Diplomatic Connections July-August 2011 Issue

BUSINESS & TRADE • POLITICS • MILITARY & DEFENSE • CONGRESS • ENTERTAINMENT

A Business & Trade, Diplomacy & Foreign Policy Publication

JULY - AUGUST 2011 • $7.95

Do you live an InterContinental life?

THE WORLD MEETS AT INTERCONTINENTAL

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The InterContinental Los Angeles has a distinguished history of hosting high-ranking delegations from all over the world.

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2209 Massachusetts Avenue, located on embassy road in Washington, DC, has been the home of the United Arab Emirates and currently serves as the Georgian Embassy.

LPC Commercial Services, Inc. in cooperation with Hollywood Real Estate Services, LLC will conduct the sale. Sealed Bid offers from prospective bidders must be received by September 15, 2011 and may be submitted at any time up until that date.

Bids should be sent to the Washington office of:Lincoln Property Company

101 Constitution Ave., NW • Suite 325 EastWashington, DC 20001

James Connelly, VP of LPC Commercial Services, Inc. has been involved in numerous acquisitions and sales in the Embassy Row area involving Governments such as Portugal, Mozambique, Italy and Tanzania. Connelly observed “The property with its ornate ceiling heights and finishes would make an incredible embassy, private residence or perhaps other uses. It has twenty three rooms, six bathrooms and a state of the art security system. It is also serviced by separate off-street parking. The building is 9,000 square feet. The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago recently acquired the 13,942 square foot building located at 1714 Massachusetts Avenue for $11,984,000

James Kazunas, President Hollywood Real Estate Services, LLC commented “This is a unique property that presents a rare opportunity for a variety of embassy and non embassy uses. The asking price has not been set and the property will be sold in a sealed bid format, with the Seller entertaining any and all viable offers from bidders.”

Complete terms and conditions of sale are available by contacting LPC Commercial Services, Inc.

Email: [email protected]

James Connelly, VP, Government Services LPC Commercial Services, Inc.

(202) 491-5300

lPC CommerCial serviCes, inC.

(202) 513-6700

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DIPLOMATIC CONNECTIONS

COVER STORY PAGE 66

Admiral Leasing 51Amtrak 102Angelina Jolie - Goodwill Ambassador to the UNHCR 66

Boeing & Mongolian Airlines 112Boeing & Saudi Arabian Airlines 118 & 119British - President Obama’s State Visits 14British - Prince William and Duchess Catherine 82British School of Washington 43

Canadian Embassy - Spinal Cord Injury Research 52

DC Livery 41Denmark - Nordic Foods 120Denmark - Queen Margrethe II 42Diplomatic Connections’ Reception at the Four Seasons 56[The] Donatello Hotel in San Francisco* INSIDE BACK COVER

Elysian Hotel in Chicago 13

[The] Fairfax at Embassy Row 6 & 7Finland - Nordic Foods 120First Lady Michelle Obama and Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II 42Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts 10 & 56

Hay Adams 11, 124 & 125Helga’s Catering 123Hungary - Herend 96

Iceland - Nordic Foods 120InterContinental New York Barclay 1InterContinental - Willard InterContinental Washington, DC 1InterContinental Los Angeles Century City 2

InterContinental Cleveland 3InTouch USA Wireless Communications 117

Jim Coleman Cadillac 22 & 23Jumeirah Essex House in Manhattan, New York 128

LPC Commercial Services, Inc. - Real Estate 4 & 5

New Zealand, Embassy of 110Norway - Nordic Foods 120

[The] Peninsula Beverly Hills* INSIDE FRONT COVER, 77, 126 & 127[The] Peninsula Chicago* INSIDE FRONT COVER [The] Peninsula New York* INSIDE FRONT COVER & 86

Saudi Arabian Airlines 118 & 119Sofitel Chicago Water Tower 8 & 9Sweden - Nordic Foods 120Swissotel Hotels and Resorts Chicago* BACK COVER & 109

United Nations, Ban Ki-moon’s Reappointment 33United Nations, Naomi Watts & Alicia Keys 100US Limo System 41

Washington Hospital Center 55White House, President Obama’s State Visits 14White House, Defense Secretary Gates leaving office 36White House, Mongolian President Elbegdorj 112White House, President Obama welcomes German Chancellor Merkel to Washington 44

Wings Jets 6 & 7

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDawn Parker

AssIsTANTs TO THE EDITORChanel Cherry

Ashley Gatewood

ADVERTIsING EXECUTIVEsDwight Boswell, Sara Doremus, Kendra Edmonds,

Reina Gabbud, Erin Ladd, Steve Yarborough

EXECUTIVE AssIsTANTKyle Byram

DEsIGN & CREATIVEKDG Advertising, Design & Marketing

Laura Socha – [email protected]

DIPLOMATIC CORREsPONDENTsand CONTRIBUTING WRITERs

Roland Flamini, James Winship, PhD, Mark KennedyMichelle Parish, Caroline Barker

To contact an advertising executiveCALL: 202.536.4810FAX: 202.370.6882

EMAIL: [email protected]

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Marc Highbloom, Vice [email protected]

Maria D’Urso, Project [email protected]

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERsChristophe Avril, Gustavo Gargallo,

Tahgrid Elbaba, Maja Thyssen Raaberg

To order photos from the events go to:www.diplomaticconnections.com

Send any name or address changes in writing to:Diplomatic Connections

4410 Massachusetts Avenue / #200Washington, DC 20016

Diplomatic Connections Business Editionis published bi-monthly.

Diplomatic Connections does not endorse any of the goods or services offered herein this publication.

Copyright 2011 by Diplomatic ConnectionsAll rights reserved.

Cover photo credits: Main photo on cover of Angelina Jolie, Claire Truscott/AFP/Getty Images; Photo above of Angelina and Brad, Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images; President Obama with German Chancellor Merkel, Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images; Chinese vice-president Xi Jipping and Mongolian prime minister Sukbaatar Batbold, Liu Jin/AFP/Getty Images; President Obama and Queen Elizabeth, Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty Images; Naomi Watts, Hugh Jackman and Isla Fisher, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic; Ban Ki-moon takes oath, UN photo/ Eskinder Debebe; Prince William, Duchess Catherine and Prince Harry, Indigo/Getty Images; Alicia Keys and Tinie Tempah performing, Dave J Hogan/Getty Images; Mongolian Airlines President and CEO Orkhon Tseyenoidov (L) and Kim Pastega, Boeing Commercial airplanes Vice President and General Manager of the 767 program shaking hands, Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images; Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt visit refugees in the village of Medjedja, Bosnia, Amel Emric/AFP/Getty Images; Joseph Richter, Four Seasons Hotel, Christophe Avril, Diplomatic Connections.

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Rarely have two nations been so fixated over defining their bi-lateral relations as Britain

and the United States. President Barack Obama’s state visit to London with First Lady Michelle Obama in June was the occasion for both sides to trot out several variations on the familiar theme. An op-ed page article in The Times of London, signed jointly by the president and Prime Minister David Cameron, spoke of “a special relationship,” “an essential relationship,” and a “natural partnership.” Speaking at the lavish state banquet given for the Obamas at Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II came up with a triple flavor special. The relationship, the queen said, “is tried, tested, and very special.” The ties that bind the United Kingdom and

d i p l o m at i c c o n n e c t i o n s B U s i n e s s e d i t i o n | J U lY - a U G U s t 2 0 1 1 15

President Barack Obama and First

Lady Michelle Obama attend a State

Banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth

II at Buckingham Palace in London,

England, May 24, 2011.

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Left to right: Queen Elizabeth II, U.S. President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle Obama and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh pose in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace ahead of a State Banquet on May 24, 2011 in London, England. The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, and his wife Michelle were in the UK for a two day State Visit at the invitation of HM Queen Elizabeth II. During the trip they attended a state banquet at Buckingham Palace and the President addressed both houses of parliament at Westminster Hall.


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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama talk with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, U.S. Ambassador Louis Susman and Mrs. Margaret Susman at Winfield House in London, England, May 24, 2011.


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President Barack Obama, assisted by members of the U.S. military, lays a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown

Warrior at Westminster Abbey in London, England,

May 24, 2011.


its former North American colony, the queen said, were

rooted in “our shared history, common language, and our

strong intellectual and cultural links.”

In her nearly 60 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth

has met every U.S. president since Harry Truman; still, the

Obama state visit, which is defined by specific ceremonial

including a big, white-tie banquet, is only the third by an oc-

cupant of the White House in 100 years.

The Obamas spent two nights as the queen’s guests at

Buckingham Palace – another aspect of a state visit by a for-

eign leader – and the president’s “thank you” for the banquet

was a dinner in the queen’s honor at Winfield House, official

residence of the U.S. ambassador to Britain, Louis Susman.

Celebrity guests included Tom Hanks, Oscar winning Brit-

ish actor Colin Firth, soccer star David Beckham, and Harry

Potter author J.K. Rowling. And also, the Mayor of London

Boris Johnson who more or less jokingly asked the president to

pay the huge amount in fines for driving in central London un-

paid by U.S. embassy staffers (the embassy refuses to pay the

new charge designed to reduce congestion, citing diplomatic

immunity). “Could you please write me out a cheque for five

million pounds?” Johnson asked the president.

The president also addressed both houses of the Brit-

ish parliament. Presidents Reagan and Clinton had done the

same, but not in the famed, 600-year-old Westminster Hall –

a signal honor.

Obama covered a range of topics including Afghanistan,

the death of Bin Laden, human rights, and the environment.

He called the Anglo-American relationship “indispensible,”

and said the United States and Britain “remain the greatest

catalysts for global action.”

An audience that included Prime Minister David

Cameron who leads Britain’s coalition of Conservatives and

Liberal-Democrats, Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister

and Liberal-Democrat leader, and three ex-prime ministers

Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and John Major, laughed when

Obama observed that the trans-Atlantic relationship “got off

on the wrong foot with a small scrape about tea and taxes.

There may also have been some hurt feelings when the White

House was set on fire during the War of 1812. But fortunate-

ly, it’s been smooth sailing ever since.”

When the Obamas toured Westminster Abbey, scene of

the recent marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the

president laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier.

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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama receive Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, prior to a dinner in the Queen’s honor at Winfield House in London, England, May 25, 2011.

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President Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth II greet guests, including actor Colin Firth, at a dinner in honor of the Queen at Winfield House in London, England, May 25, 2011. Firth received an 2010 Academy Award for his portrayal of the Queen’s father, King George VI, in The King’s Speech.

President Barack Obama offers a toast to Queen Elizabeth II during a dinner held in the Queen’s honor at Winfield House in London, England, May 25, 2011. Actor Tom Hanks is pictured at left.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama talk with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, before they depart Winfield House in London, England, following a dinner in honor of the Queen, May 25, 2011.

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First Lady Michelle Obama greets

soccer star David Beckham at a

dinner in honor of Queen Elizabeth

II at Winfield House in London,

England, May 25, 2011.

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Besides the pomp and circumstance of a state visit, Obama and

Cameron had bi-lateral talks on common issues, including finding

a political solution in Afghanistan. It was revealed recently that the

Obama administration has had preliminary talks with the Taliban.

Both leaders agreed on the need to persuade other NATO allies to join

the military offensive in Libya in the hope of pressuring Libyan leader

Col. Moammar Gaddafi to step down. Another item on their agenda

was the eternal Israeli-Palestinian standoff in which the Cameron

government is tougher than the White House on Israel’s position,

including building more settlements on the occupied West Bank.

The Obama’s European trip had started in Ireland where the

president had words of encouragement for the Irish facing an eco-

nomic crisis, visited the village of Moneygall, home of his maternal

great-great-grandfather, and quaffed Guinness in a Moneygall pub.

Obama’s other stops were Deauville, France, to attend a meet-

ing of the G8 – the eight richest industrial nations -- and Poland.

In Deauville, the focus was on the current turmoil in the Arab

world. The meeting decided to aid Tunisia and Egypt as both coun-

tries prepared for their first free democratic elections in decades.

And Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev volunteered his govern-

ment as a mediator between Gaddafi and Libyan rebels, and the

offer was accepted.

The president wrapped up his European tour in Warsaw, where

he reassured a gathering of Eastern European leaders that his efforts

to “reset” relations with Russia would not come at the expense of the

security of Poland or other nations in the former Iron Curtain area. n

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President Barack Obama talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron following their joint press conference at Lancaster House in London, England, May 25, 2011.

