatic corps for its support of charitable activities and humanitarian endeavors.

Ambassador of Nepal Shankar Prasad Sharma and his wife Kalpana Sharma attend the Ambassadors Ball. In addition to research, funds raised at the annual ball support programs and services for the 400,000 Americans living with multiple sclerosis, and ultimately the 2.1 million people worldwide affected by this disease.

Photo: Betty Adler Photography

From left, Mistress of Ceremonies Nancy Cordes of CBS News; Ambassador of Liechtenstein Claudia Fritsche; Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.); Annie Coons; Melodee Hanes; Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.); Judy McCarthy; Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.); U.S. Chief of Protocol Capricia Marshall; and Chris Broullire, president of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s National Capital Chapter, give a toast on stage at the Ambassadors Ball.

Ambassador of the Philippines Jose Cuisia Jr. and his wife Maria Victoria J. Cuisia attend the 34th Annual Ambassadors Ball honoring the Washington diplomatic corps.

Ambassador of Mexico Arturo Sarukhan and his wife Veronica Valencia Sarukhan attend the 34th Annual Ambassadors Ball.

Ambassador of Sri Lanka Jaliya Wickramasuriya and his wife Priyanga Wickramasuriya attend the 34th Annual Ambassadors Ball.

Photo: Tracy Timmester, Timmester Photography

Attendees at the Ambassadors Ball enjoy a classic Indian dance performance by the Devi Dance Theater from the Sutradhar Institute. The annual ball also featured a silent auction with items such as embassy dinners, the chance to attend a taping of “Face of the Nation” and “The Late Show with David Letterman,” as well as two 10-week-old puppies.

Page 66

Photo: Tracy Timmester, Timmester Photography

Ball co-chair Melodee Hanes and her husband, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), greet guests in the receiving line at the VIP Reception of the 34th Annual Ambassadors Ball.

Ambassador of Ireland Michael Collins and his wife Marie Collins attend the 34th Annual Ambassadors Ball.

Ambassador of Portugal Nuno Brito and his wife De Ataide Batoreu Salvador Brito attend the 34th Annual Ambassadors Ball.

Ambassador of Fiji Winston Thompson and his wife Queenie Thompson dance together at the 34th Annual Ambassadors Ball.

The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

Singapore National Day

Photos: thomas coleman

From left, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Mark Lippert, recently appointed Ambassador of Singapore Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, and U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce Eric Hirschhorn toast Singapore’s National Day and Armed Forces Day at a reception held at the Embassy of Singapore.

From left, Ambassador of Italy Claudio Bisogniero and his wife Laura Denise Noce Benigni Olivieri join wife of the Singapore ambassador Gouri Mirpuri at Singapore’s National and Armed Forces Day reception, the first time the Mirpuris have hosted the reception following the 16-year posting of longtime Singaporean Ambassador Chan Heng Chee, who’s returned to academia in Singapore.

From left, Ambassador of Indonesia Dino Patti Djalal and his wife Rosa Djalal, Ambassador of the Philippines Jose L. Cuisia Jr., and Ambassador of Laos Seng Soukhathivong attend the Singapore National Day and Armed Forces Day reception.

From left, Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago Neil Parsan, Robert Shumake, a businessman from Detroit who’s also honorary consul general to Botswana, and Eduardo Zaqueu of the Embassy of Mozambique attend the Singapore National Day and Armed Forces Day reception held at the embassy.

Points of Light at Japan

Photos: thomas coleman

Ambassador of Japan Ichiro Fujisaki and his wife Yoriko welcome guests to the inaugural Points of Light 2012 Tribute Awards Gala at their residence, where five individuals from the U.S. and Japan were honored for “changing lives through service.”

From right, Ambassador of Norway Wegger Christian Strommen brought his wife and daughter to the Points of Light Tribute Awards Gala at the Japanese Residence. Inspired by former President George H.W. Bush’s vision of “a thousand points of light,” the Points of Light Foundation has for 20 years served as a leading nonpartisan, nonprofit volunteer organization to empower the spirit of service.

From left, Andrew Freedman of Andrew E. Freedman Public Relations, TV producer Ann Lopez, who’s co-founder of the Lopez Foundation and a Points of Light Service Ambassador, and Hillary and John Schaeffler, general manager for GE Healthcare, attend the Points of Light 2012 Tribute Awards Gala.

