Diplomatic Connections Sept/October 2016

Diplomatic

A Business, Diplomacy & Foreign Policy Publication

SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2016 • $7.95

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

AMBASSADOR TIM GROSER, EMBASSY OF NEW ZEALAND

MINISTERS OF THE GLOBAL COALITION

SPANISH AMBASSADOR’S RESIDENCE

AMBASSADOR HANS CORELL, FORMER UN UNDER-SECRETARY GENERAL FOR LEGAL AFFAIRS

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Medical Experts

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Stephen Broderick, M.D., M.P.H.S. Dr. Stephen Broderick is a thoracic surgeon and assistant professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

His clinical practice is based primarily at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., and he also has privileges at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and Howard County General Hospital in Columbia, Maryland.

Dr. Broderick recently joined Johns Hopkins from St. Louis, where he was a thoracic surgeon at St. Luke’s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.

His clinical expertise includes surgical treatment of lung cancer, esophageal cancer and other thoracic malignancies, as well as benign thoracic conditions. He is particularly interested in minimally invasive surgery for lung cancer.

Dr. Broderick attended Georgetown University School of Medicine. He completed his residency at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and his fellowships at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Washington University School of Medicine in thoracic surgery.

To learn more or request an appointment: 1-855-88-HOPKINS (U.S. Toll-Free) +1-410-402-5041 (International) PromiseofMedicine.org

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You don’t have to go far to begin your wellness journey

Johns Hopkins Medicine—with convenient locations in Maryland, the Washington, D.C., metro area and Florida—is ready to connect international patients and their families with our respected experts, cutting-edge research and innovative treatments at the most convenient location.

We understand that medical issues can cause a great deal of stress and encourage you to take advantage of our complimentary medical concierge services so you can focus on your health. From your first inquiry, you’ll be paired with a medical concierge who will serve as your personal liaison to the experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Expert care, close to home. One less thing to worry about.

To learn more or schedule an appointment: 1-855-88-HOPKINS (U.S. Toll-Free) +1-410-402-5041 (International)

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Medical Experts

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Nicholas Theodore, M.D. Dr. Theodore is the new director of the Johns Hopkins Neurosurgical Spine Center. He is a nationally recognized expert in brain and spinal cord injury, minimally invasive spine surgeries, and robotics. As an award-winning teacher and researcher, he has written or co-authored 30 book chapters and over 175 peer-reviewed articles. He is also a co-holder of numerous patents for medical devices and procedures. His research focuses on trauma, spinal cord injuries, robotics, and developing an understanding of the genetic and molecular basis of spinal disease.

Dr. Theodore treats patients with all types of spinal disorders, including trauma, Chiari malformations, spinal deformities, degenerative and congenital spine conditions, and spinal tumors.

He received his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine and completed his residency and fellowship at the Barrow Neurological Institute.

To learn more or request an appointment: 1-855-88-HOPKINS (U.S. Toll-Free) +1-410-402-5041 (International) PromiseofMedicine.org

Nicholas Theodore, M.D., Donlin M. Long Professor of Neurosurgery

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Alan Cohen, M.D., and Shenandoah “Dody” Robinson, M.D., pediatric neurosurgeons

Johns Hopkins Pediatric Neurosurgery is one of the top multidisciplinary centers of its kind. It has an international reputation for offering children and adolescents their best chance at making a full recovery from a range of general and specialized neurosurgical injuries, diseases and malformations.

Our newest team members: Alan Cohen, M.D., director of the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, treats all pediatric patients, with a special focus on brain tumors.

He is a leader in developing minimally invasive techniques to enhance the safety and efficacy of selected pediatric neurosurgical procedures.

Shenandoah “Dody” Robinson, M.D., is a nationally recognized expert in the treatment of epilepsy and spasticity. Her research focuses on clarifying how early insults to the developing brain lead to deficits, such as cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and how to mitigate these deficits with neurorestorative agents.

To learn more or request an appointment: 1-855-88-HOPKINS (U.S. Toll-Free) +1-410-402-5041 (International) PromiseofMedicine.org

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MEDICAL • MEDICAL • MEDICAL • MEDICAL

Medical Experts

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Medical Experts

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John G. Fernandez, M.D. Dr. John G. Fernandez earned a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Virginia in 1997 and completed a Doctor of Medicine at Temple University School of Medicine in 2003. He completed a research fellowship in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at Memorial SloanKettering Cancer Center from 2006 to 2007.

He also completed a two-year residency in Plastic Surgery at the University of Tennessee College Of Medicine in 2011, followed by a fellowship in Microvascular & Reconstructive Surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from 2011 to 2012. He is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

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For advertising opportunities, please contact 202.536.4810 extension 3 or Evan@diplomaticconnections.com

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Meet Dr. Rafael A. Ortiz Rafael A. Ortiz, MD specializes in endovascular (interventional)

treatment of cerebral aneurysms, embolization of brain tumors and vascular tumors of the head and neck region, cerebral and spinal arteriovenous malformations, treatment of craniofacial vascular lesions (venous, lymphatic, AVMs, hemangiomas) in adults and children, stenting of carotid artery stenosis, as well as revascularization procedures for acute stroke. He is known for his dedication to community education, patient satisfaction and outstanding patient care.

Rafael A. Ortiz, MD Chief of Neuro-Endovascular Surgery and Interventional Neuroradiology Lenox Hill Hospital Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery, Radiology, Neurology, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine Fluent in: Spanish

Among his numerous accolades, Dr. Ortiz was honored with a Proclamation by the New York State Senate in 2012 for his dedication to community education and outstanding patient care. In 2010, he received The American Heart Association’s Young Heart Award for achievements in Cardiovascular Science and Medicine and also the American Heart Association’s Tu Corazon Latino Award for dedication to patient education and community health. More recently, in 2013, he was recognized as one of the Men of the Year in the City of New York by El Diario La Prensa newspaper. In 2014, he received the Leadership and Vision Award of the American Heart and Stroke Association. In 2015, Dr. Ortiz was invited as a guest speaker to present on “Innovation in Healthcare” at the Platform Summit. In 2016, Dr. Ortiz received the Latino Trendsetter Award from LatinTRENDS. Dr. Ortiz is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Heart and Stroke Association and is the Co-Chair of Tu Corazon Latino, an innovative health movement that brings physicians, executives, public servants and community leaders together to explore health issues and solutions for at risk populations.

For more information or to schedule an appointment: signature@northwell.edu or (212) 434-6000 or visit www.northwell.edu/signatureservices 8

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Meet Dr. David J. Langer David J. Langer, MD A third generation medical doctor, David

J. Langer, MD is internationally recognized as a leader in cerebral revascularization and aneurysms, and is one of the few expert cerebral bypass surgeons in the country. With clinical areas of focus in cerebral bypass, brain aneurysms, carotid disease, complex and minimally invasive spine surgery, acoustic neuromas, and benign brain tumors, Dr. Langer established the Moyamoya Center of the Neuroscience Institute and founded a project focused on the use of social networking technology and video to enhance patient experience and improve the medical record.

In an effort to create an exceptional patient experience and ensure each patient has all the information they need before leaving the hospital, Dr. Langer has created the Health Flix Program. In this program Dr. Langer is sending patients home with a video recording of their discharge instructions, MRI’s and CT scans along with his assessments which can help improve at-home aftercare and reduce hospital readmissions.

As a leader in his field, Dr. Langer has been recognized as a Top Doctor and Best Doctor by numerous publications. He is currently a peer reviewer for the journals Neurosurgery and American Association of Neurological Surgeons’ Neurosurgeon. He is on the medical advisory boards of Box Inc. and Cisco Systems. He is also a founding member of the board of the Brain Technology Institute and an active member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, as well as the cerebrovascular subsection of these organizations. In addition, Dr. Langer serves on the editorial board for Operative Neurosurgery’s digital platforms in the journal’s Surgical Video section.

David J. Langer, MD Chair of Neurosurgery Lenox Hill Hospital Professor, Neurosurgery Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine

For more information or to schedule an appointment: signature@northwell.edu or (212) 434-6000 or visit www.northwell.edu/signatureservices 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 | S E P T E M B E R – O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6

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Meet Dr. Souhel Najjar Souhel Najjar, MD is a world-renowned physician, internationally recognized for his clinical, research and teaching expertise, having dedicated his career to the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy, neuroinflammation-related neuropsychiatric disorders and autoimmune disorders of the central nervous system.

Under the leadership of Dr. Najjar, the Lenox Hill Hospital Comprehensive Epilepsy Center offers the latest diagnostic and therapeutic options for patients suffering from seizure disorders in a new and comfortable surroundings on the premises of Lenox Hill Hospital. The Center includes a four-bed, state-of-the-art epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by dedicated observation personnel, including epilepsy-trained doctors, nurses, neuropsychologists and a team of compassionate, certified video electroencephalogram (EEG) technologists. The EMU enables us to offer the most advanced and safest treatments for epilepsy.

Souhel Najjar, MD Senior Vice President and Executive Director, Neurology Services Northwell Health Chair, Neurology Lenox Hill Hospital and Staten Island University Hospital Chair and Professor, Neurology Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine Fluent in: Arabic

Dr. Najjar was featured in The New York Times’ best-selling novel “Brain on Fire,” a memoir written by Susannah Cahalan, a reporter from the New York Post. Dr. Najjar diagnosed Ms. Cahalan with a rare autoimmune disease in which the body was attacking her brain. This illness is now thought to have been the cause of “demonic possessions” throughout history.

In addition, Dr. Najjar has been featured in several nationally syndicated broadcast interviews including TLC’s “Mystery Diagnosis,” NBC-TV’s “Today” show and ABC-TV’s “Katie Couric Show.” Dr. Najjar has also been featured in Oprah magazine and Forbes magazine and has been included in “Best Doctors” issues published by New York magazine. Dr. Najjar was also recognized in Exceptional Parent Magazine’s Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to the care of children with epilepsy, cerebral palsy, movement disorders and related disabilities.