President Barack Obama and British

Prime Minister David Cameron walk

together following their joint press

conference at Lancaster House in

London, England, May 25, 2011.


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President Barack Obama

works on his speech to

Parliament, at Buckingham

Palace in London, England,

May 25, 2011.


President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama talk with Irish President Mary McAleese and Dr. Martin McAleese during a courtesy call in the Drawing Room at the President’s residence in Dublin, Ireland, May 23, 2011.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet Henry Healy, the President’s distant cousin, after arriving in Moneygall, Ireland, May 23, 2011. The President and First Lady were also welcomed by Counselor Danny Owens, Chair Offaly County, and Counselor John Kennedy, Chair Tipperary County, center.

Above: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama arrive in Moneygall, Ireland, May 23, 2011.

Right: First Lady Michelle Obama greets local residents on Main Street in Moneygall, Ireland, May 23, 2011.

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President Barack Obama talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron before the start of the working G8 dinner in Deauville, France, May 26, 2011.

President Barack Obama jokes with Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communication, aboard Air Force One en route from London, England, to the G8 Summit in Deauville, France, May 26, 2011. Mike McFaul, Senior Director for Russian and Central Asian Affairs, left, and Director of Communications Dan Pfeiffer laugh with them.

President Barack Obama, French

President Nicolas Sarkozy, and European Commission President

José Manuel Barroso greet people on the

street before attending the G8 Summit in

Deauville, France, May 26, 2011.

President Barack Obama talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during the G8 Summit in Deauville, France, May 27, 2011.


President Barack Obama and President Bronislaw Komorowski of Poland participate in the arrival ceremony in the courtyard of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, May 28, 2011.

President Barack Obama meets with President Bronislaw Komorowski at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, May 27, 2011.

Above: President Barack Obama talks with family members of the victims of the Smolensk plane crash during his visit to the Field Cathedral of the Polish Military in

Warsaw, Poland, May 28, 2011.

Right: President Barack Obama and President Bronislaw Komorowski of Poland greet young people during a democracy discussion event at the Presidential Palace

in Warsaw, Poland, May 28, 2011.

Director of Protocol Krzystof Krajewski

and Ambassador Lee Feinstein, right, wave to President Barack Obama

as boards Air Force One before departing

Warsaw, Poland, May 28, 2011.

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Ban Ki-moon (centre right) takes the oath of office administered by

Joseph Deiss (centre left), President of the sixty-fifth

session of the General Assembly, as he is sworn

in for a second term as Secretary-General.

Standing to the right of Mr. Ban is Desmond Parker,

UN Chief of Protocol.

The General Assembly re-appointed Mr. Ban by acclamation for a

five-year term, to begin January 1, 2012.


pon the unanimous recommendation of the United

Nations Security Council, including all five permanent

members – China, France, the Russian Federation, the United

Kingdom, and the United States – the 192 members of the

United Nations General Assembly voted by consensus to reap-

point Ban Ki-moon to a second five-year term as United

Nations Secretary General. His new term of office will officially

begin January 1, 2012 and end on December 31, 2016. Mr.

Ban immediately took the oath of office with his right hand

raised and his left hand on the original copy of the United

Nations Charter signed at the San Francisco Conference on

June 26, 1945. This copy of the Charter was provided through

the courtesy of the National Archives of the United States.

General Assembly President, former Swiss President

Joseph Deiss, saluted Mr. Ban’s “loyalty, discretion, and

conscience.” “These are the qualities that you swore to exercise

when you took your oath of office. These qualities were not

just words. For the past five years, on a daily basis, they have

truly guided you in your work.” Gabon’s Ambassador Noel

Nelson Messoe, who held the rotating Security Council presi-

dency for the month of June, introduced the draft resolution to

re-elect Ban by praising the Secretary General’s determination

to work on every continent to promote peace and develop-

ment, justice, and international security “remarkably and with

all objectivity and independence…sometimes in particularly

difficult and trying circumstances.”

Procedurally, the selection process was identical with the

procedures followed in the selection of former Secretary Gen-

eral Kofi Annan’s successor in 2006. Then, too, Ban Ki-moon

emerged as the unanimous, save one abstention, recommen-

dation of the Security Council and was duly approved by the

General Assembly without dissent. Politically, however, the

two selection processes could not have been more different.

This year there were no other candidates for the Secretary

General’s position. But, in 2006, as the charismatic Kofi Annan

was preparing to leave office, there were seven contenders for

what the first United Nations Secretary General, Trygve Lie

of Norway, described to his successor Dag Hammarskjold of

Sweden as “the most impossible job in the world.”

Then, Mr. Ban was the lone survivor from a selection

process that attracted a solid pool of talent and a months-long

unofficial campaign for office that saw potential Secretary

General’s vying for support from major world governments and

members of the Security Council. Included among that list of

candidates were: career United Nations diplomat and author,

Sashi Tharoor of India; Jayanthi Dhanapala, a Sri Lankan

diplomat with long experience at the United Nations; Ashraf

Ghani, former finance minister in the Afghan government;

Prince Zeid al-Hussein, Jordan’s ambassador to the United

Nations; Surakiart Sathirathai, former deputy prime minister

of Thailand and backed by the ten nations of the Southeast

Asian regional bloc – ASEAN; President Vaira Vike-Freiberga,

President of Latvia; and Mr. Ban, then South Korea’s Minister of

Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Members of the Security

Council adopted by acclama-

tion a resolution recom-

mending Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon for a second

term of office, starting on

January 1, 2012 and ending

on December 31, 2016.

Under Article 97 of the UN

Charter, the Security Council

makes a recommendation

and then the General

Assembly makes a decision

on the appointment on

June 17, 2011.

Yoo Soon-taek (centre), wife of Ban Ki-moon, is pictured in the audience as the General Assembly re-appoints Mr. Ban to a second term as UN Secretary-General.

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In 2006, Ban became the consensus choice of the Secu-

rity Council only as a series of informal straw polls made it

clear that he had the most consistent and widespread support.

Now, in 2011, Mr. Ban was the unchallenged candidate of all

the major powers and each

of the regional groupings

at the U.N. – with only the

briefest reluctance expressed

by the Latin American

group, praised for his

“bridge building” and travel

intensive diplomatic style,

respected for his initial ef-

forts at reform of the United

Nations administrative

system, and valued for his

insistent efforts to bring cli-

mate change to the forefront

of international attention.

Ambassador Susan

Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations,

welcomed Secretary General Ban’s reappointment. “No one,”

she noted, “understands the burdens of this role better than he,

and my government is grateful that he is willing to continue

to take them on.” “Secretary Ban,” she continued, “has been a

champion of peace and security, an advocate for development,

and a voice for universal human rights. He has spoken out

with compassion for Haiti, for democracy in Côte d’Ivoire, and

for the responsibility to protect in Libya. He has urged us all

to confront the common challenge of climate change. He has

already made important changes, such as hiring more women

for senior posts and proposing the deepest reduction in the

U.N.’s budget in more than a decade. Under his leadership,

the United Nations has launched the Global Field Support

Strategy, created an ethics office, and merged four disparate

bodies into the important new agency UN Women. But far

more work awaits the Secretary General in his second term.

We look forward to working with him and his senior leader-

ship team.”

In his remarks to the General Assembly immediately after

his reappointment, Secretary General Ban began by thanking

the representatives of all the member states. “Standing in this

place, mindful of the immense legacy of my predecessors, I am

humbled by your trust and enlarged by our sense of common

purpose.” He then proceeded to catalog the achievements of

his first term and to set an agenda for the second. Noting that,

“A clear time frame lies ahead: the target date for the Millenni-

um Development Goals in 2015, next year’s Rio +20 (Climate)

Conference, the high-level meeting on nuclear safety in Sep-

tember and the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul next year,”

Mr. Ban insisted that “our ultimate power is partnership. Our

legacy, such as it may be, will be written in alliance – the lead-

ers of the world, leading in

common cause.” He indi-

cated that he would reach

out to member states for

their views and ideas on the

way ahead and promised

to deliver a “broad long-

term vision to the General

Assembly in September”

followed by “a detailed ac-

tion plan for realizing those

goals” as he begins his new

five-year term in January.

Though not known for

his sense of humor, Mr. Ban

was able both to induce a

bit of laughter and introduce a trenchant insight into the work-

ings of the United Nations during his brief acceptance speech.

Noting that he had taken the oath of office on the original

signed copy of the United Nations Charter, he recalled how

at the time of its signing, the document had been flown from

San Francisco to Washington outfitted with its own parachute.

“No such consideration,” Ban noted, “was given to the diplo-

mat accompanying it; he had to take his chances.” Perhaps the

same could be said of Secretary General’s position today? The

UN Charter is a treasured foundational document of interna-

tional law, but the Secretary General has to confront a tumultu-

ous world without a parachute! n

Joseph Deiss (right), President of the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly, meets with Ban Ki-moon after swearing in Mr. Ban for a second term as UN Secretary-General.

Ban Ki-moon (front, right) waits with Desmond Parker (beside Mr. Ban), UN Chief of Protocol, to be sworn in before the General Assembly for a second term as UN Secretary-General.

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President Barack Obama and Cabinet members

applaud Defense Secretary Robert Gates on the

successful mission against Osama Bin Laden,

during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room

of the White House, May 3, 2011.

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The most unexpected alliance within the Obama Administration has been

the double act of Hillary Clinton, U.s. secretary of state, and Defense secretary Robert Gates. Coming after the open hostility of Donald Rumsfeld’s Pentagon towards Foggy Bottom, the level of cooperation between Republican Gates and Democratic presidential candidate Clinton raised eyebrows in Washington political circles. The Washington Post called them “Washington’s Odd Couple.” The two secretaries traveled together to Moscow and elsewhere in the interests of Barack Obama’s foreign policy. “We didn’t get the memo that we were supposed to be diametrically opposed on everything,” secretary Clinton said recently. Gates has even taken the unheard of step for a Defense secretary of appearing before Congress in support of the state Depart-ment budget. Aside from the obvious personal chemistry, Gates had a distinct purpose in supporting the American diplomatic effort. He recognized – as he said at the conservative think tank The American

By Roland Flamini

importance of diplomacy is solving problems,” and thus in

avoiding further demands on American military resources

already stretched almost to the limit by two major wars, and

— as seen in the Libyan situation — reluctant to take on more

conflicts.

Gates stepped down in June after four and a half years as

Defense Secretary. President Obama has picked Leon Panetta,

lately director of the Central Intelligence Agency, to be Gates’s

successor. It remains to be seen whether Panetta and Hillary

Clinton can replicate the same rapport that she enjoyed with

Gates. But meanwhile, in remarks prior to his departure Gates

laid the broad lines of his legacy — and in so doing set out the

problems facing the 23rd civilian head of America’s military

establishment.

At AEI, Gates did not mention Panetta, but opened his

remarks with what could be a warning to his successor of

what to expect from the military. “From the early months,”

Gates said, “I ran up against institutional obstacles in the

Pentagon — cultural, procedural, ideological — to getting

done what needed to get done on behalf of those fighting

the wars we are in, whether it was outpatient care for the

wounded; armored troop transports; medevac; ramping up

intelligence; surveillance and reconnaissance support; or any

number of urgent battlefield needs.”

The narrative of Gates’ tenure is in two phases: the first

being management of the Iraq and Afghan conflicts — the

successful troop surge against the insurgency in the first, but

mixed results despite increased U.S. and NATO numbers and

second, with the later and more challenging phase being —

putting in place the mechanism to meet President Obama’s

imposed goal of cutting $400 billion out of the defense budget

over the next 12 years as part of the administration’s economic

recovery effort — a tall order considering that the defense

budget this year is $530 billion, the highest since World War

II, adjusted for inflation.

None of these issues is being handed to Panetta signed,

sealed and delivered by Gates. Though the Iraq withdrawal

is underway, the Obama administration (Gates says) is still

hoping for a last minute invitation from the Baghdad govern-

ment to retain a sizeable U.S. force in Iraq to strengthen the

country’s own military, reassure Iraq’s Gulf neighbors, and

frustrate any plans that Iran might have to extend its influence

further in Baghdad.