From left, honorees Naho Hozumi and Aya Higa talk about their volunteer service organization, Hands on Tokyo — and the work it has done in the wake of the 2011 Japanese earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster — as Deborah Roberts and Al Roker of NBC News, the evening’s emcees, look on at the Points of Light 2012 Tribute Awards Dinner.

From left, wife of the Japanese ambassador Yoriko Fujisaki joins Wally and Sandra Ganzi of the Palms Restaurant Group and James and Juliette Lloyd at the Points of Light 2012 Tribute Awards Gala at the Japanese Residence.

Majida Mourad, vice president of government affairs at Cheniere Energy Inc., left, and David Hamod, president and CEO of the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce, attend the awards gala for Points of Light, which last year mobilized 4.3 million volunteers and 77,000 partners in 20 countries.

From left, Greg Baer, Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), and Shirley Sagawa, a visiting fellow with the Center for American Progress, attend the Points of Light 2012 Tribute Awards Gala.

Kathy and Shephard W. Hill, president of Boeing International, enjoy the pre-dinner cocktail reception at the Points of Light 2012 Tribute Awards Gala.

Emirates Inaugural Dulles Flight Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates Yousef Al Otaiba, left, joins U.S. Ambassador to the UAE Michael H. Corbin at the arrival of the inaugural Emirates flight from Dubai to Washington Dulles International Airport.

Young volunteers dressed in traditional Japanese kimono robes join, from left, musician and producer Yoshiki, NBA Global Ambassador Dikembe Mutombo, and Ambassador of Japan Ichiro Fujisaki at the Points of Light 2012 Tribute Awards Gala.

From left, Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, chair of the American Red Cross and one of the evening’s five honorees, joins Alexandra de Borchgrave, interior designer Aniko Gaal Schott, and Shahdan Gabr at the Points of Light 2012 Tribute Awards Gala.

October 2012

From left, President of Milestone Communities Len Forkas and Jayne and Bob Gunther attend the Points of Light 2012 Tribute Awards Gala at the Japanese Residence.

The Washington Diplomat Page 67

DIPLOMATIC SPOTLIGHT

The Washington Diplomat

XVI Annual CAF Conference

October 2012 Fond Farewell

photo: Steven B. Kline, President Barrister Tours

Chinese Embassy Tour From left, Esther Banike, executive board member of the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA); Zhang Tibin, first secretary of culture at the Embassy of China; and Maricar Donato, international trainer for WFTGA and a member of the Guild of Professional Tour Guides of Washington, DC., attend a guided tour of the Chinese Embassy that previewed WFTGA’s 15th annual convention, to be held in Macau next year.

photos: Juan Manuel Herrera / OAS

From left, moderator Claudia Palacios of CNN, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS) José Miguel Insulza take part in a discussion on inter-American relations as part of the XVI Annual CAF Conference at the Willard InterContinental Washington Hotel.

Former President of the Dominican Republic Leonel Fernández, right, and President of the Inter-American Dialogue Michael Shifter listen to a panel discussion at the XVI Annual CAF Conference, sponsored by CAF, Latin America’s development bank, the Inter-American Dialogue and the Organization of American States.

photos: embassy of france

Ambassador of France François Delattre, right, hosts a farewell reception for Roland Celette, longtime cultural attaché at the French Embassy and director of La Maison Française, at his residence.

Mozambique Magazine

photos: larry Luxner

Ambassador of Mozambique Amélia Matos Sumbana hosts a reception at the embassy to celebrate the launch of Baía, a bilingual Portuguese-English magazine that showcases the best of Mozambican fashion, culture, sports, cuisine and music.

Jan du Plain of Du Plain Enterprises, bottom left, poses with staff at the Embassy of Mozambique during the launch of the bilingual magazine Baía.

Ivone Soares, a visiting member of the Mozambican Parliament, reads the latest issue of bilingual magazine Baía outside the Embassy of Mozambique.

Roland Celette, cultural attaché at the French Embassy, talks about his 11 years promoting French culture in Washington, with pioneering initiatives such as the Kids Euro Festival, at a farewell reception in his honor at the French Residence.

Turkish Victory Day

photos: Kate Oczypok

Ambassador of Turkey Namik Tan, right, and his wife Fugen Tan greet guests at a reception honoring the 90th anniversary of Turkey’s Victory Day, which marks the military victory in the final battle of Turkey’s Independence War in 1922.