For more information or to schedule an appointment: signature@northwell.edu or (212) 434-6000 or visit www.northwell.edu/signatureservices 10

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Lenox Hill Hospital Executive & International Health New York, NY

Signature Services at Lenox Hill Hospital provides comprehensive and culturally sensitive care to over 1,000 international patients every year.

Our Program provides: - Direct patient access - Individualized concierge services - Multilingual service liaisons - Executive health and wellness For more information please call (212) 434-6000 or email signature@northwell.edu www.northwell.edu/signatureservices 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 | S E P T E M B E R – O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6

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Medical Experts

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Maan Fares, M.D. Cleveland Clinic’s Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute is a leader in the heart field, ranked #1 in heart care by U.S. News & World Report for 21 years in a row. Its long history of innovations, from the first cardiac catheterization to new diagnostic imaging approaches and treatments for heart disease – provides a legacy of excellence in patient care, research and education.

Cleveland Clinic’s Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine has physicians in every cardiovascular specialty working to offer the latest medications and interventional heart disease procedures. Whether you’re coming to Cleveland Clinic from Cleveland, California or Croatia, our team provides you with the best and most appropriate treatment options available – using minimally invasive approaches, whenever possible. The end result — better heart care outcomes for our patients.

To learn more or request an appointment: 1.800.659.7822 (U.S. Toll-Free) clevelandclinic.org/heart

Maan Fares, M.D. Staff Physician, Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine Vice Chairman, Global Patient Services

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195 countries on earth.

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INTERCONTINENTAL CLEVELAND. WORLD-CLASS HOSPITALITY ON CLEVELAND CLINIC’S MAIN CAMPUS.

World-class hospitality meets world-class care. We are connected to Cleveland Clinic via skywalk and just minutes from museums, sports, shopping, theater, galleries and unique dining destinations. When you stay with us, you’ll experience exceptional accommodations and guest services that are unparalleled in the area. We welcome guests from across the country, and around the world, every day.

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S E T A D

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Dawn Parker DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS Lauren Peace BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVES Evan Strianese, Scott Goss, Evelyne Ustarroz DESIGN & CREATIVE Betty Watson CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER Larry Smith DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENTS and CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Roland Flamini, James Winship, PhD, Monica Frim EVENT COORDINATOR ASSISTANTS Victoria Akosile, Sarah Albright and Ms. Abby

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Send any name or address changes in writing to: Diplomatic Connections 4410 Massachusetts Avenue / #200 Washington, DC 20016 Diplomatic Connections Business Edition is published bi-monthly.

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

Copyright 2016 by Diplomatic Connections All rights reserved.

Cover photo credits: New Zealand Ambassador Tim Groser, Paula Morrison/Diplomatic Connections; Global Coalition Ministers, Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images; Ambassador Hans Corell, Oskar Martens/ International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC); Spanish Ambassador’s Residence, Paula Morrision/Diplomatic Connections; Turks and Caicos Islands, Dr. John and Monica Frim/Diplomatic Connections

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Diplomatic

D I P L O M AT I C C O N N E C T I O N S BUSINESS EDITION

SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2016

APARTMENTS, CONDOMINIUMS and HOUSING PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Metropolitan Pacific Properties . . . . . . . . 84 through 87 RESIDENTIAL SALES 50 United Nations New York . . . . . INSIDE FRONT COVER and 1 AMBASSADOR TIM GROSER, EMBASSY OF NEW ZEALAND

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H.E. TIM GROSER AMBASSADOR OF NEW ZEALAND TO THE UNITED STATES

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JAMES A. WINSHIP, PH.D.

NEW ZEALAND AMBASSADOR BRINGS TRADE EXPERTISE TO THE GLOBAL STAGE New Zealand’s recently named Ambassador to the United States, Tim Groser, brings unparalleled experience in international trade negotiations to his new position. At the same time, he serves as New Zealand’s Special Envoy to the Pacific Alliance. He knows the Asia Pacific Region intimately, and he understands national security issues.

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Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

Incumbent U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman (L) and Vietnam Minister Vu Huy Hoang (R) celebrate after the signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) at Sky City on February 4, 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand. The signing ceremony marks the end of the TPP negotiation process to create one of the world’s biggest free-trade zones. Mr. Froman was nominated in May of 2013 and confirmed by President Obama approximately 47 days later.

Tim Groser is a politician as well as a diplomat. He was elected to Parliament for the first time in 2005 and served as opposition spokesman on trade. Since Prime Minister John Key and his New Zealand National Party achieved a parliamentary majority in 2008, Ambassador Groser has served in the Prime Minister’s Cabinet as Minister of Trade and Minister Responsible for Climate Change Issues.

He began his government career as a Junior Investigating Officer with the New Zealand Treasury. He moved up the economic career ranks focusing on AustraliaNew Zealand economic relations all the while gaining multilateral trade negotiating experience. In 1986 he was appointed Minister (Economic) with the New Zealand Mission to the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) and Chief Agricultural Negotiator. Subsequently he became New Zealand’s Chief Negotiator for the GATT Uruguay Round, which succeeded in bringing agriculture into the world system of trade rules for the first time.

Groser served as New Zealand’s Ambassador to Indonesia from 1994-1997, returning home to serve as Principal Economic Adviser to the New Zealand 24

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Following a stint as Chief Executive of the Asia-New Zealand Foundation, Ambassador Groser was named as his country’s Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) where he served until his election to Parliament in 2005.

His resumé has all the earmarks of a trade geek except that his back story is much too interesting for that. True, much of his diplomatic career has focused on complex trade issues and the intricate negotiating that goes with them, and once upon a time he planned on being an economic historian. But, Tim Groser’s parents were professional actors, and his earliest career was as a professional child actor on radio drama and early television soaps, including some stage appearances.

The hand writing may have been on the wall, however, the future Ambassador’s first job as a 16-year old teenager was as a “waterside worker,” a longshoreman on the docks. “I was employed,” Groser recalls fondly, “as what we call a ‘sea gull.’ If you think of the metaphor, what does a sea gull do on the wharfs? They pick up the scraps. So, you turn up at the docks at five o’clock in the

morning, and the first jobs go to the union guys. Then you pick up the scraps. If there are a lot of ships in town, there’s a lot of work and you get a good wage. To me as a 16-year old it was an amazing wage. And, I enjoyed every minute of my time as a waterside worker.” That’s learning international trade from the ground, or rather from dockside, up.

At age twenty-two, Ambassador Groser “had three careers on the go. I was an actor, a profession I could have carried on. I was playing in a rock band, so that was an option. [NOTE: There are still two, apparently well-used, guitars close by the desk in his Washington office.] But, I was actually doing a Ph.D. in economics.” The impending birth of a child, however, led him to drop his Ph.D. program and get a “real” job. He joined the Ministry of Finance as a junior economist and then moved into the Foreign Ministry.

“I came out of my academic background to get involved in external economic policy. And, I’ve always been utterly fascinated by this. It doesn’t matter how long I keep

doing it,” he insists, “I still find it endlessly fascinating.

That’s the real story behind my career.”

Diplomatic Connections: Ambassador Groser, welcome to Washington after a long and well-traveled career in the international trade realm, in the climate realm and many others. You presented your credentials to President Obama earlier this year. What are your priority goals for your time here as Ambassador?

Ambassador Groser: The immediate priority goal is to do what I can to assist the administration and supportive members of the Congress to get TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement through the U.S. Congress. This is of immense importance to the United States as well as to Japan, and Australia and my own country. That is the immediate priority.

Longer term, as my predecessors all pointed out to me, in this town the political security and intelligence relationship is at the base of any country’s relationship with the United States. That always needs a bit of gardening care: “taking

Michael Bradley/AFP/Getty Images

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key (6R) and Ministerial Representatives from 12 countries pose for a photo after signing the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement in Auckland on February 4, 2016.

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Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

Vice-President Joe Biden, meets with dignitaries including New Zealand Cabinet Minister Steven Joyce (C) on arrival at Auckland Airport on July 20, 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Biden visited New Zealand on a two-day trip which included meeting community and business leaders, a visit to Government House and a wreath laying ceremony at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

the weeds out” and sorting through misunderstandings.

Our relationship with the United States in the security and intelligence realm is an extremely good space now. That would be my longer term responsibility – to manage the political relationship.

Diplomatic Connections: You mentioned how important TPP, signed in Auckland earlier this year, is for the United States, not just for New Zealand and the other partners. As well you know TPP has become enmeshed in the American presidential campaign in ways that have led all of the candidates to come out against the TPP agreement, at least in its present form.

How would you “sell” the agreement to the Congress and to the people of the United States? What is the importance of TPP from New Zealand’s point of view and from the United States point of view?

Ambassador Groser: I’ll try to put it in U.S. terms. The first point deals with the overall importance of international trade itself. The United States is not a loser in international trade. The United States is the largest economy in the world and has some of the most competitive agriculture, services and industrial companies in the world. People are losing sight of that simple reality. The idea that the U.S. industrial heartland does not exist any longer is wrong.

Trade intensive manufacturing brings the highest paid jobs in the United States for the ordinary citizen. In terms of

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what are called trade intensive manufacturing companies the average wage is $94,000/year. That is close to 60% above the U.S. average wage.

Second, in the last 25 years the United States has quadrupled its exports of manufacturing to $1.4 trillion, more or less. Frankly, the argument that the U.S. cannot do manufacturing just does not hold water when you look at the data.

What has happened to the middle class, of not just the United States but a number of other countries, is a very complicated picture. But, it wasn’t created by trade policy, and you can’t fix it by trade policy. Trade works, and the United States actually enjoys a surplus in manufacturing exports over imports with all of its FTA partners.

Diplomatic Connections: Does the TPP involve strategic issues as well?

Ambassador Groser: TPP does not directly involve strategic issues, but there are broader strategic implications. Despite obvious structural problems in the region, the Asia-Pacific is

the place where the action will be in the 21st century.