In Afghanistan, the internal debate over a full-blown of-

fensive to pacify the country versus more limited


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President Barack Obama waits in the Blue Room of the White House before announcing personnel changes in the East Room, April 28, 2011. Standing

with the President, from left, are: Vice President Joe Biden, Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and General David Petraeus.


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counterinsurgency operations against al-Qaida was still

going on in the administration even as the president had

set a pullout date of 2014.

As for defense budget cuts, the most obvious ones have

already been made. Gates said at AEI that he had launched

a reform of “the (Defense) department’s buying culture.” His

main target was the spending spree “with no questions asked”

following 9/11. The low hanging fruit, the most obviously

vulnerable weapons programs that had unproven technology

or “did not pass the test of rationality” had “not only been

plucked, they have been stomped on and crushed,” he said.

In this way, thirty weapons programs were cancelled

that would have cost $300 billion to complete, including the

Army’s $200 billion (so far) Future Combat System which

relied on flat-bottomed, lightweight vehicles hugely vulnerable

to improvised explosive devices, plus the airborne missile

defense laser, and the controversial presidential helicopter.

That Army stalwart the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, together

with the Apache attack helicopter, and the F-15 fighter – all

products of an earlier, Reagan-era weapons build-up – still

define today’s American military. But they are worn out

from use in Iraq and Afghanistan -- though still better than

what any foreign army can deploy in the same category. New

investments have to be found for a new refueling tanker for

the Air Force (“The ones we have are twice as old as many of

the pilots flying them”), a new strike fighter, an Army ground

combat vehicle, and more ships for the depleted U.S. Navy –

but using “proven technology that can be produced on time

and on budget.” Even so, expenditure remains astronomical.

The new submarine due to enter service cost $5 billion per

submarine and the U.S. Navy would have 12 of them.

In looking for further deficit-reduction targets, Gates

continued, there can be “no sacred cows.” High levels of

compensation and retirement benefits, though deserved, are

unsustainable and will have to be looked at – as will the cost

of health services because “everybody knows that we’re being

eaten alive by health care.” Gates said, “Massive administrative

and support bureaucracies” both within the Pentagon and at

other military centers would also have to shrink.

Even so, Gates said the way to do it was not by across-

the-board cuts as had happened in the past. “Math exercises,”

he said, should be replaced by the more rational approach

of “identifying options.” A Pentagon review ordered by Gates

will look at those options and make further cost-cutting rec-

ommendations.

But whatever the approach, Gates conceded the reality

that a pared down military “will be able to go fewer places

and be able to do fewer things.” For decades, the cornerstone

of U.S. military thinking has been the ability to fight two

simultaneous wars. This is what is happening now. But will

this thinking survive the anticipated reductions in defense

spending? “If we are going to reduce the resources and the

size of the U.S. military, people need to make conscious

choices about what the implications are for the security of the

country, as well as for the variety of military operations we

have around the world if lower-priority missions are scaled

back or eliminated,” Gates declared. “They need to under-

stand what it could mean for a smaller pool of troops and

their families if America is forced into a protracted land war

again -- yeah, the kind that no secretary of defense should

recommend anytime soon, but one we may not be able to

avoid. To shirk this discussion of risks and consequences

and the hard decisions that must follow, I would regard as

managerial cowardice.”

On the face of it, Europe, especially western Europe,

looks like a good candidate for serious reductions. The

United States no longer has a Soviet enemy to guard against.

Threats against the United States are more mobile and

less state-based. Yet interestingly, Gates didn’t think any

defense cut-backs would greatly affect American bases in

Europe where three U.S. combat brigades are deployed. The

investments have already been made in Europe, he argued.

“bringing (the troops) home and setting them up” would only

require further expense.

Almost his last act as secretary was to travel to Singapore

to reassure a meeting of such worried U.S. allies as Japan and

South Korea that America “will continue to play an indispens-

able role in the stability of the region.” But the assurances from

Gates for the future were somewhat overshadowed by

a present reality. Present at the meeting was a high-level

delegation from China which is expanding its military

capabilities even as the United States is reducing its own. n


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When the Danish Royal Ballet performed “A Folk Tale”

at Washington’s Kennedy Center in June the audience

included one of the company’s former costume designers, who

also happens to be Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II. She and

husband Prince Henrik had timed a U.S. trip to coincide with

the ballet’s Washington appearance and were on hand for a

rehearsal as well as the first performance.

“A Folk Tale’ has a special significance for Queen Margrethe.

An accomplished artist, she designed the costumes for an

earlier production of the work, one of the best known Danish

alternatives to classical ballet’s mainstream repertoire, such

as “Swan Lake” and “Les Sylphides.” The costumes of the

“Folk Tale” performed in Washington, however, were of a

more recent vintage and the work of another designer.

As this was not a state visit no meeting with President

Obama was envisioned. Still, the royal couple’s itinerary in-

cluded a brief visit to the White House for coffee with First Lady

Michelle Obama: They also toured the Phillips Collection (and

later the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York), and

took in the Library of Congress where they were shown early

editions of Hans Christian Anderson’s fables. The House Minor-

ity Whip, Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer, whose father was

Danish-born, was their guide on a tour of the Capitol.

On June 9th, Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik

travelled to New York to visit the United Nations and tour

the Trusteeship Council Chamber, which is currently being

refurbished as part of the United Nations Capital Master

Plan. The Chamber was designed by the Danish architect

and designer Finn Juhl (1912-1989) and was furnished by

Denmark in 1951 and opened in 1952. On December 10,

2010, Denmark donated US$3 million for the renovation.

Then as the queen returned home, Prince Henrik crossed the

United States to enjoy the theme park-like Solvang, near Santa

Barbara, California, that replicates a small town in Denmark. n

Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II Visits Washington, DC and New York

First Lady Michelle Obama has coffee

with the Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in the

Yellow Oval Room of the White House,

June 8, 2011.

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Making a Worldof Difference

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British School of Washington


Left: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

Below: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (front, left) and Michael Adlerstein (front, right), Executive Director of the Capital Master Plan (CMP), accompany Queen Margrethe II of Denmark (centre) through a tour of the Trusteeship Council Chamber, which is being renovated as part of the United Nations CMP. The Trusteeship Council Chamber, designed by the Danish architect and furniture designer Finn Juhl (1912-1989), was furnished by Denmark in 1951. It opened in 1952. On 10 December 2010, Denmark donated US$3 million for the renovation of the Chamber.

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US President Barack Obama (R) and First Lady Michelle Obama (2nd-L) greet German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2nd-R) and her husband Joachim Sauer (L) at the North Portico of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 7, 2011 for the State Dinner. Obama warned Europe’s debt crisis must not destabilize the global economy, as he laid on a lavish and warm White House welcome for Merkel. Obama said he and Merkel had extensive talks about the plight of debt-stricken Greece, which needs a second huge financial bailout, despite some reluctance from some eurozone members to stump up fresh funds.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel [pronounced ahn-GAY-la M-AIR-kl,

according to the Voice of America pronuncia-tion guide] received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in a recent official visit to Washington, D.C. Her visit to Washington included meetings with Obama, highlighted by a surprising dinner for two at 1789 in Georgetown the evening before the official state dinner, discussions with other high ranking U.S. government officials, as well as the formal White House state dinner served al fresco, to the steaminess of an early summer heat wave Je

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By James A. Winship, Ph.D.


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US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her husband Joachim Sauer at the North Portico of the White

House in Washington, DC, on June 7, 2011 for the State Dinner.


and the emerging stars in a darkening sky. While the stated

reason for the visit was to receive the Medal of Freedom

Award, the clear purpose was to renew and strengthen rela-

tions between the United States and Germany at a time when

Germany and its strong economy are taking an increasingly

important leadership role in the European Union and among

the G8 and G20 economies.

The Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor

bestowed by the United States, presented to individuals who

have made especially meritorious contributions to the secu-

rity or national interests of the United States, to world peace,

or to cultural or other

significant public or private

endeavors. Commenting at

the time the awardees were

announced in November

2010, President Obama

observed that, “all of them

have lived extraordinary

lives that have inspired

us, enriched our culture,

and made our country and

our world a better place.”

Among the international

recipients of the award have

been Pope John Paul II (Vatican), Nelson Mandela (South

Africa), Margaret Thatcher (United Kingdom), Vaclav Havel

(then, Czechoslovakia), Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia), John

Howard (Australia), Mary Robinson (Ireland), and German

Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Angela Merkel is the first woman to serve as Chancellor

of Germany and the first Chancellor to have come from the

former East Germany. She was educated in East Germany

and studied physics at the University of Leipzig, subsequently

earning a doctorate in quantum chemistry from the Central

Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Sci-

ences in Berlin. As a student, Merkel was active both in the

government-sponsored Free German Youth Movement (FDJ)

and in unofficial student groups. After the fall of the Berlin

Wall in 1989, she joined the new political party Democratic

Awakening, eventually emerging as the deputy spokesperson

for the pre-unification East German caretaker government.

In the first post-unification general elections, Merkel was

elected to the Bundestag from a constituency in the former

East Germany, which has remained her electoral district

throughout her political career. After her political party

merged with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she

quickly became a protégée of German Chancellor Helmut

Kohl, serving first as Minister for Women and Youth and

subsequently as Minister for Environment and Nuclear Safety.

Following the defeat of the Kohl government in 1998, Merkel

emerged as Secretary General of the CDU and something

of an oddity – a Protestant leader in a party and a coali-

tion traditionally led by men and with deep Catholic roots

in western and southern Germany. Merkel first assumed

the Chancellor’s position in 2005 after a virtual dead heat

election that left both of Germany’s major parties claiming

victory but neither of them able to successfully assemble a

ruling coalition. After

three weeks of wrangling,

Merkel emerged at the

head of a grand coalition

government in which she

was named Chancellor but

the parties agreed to divide

the major government

ministries equally. She

was reelected in the 2009

German elections with a

larger majority and was

able to form a center-right

governing coalition with

the Free Democratic Party, without the support of the Social

Democratic Party.

In his after dinner remarks honoring the Chancellor,

President Obama reflected, “Tonight we honor Angela Merkel

not for being denied her freedom, or even for attaining her

freedom, but for what she achieved when she gained freedom.

Determined to finally have her say, she entered politics – rising

to become the first East German to lead a united Germany, the

first woman Chancellor in German history, and an eloquent

voice for human rights and dignity around the world.”

Responding to the President’s remarks, Chancellor

Merkel recalled that the first political event she remembered

was the building of the Berlin Wall fifty years ago. “I grew up

in the part of Germany that was not free, the German Demo-

cratic Republic. For many years I dreamt of freedom, just

as many others did.” But, she continued, “The yearning for

freedom cannot be contained by walls for long. It was this

yearning that brought down the Iron Curtain that divided

Germany and Europe, and indeed the world, into two blocs.

Also today, the yearning for freedom may well make totalitar-

ian regimes tremble and fall. Freedom is indivisible. Each

and every one has the same right to freedom, be it in North

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Africa or Belarus, in Myanmar or Iran.”

As he welcomed Chancellor Merkel to

Washington, President Obama noted that,

“Today marks the first official visit and State

Dinner for a European leader during my

presidency. It’s only fitting. The transatlantic

alliance is the cornerstone — the heart — of

our efforts to promote peace and prosperity

around the world. And Germany — at the heart

of Europe — is one of our strongest allies. And

Chancellor Merkel is one of my closest global

partners.” Chancellor Merkel responded in an

unusually personal tone, referring to President

Obama and the First Lady as “dear Barack”

and “dear Michelle,” and displaying a warmth

between the two leaders that has not always

been apparent as the United States and Germany

have on occasion disagreed on critical questions

of regional diplomacy and international security.

At their joint press conference, Chancellor

Merkel thanked President Obama for his warm

reception and remarked that, “Without the Unit-

ed States of America, I would in all probability

not be able to stand here before you today. Over-

coming the Cold War required courage from the

people of Central and Eastern Europe and what

was then the German Democratic Republic [East

Germany, then under Communist Party rule],

but it also required the steadfastness of Western

partners over many decades when many had long

lost hope of integration of the two Germanys and

Europe. But the then-President George Herbert

Walker Bush said German unity, European unity,

is indeed something that deserves our support.”