Burc Erdogdu of the American Turkish Society, left, and Timur Soylemez, deputy chief of mission at the Turkish Embassy, attend the Victory Day reception.

Page 68

From left, Tulin Eken and Baha Eken join Cihan Aygunes and Ufuk Canoz of the Turkish Embassy at the Victory Day reception at the Turkish Embassy Residence.

Brett Golden, left, and Robert Martinage, director of war-gaming at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, attend the Victory Day reception at the Turkish Embassy Residence.

From left, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Bill Grisoli, Chief General Hasan Cifci and Bahar Cifci attend the Victory Day reception at the Turkish Embassy Residence.

Fahriye Kumbul, left, and Arif Kumbul, both counselors at the Turkish Embassy, attend the Turkish Victory Day celebration.

From left, Bor Gurel, Haldun Tasan, Gulden Tasan and Muhittin Erkun attend the Victory Day reception at the Turkish Embassy Residence.

George Perlman, left, and Christopher Lombardi, regional director of Europe, Israel and SubSaharan Africa for Raytheon International Inc., attend the Turkish Victory Day celebration.

Dianne Gibson and Bill Gibson of the Royal Air Force attend the Turkish Victory Day celebration.

The Washington Diplomat

October 2012

AROUNDTHEWORLD HOLIDAYS AFGHANISTAN Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha

BAHRAIN Oct. 26: Eid al-Adha

ALGERIA Oct. 26: Aïd El Adha

BANGLADESH Oct. 26: Eid-ul Azha

ARGENTINA Oct. 8: Columbus Day

BELIZE Oct. 8: Columbus Day

AUSTRALIA Oct. 3: Labor Day

BENIN Oct. 26: Armed Forces Day Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha

AUSTRIA Oct. 26: National Day AZERBAIJAN Oct. 18: Independence Day Oct. 26: Gurban Bayramy BAHAMAS Oct. 8: Discovery Day

BURKINA FASO Oct. 26: Tabaski

COLOMBIA Oct. 8: Dia de la Raza

BURUNDI Oct. 13: Rwagasore Day Oct. 21: Ndadaye Day

CÔTE D’IVOIRE Oct. 26: Tabaski

CAMBODIA Oct. 23: Paris Peace Agreement Day Oct. 30-Nov. 1: Birthday of the King CAMEROON Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha CANADA Oct. 8: Thanksgiving Day

THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT ECUADOR Oct. 9: Independence of Guayaquil EQUATORIAL GUINEA Oct. 12: Independence Day

COSTA RICA Oct. 8: Dia de la Raza

EGYPT Oct. 26: Eid El Adha

CROATIA Oct. 8: Independence Day

ERITREA Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha

CUBA Oct. 10: Beginning of the Independence War

FIJI Oct. 10: Fiji Day GAMBIA Oct. 26: Eid-al-Adha

BOTSWANA Oct. 1: Public Holiday

CHAD Oct. 26: Aïd al-Adha

CYPRUS Oct. 1: Independence Day Oct. 28: Greek National Day (Ochi Day)

BRAZIL Oct. 12: St. Aparecida’s Day

CHILE Oct. 8: Dia de la Raza

CZECH REPUBLIC Oct. 28: Founding Day

GERMANY Oct. 3: Day of German Unification

BRUNEI Oct. 26: Eid El-Adha

CHINA Oct. 1: National Day

DJIBOUTI Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha

GREECE Oct. 28: Ochi Day

GEORGIA Oct. 14: Svetitskhovloba

October 2012

GRENADA Oct. 25: Thanksgiving Day

PAKISTAN Oct. 26: Eid-ul Azha

GUATEMALA Oct. 20: Revolution Day

PALAU Oct. 1: Independence Day Oct. 24: United Nations Day

GUINEA Oct. 2: Republic Day HONDURAS Oct. 3: Francisco Morazan Day Oct. 8: Columbus Day Oct. 21: Armed Forces Day HUNGARY Oct. 23: National Day INDIA Oct. 2: Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday Oct. 26: Idu’z Zuha INDONESIA Oct. 26: Idul Adha