I don’t want to put this in some crude sense of China vs. the United States. My view is that all countries in the world need China and the United States to have a highly productive relationship. As the differences arise, there will always be difficulties in this relationship, as there are between the United States and any major country. The issue is not whether there are problems. The issue is how those problems are managed.

This is not some sort of anti-China point I’m making. Far from it. New Zealand has an outstanding relationship with China. We probably have the best set of trading relationships that any country has with China. My point, however, is that the United States cannot play the role that countries like New Zealand want the United States to play and not have an economic agenda. And that economic agenda is TPP in terms of formal trade, investment and integration. continue to page 30

Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

Vice-President Joe Biden and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key shake hands at Government House on July 21, 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand.

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Vice-President Joe Biden’s grand daughter Finnegan Biden (L) is welcomed with a traditional Maori hongi from Kuia Hiria Hape (R) at Government House on July 21, 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand.

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Opposite page: Vice-President Joe Biden’s granddaughter Naomi Biden (L) is also welcomed with a traditional Maori hongi from Kuia Hiria Hape (R) at Government House on July 21, 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand. Biden visited New Zealand on a two-day trip which included meetings with the community and business leaders, a visit to Government House and a wreath laying ceremony at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Vice-President Joe Biden with Kaumatua Lewis Moeau (R) experiences a traditional Maori welcome at Government House on July 21, 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand. The 3 girls standing next to Biden are his granddaughters.

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Vice-President Joe Biden with Kaumatua Lewis Moeau (R) experiences a traditional Maori welcome at Government House on July 21, 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand.

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New Zealand Defense Minister Gerry Brownlee walks past an honor guard as he arrives to attend a meeting of defense ministers of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on July 20, 2016.

If the United States, for whatever set of political reasons, just walks away from this role, who is going to pick up the ball? Even though the United States is still the supreme country in the world, the number one economy in the world, the world will not stop. The world will move on.

Even if the most important country in the world absents itself from the action, that remains the reality.

Diplomatic Connections: You know that the visceral response on international trade almost always involves the economic dislocation of workers whose jobs are impacted negatively by the flow of international trade because of an adjusting global economy. That is certainly what the current political campaign in the United States has focused on. How do you respond to those concerns?

Ambassador Groser: This process of globalization is driven almost overwhelmingly by technology, not actually by formal trade negotiations. Today there are dozens and dozens of countries involved in making any item. This involves massive change. This is not going to be stopped by a political decision. That is the cause of economic 30

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dislocation. The point I’m trying to make is that this process does involve dislocation, but it brings enormous benefits.

What we have to do politically is to explain this to our electorate in simple terms. Not because they are stupid, but because they are not endlessly fascinated by these issues. The best way that my Prime Minister has solved this, if you use the language of bumper stickers, is phrases like “We ain’t gonna get richer by selling to ourselves, guys.” And there’s a U.S. equivalent to that. It is, “Sorry, 95% of the world’s consumers are not inside the United States. You want to walk away from that market?”

I always say that in politics you need to have slogans.

You need to be able to simplify a message for an electorate, whether it’s on trade, climate change, security, relations with China . . . whatever. But, it is the height of irresponsibility not to have a policy that is consistent with that bumper sticker. Otherwise it is either false rhetoric or its deception.

Diplomatic Connections: You mentioned that the security relationship between New Zealand and the United States is in a very strong place now. Historically, this has been a rocky relationship – especially on nuclear issues. In 1987, New Zealand declared its territorial waters, land and air space to be a nuclear-free zone and prohibited nuclear powered ships from making port calls or entering its territorial waters. In reaction, the United States suspended its historic ANZUS treaty security commitments.

Ambassador Groser: Yes, if we go back 30 years, the security relationship between our countries was very difficult. Without raking over old coals, the tension between us was triggered by a variety of things. The anti-war movement, which surged throughout the world, was something that I had grown up with at university. At that stage, the French were still doing atmospheric nuclear testing in the Pacific, which outraged New Zealanders. So, out of the anti-nuclear movement came this problem with all things nuclear basically.

Fortunately, we put Humpty-Dumpty back together again.

We now have got an outstanding political, defense and intelligence relationship with the United States. In the last

few months the government of New Zealand has taken decisions that have gone down extremely well with the administration in Washington and with the Pentagon.

We have committed ourselves to doubling our intelligence spending over the next four years. We’re going to put another $20 billion on the table for new defense expenditure, which is not chump-change. It’s obviously not huge by U.S. standards, but we are only 4.5 million people.

We’ve just announced that we are recommitting ourselves to maintaining our small operation in Afghanistan working along with the British NATO-led system. We’ve also committed to staying in Iraq and have 143 defense personnel there training Iraqi troops to be more effective soldiers.

We have a small army, but they are incredibly good at what they do. Our special forces are among the best in the world.

Diplomatic Connections: They are also incredibly good at humanitarian assistance. continue to page 34

Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter host a Meeting of the Ministers of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL at the State Department in Washington, D.C., July 21, 2016.

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RNZAF C-130 Hercules aircraft ready for a training flight on January 26, 2016 in Napier, New Zealand. Around 180 military personnel took part in a two-week training exercise flying in a C-130 Hercules aircraft. New Zealand’s defense personnel are excellent at humanitarian assistance and recently helped the Fijian government with their hurricane relief operations.

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Ambassador Groser: They are indeed. We have had 500 defense personnel in Fiji until recently helping the Fijian government with their own hurricane relief operations.

The reality is that we partner with the United States on almost every single major strategic challenge the United States provides the muscle to. And they appreciate what we do. There is a political element to our strategic relationship. But, there is a niche capacity there that New Zealand provides that makes a material difference. I know because I’ve talked to extremely senior U.S. military people who tell me that our people have done great things in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Diplomatic Connections: New Zealand has also just recently signed a Technology Safeguards Agreement with the United States. Could you tell us about that?

Ambassador Groser: Let me tell you about Peter Beck, who is by training an apprentice plumber. He is now one of the world’s most effective rocket scientists and CEO of RocketLab. He has invented technologies that radically reduce the cost of launching rockets carrying small payload satellites into outer space.

The crude way to explain this to non-science people is to say that there is an explosion of demand for satellite coverage. There are two ways to do this. One is to put a very large satellite very high to maintain a certain footprint

over this ball that we call our planet. Or, you can insert lots of smaller satellites into lower earth orbit, and Peter Beck does that – lots of little satellites.

And, there are serious security implications behind this. It is important to assure that this technology is used only for civilian purposes, that there is no leakage of this into areas that the United States, New Zealand or Australia would not be comfortable with. So this required a complicated, very technical negotiation.

The first launch under this agreement will take place in a couple of months from a remote part of New Zealand and is an absolutely perfect site for a number of technical reasons for launching multiple rockets. Distant New Zealand is simply more remote than you could be anywhere on the North American continent.

Phil Walter/Getty Images

We think this agreement is going to turn out to be a major boost to high tech industry in our country.

Diplomatic Connections: Much earlier in your career, you served as New Zealand’s Ambassador to Indonesia. What did you learn from that experience that carries over to this new diplomatic position as Ambassador to the United States?

Diplomatic Connections: In Indonesia you clearly had a very close encounter with Islam. If TPP is an emotional issue, Islam right now is even more so. What did you learn that you think would be useful in the present situation where, politically at least, Islam and terrorism have been made virtually synonymous?

Ambassador Groser: The number one thing I’d say is that moderate Islam is the best friend of the United States. Our problem has never been with Islam.

We cannot win this battle against terrorism without the support of believing, faithful Muslims. And Indonesia, being the largest Islamic country in the world is on the frontline.

We can only win the fight against terrorism and those who distort Islam to their own violent purposes with the support of the vast percentage of the 1.4 billion people in this world who say they are Muslim. That’s the simple reality.

Diplomatic Connections: Your government has been very active in promoting the candidacy of Helen Clark to become Secretary General of the United Nations following the end of Ban Ki-moon’s term.

How would you evaluate her credentials for that job?

Ambassador Groser: We are strongly supporting Helen RocketLab CEO, Peter Beck poses with The Rutherford at the company’s Auckland headquarters. The Rutherford, a battery-powered rocket engine printed on 3D parts developed for this position. We think

by New Zealand space technology company, RocketLab, is set to reduce the cost for companies the multilateral system to send satellites to space by as much as US$5-45 million. Test flights have already begun to needs a strong Secretary provide commercial launch operations.

Ambassador Groser: General, somebody with How important Indonesia is. That would have been a great political experience. I think it’s a remarkable controversial thing to say twenty years ago, but I think it is statement that the current Prime Minister would come out now the reality. The whole international system is slowly so strongly in support of the very person that he finally accommodating itself to the reality that Indonesia is a vital managed to beat to become Prime Minister. country, and one that is making enormous progress.

Helen Clark has had nine years of hard experience at Indonesia has averaged close to 6% growth for a quarter running a country as New Zealand’s Prime Minister, and of a century and per capita income today is around $4,000. now she’s had seven years of experience as Administrator That’s four times what it was when I was Ambassador of the United Nations Development Program and Chair there. So, Indonesia is now a low middle income country, of the UN Development Group, which coordinates all UN not an impoverished country and will exert huge influence development related agencies. There are only two things in the next 50 years. I have no doubt about that. a Prime Minister deals with – the easiest and the most difficult. The practical experience of being the ultimate decision maker is exactly the type of person we want to be Secretary General.

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Ambassador Groser: In international diplomacy, you don’t just pursue your own interests.

You realize your limitations. If you just put forward something made in New Zealand for New Zealanders, it is DOA – dead on arrival. That’s a consequence of knowing how physically isolated we are. We have only “soft power” not “hard power.”

If New Zealand’s diplomats prove more effective in some circumstances, it is, in my view, a direct consequence of our size and being able to free ourselves up intellectually to understand how the world looks to other countries. When I was a negotiator for New Zealand both as an official and as a minister, my first question to my team would be: “What do these guys want? What are their real objectives? How can we advance our objectives within the framework of their interests?”