In response to a question posed to

President Obama asking whether the award

of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to

Chancellor Merkel represented not only an

acknowledgement of her accomplishments in

the past but also an expression of the expectations he would

have for the future of U.S.-German relations, the President

responded that, “the Medal of Freedom certainly is a recogni-

tion of the Chancellor’s remarkable career. I think not only

has she been an excellent steward of the German economy

and the European project, but she represents the unification

of Europe through her own life story and the capacity to

overcome the past and point toward a brighter future.”

“Fortunately,” the President continued, “she’s going to be

around quite a bit longer. Her leadership will be critical

on economic issues in the Euro zone. And I very much

compliment her on the courage with which she approaches

very difficult political issues, at some significant political

costs to herself.”

While many issues were discussed during the Chancellor’s

Washington visit, two emerged as central to the conversation

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US President Barack Obama speaks during a State Dinner for German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, June 7, 2011.


— the looming financial crisis in Europe as the Greek,

Portuguese, and Irish economies face severe debt problems

requiring bailouts from the European Central Bank and

challenging the solidarity of the European Union itself; and

the question of Germany’s reluctance to support NATO oper-

ations designed to bring about the fall of the Gaddafi regime

in Libya. Chancellor Merkel and President Obama finessed

whatever tensions might exist between their countries with

careful responses that bridged any differences of opinion.

In response to questions from the press, Obama stressed

the critical relationship between the economic difficulties

confronting Europe and the economic stress under which

the American economy has found itself in recent years. He

expressed concern that the European Union agree to take

action to further assist Greece in its debt crisis and observed

that Germany “is going to be a key leader in that process.”

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For her part, Chancellor Merkel acknowledged the interde-

pendence of the global economy and the importance of the

stability of the Euro. “If a country is in danger and thereby

endangers the Euro as a whole, it is in each and every coun-

try’s vested interest to see to it that this common currency is

not endangered. And we will act in such a way that sustain-

ability is guaranteed.”

On the Libya question, President Obama acknowledged

Germany’s expanded role in Afghanistan and noted that this

made it possible for other NATO countries to make greater

contributions to the Libyan effort. He added that, “It is

important to note that this is a NATO operation that’s fully

integrated, which means you have German personnel who

are involved actively in these activities in their NATO role.”

Chancellor Merkel reiterated Germany’s support for the United

Nations resolution calling for President Gaddafi to step down.

“Gaddafi needs to step down and he will step down.” Asked

whether the Libyan situation has “burdened” U.S.-German

relations, the Chancellor observed that though there may be

differences of opinion between friends and partners, “What’s im-

portant is that we wish each other every success. For example,

we [Germany] participated in UNIFIL

[United Nations operations in Lebanon]

where the United States is not partici-

pating. Without mixing things up here,

there will be areas in the world where we

shoulder different responsibilities.”

In a lighter vein, both leaders

made elliptical references to alleged

tensions between them arising from the

2008 American presidential campaign

when Obama brought his campaign

operation to Germany for a major foreign

policy speech, and Chancellor Merkel

denied him the dramatic backdrop of the

Brandenburg Gate – where both Presi-

dents Kennedy and Reagan had made

their now famous speeches of solidarity

with the people of Berlin and Germany.

At that time, the Chancellor made clear

that she disapproved of employing this

iconic image of German division and

reunification as a campaign backdrop.

Subsequently, President Obama turned

down an invitation from Merkel to at-

tend ceremonies observing the twentieth

anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall,

an action many Germans interpreted as a snub to Merkel and

a diplomatic misstep.

Noting that Obama had been to Germany several times,

Merkel offered that, “Berlin opens its arms to him every day.”

Obama riposted that the last time he had been in Berlin, “We

had a lot of fun. And I’m sure that I’ll have a wonderful time

the next time I’m there as well. And I appreciate you assum-

ing that I’ll have another term. So I’ll have plenty of time to

be able to put Berlin on my schedule.” Not to be cheated

out of the last word, Merkel assured the President that “the

Brandenburg Gate will be standing for some time more.”

Chancellor Merkel wrapped up her Washington visit

very nicely in her exchange of toasts with President Obama.

“We see,” she reminded her audience, “that living in freedom

and defending freedom are two sides of one and the same

coin, for the precious gift of freedom doesn’t come naturally

but has to be fought for, nurtured, and defended time and

time again. Sometimes this may seem like an endless fight

against windmills. But, you see, my personal experience is

quite a different one. What we dare to dream of today may

well become reality tomorrow.” n

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ABC News host Diane Sawyer stands alongside Google chairman Eric Schmidt (L) during a State Dinner for German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted by US President Barack

Obama in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, June 7, 2011.

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O n June 22, 2011, Canadian Ambassador Gary Doer hosted a reception in honour of Mr. Rick Hansen,

Canada’s Man In Motion, and three distinguished guests: Dr. susan Harkema, Dr. Robert Grossman and Ms Judith Heumann. At 15 years of age, Rick Hansen sustained a spinal cord injury that paralyzed him from the waist down. Undaunted, he adjusted his dreams and went on to win 19 international wheelchair marathons and six medals as a Paralympian, among many other achievements. In 1985

By Caro l ine Barker

Embassy of Canada

Rick Hansen, Gary Doer, Canada’s Ambassador to the United States, Shannon-Marie Soni, Cultural Counsellor, Embassy of Canada

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he set a new goal: raising awareness of the potential of people with

disabilities. Through his Man In Motion world tour, Rick wheeled

more than 24,800 miles through 34 countries – including the

United States. Along the way, he raised $26 million for spinal cord

research and opened new doors for people with disabilities. Upon

his return, he established the Rick Hansen Foundation to advance

innovation in scientific research for

spinal cord injuries and accessibility.

In celebration of the 25th anniver-

sary of the Man In Motion world tour,

Rick returned to five countries from his

original tour: Australia, China, Israel,

Jordan and the United States. In each

country, he has recognized individuals

who have made significant contributions

in the areas of accessibility, inclusivity,

research & development and service

above self, through the presentation of

“Difference Maker Awards.”

While at the Embassy, Rick recog-

nised three outstanding Americans with

his Difference Maker Award: Dr. Susan

Rick Hansen and Judith Heumann (Center), Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the US Department of State and recipient of Rick Hansen’s Difference Maker Award

Dr. Susan Harkema, Director of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation’s Neurorecovery Network and the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Centre, received Rick Hansen’s Difference Maker Award on Wednesday evening at a reception at the Embassy of Canada.

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Harkema, Dr. Robert Grossman and Ms Judith Heumann. Dr.

Harkema is the Director of the Christopher and Dana Reeve

Foundation’s Neurorecovery Network and the Kentucky Spi-

nal Cord Injury Research Centre. She is a pioneer of locomo-

tor training whose research may provide strategies that can be

used by physical therapists for the rehabilitation of walking

for patients after neurologic injury.

Dr. Robert Grossman is the co-founder and Director of

the Methodist Neurological Institute. He is also a leading

voice in the development of guidelines for the conduct of

clinical trials for treatments of spinal cord injuries. The North

American Clinical Trials Network, which he formed, tests

new therapies for spinal cord injuries.

Ms. Judith Heumann is the Special Advisor for Inter-

national Disability Rights at the U.S. Department of State.

She helped draft the Americans with Disabilities Act, widely

recognised as one of the most important pieces of civil rights

legislation in past decades. n

For more information about Rick Hansen,

the Rick Hansen Foundation and

Difference Makers, please visit:

www.diplomaticconnections.com

and click on: www.rickhansen.com

Judith Heumann (Center), Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the US Department of State and recipient of Rick Hansen’s Difference Maker Award

Look past the monuments and the museums and you’ll fi nd one of the nation’s top hospitals.

Located just three miles from the nation’s capitol is another national treasure —

Washington Hospital Center. With 1,600 dedicated physicians, the Hospital Center

is a leader in the research, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular and neurological disease,

cancer, endocrine disorders, kidney disease, and geriatric and respiratory care. All this plus

convenient services like valet parking make a trip into the city well worth your while.

For an appointment with an experienced specialist, call our International Services offi ce at (202) 877-2102.

www.WHCenter.org

WHC6492_USnews_8.5x11.indd 1 11/4/09 2:55:09 PM

55


Sixty events a week means mountains of hors d’oeuvres and every season is a busy one for the Four Seasons Hotel catering department

When Joseph J. Richter, Director of Catering at Washington’s Four seasons Hotel, talks about “doing the wave” he doesn’t mean the rippling salute performed by fans in soccer stadiums. “The wave” is also a term of art to

describe the choreography of serving food (and some-times drinks) at a reception. Waiters enter the room in pairs, separate to move in opposite semi-circles offering canapés and hors d’oeuvres to the guests, and come together again with empty platters to exit on the opposite side. Twenty-five percent of the Four seasons’ cater-ing business is with Washington’s foreign


Joseph J. RichterDirector of CateringFour Seasons HotelWashington, D.C.

embassies – national day receptions and other functions -

a fact that helped protect the area’s hotels from the worst

setbacks of the global recession. But – says Richter –

business is picking up in other sectors as well.

Joseph J. Richter: I handle all the event business that

comes from embassies, but that’s only a part of what we do.

I have a department of seven people that actually sells all the

events and meetings that take place in the hotel but do not

have guest rooms attached to them. One group handles the

Middle East and diplomatic business, and the other handles

the rest of the world.

Diplomatic Connections: What is that in terms of

numbers of events?

Joseph J. Richter: We do anywhere between 20 and 60

events a week. That could be receptions, private dinners or

weddings; and that’s all within 17,000 square feet of space on

two lower floors of the hotel. We also do parties outside and

in the spa.

Diplomatic Connections: Do you use the same kitchen

staff that services the hotel guests?

Joseph J. Richter: We have a whole separate catering

service. Wherever you’re going to eat, whether you’re up one

level at the Bourbon Steak restaurant for dinner, or down

two levels for a catered event, the food is all the same. All the

cooks are cross-trained. So someone who does a brunch on

a Sunday could jump in and do a banquet, and then could

work on the line in Bourbon Steak.


From the editor: Diplomatic Connections partnered with the Four Seasons Washington to host another incredibly successful Diplomat Appreciation Reception in May of 2011. Nearly 500 Diplomats and Staff Representatives from Embassies and International Organizations were in attendance.

The Four Seasons excels at creating incredibly lavish and stunning events for their clients. They exemplify the pinnacle of professionalism and with the polished and immaculately refined skills of their talented staff, this unprecedented event represented commend-able execution and grace that unequivocally equaled the dignity of the high-level and distinguished guests who were in attendance.

The illustrative atmosphere and world-class cuisine was an embodiment of impeccable and exquisite style that exceedingly comprised the magnitude of their iconic, world-renowned reputation.

The Four Seasons Washington represents the epitome of perfection and ensures their clients and guests have an experience that is superbly peerless.

For these reasons, Diplomatic Connections joins with Four Seasons in hosting our annual Diplomat Appreciation Reception and Trade Show; one we consider magnificently prosperous far beyond just one evening!

Diplomatic Connections: Do you actually do a lot of

weddings?

Joseph J. Richter: We do Persian weddings, Hindu

weddings, ethnic weddings, same sex weddings – it’s all on

our Website. This year we’ll do about 55. We have no more

Fridays or Saturdays left for the rest of the year -they’re all

taken by weddings. The big, splashy weddings went away

for a while, but they’re back. We do a lot of weddings with

planners and they’ll take up to 36 hours to decorate the hall.

This is the best year for catering in the hotel’s 32-year history.

Diplomatic Connections: Why is that?

Joseph J. Richter: Washington is insulated because the

government is here. As far as corporate business, many local

businesses are doing a lot more meetings. What has changed

is the time-frame. They used to make long term arrangements,

anything up to 12 months. Now, 30 percent of our business

books for the same month. We’ve seen that in the past 18

months. Big conventions coming into town – that business

is down; people are staying closer to home, teleconferencing,

and things like that. But then groups from New York that had

stopped using us, like financial groups, seem to have come

back to life.

Diplomatic Connections: How about the diplomatic

market?

Joseph J. Richter: The first year is very tough when you

bring in a new embassy, and there’s kind of a mistrust because

they don’t know us, or they’ve never been to this hotel. They

know the brand; but not us. Once trust is established, it takes


a phone call and about five seconds - we know what they

like. I would have a Middle Eastern embassy call, or Russia,

and I’ll know exactly what to do and what not to do. They all

are very, very specific about what they want.