Colombia Carlos Urrutia became ambassador of Colombia to the United States on Sept. 19. Throughout his career, Ambassador Urrutia has served in both the public and private sectors, including as managing partner of Brigard & Urrutia, the oldest Ambassador and one of the largest law Carlos Urrutia firms in Colombia, from 1999 to 2012. Prior to that, Ambassador Urrutia, who has been with the firm since May 1977, served as partner beginning in 1981. During his 35-year career at the firm, he advised clients on a variety of issues, including commercial law, commercial transactions, energy projects, international financial transactions, litigation and arbitration. Ambassador Urrutia’s work in the public sector began in 1975 when he became secretary-general of the Governorship of the Department of Cundinamarca, serving until 1977, after which time he briefly became secretary of finance for the governorship. Appointed by the Colombian Government, Ambassador Urrutia is also currently a member of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Panel of Arbitrators. In addition, he has been a member of various boards of directors of Colombian companies and financial institutions, including: Allianz Colseguros S.A., the largest insurance company in Colombia; Ladrillera Santafe S.A.; 3M Colombia S.A.; Leo Burnett Colombia S.A.; Cámara de Comercio Colombo Francesa; and Dividendo por Colombia, a Colombian nonprofit affiliated with United Way. Ambassador Urrutia, an associate member of the American Bar Association and International Bar Association, began his undergraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., and completed his studies at Facultad de Derecho of Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia, earning a degree in law.

Egypt Mohamed M. Tawfik became ambassador of Egypt to the United States on Sept. 19, having previously served as ambassador to Lebanon since 2011. Ambassador Tawfik also served as director-general of the Egyptian Building Fund Authority at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2008-11); ambassador to Australia and nonresident ambassador to New Zealand, Western Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Marshall Islands (2004-08); director of the Cabinet of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in Cairo (2002-04); and counselor, minister plenipotentiary and deputy permanent representative at the Egyptian Permanent Mission to the United Nations and other international

October 2012

organizations in Geneva (1997-2002). In addition, he served in Washington, D.C., on a prior occasion, as third and second secretary at the Egyptian Embassy (1986-90), as well as first secretary at the Egyptian Embassy in Harare (199195). Ambassador Tawfik has served various other postings in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which he joined in 1983, including first secretary at the Ambassador African Department Mohamed M. Tawfik (1995-97), second secretary in the Cabinet of the Foreign Affairs Minister (1990-91), and attaché in the International Organizations Department (1984-85). He holds a bachelor’s of science degree in civil engineering from Cairo University; a diploma in international diplomacy from the Egyptian Institute of Diplomatic Studies; a diploma in international relations from the Institut International D’Administration Publique in Paris, and a master’s degree in international organizations’ law from the Universite de Paris XI. Ambassador Tawfik is married to Amani Amin and has two children, Mostafa and Amr. His interests include literature and the arts.

Ghana Ama Twum-Amoah assumed the position of minister/ head of chancery at the Embassy of Ghana on Oct. 1, replacing Matilda Osei-Agyeman, who departed the post Sept. 31.

Greece Christos P. Panagopoulos became ambassador of Greece to the United States on Sept. 19. Ambassador Panagopoulos, who joined the Greek Foreign Service in 1978, previously served as director of the Diplomatic Cabinet of the Minister and of the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2008. He was also Greece’s ambassador to Serbia after having spent five years as ambassador to Cyprus. Ambassador Panagopoulos started his career at the Greek Embassy in Ankara. In addition, he worked on various European issues as head of the European Integration Directorate as well as head of the Directorate for Balkan Affairs. Ambassador has also served in the United States before as consul general in Los Angeles and dean of the New England Consular Corps in Boston. Born in Kalamata, Greece, in 1954, Ambassador Panagopoulos holds a law degree from the University of Athens and a master’s degree in international law and international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He served in the Hellenic Navy at the Office of the Admiral, Chief of the Hellenic Fleet. He was also a member of the Junior National Waterpolo Team of Greece.

Hungary György Rétházi assumed the position of cultural attaché at the Embassy of Hungary on Sept. 1, having previously served at the Permanent Representation of Hungary to the European Union.