Diplomatic Connections: You are at the Foreign Service Institute teaching the incoming class of new foreign service officers from university. What do you tell them?

Ambassador Groser: The first lesson is: Try to understand the other country’s point of view. In my experience even

ridiculously extreme positions have a base to them. Second is: When you’re dealing with individuals, don’t make personal judgments about whether you like that person or not. Instead, work out early on who you think is dealing in good faith; they can be extreme and still negotiate in a favorable way. In most cases diplomats do negotiate in good faith. The key to it is to try to get behind their objectives and then to suggest an alternative way by which they can realize their objectives.

In terms of tools of the trade, I’d say learn one language at least.

Language opens your mind to a different way of looking at life. It is a very important skill for a diplomat to see the world through lenses other than their own.

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Diplomatic Connections: In his letter nominating her for the Secretary General’s position Prime Minister Key suggests that, “As a New Zealander Helen Clark is well placed to bridge divisions and get results.” What is special about being a New Zealander in diplomacy?

And, one last ironic observation. What is really intriguing is that historically New Zealand has worried about isolation, and properly so. Right now that isolation is starting to look like the biggest single advantage New Zealand has because the disadvantages have been destroyed by digitization and reduced transaction costs. The advantages of physical distance in this very, very difficult world that we see unfolding right now are enormous. So, it’s really odd. What was called, it’s actually an Australian term but it applies even more strongly to New Zealand, the “tyranny of distance” turns out to be exactly the opposite.

Diplomatic Connections: Ambassador Groser, thank you for your time and your insights. n

Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark speaks after a meeting as a candidate for United Nations (UN) secretary-general on April 14, 2016 in New York City. A woman selection would be the first for the UN.

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Rufus Ewing, Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands, talks to Monica Frim about TCI’s upcoming election, the economy, annexation with Canada, and tourism. The interview, which also included journalists Pamela Jacobs and Davina Sutton, took place in Providenciales in the Office of the Premier in June, 2016.

BY MONICA FRIM

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ike many tropical resort destinations, the Turks and Caicos islands came close to crumbling during the Great Recession. Today they are at the winning end of a thriving real estate market, boosted largely by foreign development and the steady increase in tourists who come for the magnificent beaches, world-class diving and an endless supply of conch! In fact, the islands boast the best year-over-year improvement in tourist arrivals in the entire Caribbean. They’ve received accolades from media giants such as CNN, Forbes, Condé Nast, Trip Advisor and the World Travel Awards.

What makes the TCI’s rise so astounding is that in 2009 there was plenty to knock them down. Along with the global economic chill, came an internal scandal that led Britain to take the unprecedented step of abolishing TCI’s self-rule and taking over the government. The premier at the time, Michael Misick, fled to Brazil amidst allegations of corruption that also implicated several ministers of illegally selling crown lands to developers for personal gain. Amazingly most of the money and lands were later recovered, and home rule was restored under a new Constitution after an election in 2012. The Progressive National Party (PNP) narrowly won with Rufus Ewing, a medical doctor who had held numerous appointments in the Ministry of Health, as the first Premier of TCI since the new Constitution.

Meanwhile Michael Misick was arrested and extradited from Brazil. He was released from prison on $10 million bail in early 2014. His trial is expected to last into next year.

With elections in TCI taking place every four years, Premier Ewing’s position will be up for grabs in November.

There are numerous contenders for the leadership, including Ewing, but the biggest surprise is that Misick has thrown his hat into the ring! Astonishingly, he has that right.

When asked about key election issues, Premier Ewing played it safe. “The economy and jobs are always the key issue,” he said. “We have done well from an economic standpoint from where we were a few years ago in a short time period….We moved from a deficit budget in 2012 to now running surplus budgets and with a credit rating triple B plus investment grid stable ratings.

We’ve managed to pay off our debts and now have one of the lowest debt to GDP ratios in the Caribbean region.”

All good accomplishments—under his governance, of course— but Ewing also admitted more work was needed.

“The trickle down effect to the average person has not yet happened. People don’t feel it in their pockets yet in terms of disposable income… We need to focus on getting more persons on the job and back to work.”

Illegal immigration was another hot election topic.

Premier Ewing praised the Immigration Bill that was recently passed to give longterm residents an easier path to citizenship. “We need to regularize (naturalize) those people who have been here—some for more than 30 years—and then we have to crack down hard on illegal immigration, because, with that come other problems that can impact negatively on tourism.”

The implication is that employment and immigration reforms are necessary in the fight against crime. Although crime is still a rare occurrence in TCI, Premier Ewing explains, “It is something that we want to nip in the bud because there is nothing that will destroy the (tourism) industry quicker than crime.” In order to maintain its

reputation as one of the safest places in the Caribbean, TCI is beefing up police presence and proper lighting in places with high tourist traffic.

The efforts should sit well with Americans and Canadians who comprise 80 per cent of the foreign visitors and invest heavily in TCI’s real estate and infrastructure.“We encourage them to come and purchase homes because they also rent them out as vacation rentals when they are not here” says Premier Ewing. “That expands our accommodation inventory.”

Like many tropical resort destinations, the Turks and Caicos islands came close to crumbling during the Great Recession.

Today they are at the winning end of a thriving real estate market, boosted largely by foreign development and the steady increase in tourists who come for the magnificent beaches, world-class diving and an endless supply of conch!

Besides vacation homes, Canadians own the power company, the hospital, most law firms, banks, hotels and resorts. So could annexation of Canada and TCI be in the cards? The idea has been tossed about for 99 years and on every one of Premier Ewing’s visits to Canada. Still, he remains noncommittal. “We are an overseas territory of the United Kingdom and from here we would like to move towards more autonomous governance…. What we would like to see more with Canada is to continue to develop our

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friendship. I think there is much to be gained through a strong partnership in many areas of collaboration. Then we can see how we can move forward.”

For now the government’s priority goals are to stimulate growth and development on the lesserpopulated islands and to attract investment to a variety of industries such as manufacturing, technology, music and the performing arts. Indirectly, everything is related to tourism, which itself requires diversification and balanced development to meet the growing demand, according to Premier Ewing.

“Although we are really focusing on hotels that are at the high-end, condo hotels and low-density villa-type resort models like Parrot Cay and Amanyara…we also intend to diversify with culture, heritage and ecotourism.”

Many exclusive resorts are set in native habitats with mangroves or inside nature and wildlife reserves away from Grace Bay, but that’s not to say that only the posh and the pampered can enjoy nature’s tranquil oases. Premier Ewing advocates that camping, in particular, would jibe well with ecotourism… but says the government needs to change the national parks ordinance first.

“We are so strict in protecting our national parks that we do not allow even a rock or stone or tree to 40

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be removed. So no development—not even a foot trail—can happen until we amend the law to allow for environmentally friendly developments like ecolodges and campsites.…so that all persons can enjoy the marine parks and wetlands.”

Clearly TCI is sizzling with ideas primed to take the country center stage in the Caribbean. Much of the infrastructure for large-scale luxury development is already in place. Two new airfields and fixed base operations for servicing private jets have recently been added, and there’s talk of establishing marinas that can cater to luxury yachts (for those who fly in on their private jets). “Yachts do contribute a lot to the local economy,” says Ewing, “because there’s so much required to service them—from food, to fueling to cleaning to maintenance.”

TCI is trying hard to avoid the mistakes made by other resort destinations. “We have to be careful,” says Premier Ewing. “We have to be in a position that we can say the economy is good, people have jobs, the tourists have rooms to stay in.…We still have an accommodation deficit, so we are not fully there yet.”

Perhaps not, but with development heeding TCI’s tagline “Beautiful by Nature,” that day cannot be far away. n

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TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS

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BY MONICA FRIM

The Turks and Caicos Islands offer a high dose of luxury to millionaires with good taste. But along with the swanky hotels, gourmet meals and exclusive resorts come affordable pleasures that find favor with visitors from all walks of life— exquisite corals, forsaken salt ponds, and soft endless beaches surrounded by the clearest turquoise waters imaginable.

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10!

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or those with high holiday benchmarks or an irrepressible urge to splurge, the Turks and Caicos Islands are hard to beat. If the words tax free offshore investment haven don’t signal a Caribbean version of Elysian Fields, then surely the shimmering turquoise waters and near empty, white beaches do. Sure, other Caribbean islands boast similar qualities but, year after year, TCI’s beaches are rated among the best in the world. Celebrities unwind in exclusive villas on lushly foliaged cays, moneyed moguls in balconied condos enjoy endless views of sand and sea, and vacationers looking for unspoiled beaches free of touts and hawkers find heavenly reprieve in the opulent resorts and hotels that line TCI’s sleepy shores. Crime is possibly the lowest in the Caribbean and, unlike other Caribbean Islands that restrict or forbid foreign ownership of land, TCI has no restrictions on outsiders owning real estate. Anyone can buy a piece of

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tropical splendor here. And get this: these islands have no taxes on income, inheritances, properties, capital gains or corporate profits.

Can there be a downside? In a nutshell, this paradise comes at a price. While you don’t have to be rich to visit (there‘s a smattering of clean, modest hotels and beach houses), TCI actively targets a moneyed crowd—although crowd may not be the best word to use in conjunction with a place that is everything but crowded.

I had to see for myself just where the Turks and Caicos stood on the scale of utopian places to unwind. My first peek at the islands came before the airplane landed.

“Raise your window shades and get your cameras ready,” a flight attendant announced, along with the usual cliché of “fasten your seat belts and raise your seatbacks to the upright position.” Suddenly the airplane filled with the natural light of a brilliant tropical sky and buzzed with a

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Jojo the dolphin frequently plays alongside the boats that ply the shores of Grace Bay.

crescendo of “oohs” and “ahs” as passengers craned necks or aimed cameras at the scene below.