Diplomatic Connections: For example…

Joseph J. Richter: There are groups that say, “We want the

party to start at seven o’clock, but you know nobody will show

up before nine. Then, there are groups that say they’ll start at

seven and they’re camped outside at four o’clock. There are

many cases where there are a hundred chiefs and two Indians.

Some groups have to have a certain type of table cloth, or they

don’t like a modern look. You know what kind of flowers not

to use for certain embassies because it’s an insult.

Diplomatic Connections: How so?

Joseph J. Richter: Well, with some Asian countries you

can’t use white flowers because that’s a sign of death. I’ve

been in rooms five minutes before a party and they’re ripping

flowers out of an arrangement because somehow the wires

got crossed.

Diplomatic Connections: Any other problems you want

to mention?

Joseph J. Richter: Well, this happens consistently: one

person will book an event, and on the telephone they can say,

“I love that idea, I love that idea, Yes, go with that.” They’ll

sign off on a proposal, and then someone else will take

charge and they’ll say, “That’s nice, but we’re not serving that,

and we want this…” But we’re used to it. Sometimes, you

cannot judge who’s going to walk through that door and be

in charge.

Diplomatic Connections: What about special food

requirements?

Joseph J. Richter: Our kitchens have staff from many

countries, so we can do phenomenal Thai food, we can do

Russian food, authentically – and if we can’t, we’ll research

it and still blow their socks off. But I will tell you, all Middle

Eastern countries, if they’re having a stand-up reception will

have 90 percent Western food, and they will bring in their

chef from the ambassador’s residence to do one dish – lamb,

things like that.

Diplomatic Connections: Is the preference for Western

food because it’s an experience?

Joseph J. Richter: Exactly, the last thing they want to do is

to come here and have a bad version of their own cuisine.

Diplomatic Connections: What is the largest group that

you’ve had to accommodate?

Joseph J. Richter: 1,200, and we’ve done it for more than

one national day embassy celebration. Embassies rarely take







the entire space we have available; they would rather have the

room look crowded for a reception because then it looks more

successful.

Diplomatic Connections: What about security?

Joseph J. Richter: We have a very large security staff at the

hotel. If there’s a distinguished foreign guest coming to the

party, the Secret Service is likely to be involved.

Diplomatic Connections: Have you ever had the president?

Joseph J. Richter: I actually can’t tell you that. It’s our

policy; we’re really not supposed to say who has been here.

People find out: we cannot verify it.

Diplomatic Connections: Any incidents that you would

care to mention – a fight breaking out at a reception?

Joseph J. Richter: Never had one. I’ve seen the bride kiss

the wrong guy – a little too long, but never a fight.

Diplomatic Connections: Thank you, Mr. Richter. n

If you would like to contact Joseph J. Richter, Director of Catering, for a future event, email:

[email protected] or call: 202.944.2020


US actress and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie gives a press conference in Islamabad. Jolie visited Pakistan’s northwest to draw the world’s attention towards the plight of 21 million people affected by the country’s worst-ever floods. It was the 36-year-old actress’ fourth visit to Pakistan since she became a UNHCR goodwill ambassador in 2001.

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Angelina Jolie may be a major screen star, among the sexiest women in the world, co-star her life with Brad Pitt, and mother to an “assembled” family of

six children – three of them fathered by Pitt and three of them adopted from around

the world, but she has also served as a leading advocate for the cause of refu-gees, displaced persons, and victims of war for the last decade. Named a Goodwill Ambassador for the United

Nations Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) in 1991, Jolie has spent the

past decade traveling the world, often to conflicted and dangerous areas, to highlight

the plight of refugees and displaced persons and the work of UNHCR. “It is critical that all parties respect the fundamental right of people in danger to

Focusing Attention on

Global Refugees in Tunisia and Afghanistan

By James A. Winship, Ph.D

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flee to safety – whether civilians caught in conflict in their

own country or refugees and asylum seekers caught in new

conflicts,” she noted in a recent statement. “All I’m asking is

that civilians be protected and not targeted or harmed.”

Jolie’s peripatetic schedule may find her amid the glamour

of the Cannes Film Festival promoting her new animated film,

Kung Fu Panda 2, with Jack Black and Dustin Hoffmann, and

sharing in the advance showing of Brad Pitt’s new film, “Tree

of Life,” directed by Terrence Malick, which won the coveted

Palme d’Or award. But, it may equally well find her travel-

ing with her entire family in Namibia, working on new film

projects in Bosnia, or visiting refugee camps in Afghanistan

and Tunisia. Altogether, Jolie has visited camps in more than

twenty countries around the world, including Cambodia,

Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Russia,

Bosnia, Jordan, Chad, Lebanon, Thailand, Syria, Iraq, India,

Costa Rica, Haiti, and even Arizona – where she visited

facilities for asylum seekers detained by the United States gov-

ernment. Repeatedly asked why she undertakes these

missions, Jolie has said she seeks to increase “awareness of

the plight of these people. I think they should be commended

for what they have survived, not looked down upon.”

Visiting Afghanistan for the second time this spring, Jolie

was particularly concerned to highlight the on-going needs

of children, women, and displaced persons in that country

now ten years into the aftermath of the post-9/11 toppling of

the Taliban and the long-term presence of American military

forces seeking to stabilize the Afghan government of Hamid

Karzai and to expand the territory effectively controlled by

his central government. Her visit focused on the problems

of returned Afghan refugees still struggling to survive and re-

integrate ten years after returning from exile. “As the world’s

attention shifts to the newest refugee crises,” Jolie pointed

out, “we need to remember that if we don’t support people in

the long term to really get back on their feet – to feed, shelter

and educate their families, to earn a living with dignity, and

to participate in meaningful ways in their societies – we will

see a continued cycle of instability and new crises.”

Jolie’s visit to Tunisia was designed to highlight Tunisia’s

critical role in accepting waves of refugees fleeing the violence

in Libya as the internal conflict between rebel forces seek-

ing to oust long-time Libyan ruler Col. Muamar Gaddafi and

forces loyal to him drags on and intensifies under pressure

of intensified NATO bombings of Gaddafi’s strongholds and


UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Angelina Jolie presents education materials to both local Headteacher, Gul Rahman, and young schoolgirls in the village of Qala Gudar, Qarabagh District February 2011 some 28km outside Kabul, Afghanistan. Angelina Jolie was visiting the site where she will fund a new girls’ primary school. Girls are only currently studying part of the year in the open air grounds of a local mosque and limited to Grade 4 due to the lack of a proper school building.

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Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees

(UNHCR) Angelina Jolie (L) talks with an Afghan family at the Kacha Ghari

Repatriation Centre outside Peshawar. Oscar winning US actress Angelina Jolie

has taken her mission to Pakistan to focus world attention on the plight of over three million Afghan refugees.

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UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) representative and Hollywood actress & UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie (R) meeting with 64-year-old Zenul Hawa, a flood affected victim, in the village of Mohib Bandi, on the outskirts of Nowshera, Pakistan.

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expanded international economic sanctions. Though she

visited with Tunisian leaders, praising them for their efforts

to receive large numbers of refugees even in the midst of

dramatic political change in their own country, the primary

focus of Jolie’s trip was to visit the Choucha Refugee and

Resettlement Camp on the Tunisia-Libya border. The camp has

been home to over 4,000 migrant workers and refugees – most

of them Somalis, Eritreans, Bangladeshis, and Sudanese – who

had fled the spreading conflict in neighboring Libya. Since Jolie’s

visit, the camp itself has been the site of looting and violence,

involving clashes between groups in the camp as well as the local

Tunisian population.

More than 400,000 people have escaped the violence in Libya

in recent months, and Tunisia has accepted more than half of them.

Egypt, too, has been especially responsive to receiving this new

wave of refugees as have Niger, Algeria, Chad, and Sudan. Many of

these refugees represent the large migrant labor force that Libya

employed but others represent people from other war-torn countries

in the region who had been received in Libya and are unable to

return home. These people “are waiting here with little hope, un-

able to return home and unsure of what’s to come,”

Jolie observed. “This constant cycle of

displacement must come to an end.”

Sub-Saharan African refugees

attempting to flee Libya are

particularly at risk because

they are often accused of

being foreign mercenar-

ies hired to support

the Gaddafi regime.

Just as Jolie

was preparing to

leave Tunisia, word

was received of the

reported drowning of

213 refugees loaded on

a small boat attempting

to reach southern Italy

from Tunisia. The group,

including Somalis, Eritreans,

and Ivoirians was attempting to

reach the Italian island of Lampedusa in

the Mediterranean when their boat foundered.

Stunned by this loss of life, Ms. Jolie observed, “Having

just spent time with similar families fleeing the violence

in Libya, I am deeply saddened by the large loss of life

of people who were simply trying to escape war and find

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Angelina Jolie, meets with Khanum Gul, 35, a mother of 8 and her youngest son, Samir at their makeshift home at Tamil Mill Bus site February 2011, in Kabul city, Afghanistan. When Angelina last visited Khanum Gul, Samir was a newly born baby of 14 days, now he’s two and a half years old, but having medical problems. Tajik and Pashtun families live side by side without any major conflict at the Tamil Mill Bus site. Over 70 percent of the families are returnees from the period of 2002-2004 who were unable to achieve sustainable reintegration in their places of origin and subsequently drifted to Kabul City in search of work. A nearby school is accessible to the children but the poor economic circum-stances of the many families oblige them to send their children out to work. Low levels of literacy, particularly amongst the women, limit their access to employment other than the lowest paid daily labor wage. Ja

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UNHCR goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie (L)

and actor Brad Pitt visit refugees in the village

of Medjedja, near the eastern Bosnian town

of Visegrad, 70 kilometers (43 miles) east of

Sarajevo. Film stars Angelina Jolie and her

husband actor Brad Pitt flew into Bosnia on a

surprise visit to meet refugees still suffering

from the brutal 1992-1995 civil war.

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Actress and

UNHCR Goodwill

Ambassador Angelina

Jolie arrives for a meet-

ing with Pakistani Prime

Minister Yousaf Raza

Gillani at the prime

minister’s house in

Islamabad.

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refuge. It is all

the more devas-

tating knowing

the children

were on board.”

United Nations

High Commissioner

for Refugees, António

Guterres, noted that, “These

people were refugees twice.

They fled war and persecution in their

own countries and now, in their attempt to seek

safety in Italy, they tragically lost their lives.”

The United Nations High Commission on Refugees

observes its 60th Anniversary this year, having been founded

in December 1950 to help Europeans displaced during World

War II. Initially, it was expected to be in existence for only

three years. Now, decades later, it has been responsible for

encouraging a series of international treaties intended to

protect the rights of refugees and displaced persons, assists

millions of people around the world, and has an open–ended

mandate to aid in dealing with the human results of conflict

and economic migration wherever the need arises. UNHCR’s

operating budget is entirely funded by contributions from

national governments, regional entities, international orga-

nizations and businesses as well as individuals. The 2011

needs-based budget is estimated at $3.3 billion. The United

States is substantially the largest single donor to the UNHCR

budget, distantly followed by the European Commission,

Japan, and Sweden.

Making direct contributions to the efforts of UNHCR,

the Jolie-Pitt Foundation has covered the costs for a flight of

177 persons to return to their countries of origin from their

temporary status in Tunisia and bought an ambulance to help

support Tunisian efforts on the border to assist the injured

arriving from Libya. The foundation has also made contribu-

tions to establishing schools for girls, children in Afghani-

stan and elsewhere, HIV-AIDs clinics in Ethiopia, wildlife

preservation programs in Namibia, and rural development

programs in Cambodia. Most recently, the foundation has

announced a $500,000 grant to assist in the rebuilding of

lives and homes in tornado-struck Joplin, Missouri.

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and actress Angelina Jolie meeting an elderly refugee, one of 1,300 trapped at the makeshift Al Waleed camp inside Iraq, unable to leave the country for neighboring Syria. Over the years, Jolie has travelled to Iraq and Syria to see first-hand the plight of four million people uprooted by the ongoing conflict in Iraq.

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Actress and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie (C, in black scarf) leaves after a visit to a make-shift camp for Pakistanis displaced by floods in the Mohib Bhanda area of Nowshera district, Pakistan.

