A World of News and Perspective
■ EDUCATION & MEDICAL SPECIAL SECTIONS INSIDE
EDUCATION Q A Special Section of The Washington Diplomat
Q May 2011
Speaki ng the same Langua ■ ge MAY 2011 by Jacob Comenetz
■ WWW.WASHDIPLOMAT.COM
■ VOLUME 18, NUMBER 5 UNITED STATES
CÔTE D’IVOIRE
World Watches as Congress Wrestles Over U.S. Spending
Former Jordan Diplomat Hopes Arab Elite Gets The Message
It’s not just anxious Americans who have been following the Beltway battle over the federal budget. The city’s diplomats are intently watching the partisan showdown as well to see how much money and manpower the U.S. government releases across the globe. PAGE 11
A former deputy prime minister of Jordan, ambassador in Washington and World Bank vice president, Marwan Muasher now uses his perch at the Carnegie Endowment to advocate for the reforms he’s been urging Arab leaders to adopt — long before the need for those reforms became painfully obvious. PAGE 6
UNITED STATES
Arab Awakening Jolts U.S., Forcing Policy Reassessment Ever since a street vendor in Tunisia lit himself on fire, a vast region from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea has been engulfed in turmoil, forcing the U.S. to take a cold, hard look at its strategic interests as the Arab awakening shakes up American policy. PAGE 15
culture
Passport DC Brings World to Washington Passport DC’s annual around-theworld tour opens the doors to dozens of embassies for tens of thousands of visitors. PAGE 46
PEOPLE OF WORLD INFLUENCE
DIPLOMATIC SPOUSES
BACK FROM THE BRINK Laurent Gbagbo’s arrest pulled Côte d’Ivoire, once West Africa’s most prosperous country, back from the brink of civil war. It also cleared up a few things at the Washington embassy, where for a time there were two ambassadors, each loyal to a different president, until Alassane Ouattara’s man, Daouda Diabaté, finally took charge. PAGE 19
Third Time’s The Charm for Tans of Turkey “Honey, I’m very lucky,” says Fügen Tan with refreshingly undiplomatic candor of living in Washington, D.C., which has become like a second home for Fügen and her husband, Turkish Ambassador Namik Tan, who are now on their third posting in the nation’s capital. PAGE 47