In the blink of an eye, the ocean changed from indigo to fluorescent shades of turquoise, bursting like fireworks into shards of aquamarine, topaz, sapphire, beryl—all the shades of glistening blue jewels. Here and there, the purple shadows of clouds floated among mottled riffles of yellows, greens and browns that made me wonder if they were renegade islets or if the reef waters were so clear and shallow, and the coral formations so close to the surface, that one could see them from the air. The hues of the sea and the islands swirled like Chihuly glass sculptures, mesmeric and magical. I would experience similar vistas many more times during my week in TCI as I flew to other islands in small Cessnas that provided even closer aerial views of the wonders below.

Officially the 40 islands—eight of them inhabited— that make up TCI are in the Atlantic Ocean, not the Caribbean Sea. Geologically they are an extension of the southernmost tip of the Bahamas, and lie 550 miles southeast of Miami. The two archipelagos—Caicos on the 46

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west and Turks on the east—are separated by a deep channel known as the Columbus Passage (or Turks and Caicos Passage), a favored route for migrating humpback whales from January to April. If you’re there in season, you might see them from the shores of Salt Cay, Grand Turk or South Caicos, or take a whale watching boat trip for a closer encounter.

While most people visit TCI in winter, there are plenty of things to see and do year round. I visited in June and managed to pack into one week: snorkeling in the third largest coral reef system in the world; exploring mangroves and abandoned Salinas (salt ponds) by golf cart; wandering among the ruins of an 18th century cotton plantation; scrutinizing historical artifacts in museum; exploring a cave; visiting several luxury villas that were still under construction; shopping for island art; partying with the locals in a park during their weekly Thursday night Fish Fry; taking a lesson in conch farming; playing with pot cakes (the name for abandoned dogs in a shelter); and simply driving (or being driven) wherever the roads led on five different islands and stopping at

serendipitous attractions en route. Respite at a pearly white beach was never more than a stone’s throw away.

But if all you want is a quiet space to lay your towel, there are plenty of secluded places, some on privately owned islands that offer world-class amenities and services (so you don’t have to do a thing!) along with spectacular views. On Parrot Cay, exclusive spa treatments, individual butler service and gourmet cuisine are at your doorstep. Everything you need is within reach or will be delivered so all you have to do is relax poolside or at your chosen spot along a stretch of empty coastline. Privacy and anonymity make Parrot Cay a favorite among international celebrities who feel a need to relax and disengage from the norm.

Had I received a hint that during my stay in TCI I just might find myself stretched on a lounger next to Keith Richards, or nursing a tropical drink within slurping distance of Christie Brinkley or Donna Karan—a few of the habitués of Parrot Cay—I might have been tempted to abandon my ingrained hectic pace for at least one day of self-imposed tranquility. Perhaps it was just as well that I didn’t. The whole idea behind celebrities vacationing incognito is to be… well, incognito.

It’s hard to believe that until the 1980s few outsiders, other than divers, knew of TCI’s existence. The turning point came when Club Med Turkoise opened the first luxury resort in Providenciales (Provo to the locals) in 1984, literally placing the Turks and Caicos Islands on the

map. Other developers followed suit and soon turned Grace Bay, Provo’s arcing 12-mile smile of baby-powderfine sand, into a hub of opulent condo hotels with all the accouterments of an upscale holiday haven: spas, water sports, restaurants and shops. Most visitors to TCI stay on Grace Bay. Few venture to other islands, although divers seem to gravitate more to the simple beach houses and Airbnbs’s of Salt Cay and Grand Turk, which reputedly have the most spectacular coral reefs. (See map on page 40) Grand Turk is also the only island with a harbor deep enough to accommodate cruise ships, so Carnival Corporation built a specialized Cruise Center with shops, restaurants, swimming pool and beach facilities right at the port. Many cruise passengers are happy to grab a lounge chair at the pool or beach or meander among the shops without so much as stepping outside the center’s gates.

Although Grand Turk is the capital of TCI, it remains low key with fewer than 5,000 people and a slow pace of life. Still, it’s worth ambling about in the rustic town of Cockburn with its leafy streets, colonial buildings and a wonderful museum with relics from the islands’ past, including a display related to astronaut John Glenn’s splashdown nearby in the Atlantic Ocean. If you’re not there as part of a cruise, the Turks Head Inne has charming rooms in the renovated 1830s home of a salt overseer that once also served as the British Governor’s guest house and the American Consulate.

A breezy curtained courtyard opens to the pool and the ocean beyond at the Gansevoort, a chic minimalist retreat on Grace Bay.

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A conch shell display at Da Conch Shack, a seaside restaurant that serves up its own fresh catch.

Conch freshly removed from its shell

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Once the stomping grounds of Taino, and later Lucayan Indians, the Turks and Caicos Islands were, for centuries, the object of bickering among Spain, France and England.

Bermuda, the Bahamas and Jamaica also joined in the tussle, with each briefly governing the islands for Britain, which had claimed ownership of the islands in 1764. Two hundred years later, Jamaica and the Bahamas separately gained independence from Britain, which led to TCI becoming its own autonomous British Overseas Territory in 1973.

Remarkably, the islands’ discovery by Europeans is still somewhat of an unsettled issue, with historians divided as to whether the credit should go to Christopher Columbus who may or may not have gotten there first, or to Ponce de Leon, who documented the islands first. Regardless, it is a sad fact of history that, within a few years of Ponce de Leon’s sighting of the islands in 1512, all the native Lucayans disappeared, killed off by conquistadores or European diseases, or hauled off to other islands as slaves.

For many years the islands lay empty and uninhabited, until, in the late 1600s, Bermudians ventured ashore to rake what was then the islands’ only marketable product—

The Conch Bar Caves on Middle Caicos.

salt. The salt formed naturally in the shallow depressions of the archipelago’s low islands. The people called it white gold and bartered it up the Atlantic seaboard all the way to Newfoundland, where fishermen used it to preserve fish. When the salt industry finally collapsed in the 1960s due to an inability to modernize and expand, the islands very nearly did too. You can still see the abandoned salinas (salt ponds) on South Caicos, Grand Turk and Salt Cay along with a few vestiges of windmill pumps and the most conspicuous reminders of the industry: freeroaming donkeys who now outnumber the people. There’s a standing joke among islanders: wherever you see three donkeys, four of them are pregnant.

The islands have been forced to reinvent themselves.

Tiny Salt Cay (at 2.6 square miles and a population of roughly 60) now caters mainly to divers and those looking for quiet tropical simplicity. There are no hotels, but a smattering of beach houses and Airbnbs. Debbie Manos, a transplant from Tucson who came to Salt Cay for the diving 22 years ago and stayed, met us at the airport in her van, one of a handful of vehicles on the island. Here people get around by golf cart, bicycle or on foot. A one-

woman power force, Debbie owns Salt Cay Divers and the Coral Reef Bar and Grill; is the licensed captain of her own diving, snorkeling, touring and whale-watching boats; sells real estate; spearheads a study on whales; and is a fount of knowledge on every aspect of the island. She guided us among salinas, churches, beach houses and historic buildings, enthralling us with their stories, then handed us a map, snorkeling equipment and the keys to a golf cart.

“Have fun,” she said as she left us to make our own way to mangroves, dunes and beaches. I am happy to report, we did!

Like Salt Cay, South Caicos, was left helpless and broke when the salt industry dissolved (as salt does), but the island is picking itself up more in tune with Provo whose archipelago it shares. An ambitious development is in full swing turning empty sand into a new white gold as almost the entire northern peninsula gets graded, groomed and fitted for luxury villas with tri-level ocean views and all the frills that go with world-class pleasure.

Grant Noble, executive director of Sailrock, led us through the construction site where the first phase, known as the Villas at Great House, is slated to open in November, and

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explained the anticipated infrastructure that’s still needed for the project’s long-term development.

At the southern shore of the island, East Bay Resort opened last season as the largest resort development outside of Provo. The buzz was that just over a year ago tourism barely existed on South Island. Now, it seems Sailrock and East Bay are spearheading a resort revolution that just might surpass Provo in terms of exclusivity and swank.

Then again, Provo isn’t sitting on any sidelines. New exclusive resorts like the Shore Club (slated to open November 2016) on Long Bay, and Amanyara, an Asian-themed paean to hedonism at the western tip of the island, are outshining the established high-priced condo hotels along Grace Bay. Purchase prices for villas at Amanyara range from $12 million to $21 million at the time of this writing. I’m probably safe in guessing that even a penthouse in Grace Bay’s ultra modern Gansevoort or in the beautiful colonial-inspired style Point Grace would go for a few million less. And if you’re looking to buy on North Caicos or Middle Caicos, both lush out-of-the-way places that lean toward eco-tourism and seclusion, the prices dip well into the six figures—five for something inland.

The fascinating thing about TCI is that, while all the islands are surrounded by soft white sand and turquoise water, each has its own distinct characteristics and charms. There’s an island for every budget and every taste—not only in style, atmosphere and activities but also of the culinary sort. From cheap eats in seaside grills to ultra sophisticated restaurants, TCI food is known for its snap, tingle, crunch… and super size. The latter has nothing to do with fast food chains, which, thankfully, have not established a foothold in this part of the world. The fare’s piled high everywhere—from international fusion to typical Caribbean dishes like jerk chicken and conch salads. But for a truly signature dish, nothing beats crispy conch fritters or conch in any style—cracked, stewed, curried, fried or raw like a ceviche—served fresh from the ocean at beach side restaurants such as Da Conch Shack or Bugaloos. Islanders swear that the long gelatinous, gummy-bear-like part of the conch packs a powerful punch as an aphrodisiac. You can learn this and a lot of other interesting facts about conch at the Caicos Conch Farm, which may be the only commercial conch farm in the world. After a brief lecture and a walk among fish tanks, conch trays and brewing ponds, you can get up close and personal with the farms trained conch, Sally and Jerry.

The Conch Farm is located next to the TCI ferry at Walkin’ Marina, which makes it a convenient place to visit in conjunction with a trip by ferry to North Caicos, Middle Caicos or South Caicos. But to get to Grand Turk or Salt Cay, you need to fly. Don’t forget to look down! n

Emerald Cay: the private island with its own swing bridge is an example of what $48 million can buy.