Jamaica Stephen Vasciannie became ambassador of Jamaica to the United States on July 16. He is also Jamaica’s permanent representative to the Organization of American States and was chairman of the Permanent Council of the OAS until Sept. 30. Ambassador Vasciannie pre- Ambassador viously served as the princi- Stephen Vasciannie pal of the Norman Manley Law School, based at the University of the West Indies on its Mona campus, where he was also a part-time lecturer in international law (2008-12). Earlier in his teaching career, he had also been an international law professor, senior lecturer and head of the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies. In addition, he was an active member of the United Nations International Law Commission (2007-12) and an adjunct professor at Stetson University, lecturing on Caribbean human rights law. From 2004 to 2008, Ambassador Vasciannie worked as a consultant in the Attorney General’s Chambers and then as a deputy solicitor general responsible for international affairs in the Jamaican government, which he represented before the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights. He was also chairman of the Air Policy of Jamaica, responsible for negotiating air traffic treaties with various countries. Ambassador Vasciannie, a Kingston College Old Boy, served as the chairman of the board of his alma mater before moving to Washington D.C. He has also served on the board of Scotiabank Jamaica and related Scotiabank boards, and chaired Scotia Investments Jamaica Ltd., leaving to take up to his current appointment. Ambassador Vasciannie holds first-class honours degrees from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and the University of the West Indies, as well as a doctorate from Oxford. Ambassador Vasciannie is married to Lisa, until recently a lecturer at the University of the West Indies, and has two sons.

Jordan Amjad Halem Al Mbideen assumed the position of counselor at the Embassy of Jordan on Aug. 14. Al Mbideen, who joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1999, previously served at the Jordanian Embassy in Brussels, where he was in charge of the Union Mediterranean and NATO portfolio (2001-11), and at the Jordanian Embassy in Damascus, where he was in charge of U.S.-Syria relations and Syria-Lebanon relations as well as consular affairs.

PERU Oct. 8: Battle of Angamos PORTUGAL Oct. 5: Proclamation of the Republic QATAR Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha ST. VINCENT and THE GRENADINES Oct. 27: Independence Day SAUDI ARABIA Oct. 26: Eid al-Adha

IRAN Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha

SENEGAL Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha

IRELAND Oct. 31: Halloween

APPOINTMENTS

PANAMA Oct. 8: Columbus Day

ISRAEL Oct. 7: Hoshanah Rabbah Oct. 7-8: Shemini Atzeret Oct. 8-9: Simchat Torah JAMAICA Oct. 18: National Heroes Day JAPAN Oct. 10: Health and Sports Day (Taiku no hi)

SINGAPORE Oct. 26: Hari Raya Haji SLOVENIA Oct. 31: Reformation Day SOUTH KOREA Oct. 3: National Foundation Day SPAIN Oct. 12: National Day

JORDAN Oct. 26: Eid Al-Adha

SRI LANKA Oct. 26: Id-Ul-Allah

KAZAKHSTAN Oct. 25: Republic Day

SUDAN Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha

KENYA Oct. 20: Kenyatta Day

SYRIA Oct. 6: October War Remembrance Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha

KUWAIT Oct. 26: Eid Al-Adha

TAIWAN Oct. 10: National Day

LEBANON Oct. 26: Eid al-Adha LESOTHO Oct. 4: Independence Day LIBYA Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha MACEDONIA Oct. 11: Anti-Fascist Uprising Day

TAJIKISTAN Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha TANZANIA Oct. 14: Mwalimu Nyerere Day Oct. 26: Eid El Hadj THAILAND Oct. 23: Chulalongkorn Day

MALAWI Oct. 12: Mother’s Day

TUNISIA Oct. 26: Aïd El Idha

MALAYSIA Oct. 26: Hari Raya Haji

TURKEY Oct. 26: Kurban Bayram Oct. 29: Republic Day

MAURITANIA Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha MEXICO Oct. 10: Columbus Day MICRONESIA Oct. 24: United Nations Day

TURKMENISTAN Oct. 6: Remembrance Day Oct. 26: Kurban Bairam Oct. 27-28: Independence Day

MONGOLIA Oct. 1: Veteran’s Day

UGANDA Oct. 9: Independence Day Oct. 26: Iddi Adhuha

MOROCCO Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha

MOZAMBIQUE Oct. 4: Peace and Reconciliation Day

URUGUAY Oct. 8: Columbus Day

NEW ZEALAND Oct. 24: Labor Day

UZBEKISTAN Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha VENEZUELA Oct. 8: Columbus Day

NIGER Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha NIGERIA Oct. 1: National Day Oct. 26: Eid-el-Kabir

YEMEN Oct. 14: October Revolution Anniversary Oct. 26: Eid Aludha Almubarak

OMAN Oct. 26: Eid Al Adha

ZAMBIA Oct. 24: Independence Day

The Washington Diplomat Page 69

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tourists & Prose, has previously attended the festival herself. “It’s just a natural tie-in for the bookstore,” she said. “Customers really enjoy doing things with other people they meet at the store.” The independent D.C. bookstore has already been expanding its portfolio in an effort to take its readers on the road, literally, to experience the sights and sounds behind the words of famous tomes. It’s signed booklovers up for trips to Fallingwater, Pennsylvania, Washington Nationals baseball games and the Philadelphia Flower Show, among other outings.