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Actors Angelina Jolie (L) and Brad Pitt depart ‘The Tree Of Life’ premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 16, 2011 in Cannes, France.

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Angelina Jolie (L)

and Brad Pitt attend

‘The Tree Of Life’ premiere

during the 64th Annual

Cannes Film Festival

at Palais des Festivals

on May 16, 2011 in

Cannes, France.

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Angelina Jolie will make her directorial debut with a

drama about the Bosnian War, now titled In the Land of

Blood and Honey, for which she also wrote the script.

The film was shot last October in Eastern Europe

and tells the story of a young Serbian man and a

Bosnian-Muslim woman who begin a romance only

to have their relationship pulled apart by the ethnic

war of 1992 that ravages the former Yugoslavia.

Interviewed by entertainment reporters while still

shooting scenes from the story, Jolie explained that,

“The film is about the experience that a lot of different

people, on all different sides, have as war takes its toll.

A couple that maybe would have lived a certain life, had

the war not begun, end up having a very different story because

of the war.” Here the impact of her work with UNHCR in Bosnia

on Angela Jolie’s art is immediately visible. Currently, the film is

scheduled for release on December 23, 2011.

It would be tempting to see Angelina Jolie’s latest theatrical

release Kung Fu Panda 2, in which she reprises her role as the voice

of Master Tigress. This educational and entertainingly fun film is

animated, 3-D eye and ear candy carefully designed to be family

friendly – PG-rated but with a star studded cast of voices designed

to attract adults as well as children. The movie has already been

one of this summer’s box office winners, but it is also a heart-

warming morality play that confronts real life dilemmas as ugly

as genocide, technological arms races, and loss of biodiversity.

Ironically, the story line also deals with experiences of rejection,

separation, and adoption of parental figures by key characters

who have been orphaned. Asked about how her children

reacted to the film and its themes, Jolie replied that the whole

family loved the film alternately laughing, crying, and be-

ing afraid for the characters. But none of the film’s themes

disturbed the children “because in our family we talk about

things like orphanages and adoption all the time. For us

these are good words.” And, Jolie added, “Today more than

ever we really understand that family comes in all different

ways, two mothers, two fathers, single parents, different

races, some are adopted and so family is where the love is.

Family is where you find loyalty and friendship.”

Clearly, Angelina Jolie is far more than just another

pretty face or an action-game hero. She is a woman of

conscience, creativity, and commitment who acts on her

beliefs in shaping her family, in supporting the work of

UNHCR, and in confronting real threats to the quality

of life for all human beings in some of the world’s most

dangerous places. That places her - among the real

world heroes. n

Actress Angelina Jolie and US

actor Brad Pitt pose on the red carpet

before the screening of ‘The Tree of

Life’ presented in competition at the

64th Cannes Film Festival on

May 16, 2011 in Cannes.

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O n average, three million U.K.

citizens visit the United states

every year, but until July 8 Kate

Middleton, now the Duchess of Cambridge,

was not one of them. That changed when

Prince William and his bride arrived in

Los Angeles following their week-long tour

of Canada. The U.s. trip was tacked onto

the Canadian itinerary mainly because the

Duchess of Cambridge had never before

visited the United states.

Royal Tours – official royal travel – are

By Roland Flamini


Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge walk hand in hand from Buckingham Palace the day after their wedding, on April 30, 2011 in London, England.

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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama talk with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace in London, England, May 24, 2011.


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Prince William, Prince Harry and Duchess Catherine attend Derby Day at the Investec Derby Festival at Epsom racecourse on June 4, 2011 in Epsom, England.

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Prince William and Duchess Catherine

attend the 10th Annual ARK (Absolute Return for Kids) Gala Dinner at Kensington Palace

on June 9, 2011 in London, England.

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carefully choreographed, with the program designed to give

the visiting members of the royal family maximum exposure,

and the trip usually has a specific purpose. In this instance,

the tour introduced a new element in the British royal family

— the Kate factor.

Twenty years ago, Prince William’s mother gave a boost

to the British monarchy’s popularity — until, that is, Princess

Diana emerged as com-

petition to the family.

Compared to Diana’s

caring personality and

natural elegance the rest

of the group was made to

seem staid and remote.

There are indications

that Buckingham Palace

is hoping the Kate factor

will arouse some fresh

interest in an aging royal

house: Queen Elizabeth

II is 85; her husband,

Prince Philip, is 90;

Prince Charles, the heir

to the throne is 62.

The former Kate

Middleton is off to a

flying start. Unlike

Diana who was a shy

19-year-old, she is ten

years older and more in

control of the situation.

Her broad, easy smile

says she is having the

time of her life. She has

been Prince William’s

partner since college

and the couple has had

time to develop a close

relationship. In a remarkably short time

she has emerged as a sparkling personality

in her own right and a fashion icon, with a

youthful taste that is more Main Street than

haute couture.

Following their April 29 marriage, the

young duchess fitted remarkably smoothly

into the royal family’s public rituals – whether it was the

star-studded evening gala for the children’s charity ARK

(Absolute Return for Kids), the start of the horse racing

season at Epsom, or watching her robed husband walking in

procession in the more arcane annual church service of the

Knights of the Garter at Windsor. She was at the Trooping

of the Color ceremonial parade to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s

official birthday (the queen’s real birthday is in April), riding

to and from the festive event in an open carriage, waving

cheerily to the crowd,

and then taking her

place on the Bucking-

ham Palace balcony in

the familiar royal family

tableau. She and Prince

William were also on

hand to greet President

Barack Obama and

the First Lady on their

state visit to London.

The newlyweds had a

10 minute conversa-

tion, mainly about

their wedding, with the

president. The Obamas

occupied the same

six-room suite in Buck-

ingham Palace used

by Prince William and

Kate on their wedding

night, but a palace aide

was quoted as saying,

the presidential couple

“may not have had the

same bed.”

For Kate, starting

her foreign travel as

a royal with a trip to

America was a huge

challenge. Los Angeles

is the quintessential media city and she was

bound to be subjected to the pressure of

intense scrutiny. Their three-day program

(July 8-10) included a charity polo game,

promoting Anglo-American trade, attending

a couple of events with a Hollywood flavor,

visiting an inner city school and a job fair

for vets, plus some sightseeing.

Prince William’s program included playing in a fund-

Prince William and Duchess Catherine stand on the balcony of Buckingham Pal-ace after the Trooping the Colour parade on June 11, 2011 in London, England. The ceremony of Trooping the Colour is believed to have first been performed during the reign of King Charles II. In 1748, it was decided that the parade would be used to mark the official birthday of the Sovereign. More than 600 guards-men and cavalry make up the parade, a celebration of the Sovereign’s official birthday, although the Queen’s actual birthday is on April 21.

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Members of the royal family join HM Queen Elizabeth II to celebrate her official birthday by taking part in the Trooping the Colour parade on June 11, 2011 in London, England. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined other members of the royal family to take part in the ceremony which marked the official birthday of the British sovereign since 1748.

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raising polo game organized by the

American Friends of the Foundation of

Prince William and Prince Harry at the

exclusive Santa Barbara Polo Club. The

royal brothers’ joint charity provides

funds to help underprivileged children

and backs wild life preservation. A

chance to hobnob with the stars was a

black tie dinner given by the Los Angeles

branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts

of which Prince William is president. Guests included 42

young British talents who were making a

name for themselves in television, film,

and video games. Another reception at the

residence of the British Consul General in

Los Angeles, Dame Barbara Hay, brought

together local businessmen.

Not that the Canadian visit was

any easier. Close to half a million people

were at the July 1 Canada Day celebra-

tions in Ottawa, the capital, at which Prince William and his

duchess were present. The couple’s tour took them from one

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Prince William and Duchess Catherine leave with other members of the royal family after a church service to mark Prince Philip’s 90th birthday on June 12, 2011 in Windsor, England.

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Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and his father, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (R) are watched by their wives Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall while walking in the procession for the annual Order of the Garter Service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on June 13, 2011 in Windsor, England. The Order of the Garter is the senior and oldest British Order of Chivalry, founded by Edward III in 1348. Membership in the order is limited to the sovereign, the Prince of Wales, and no more than twenty-four members.


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end of the vast country to the other, ending in Calgary,

Alberta, where another huge crowd awaited them at the

famous Calgary Stampede, rodeo’s richest and roughest ride.

The British government had hoped that the wedding

Prime Minister David Cameron called “unadulterated good

news” would be a welcome distraction from the current

austerity measures, job cuts and soaring prices, and it was.

“The mood is largely benevolent,” observed The Guardian

newspaper on the big day. “Any wedding is a statement of

hope about the future: the grandest and most public wedding

of this generation inevitably makes a bigger statement.”

How long that benevolence will last is another matter. The

couple decided to postpone going on a honeymoon until a

later date, but the truth is that they are enjoying a honeymoon

with the British public. In addition to the government, the

royal family would also like the Kate factor to continue to gen-

erate good will — at least until 2012 when the queen marks

her diamond jubilee: 60 years on the British throne. The old

sovereign will be very visible as the jubilee is celebrated with

festivities throughout the country, and the public’s reaction will

be a measure of the monarchy’s continued popularity. The royal

couple’s traveling team included Sir David Manning, advisor to

Prince William and Prince Harry and no stranger to the United

States. He was lately British ambassador in Washington. n

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge attend the annual Order of the Garter Service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on June 13, 2011 in Windsor, England.

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Master Painter Tamás Klein from Herend, Hungary flew to Washington, D.C. to introduce a great collection of Herend China, to celebrate the 185th anniversary of the Manufactory during the EU presidency of Hungary.

An exclusive Herend porcelain exhibition was recently hosted at the Embassy of Hungary by Ambassador Gyorgy Szapary and

Ms. Lotti Letanoczky, spouse of DCM András Bácsi-Nagy. It was a unique opportunity to meet master painter Tamás Klein, who made a special trip from Herend, Hungary to Washington, D.C. to make an exclusive appearance at the embassy just for this event and celebrate Hungary’s EU presidency while simultane-ously recognizing the Manu-factory’s 185th anniversary. The exhibited masterpieces impressed the guests from the Washington diplomatic social community, who not only observed Tamás’ painting in complete appreciation,

Herend painting lessons at the Embassy of Hungary


Ambassador Gyorgy Szapary with Mrs. Aniko Gaal Shott and Mrs. Nina Pillsbury during a unique

presentation about the royal dinnerware set by Master Painter Tamas Klein from Herend, Hungary


but also tried their hand at this task. They admired the

different dinnerware sets, of which perhaps the most inter-

esting was a new line that UK Prince William and his wife,

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, received for their wedding

recently. This was the very first time that this pattern could

be seen outside of Hungary by anyone other than the royal

couple. Besides these sets, other extraordinary pieces also

attracted attention, such as a rare porcelain reproduction of

the crown of the former kings of Hungary, bracelets, animal

figurines and golf balls made of porcelain. Timothy Albrecht

- a Herend collector, and seller of Herend porcelain at his

Consider It Done boutique in Bethesda, MD – arranged the

rare pieces graciously provided by Martin’s Herend Imports.

Master painter Tamás Klein explained the history of

the different patterns and the unique motifs featured on

the exhibited pieces. For those who appreciate meticulous

craftsmanship and true luxury, it was a spectacular oppor-

tunity to see the process of art being made. As participants

also learned, it takes at least 10-15 years to become a master

in this profession. The manufactory has its own vocational

school where the most gifted candidates can acquire the

tricks of the trade. Tamás’ family has been working in the fac-

tory for two generations; it was not a question for him what

career to choose.

The manufactory’s name is derived from the small Hun-

garian village of Herend, located not far from Lake Balaton.

In 1826, the company was started with a few employees; cur-

rently 850 painters are working on the porcelain sets, making

the manufactory the second largest of its kind worldwide.

And with almost 200 years of existence, it is the second old-

est porcelain factory in the world. All of the pieces are hand-

painted; this fact makes Herend products truly exceptional

and invaluable. The guests of the Embassy enjoyed refresh-

ments and pastries created by Embassy Chef Viktor Merényi

- served on Herend china, of course.

Herend porcelain became internationally celebrated

throughout the world when at the London World Exhibition in

1851 Queen Victoria ordered a large table service for Windsor

Castle. Decorated with a Chinese design of flowers and butter-

flies, it has since become famously known as the Queen Victo-

ria pattern. Many aristocrats followed the Queen’s example and

Herend continued to prosper. The company’s first exposure to

the American market came in 1853, with their medal-winning

entry at the New York Exhibition of Industrial Arts.