(This price was later reduced.)

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IStock/Getty Images

Diplomatic THANKS THE FOLLOWING SPONSORS: Turks and Caicos Tourist Board- Canada 340 Sheppard Ave East, Suite 100 Toronto, ON M2N 3B4 Tel: 416 -642-9771 or 1-866-413-8875 rwilson.tcitourism@bellnet.ca www.turksandcaicostourism.com Turks and Caicos Tourist Board – USA 225 W 35th St., New York, NY 10001 Tel: 646-375-8830 pewing@turksandcaicostourismusa.com www.turksandcaicostourism.com Gansevoort Turks and Caicos Grace Bay Beach, Providenciales Turks and Caicos Islands 1-888-844-5986 Reservations@GansevoortTC.com http://www.gansevoorthotelgroup.com/hotels/gansevoort-turks-caicos Point Grace Resort Grace Bay Road, Providenciales Turks and Caicos Islands +1 649-941-7743 reservations@pointgrace.com www.pointgrace.com Turks Head Inne Duke Street, Grand Turk Turks and Caicos Islands +1 649-946-1830 info@turksheadinne.com www.turksheadinne.com 52

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Some other establishments that provided goods or services for this article: ON PROVIDENCIALES: Pavilion Restaurant (Somerset Resort) http://thesomerset.com The Shore Club http://www.theshoreclubtc.com da Conch Shack http://daconchshack.com/Conch_Shack/Home.html Blue Haven Resort/Fire & Ice Restaurant https://www.bluehaventci.com ON SALT CAY: Salt Cay Divers/Debbie Manos http://www.saltcaydivers.tc ON GRAND TURK: Bohio Resort http://www.bohioresort.com Bird Cage Restaurant (Osprey Hotel) http://www.ospreybeachhotel.com Bugaloos http://bugaloostci.com ON SOUTH CAICOS: Sail Rock Resort http://www.southcaicos.com East Bay Resort http://www.eastbayresort.com

A Country

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Estate SPAIN’S PURPOSE-BUILT EMBASSY RESIDENCE

BY ROLAND FLAMINI

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he trend in Washington is for embassies to acquire large mansions from their wealthy American owners to serve as ambassadorial residences, the French playwright Paul Claudel, who was his country’s ambassador to the United States, advised his ministry in the early 1930s. He pointed to the example of Spain which in 1926 acquired a large house on 16th Street for its combined residence and chancellery.

That was true at the time, but by the year 2000 the Spanish government had hived off the chancellery in a separate building, and had engaged Jose Rafael Moneo, one of Spain’s leading architects and winner of the 1990 Pritzker Architecture Prize – highest accolade in the profession -- to construct a new residence on a purchased lot on Foxhall Road in Northwest Washington.

Purpose built embassy residences are still rare in Washington, and the Spanish house is a distinguished addition to the small group. Moneo created a discreetly modern structure that is clean-lined and rectangular. Faced with the challenge of a narrow site sloping sharply away from Foxhall Road, he made virtue of necessity, creating a long narrow structure with one floor at street level and the second below it blending in with terraced, wooded grounds cascading down the hill.

It is meant to serve a dual purpose -- providing living quarters for the ambassador and his family, and

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“

The 20,000 square foot residence was built using thin, long “Roman” bricks in soft earthen hues imported by the thousands from Spain for the purpose, which already sets it apart from Washington’s brick buildings. . . Responsible for the design was Pascua Ortega, a trendy Spanish designer who opted for a traditional approach as a counterpoint to Moneo’s modern structure.

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at the same time spaces for public functions on a suitably grand scale, plus guest suites for visiting diplomats and dignitaries. The multi-level, compact exterior, is deceptive, however, and the expansive interior space comes as something of a surprise: a long, high vaulted reception room with three elaborate chandeliers, spans the depth of the building; a grand stairwell leads down, instead of up, to the next floor’s equally extensive official dining room with a black glass topped dining table of enormous proportions that seats 40.

The 20,000 square foot residence was built using thin, long “Roman” bricks in soft earthen hues imported by the thousands from Spain for the purpose, which already sets it apart from Washington’s brick buildings. But it’s in the interiors that the Spanish character and culture resonates more strongly. Responsible for the design was Pascua Ortega, a trendy Spanish designer who opted for a traditional approach as a counterpoint to Moneo’s modern structure.

Ortega had available more portraits of kings and queens than there are in a deck of cards and made the most of them.

But he also had two prize possessions in the shape of two giant 17th century Flemish tapestries for which auctioneers or museum directors would sell to their grandmothers, and they act as anchor for his design strategy.

Each is from an important and well known series of hangings woven in Flanders, then under Spanish control and the undisputed center of tapestry making’ and each

dates back to the same time frame of 1620 and 1637. They are part of a collection in the royal Pardo Palace in Madrid.

The Death of the Consul Decius Mus in the Battle of Veseris (11 ft x 17 ft) is one in the series on the life of the Roman consul. Woven by Jan Raes and Jacob Geubeils the series was based on cartoons by Peter Paul Rubens – a cartoon being a full scale design for a tapestry. The second tapestry narrates the exploits of Theseus in Greek mythology, and is also by Jan Raes. Theseus Vanquishes the Bull of Marathon, is a scene of jubilation showing the Athenian leading the conquered bull to Athens, accompanied by musicians and dancers. The work serves as a reference to Spain’s unique bull fighting tradition (now disputed in some areas) in which toreros, like Theseus, face death in the afternoon in the bull ring.

A number of seating arrangements with sofas and chairs upholstered in neutral colors line the walls. Antique demi-line tables providing landing ground for coveys of personal photographs, and gilded mirrors are the only other furniture in a space designed to accommodate large scale social occasions. Among the royal portraits are two pastels side-by-side of child princesses by Louis Michel van Loo, one of King Felipe V’s daughter Maria Isabel of Naples, who died aged six, and Princess Maria Luisa de Parma, later wife of King Joseph II, the Holy Roman Emperor. Much continue to page 62

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larger are the more-than-life size portraits of King Alfonso XIII, the monarch whose reign was brought to a close by the Spanish Civil War, and his wife Queen Victoria Eugenia, Queen Victoria’s youngest granddaughter, who gave new meaning to the phrase “well connected.” The princess was first cousin to King George V of the United Kingdom, Queen Maud of Norway, Empress Alexandra of Russia, the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, Queen Sophia of Greece, and Queen Marie of Romania. The two portraits are by the prolific Spanish painter Alvarez de Sotomayor. The eye-catching carpets are from the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid.

In the long entrance hall that runs parallel to the big reception room are large portraits by Alwin Van der Linde, a Dutch painter living in Spain, of King Juan Carlos I, a pivotal figure in Spain’s post-Franco peaceful transition to democracy and Queen Sofia. Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 to make way for his son, now King Felipe VI. Between the two portraits is a copy of a well-known likeness of King Carlos III by the German portraitist Anton Raphael Mengs.

The ground floor includes the two guest suites, the larger of which is justifiably known as the royal suite because Juan Carlos has slept there.

The paneled dining room is dominated by the Ortegadesigned table on which a small plane could make a comfortable landing. At one end of the room is an eyecatching splash of color in the form of a quintessential Spanish painting of a woman, dressed and reclining on a couch. The work of Antonio Ortiz Echague (1883-1942), it was painted in the 1930s at the height of the artist’s career, along with another of the same woman undressed, the two being an obvious reference to Goya’s famous pair of paintings on the same theme. The Echague work was bought by the Spanish Foreign Ministry specifically for the new residence.

On the same level is the three-bedroom living space of the ambassador and his family, with its own reception room and private dining room.

The dining room leads into a covered patio, called the orangerie, lined with tiles in geometric patterns imported from Andalusia and including a small wall fountain from which rain water cascades. The dining room opens out onto a wide terrace and a small swimming pool, with wooded land beyond sloping into a natural valley where foxes and deer roam and birdsong competes with the faint rumble of Foxhall Road traffic. n Photos continue through to page 65

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GONGED: PARTING GIFTS FROM A DEPARTING PRIME MINISTER

BY ROLAND FLAMINI

U

p until now, the name of Martha Gutierrez Verez was unknown to the British public. But in August, the London Times identified her as the likely recipient of a medal from Queen Elizabeth in a forthcoming royal ceremony known as an investiture.

Gutierrez Verez was Prime Minister David Cameron’s driver. She is among the 48 Cameron aides, advisers, and financial backers who, according to a Times leak, have been named by the departing prime minster to receive honors ranging from knighthoods for four cabinet ministers who stayed faithful to the government’s position of remaining in the European Union in the Brexit referendum to nine CBEs (Commander of the British Empire), 10 OBE’s (Order of the British Empire), 16 MBEs (Member of the British Empire), plus some other honors.

The former Foreign Secretary is set to become Sir Philip Hammond and Michael Fallon, who remains defense secretary in Prime Minister Teresa May’s new government will also receive a knighthood. So will British oil executive Ian Taylor, a major Tory Party contributor (which, by the

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way means 1.6 million pounds – around $2 million -- to the party coffers and 350,000 pounds to the pro-EU referendum campaign, drops in the bucket compared to U.S. political giving, but significant in the United Kingdom).

Some departing prime ministers have given out honors in the past, but not Tony Blair nor his successor Gordon Brown, and rarely, if ever, on the scale of Cameron’s valedictory largesse. The honors list is usually a strict secret until it is officially announced, but the Times leak hasn’t been denied; and there is the suspicion that the leak was itself a parting gift from the government to the newspaper for its support of “Remain,” the campaign for staying in.

Included in the honors list are several of the leggy, efficient, well-born women in their thirties who seemed to populate Cameron’s Downing Street, including his wife Samantha’s style adviser, Isobel Spearman, and Cameron’s official spokesperson.