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The trek to India, though, is by far the most ambitious program that Politics & Prose has attempted.“Politics & Prose used to take people in a more informal way to Mexico,” Coll said, noting that many locally based excursions tend to take travelers to places like England and Ireland. Coll said she hopes to have 30 people join the India trip. “We don’t know if we’ll get that many people, but we’ll be happy to take a small group,” she added. While in India, the tourists will visit New Delhi (and meet with the Washington Post correspondent there) and journey to popular sites with a literary bent. But the highlight will be the Jaipur Literature

Festival, which features an A-list lineup. Last year, 260 authors attended the event, which is organized by William Dalrymple, a well-known author, book critic and essayist who lives in New Delhi. “There has been amazing literature coming out of South Asia these days,” Coll said. The economy is of course a concern for Coll and the bookstore, given the expenses of traveling to South Asia, but like Cornacchia and Pernot, she says these intimate excursions are priceless.“This is a trip for people who want … a special travel experience.” Kate Oczypok is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

PITAPOLICY focuses on international development; research & writing, such as formulating policy papers; program evaluation; and survey design. Issue areas of focus for the MENA region include: Human Development (Indicators, Social Entrepreneurship) • Institutional Development & Civil Society (Transparency) • Economic Development (Resource Management) • Political Participation & Civic Engagement (Strategy, Organizing, Elections) • Monitoring & Evaluation (Assessment, Metrics, Survey Design) Find PITAPOLICY on Facebook & Tumblr. Like PITAPOLICY, Tweet PITAPOLICY, Collaborate with PITAPOLICY Email: qayyum@pitapolicyconsulting.com Ph: 224-406-4218 Website: www.pitapolicyconsulting.com Twitter: @Pitapolicy & @Pitaconsumer Blog: www.pitapolicy.com

October 2012

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Festivals drama about Shostakovich’s plight under the Soviets. Directed by British filmmaker Tony Palmer, the movie renders Shostakovich’s memoirs as transcribed by Russian journalist Solomon Volkov, who befriended the composer and who first reported on Shostakovich’s meandering loyalties. In a real treat for the audience, both Palmer and Volkov will attend the screening on Nov. 3 and take questions. They’ll also grace the stage later that evening at the full Post-Classical Ensemble concert at the historic Dumbarton Church in Georgetown. October 2012

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Early next year, Post-Classical Ensemble will switch gears and celebrate a composer who had quite the opposite experience with his homeland. The ensemble will host a festival celebrating 19thcentury Czech composer Antonín Dvořák, whose folk-enriched compositions reflected a deep, enduring love for his native Bohemia. Dvořák absorbed the roots of his country and incorporated them into his music willingly rather than forcefully, like Shostakovich, according to music experts. Toward the end of his life in 1892, Dvořák, then a world-renowned composer, accepted an invitation to direct New York’s National Conservatory of Music of America. “The Americans expected him to help pave the

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way for an ‘American’ musical style,” reads the composer bio page on Classical Net.“Dvořák took this last charge to heart.” PCE’s Gil-Ordóñez says Dvořák succeeded and became the “key to music development in the United States.” During his three-year stay in the U.S. — when he was not vacationing in Iowa’s Czechspeaking communities to alleviate pangs of homesickness — he composed some of his best-known symphonies, string quartets and concertos. And this is where the ensemble will focus its Dvořák festival in March — on the Czech composer’s American experience that changed both him and American music. Dvořák, for example, argued that a “great and noble school” of American music should be found-

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ed on “Negro melodies,” a shocking declaration at a time when the country was still steeped in racism. He also embraced Native American culture and music. The PCE’s Dvořák festival will include the world premiere of “Hiawatha Melodrama,” a new spin on the epic 1855 epic poem about an Indian hero and his lover — which will be set against Dvořák’s music. “This PCE’s vocation is that when people come to these performances, they discover something new,” Gil-Ordóñez said. “This is our obsession: to make sure that our performances become something unique.” Rachael Bade is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

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October 2012