The special hand-painted Herend dinner set made by the

factory and presented to Prince William and Duchess Cath-

erine at their wedding puts a modern interpretation on this

pattern, and had been named the Royal Garden. It is specu-

lated that they may have used some pieces of the china when

serving their wedding cake (see photo). The original, richly

Guests of the special event after the presentation (from left to right): Mrs. Noemia Prada, Mrs. Lori Clarke, Ms. Sheila Clarke, Mrs. Lotti Letanoczky, Mrs. Laurie Owen, Ms. Kathy J Trenholm and Mrs. Deborah Carstens

The guests, like Mrs. Asmeret Demeter-Medhane, tried their hand at painting some pieces. Here Curator of the State Department Ms. Virginia

Shore and Master Painter Tamas Klein are observing the process.


colored Chinese-style pattern of butterflies and flowers

has been toned down to purple, green, turquoise, delicate

rose and yellow hues with golden accents and rims, with

monochrome-rimmed dinner plates.

Besides the royal couple, Franz Joseph, Queen

Elisabeth II, Alexander von Humboldt, John Paul II, Lady

Diana and Benedict XVI received several wonderful pieces

from the manufactory. n

With the traditional meth-ods of manufacturing and

the more than 200 year long heritage, Herend

porcelain shows modern patterns with new and

extraordinary colors and motifs

The eight tiered wedding cake made by Fiona

Cairns and her team, awaits the newlyweds

Prince William and Kate Middleton, in the Picture

Gallery of Buckingham Palace in central London

on April, 29, 2011.

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Actress Naomi Watts attends

the 2011 CFDA Fashion

Awards at Alice Tully Hall,

Lincoln Center on June 6,

2011 in New York City.

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he Washington Post calls them

“celebvocates” — show business

and sports stars who lend their

support to worthy causes ranging from

curing cancer to saving whales. But

long before they became a fact of life on

the Hill testifying before congressional

committees and holding press

conferences, star activists flourished

at the United Nations. Audrey Hepburn

was a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF

in the 1960s, as was the actor Peter

Ustinov. The late Elizabeth Taylor was

an early supporter of the global fight

against HIV/Aids.

In June, a new generation of

committed celebrities participated in a

three-day United Nations Summit on

HIV/Aids — Anglo-Australian actress

and Oscar nominee Naomi Watts, U.N.

goodwill ambassador in the world

organization’s HIV/Aids campaign,

R&B singer Alicia Keyes, and scottish

singer Annie Lennox. They joined heads

of state, Aids groups and activists from

more than 30 countries to mark the

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(L-R) Naomi Watts, Hugh Jackman and Isla Fisher attend the Veuve

Clicquot Polo Classic at Governor’s Island to benefit Hope, Help

and Rebuild Haiti on June 5, 2011 in New York City.


30th anniversary of the discovery of Aids, review progress (such as it is) at

halting the pandemic and set new targets eradicating it.

Addressing the meeting, Naomi Watts — mother of two — described

her meetings with HIV infected pregnant mothers in Africa. She said the

U.N. needed to make “a giant leap” to “stop Aids and raise an HIV-free

generation.” Alicia Keyes stressed the importance of increasing access to

treatment, a key theme of the conference. “We must do everything in our

power to keep our promises with a very bold plan for universal access” she

said. “We must commit up to $22 billion by 2015 to prevent 12 million

infections and save 7 million beautiful lives. Fifteen million on AIDS

treatment by 2015! We CAN create the future.”

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, called for a global commitment

Queen Noor of Jordan and Matt

Dillon pose for a photo during the

Refugees International’s 32nd

Anniversary Dinner at Andrew

W. Mellon Auditorium on May 5,

2011 in Washington, DC.

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British actress Naomi Watts speaks at the special event to remember more than 25 years of AIDS, at UN Headquarters in New York.

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Alicia Keys and Tinie

Tempah perform at the

Keep a Child Alive Black

Ball 2011 at Camden

Roundhouse on June 15,

2011 in London, England.


to eliminate Aids by 2020. “That is

our goal — zero new infections, zero

stigma and zero Aids-related deaths,”

Ban said to a round of applause. To that

end, the summit concluded with the

adoption of a declaration that by 2015

seeks to double the number of people

on antiretroviral (ARV) treatment to 15

million, end mother-to-child transmission

of HIV, halve tuberculosis-related deaths

in people living with HIV, and increase

preventive measures for the “most

vulnerable populations”.

Naomi Watts was also among the raft

of celebrities who the same week took in

the fourth annual Veuve Clicquot Polo

Classic on New York’s Governors Island,

to benefit Hope, Help & Rebuild Haiti.

Along with her watching the polo-match-

with-a-cause were Isla Fisher, Julianna

Margulies, Wyclef Jean, Donna Karan,

and Marc Jacobs, with Hugh Jackman as

master-of-ceremonies.

Watts — star of Mulholland Drive, 21

Grams, and King Kong — wore a gold

gown for the annual Council of Fashion

Designers of America awards. By then,

Alicia Keyes was in London to attend a

fund raising gala for Keep A Child Alive,

the charity she helped found to help

children and families whose lives have

been affected by HIV/Aids.

Meanwhile in Washington, the

Refugees International’s 32nd anniversary

gala showed that two celebrities on

hand are better than one. When actor

Sam Waterston, the long-time presenter

of this, one of the season’s major fund

raising events ($675,000), was delayed

by traffic and arrived late, Matt Dillon,

a member of RI’s executive committee,

stepped in and the two stars shared the

podium for the rest of the evening —

a double act that is likely to become a

fixture of the event. n

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Alicia Keys (R) and Swizz Beatz attend the Keep A

Child Alive Ball at The Roundhouse on June 15, 2011 in London, England

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109


The New Zealand Embassy in the United States hosted the annual

Washington D.C. Pacific Night in late June,

which celebrates and raises awareness of

the Pacific in America’s capital city.

The event had spirit, style and substance.

Prior to the reception, a seminar focusing

on Pacific Issues was held, in collaboration

with the East West Center. Ambassadors

and representatives from American Samoa,

Australia, Federated States of Microne-

sia, Fiji, Guam, Hawaii, Marshall Islands,

Nauru, New Zealand, Northern Mariana Island, Palau, Papua New Guinea,

Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu all came together for

both the seminar and reception.

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Dr. Kurt

Campbell and Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization

Affairs Dr. Esther Brimmer spoke at the event. Dr. Campbell, who has

travelled to the Pacific region, spoke of the friendship that the United

States has with Pacific Island nations, adding that the U.S. intends to step

up its engagement in the region.

By Miche l le Par ish

Embassy of New Zea land

Ambassador Jim McLay, New Zealand Ambassador to the United Nations, Assistant Secretary Rt. Hon. Kurt

Campbell, Assistant Secretary Dr. Esther Brimmer.


Following speeches, guests enjoyed New Zealand

and Australian wine and food, as well as dishes such

as Chicken Estufao from Guam, Fish Kokonda from

Fiji, Hawaiian Lomi Salmon, Bobo Rice from the

Marshall Islands, Chicken Calderetta and Grilled

Milk Fish from Papua New Guinea, and Cooked

Plantain with Baked Fish from Micronesia.

“Pacific night was a stunning success at every

level,” said New Zealand Ambassador to the United

States, Rt. Hon. Mike Moore.

“It was more than just a great party. For the first

time, we had the UN Ambassadors with us, as well

as a serious seminar, which allowed us to drill down

into the substance of our region’s real needs.”

Throughout the night, guests were entertained

by a continuous stream of performers including

dancers and artists from New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji,

Australia and Hawaii. n

Above: Rt. Hon. Mike Moore New Zealand Ambassador to the United

States and Mrs Yvonne Moore.

Right: Kahurangi with guests James Turner (second from left)

NOAA, Tom Hourigan NOAA, Elizabeth McLanahan NOAA and Lesley McConnell New Zealand

Ministry of Science and Innovation on the far right.


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On his first official visit to Washington, D.C. as the democratically elected

President of Mongolia, Tsakhia Elbegdorj (pronounced tsah K-YAH ELL-beg-dor-zh,

according to the Voice of America Pronunciation Guide; note also that the first name in Mongolian is generally not used), sought to draw greater American attention to his country, its democratic

political transformation, and its economic future. Elbegdorj was a leader

of the early democracy movement in Mongolia, which took its inspiration

from the emergence of perestroika reform policies in the then-soviet Union and the

democracy initiatives sweeping Eastern Europe. He twice served as Prime

Minister, and was elected President in 2009, defeating President Enkhbayar in

Seeks to Extend His Country’s ‘Third Neighbor’ Policy

Mongolian Airlines President and CEO Orkhon Tseyenoidov (L) and Kim Pastega, Boeing Commercial airplanes Vice President and General Manager of the 767 program, shake hands during a signing ceremony as Mongolia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Zandanshatar Gombojav (L), and US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke look on June 16, 2011 at Blair House, in Washington, DC.

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Chinese vice president Xi Jinping (R) and Mongolian prime minister Sukhbaatar

Batbold (L) attend a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 17,

2011. China pledged to help resource-rich Mongolia develop its economy, offering

visiting Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold a 500 million USD loan and support for the

key mining and energy sectors.

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the first instance of an incumbent president losing a

Mongolian election.

Mongolia is a fledgling democracy sandwiched between

two very large powers — Russia and China — in Northeast

Asia. In many ways, its geography is its destiny. Mongolia,

which has its own history of imperial dominion in the

thirteenth and fourteenth centuries (1200-1400), beginning

with the reign of Chinggis (“Genghis”) Khan and continuing

under his successors - including his grandson Kublai Khan,

that at one time reached as far as China, Southeast Asia, and

Central Europe, cannot afford to alienate its giant neighbors

on whom it depends for its energy supplies and much

of its trade.

Nevertheless, Mongolia has

sought to pursue a foreign policy

that uses its locale between great

powers to create a political space

that provides the country with

remarkable freedom of action.

“We have a peaceful foreign

policy,” President Elbegdorj told

an audience at the Brookings

Institution just before his meeting

with President Obama. “Some call

it a tough neighborhood. But we

exist next to each other for centu-

ries and we know how to get along with the People’s

Republic of China and the Russian Federation.” Russia is

Mongolia’s primary source of petroleum products, and

China is Mongolia’s chief export partner as well as the source

of the country’s “gray” economy — transactions that do not

pass through government authorities or the banking sector.

U.S. Secretary of State under President George H.W.

Bush, James Baker, first coined the phrase “third neighbor”

in an August 1990 address to the people of Mongolia

praising them for holding free elections and moving toward

democracy. His use of the terminology was meant as a

gesture of rhetorical support for Mongolia’s break with its

Soviet-styled past, but it was immediately picked up by the

Mongolian policy community and turned into a foreign

policy doctrine. Subsequently, President George W. Bush,

reiterated the term during his 2005 visit to Mongolia,

again largely in recognition of the country’s democratic

progress and its cooperation in the U.S.-initiated Global

War on Terror.

The “Third Neighbor” doctrine, however, is a broader

strategy than simply a pro-U.S. foreign policy agenda.

Instead, Mongolia seeks to assure its security and economic

growth by pursuing several “third neighbors” who will help

— in the absence of formal regional security arrangements

— to balance the country’s tenuous geostrategic position

between giants and to strengthen and diversify its economy.

What Mongolia is attempting to do is to create a virtual

“third neighborhood” that includes India, Japan, the United

States, the European Union, and historic connections with

both South Korea and North Korea. Some voices have

suggested that Mongolia’s long relations with North Korea

might offer an important back channel of informal diplomatic

communication with Pyongyang.

President Ellbegdorj’s visit

prompted a sense of the Senate

resolution, sponsored by

Senators Kerry, McCain,

Murkowski, and Webb, which

rehearsed at length the recent

history of U.S.-Mongolia rela-

tions acknowledging Mongolia’s

transition to democracy,

on-going American assistance

to Mongolia, and Mongolia’s

emerging international role.