Queen Elizabeth usually confers the coveted honors – or in more familiar parlance, hands out the gongs – at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, but in

IStock/Getty Images

LETTER FROM LONDON

reality the monarch no longer has anything to do with nominating the proud recipients. That is usually the prerogative of the government, and the process of selection is so secretive that it can sometimes seem somewhat murky. As the Times itself pointed out, the published list “looks as though honors are being used as rewards for failure.” More so in the case of Will Straw, director of the much reviled “Remain” campaign which had seemed doomed and lackluster from the start, was due to be made a CBE. The Times quoted an unnamed insider as saying, “I’m surprised Larry [the Downing Street cat] is not on the list.”

But what of the victors in the Brexit referendum -- the anti-EU strategists who succeeded in reversing almost 50 years of history?

They received no honors; and inner rivalries undermined their efforts to take control of the Tory Party and government. Ironically, the job of extricating the United Kingdom from the European Union has fallen to a former Cameron government minister who was opposed to leaving Europe in the first place.

And yet three months after the decisive referendum an air of unreality still envelopes the whole issue; Brits up and down the country still seemed to a recent visitor to be processing the information.

Opponents of Brexit are understandably angry; but what is striking is the absence of a sense of triumph, of achievement, among many ordinary citizens who, against predictions, had transformed a silly catchphrase into a reality. There are almost enough Brexit voters with second thoughts to talk of a “Take it back” movement. Harry Potter author JK Rowling was reflecting a widespread sentiment when she tweeted, “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted magic more.” No magic and no miracles. Brexit is here to stay.

So what’s next? Unquestionably, the United Kingdom needs to move on, but to what, when every day makes it more apparent that no exit strategy appears to have been prepared in advance either by Cameron’s government – which is perhaps understandable – or by Brexit leaders?

Commentaries by “experts” don’t help much, and often seem little more than educated guesses, pious hopes, or vague assumptions. A recent editorial in The Spectator, the conservative magazine of which Boris Johnson was once editor, complained recently, “The Brexit vote might

have passed, but the debate goes on: its advocates looking for signs of optimism, and its opponents muttering about ‘hard Brexit’ and almost willing economic collapse.” In a very serious world it all gives the impression of life at a public school going disastrously wrong because the headmaster has suddenly eloped with the Classics teacher’s wife. Something Terrence Rattigan, one of whose best plays has just been revived successfully in London, might have written in the 1950s. Come to think of it, he did: The Browning Version.

Economic indicators are read as positive by one side and negative by the other. Nobody can dispute that Sterling has declined in value, but to Brexit supporters that means a boost for exports. A complacent City, hub of the U.K.’s global financial services, seems to think it inconceivable that Gulf investors will forsake London for Frankfurt, but that will surely depend on what access the City will continue to have in Europe.

The reality is that nobody doubted that economic turbulence would follow, at least in the short term.

Unraveling from Europe is a monumental task that has to be addressed before a new relationship can be put in place: hundreds of European laws now in force in the United Kingdom have to be removed from the statute books, the future of thousands of Brits working in Brussels and at other EU institutions has to be resolved; conversely, the fate of thousands of European immigrants in the UK – one of the root causes of British discontent with Europe – has to be determined. Bilateral trade deals have to be cobbled up.

Meanwhile, David Cameron, the departed prime minister, is being dumped on as the chief creator of this mess, and rightly so. The referendum was the rabbit Cameron pulled out a hat when there was no public demand for it. He did so hoping it would bring right wing Tories into line. If, as has been reported, he is negotiating to write a book about the crisis, which will doubtless shed no new light on it whatsoever, he is crying all the way to the bank. His wife is expected to go into the fashion business with her fashion gurette Spearman.

He has some defenders, of course. Emily Sheffield, the deputy editor of British Vogue, calls Cameron “endlessly generous,” and “an intensely hardworking, dedicated politician.” She adds, “What I deplore most is the current, casual denigration of his government’s achievements.” But this admiration may have something to do with the fact that Emily Sheffield is David Cameron’s sister-in-law. n

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HANS CORELL Former United Nations Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs Remains a Passionate Advocate for the Rule of Law in International Relations James A. Winship, Ph.D.

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weden’s Hans Corell is an international treasure and, in many ways, the institutional memory of decades of service to his home country – Sweden, to the United Nations and to the international legal system. He served as Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel of the United Nations under two Secretaries General – Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Kofi Annan – from 1994-2004. But beyond his qualifications as a legal scholar, Hans Corell is a classically trained humanist, a legal philosopher, a writer, a poet, and a musician.

Most charmingly and tellingly, however, Hans Corell is a raconteur of remarkable insight, not just a teller of life stories but a chronicler of international legal actions with a minstrel’s ability to dramatize and enthrall. His memory is a virtual intellectual history of international legal and political events over five decades that span the turn of a century. In September 1961, he was a student steward in the Cathedral at Uppsala for the funeral of the martyred United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold. Forty years later, coming full circle, in the aftermath of the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center in New York he played the Scottish bag pipes at the UN Staff Day ceremonies in remembrance of United Nations staff members who had lost their lives in service to that organization.

For Corell the law is a living thing evolving over time. He speaks of it with an unmistakable passion that permeates his conversation while simultaneously marrying that same intense dedication for the law to the events of his own life. He recalls his first visit to the United Nations headquarters in New York City not as a fledgling lawyer but as a young merchant seaman earning his way through university, never dreaming that he would one day return to New York as a member of the Swedish delegation to the General Assembly and then as head of the UN Legal Office.

And why did this son of a Swedish Lutheran pastor go to sea? His maternal grandfather, a sea captain sailing as first

mate on a Swedish freighter, lost his life when his ship was torpedoed by a German submarine in the waning days of World War I. Hans Corell received his law degree from Uppsala University in 1962 beginning his legal career as a law clerk and then becoming a judge in the courts of first and second instance. In 1972, he joined the Swedish Ministry of Justice serving in a variety of administrative and legislative roles touching on multiple aspects of Swedish life ranging from property law and church-state relations to data protection and constitutional law. In 1979, Corell was named Director of the Justice Ministry’s Division for Administrative and Constitutional Law, eventually becoming Chief Legal Officer.

He was appointed Judge of Appeal in 1980.

Before joining the United Nations, Corell was Ambassador and Under-Secretary for Legal and Consular Affairs in the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1984-1994. During that time he was a member of Sweden’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly (1985-1993) and undertook several assignments under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Europe (OECD) and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, now OSCE).

He was one of three international rapporteurs appointed by the CSCE who began the investigation of war crimes in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina in 1992 during Yugoslavia’s fractious ethnic conflicts. It was their report, forwarded by the CSCE to the United Nations that first proposed the establishment of an international court to deal with war crimes committed in the course of the multiple conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.

Among the many legal responsibilities Ambassador Corell assumed upon being appointed Under-Secretary for Legal Affairs and the Legal Counsel of the United Nations in 1994, was nurturing the development of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

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(ICTY) after its creation by the Security Council as well as the establishment of an International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide that accompanied that country’s internal conflict. Corell also shepherded the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which entered into force just as he came to the United Nations.

Building on the establishment of the ad hoc courts for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Ambassador Corell also aided in the establishment of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) for trial of the senior Khmer Rouge leaders. In 1998, Ambassador Corell served as the Secretary General’s representative at the United Nations Conference that adopted the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In retirement, Hans Corell has not slowed down one bit. He remains a zealous defender of the rule of law and a dedicated advocate for its expansion. He is involved in the work of the International Bar Association, the International Legal Assistance Consortium, and the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life at Brandeis University. He is a member of the Steering Committee for the “Crimes Against Humanity Initiative” launched by the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University. Corell served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Human Law at the University of Lund from 2006-2012. And, he remains a strong advocate for the work and the potential of the United Nations.

like a flash of lightning, into the life situation of others. A must – to force the problem from its emotional statement into a clearly conceived intellectual form and then to act accordingly.” Is that a metaphor for the law for you, for your career?

Diplomatic Connections was privileged to interview Ambassador Corell at his office in Stockholm, Sweden.

That observation became very important to me.

Diplomatic Connections: On your website you use a quotation from Dag Hammarskjold’s book, his spiritual reflections through a lifetime, called Markings in English. Here is your translation of Hammarskjold’s thought: “Openness to life grants a swift insight, 78

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Hans Corell: In a sense, yes. When I read in the papers about a crime being committed I get just as upset as everybody else, but then as a judge there is a case before you in the court. That is when the judge has to move beyond an emotional state and formulate the problem into clearly conceived intellectual form. It is necessary to be very precise and not allow feelings to run away with the judgment. The law must be applied justly and in accordance with the evidence before the court. Then as a jurist your decision is handed down. becoming the Legal Counsel of the United Nations. I re-read Hammarskjold’s very famous address given Oxford on 30 May 1961, just three months before he died. There he examines the role of the international civil servant, specifically exploring neutrality and how leaders should behave in an international organization.

Hammarskjold comes to the conclusion that sooner or later the Secretary General must take action.

If that decision made upsets one or several among parties, their negative reaction is not a sign of lack of neutrality. On the contrary, it is clear evidence of neutrality because a judgment must be made. Now, if the decision made and the action taken goes against one of the parties, so be it. The key point is that determination handed down must be just. And then Hammarskjold makes a comparison. Isn’t this exactly how a judge has to act in the daily exercise of authority?

Diplomatic Connections: You attended the faculty of law and received your law degree. What were your early law assignments?

Hans Corell: In Sweden in those days there was the tradition that after law school newly minted lawyers applied for a clerkship at the court to be trained in the working of the

IStock/Getty Images

I also recognized this later upon

Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

Ambassador Hans Corell (R), then United Nations Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel, speaks at a ceremony in the Spring of 2002 acknowledging receipt of the crucial 60th ratification of the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court. He is joined by Atoki Ileka (L), then Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the UN and Ambassador Sithong Neav (C), then Ambassador of Cambodia to the UN. Based in The Hague in the Netherlands, the International Criminal Court tries cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Today, in 2016, 124 nation-states have acceded to the Rome Statute and are supporting the work of the ICC.

law. Almost all lawyers in Sweden in those days spent roughly two-and-a-half years in a local court working with senior judges as well as presiding in court themselves.