Noting especially that

Mongolia will be celebrating the

100th anniversary of its independence, the 20th anniversary

of its commitment to democracy, and will be assuming

the chairmanship of the Community of Democracies in

2011— a global intergovernmental coalition of more than

100 democratic and democratizing countries, the Senate

resolution praises “the continued commitment of the

Mongolian people and the Government of Mongolia to

advancing democratic reforms, strengthening transparency

and the rule of law, and protecting investment.” It further

calls on the United States government to promote economic

cooperation, to consider next steps in expanding trade

and investment, to support Mongolia in its dealing with

international financial institutions to improve its economic

system and accelerate development, and to continue

to expand academic and cultural exchanges between the

two countries.

Presidents Obama and Elbegdorj formalized these

same sentiments in the joint statement resulting from their

White House meeting, reaffirming “their commitment to a

United States-Mongolia comprehensive partnership based on

common values and shared strategic interests.” Additionally,

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“Mongolia welcomed and supported the key role played by

the United States as an Asia-Pacific nation in securing peace,

stability, and prosperity in the region. The United States

reaffirmed its support for a secure and prosperous Mongolia

that plays an active role in regional affairs and that promotes

strong, friendly, and open relations with its neighbors.”

The joint statement confirmed a commitment to further

developing a strong economic partnership, highlighting

“the importance of concluding negotiations and signing a

bilateral Transparency Agreement by the end of 2011,” in

order “to ensure a welcoming investment and business

climate for each other’s companies.” Mongolia expressed

its appreciation for continued U.S. economic assistance and

noted “the important role that U.S. companies, with their

internationally leading management, technical, safety,

environmental, and sustainable mining practices will play

in the development of the country’s coal, other mineral

resource, infrastructure, agriculture, energy and tourism

industries.” Mongolia’s hope of developing a self-sustaining

economy depends heavily on developing its extensive

mineral resources, and this statement was intended to be

reassuring to potential American investors, among them

Peabody Coal, that Mongolia does not intend to limit

resource development only to Russian and Chinese

investors. Mongolia also announced the purchase of three

Boeing jetliners and its decision to expand its fleet with

U.S. aircraft in the future.

Both Vice President Joseph Biden and Secretary of

State Hillary Clinton are scheduled to travel to Mongolia

later this year. Neither a “neighborly” visit to the United

States by the Mongolian President nor any visit by American

leaders to Mongolia can make the diplomatic realities

necessitated by Mongolia’s geographic position and regional

history disappear, however. Just weeks before his White

House visit, President Elbegdorj visited Russia for talks with

President Dimitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir

Putin where conversations focused on Mongolia’s need for

an uninterrupted flow of petroleum from Russia. And even

as President Elbegdorj was meeting President Obama in

Washington, Mongolia’s Prime Minister, Sukhbaatar Batbold,

was visiting Beijing, China where the two countries signed a

“strategic partnership agreement,” including a $500 million

loan from China to Mongolia.

“Third neighbors” may be desirable from the point of

view of Mongolia’s future economic development, to affirm

and sustain the country’s commitment to democracy, and

to allow it room for diplomatic maneuver. But, next door

neighbors cannot be ignored. n

Saudi Arabian Airlines extends its Reservation working hours in the USA and Canada In anticipation of the summer peak season, Saudi Arabian Airlines Americas Region has extended the working hours of its Reservations Call Center up to 7:00 pm Eastern Standard Time, Monday to Friday effective June 19 until July 29, 2011. The airline’s Call Center, located in Vienna, Virginia, which services passengers in the USA and Canada, will also be operating on Saturdays from 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm (EST) also until July 29, 2011. It may be reached through 1-800-472-8342.

Saudi Arabian Airlines currently flies 4 times a week from New York JFK and 5 times weekly from Washington Dulles International, effective July 1, 2011.

Saudia operates Boeing B777-268 aircraft to the USA, with sleeper seats in First and Business Class. All seats are equipped with a state of the art in-flight entertainment system that features, in certain aircraft, up to 40 channels with varied programming including movies, pop videos, children’s programs, video games, air show, landscape camera and audio channels.

For information, contact:Jonathan Pansacola, Saudi Arabian [email protected] 9841 Airport Blvd., Suite 410, Los Angeles CA 90745Ph. (310) 410-9000 ext. 3016

Saudia recently placed a firm order with Airbus at the Paris Air Show for four additional Airbus A330-300, taking its total order for the plane to 12. This order takes Saudia’s total Airbus aircraft to 62. This is on top of 12 B-777-300s and 8 B787 Dreamliners ordered previously as part of its fleet modernization program.

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The five Nordic Embassies – Norway,

Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland -

combined with the Nordic Council of Ministers

and the Nordic Innovation Center – to bring

five of the Nordic region’s most talented and

prize-winning chefs to Washington, D.C. for

a week of culinary celebration, cross-cultural

gastronomic encounter, and food-centered

diplomacy. Each of the guest chefs was associ-

ated with a leading restaurant with whose staff

he worked to create and introduce a national

menu that showcased the style of so-called

“New Nordic Cuisine” and featured the finest

quality ingredients from his native land.

The week began with a reception and

food tasting at the House of Sweden on the Georgetown

riverfront and ended with the chefs offering Nordic delicacies

at a Nordic Food Pavilion as part of the 2011 RAMMY awards

black-tie masquerade dinner dance, “Carnevale da Cuisine,”

sponsored by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan

Washington.

“Nordic Food Days” was inspired by the remarkable

success of New Nordic Cuisine in one of the most prestigious

culinary competitions in the world, the Bocuse d’Or in Lyon,

France, where Nordic chefs took the first, second, third, fifth,

and seventh places in 2011. Originally conceived by world

famous French chef, Paul Bocuse, in 1987, this competition

has become the Olympics and the World Cup for chefs from

around the world. Competition takes place over two years

during which regional competitions whittle down a starting

The visiting Nordic celebrity chefs shown from left to right. Iceland; Siggi Hall, Sweden; Tommy Myllymäki, Finlad; Petteri Luoto, Norway; Geir Skeie, Denmark; Mads Refslund.

By James A. Winship, Ph.D


field of more than fifty contestants to a final field of twenty-

four chefs, who must prepare both a meat and a seafood dish

from prescribed ingredients. The final competition becomes

a contest of culinary gladiators as chefs must prepare their

dishes in twelve mini-kitchens before an audience of more

than 2000 people.

Bocuse has been quoted as saying that, “Bringing the

‘live performance’ component in front of the general public

made this gastronomic contest truly unique, and for the first

time revealed the amount of work done in the kitchens of

famous restaurants. Today, I am proud to say that the Bocuse

d’Or has become the most sought-after culinary award in the

world, and winning it automatically and deservedly launches

a chef’s culinary career.” Norwegian chef, Geier Skeie, winner

of the 2009 Bocuse d’Or and jury president for the 2011

competition recalls that winning the competition gave him an

international name that allowed him to take jobs and make

new friends all over the world.

The Bocuse, he notes “is the big-

gest, the best, the most difficult,

and the funniest contest you can

participate in. Forcing people to

become better means a lot for the

development of cooking all over

the world.”

Chef Skeie presented his

menu, “A Taste of Norway,” which

featured fresh Norwegian seafood

— sponsored by the Norwegian

Seafood Export Council, in col-

laboration with DC Coast Res-

taurant. Swedish chef, Tommy

Myllymäki, winner of second

place in the 2011 Bocuse d’Or

competition, presented his “Taste

of Sweden,” featuring both seafood and lamb, in collabora-

tion with Masa 14 Restaurant. Finland was represented by

Chef Petteri Luoto, winner of a Bocuse d’Or prize in 2005,

who featured shrimp, roasted halibut, and veal fillet on his

“Taste of Finland” menu, which was served in collaboration

with Marcel’s. Danish chef, Mads Refslund, is a dedicated

fish-cook who says his skill is “all about how not to drown

fish. Too many fish are drowned, destroyed with heat, boiled

to pieces, or manhandled. You want your fish and shell life

so great and fresh that they barely need cooking.” His “Taste

of Denmark” menu featuring raw mackerel, raw langoustine

and foie gras, black lobster, and mullet was served in col-

laboration with Birch and Barley. Iceland’s Chef Siggi Hall is

renowned for his unique and innovative handling of Icelandic

seafood and lamb. His “taste of Iceland” menu, prepared in

collaboration with Vidalia, included cured Icelandic Char

(kin to North Atlantic salmon), warm white asparagus, potato

Clockwise from top left: Food

preparation at Nordic Food Days

kickoff event; Swedish Embassy

Chef Frida Johansson, Catering

Assistant preparing food, Icelandic

Chef Siggi Hall and Chef/owner of

Vidalia Jeffrey Buben, Tender Baked

Cod with shrimp, quail egg yolk and

horseradish served in a sabayonne

of brown butter and lemon.


crusted Icelandic cod, and stuffed Icelandic lamb saddle.

Each of the chefs also prepared a unique desert using simple,

familiar ingredients found in his home country, ranging from

blueberries to rhubarb and from strawberries to “fallen fruit

wheatgrass and cherries.”

Despite the tempting preparations and interesting

ingredients described above, there remains one central

question: what exactly is “New Nordic Cuisine.” One answer

might be to say that, “Everything old is new again.” For

most of their life hunting, fishing, and foraging nurtured

the Nordic peoples. Virtually everything they ate came

from natural ingredients found or grown on the land and

harvested from the sea. The “New Nordic Cuisine” is both

a culinary movement and a manifesto for a food policy

program. It emphasizes a cuisine based on purity, simplicity,

and freshness that reflects

the micro-environments and

the changing seasons of the

Nordic regions. At the same

time, food production must

be environmentally friendly

and sustainable in a way that

protects plant and animal

species and treasures pure

flavor subtly enhanced by

herbs and spices over exten-

sive preparation and sauces that overwhelm natural flavors.

The “New Nordic Food” program, cooperatively

undertaken by the Nordic states starting in 2005, is more

than a “foodie’s” delight and a restauranteur’s menu theme.

It is a cultural identity, trade and tourism promotion,

regional cooperation, environmental protection, public

health, and economic development program wrapped in

deliciousness, culinary creativity, and a return to the Nordic

region’s roots. More than that, “New Nordic Cuisine”

reflects centuries old dishes, natural ingredients, and

traditional styles of preparation carefully updated to

simultaneously preserve their natural flavors and transform

these into haute cuisine. But most of all, in the words of

one of the award-winning chefs, “It represents making food

from your heart.” n

From left to right; Finish DCM Anne

Lammila, Danish DCM Anne Mette

Vestergaard, Icelandic Ambassador

Hjalmar W. Hannesson, Norwegian

Ambassador Wegger Chr. Strommen,

Swedish Ambassador Jonas Hafström.

Swedish Chef Tommy Myllymäki,

Nordic beverage brands (water,

beer and vodka) on ice.

Celebrate. Cultivate. Collaborate.

Download our FREE guide at:

www.HelgasCatering.com

Celebrate.Cultivate.Collaborate.

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Our experienced chefs and event planners make entertaining a pleasure for you. Fresh ideas, gourmet food, flowers, entertainment. We handle whatever you need – and at any location, including gorgeous mansions, museums, gardens, and historical settings in

Washington, Maryland and Northern Virginia.

Count on perfection. And count on our 30 years of experience serving Washington’s diplomatic community to turn even

small budgets into big results.

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An Exclusive Oasis With A Prestigious Address

(1-800) 462 7899 • peninsula.com/beverlyhills

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Celebrating over 75 years of luxury on Central Park,

Jumeirah essex house has a long tradition of welComing international

dignitaries to this manhattan landmark. the Jumeirah essex house is situated in

the very heart of the City’s vibrant business and Cultural life,

minutes from the un and most midtown diPlomatiC missions.

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The Convergence of Luxury at Every Angle

W E L C o m E T o T h E S W i S S ô T E L E x p E r i E n C E

Hosting world leaders and dignitaries for years has made Swissotel Chicago the

preferred choice for diplomatic guests. We invite you to pamper yourself with

the award-winning hospitality at Swissôtel Chicago, which sets the standard for

downtown Chicago hotel accommodations. precise Swiss service – combined with

midwest hospitality and European elegance – make this distinctive four-diamond

landmark the perfect place for distinguished tastes.

323 East Wacker Drive | Chicago, iL 60601

p: +1 312 268 8219 | F: +1 312 268 8202

www.swissotel.com

Diplomatic Contact:

Kerry Johnson | p: +1 312 268 8211

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