I was 24-years old when I was on the bench for the first time. The impression the senior judges on the court presented as they went about their daily work became extremely important. That taught me a lesson: the role that a judge has to play in a society under the rule of law.

This gave me a backbone that has followed me all of my life. At the United Nations, I was not at all impressed when ambassadors came up and told me: I have instructions from my capital, and we expect such and such an action. I would respond, Ambassador, I am listening to you certainly but you must realize that I have to make up my own mind based on the law.

Diplomatic Connections: How did you make the transition to international law? What led to that change of direction?

Hans Corell: Young judges also serve as judge registrar dealing with titles to land. That work made me understand the great significance of having a proper land registry. I look around the world now, and I understand that if a country does not have a proper land registry, it is impossible to develop an appropriate economy. Land holders must be

able to have title to the land in order to mortgage the land and borrow money to build a factory or a house.

Between 1962 and 1972 this element of land registry was continuously a part of my work as a judge.

Later I served on the Water Court of Appeal. This required me to learn the law that governed building in waters hydroelectric plants, port facilities, water treatment plants, etc. On the bench of the Water Court of Appeal were not just a group of lawyers but also an engineer. It was unusual to have a scientific voice present in the deliberations of the court. That experience taught me the importance of including environmental elements in the assessment when you decided whether or not to grant permission to build a water-related facility.

This was a tremendous asset when I came to the United Nations and was responsible for the Law of the Sea. One of my first tasks was to draft the law governing the Seabed Authority that was sitting in an office in Kingston, Jamaica. When I looked at the draft code of how you should apply the law of the sea in connection with deep seabed mining, I asked: where are the environmental regulations? There were virtually none, and what did exist was very rudimentary.

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Diplomatic Connections: It begins to sound as if your legal career in Sweden was assembling the building blocks of your future international career.

Hans Corell: I was lucky in one thing after another. I became head of the constitutional law department at the Ministry of Justice in 1979. That division was responsible for administrative and constitutional law. The primary task was to vet every proposal from government with constitutional spectacles on before it went to parliament. We had to ascertain whether a draft law was in conformity with the Swedish Constitution.

when people complained that we had violated human rights according to the European Convention. That was also an extraordinary education.

All these experiences meant that I got a different view of the Swedish constitutional system and its legal foundations as well as of the place of the Swedish legal system in the world. I gained both a broad-based and a comparative perspective on the legal system in which I had been trained. I saw our obligations under international law firsthand and came to understand how these commitments translated into our national law.

Diplomatic Connections: How did you begin your career at the United Nations?

Hans Corell: Boutros-Ghali called me in January 1994 and said, “Mr. Corell, I want you to join my team.” That’s an offer you don’t refuse. It is probably one of the most interesting legal platforms in the world at the crossroads between law and politics.

James A. Winship, Ph.D. and Ambassador Hans Corell together in Stockholm, Sweden.

After three years in that position, the Minister asked me to become the Chief Legal Officer of the Ministry of Justice.

Subsequent to that, I had a telephone call from the Minister of Foreign Affairs officially requesting me to join his team as head of the legal department in the Foreign Office.

I accepted, and I have never regretted that decision one minute.

Diplomatic Connections: What did you learn during that time with the Foreign Ministry?

Hans Corell: I got to know the members of the Swedish Foreign Service as well as colleagues in other countries, which was extremely valuable. I had to negotiate with other nations as head of the Swedish delegation. I was the agent for the Swedish government before the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg. I had to defend my country 80

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When I came to New York and started looking into the workings of the UN Legal Office, I said to myself, rule of law is really where we have to do more work than has been done in the past and it has to be instilled in a society from the grassroots.

People who are appointed or elected to official roles must understand that they have a level of accountability that goes much, much farther than their own political interests.

They have to defend the concept of the rule of law in order to create a society where people can live in dignity with their human rights preserved.

Diplomatic Connections: In the course of your career you have seen a series of Secretaries General. We are in the midst of a process that will select a new Secretary General to succeed Ban Ki-moon later this year. What do you think are the most important qualities that an effective Secretary General needs to have?

Hans Corell: The Secretary General must be an independent person who doesn’t shy away in a difficult situation when a decision, based on the obligations flowing from the United

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Nations Charter or perhaps from a resolution adopted by the General Assembly or the Security Council has to be made.

The members should be looking for a person who comprehends that sometimes he or she has to act with determination. In an article where I analyzed Dag Hammarskjold’s thoughts about the Secretary General’s role I concluded that, “The Secretary General of the United Nations who from time to time does not have an argument with a major power simply isn’t doing the job.” Not that the Secretary General should be looking for a disagreement with member states, but there will inevitably be situations where there is no other way to move forward.

Diplomatic Connections: You have said quite pointedly that you see the permanent members of the Security Council, the P-5, as derelict in their responsibilities under the Charter and to the organization. Could you explain that?

Hans Corell: What I mean is that the leading states of the United Nations themselves violate their obligations under the Charter. For example, my heart sank when I saw the UK and the US – two Western democracies – attacking Iraq back in March 2003, in flagrant violation of the UN Charter. Russia attacks Georgia in 2008. And the latest developments in Ukraine are flagrant violations of the UN Charter. The inability of the Security Council to deal with the situation in Syria undermines the Charter.

I suggested in a letter to the members of the United Nations on 8 December 2008, the date of the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that the Permanent Members should agree on four things.

First, they should observe the law that they are intended to supervise. In other words, they should abide by the UN Charter. Is that asking too much? Second, from now on they should not employ the veto unless their country’s most critical interests are under threat. And, if they choose to exercise their veto, they will be expected to explain why. Third, from now on they will not authorize the use of force unless it is clearly required under the terms of the UN Charter – self-defense under Article 51 or after a clear and unambiguous resolution by the Security Council. And, fourth, individual states have a responsibility to protect their citizens. If a state isn’t protecting its population against genocide or war crimes and crimes against humanity, or if the state is complicit in violence against its own people then, if necessary, the Security Council should apply force.

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Diplomatic Connections: That’s a very dramatic change in thinking among United Nations members. What would make that happen?

Hans Corell: The five Permanent Members of the Security Council need to sit down around a table, look at each other and ask the question: What on earth are we doing? Are we not acting in a manner that we are supporting conflicts, creating conflicts rather than preventing conflicts? If they could join hands in this manner it would send a signal that would make the world reverberate, a signal that war lords and dictators would understand. From that point on leaders might begin to think: perhaps they will go after people like me if I violate international law. For example, if a state and its leader started gassing women and children or sending barrel bombs. If that signal were sent by the Security Council, what would happen?

PREVENTION. And, as a judge, that is the goal. The interest of the judge is not to incarcerate as many people as possible. The interest is that the judge’s action on the court should send a signal to the community that will make most people abstain from crimes. The desired effect is deterrence, to discourage crimes before they are committed.

Diplomatic Connections: You read the language of the Charter in one way, a way that takes the words seriously and sees in them a compelling commitment. Yet, many other people would say that the language of the Charter is aspirational, not binding.

You read those words to be an absolute obligation as opposed to an aspiration.

Hans Corell: I can think of no better recipe for the future than referring to my favorite quote from one of the Presidents in your country, not only that he was a Republican, and not only that he was a military man.

Reelected, Dwight D. Eisenhower in his Second Inaugural Address on 21 January 1957, in the midst of the Cold War, tells the people of the United States that, “We look upon this shaken earth, and we declare our firm and fixed purpose -- the building of a peace with justice in a world where moral law prevails. We recognize and accept our own deep involvement in the destiny of men everywhere.

We are accordingly pledged to honor, and to strive to fortify, the authority of the United Nations. For in that body rests the best hope of our age for the assertion of that law by which all nations may live in dignity.”

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The Presidential Suites include a private kitchen and two separate wrap around balconies. A solid walnut dining table with polished bronze legs sits atop Kaswell dark wood floors laid in an intricate basket weave pattern. Distressed leather and classic velvet chairs can be found in front of the fireplaces with solid wood mantles.

La Bottega bath amenities adorn the floorto-ceiling marble bathrooms, as well as the additional powder room.

Guests are in awe of the whisky wall complete with 2,500 custom whisky bottles at The Next Whisky Bar. They can indulge in the expansive spirit list before heading to the hotel’s full service restaurant, Kingbird. Led by Executive Chef Michael Santoro, Kingbird is a duel concept restaurant offering ingredient-driven American cuisine with a French twist, paired with an impressive, global wine list. To complete the experience, Top of The Gate bar and lounge offers 360 – degree, jaw dropping views of the Potomac River, Capitol and Washington Monument.

( 844 617 1972

“A Romantic Escape Under the Stars in the Heart of Beverly Hills”

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BMW Special Sales

The Ultimate Driving Machine ®

LUXURY HAS A NEW AMBASSADOR. THE ALL NEW BMW 7 SERIES.

Drive the vehicle that reflects diplomatic status — the all new BMW 7 Series. With best‑in‑class innovation plus features like soft‑close doors and air suspension, BMW’s most advanced sedan sets the standard for luxury.

The BMW 7 Series and other eligible models are now available with special diplomatic and embassy incentives.

For official‑use vehicles, embassies can benefit from special pricing through the Official Embassy Vehicle Program.

For personal use, a diplomatic incentive is available to foreign diplomats stationed in the U.S. and returning American diplomats, as well as staff and qualified members of international organizations.

For program details, please contact your local BMW center. ©2016 BMW of North America, LLC. This ad, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced without the express written permission of BMW of North America, LLC. The BMW name, model names and logo are registered trademarks. All rights reserved.

IMPERIAL E

UNAPOLOGETICALLY

LUXURIOUS STEP INSIDE A LEGENDARY REVIVAL AT THE WATERGATE HOTEL, A LUXURIOUS URBAN RESORT LOCATED ALONG THE POTOMAC RIVER. HERE MODERN DESIGN BLENDS WITH A STORIED PAST TO REDEFINE LUXURY.

INFO @ T HEWAT ER GA TEHOT EL.COM

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