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Located just blocks from the U.S. Capitol Building, the National Mall, Chinatown, Union Station, Verizon Center and Judiciary Square Metro! Stunning Views of the U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument and the city’s beautiful skyline await you... Ashton Judiciary Square features:
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Nuclear Summit PAGE 32
DIPLOMATIC CONNECTIONS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Dawn Parker AssistantS to the Editor Kyle Byram, Chanel Cherry Ashley Gatewood BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Executives Evan Strianese, Kendra Edmonds, Mongoose Atlantic, Inc. – Stephen Channon, George Hoffman, Amber Smith DESIGN & CREATIVE KDG Advertising, Design & Marketing msocha@kdgadvertising.com Contributing Designer Larry Smith DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENTS and CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Roland Flamini, James Winship, PhD, Monica Frim, Mark Kennedy, Meghan Lawson, Lawrence Dunham Event Coordinator Assistants William Lewallen, Nate Subra, Colleen Tankei, Cristina Montesinos, Yuun Peñuelas, Jurong Kang
To contact an advertising executive CALL: 202.536.4810 FAX: 202.370.6882 EMAIL: info@diplomaticconnections.com DIPLOMATIC CONNECTIONS WEBSITE DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT IMS (Inquiry Management Systems) 304 Park Avenue South, 11th Floor New York, NY 10010 TOLL FREE: 877.467.8721 X701 Website: www.ims.com Marc Highbloom, Vice President marc@ims.ca Maria D’Urso, Project Manager Mariad@ims.ca
Turkish Ambassador Namik Tan Page 24
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHY Christophe Avril; Gustavo Gargallo; George Apostolidis for Mandarin Oriental Washington, D.C.; Freer-Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian; Keegan Bursaw; United Nations To order photos from the events go to: www.diplomaticconnections.com
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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 2012 by Diplomatic Connections All rights reserved. Cover photo credits: 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, Jewel Samad/AFP/ Getty Images; North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un, KNS/AFP/Getty Images; Presidents Obama and Hu Jintao, Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images; Turkish Ambassador Namik Tan, Christophe Avril, Diplomatic Connections; Canada Welcomes the World, Keegan Bursaw; Mrs. Amanda Hyndman, Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC, Christophe Avril, Diplomatic Connections; Kristin Davis, Kris Connor/Getty Images; Humanitarian, UN photos; Sex and The City 2 photo, Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images; Dario Franchitti, Chris Graythen/Getty Images; UN - Ashley Judd, Dario Cantatore/Getty Images; Humanitarian, UN Photos; Austrian Agricultural Attache Hans Kordik, Diplomatic Connections
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APARTMENTS and HOUSING Ashton Judiciary Square UDR 14 Crescent Falls Church UDR 14 Dittmar Realty – Courtland Towers 15 Dittmar Realty – Randolph Towers 15 AUTOMOTIVE - CARS and LIMOUSINE SERVICES Admiral Leasing 48 Car Services – VIP Gold Car 2 & 3 Jim Coleman Cadillac 16 Jim Coleman Toyota 17
PAGE 74 EDUCATION – INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS Archbishop Riordan High School 5 British School of Washington 9 Florida Air Academy 8 Le Lycee Francais de Los Angeles 7 Loyola School 9 Marvelwood School 8 Miss Porter’s School 5 Pinecrest School 8 Sandy Spring Friends School 6 The Kew-Forest School 6 Trinity – Pawling School 7
CHOCOLATES Neuhaus Belgian Chocolates 95 DENTISTRY Dentist – Dr. Pamela Marzban 91 COMMUNICATIONS InTouch USA Wireless Communications 31 Diplomatic Connections Reception, March 13th, 2012, at The Hay-Adams 88 - 90 Diplomatic Connections Reception, April 18th, 2012, at The Madison Hotel 42 - 47 Diplomatic Connections Reception, October 30th, 2012 at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, D.C. 53
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ENTERTAINMENT [The] Embassy Series 52 FURNITURE RocheBobois 31
HOTELS, DINING and ACCOMMODATIONS 2100PRIME.COM 10 Double Tree Hotel by Hilton Hotel Bethesda – Washington, D.C. 13 [The] Fairfax at Embassy Row 10, 86 & 87, 92 & 93 [The] Hay-Adams INSIDE FRONT COVER and 94 InterContinental – Willard InterContinental Washington, DC 49 InterContinental – Cleveland Clinic 11 [The] Madison 40 & 41 [The] Mandarin Oriental Washington, D.C. 64 - 73 [The] Peninsula Beverly Hills * BACK COVER, 96 & 97 Trump International Hotel & Tower * Chicago 1
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Articles Austria – Interview with Agriculture Attache Hans Kordik 60 Canada – Prime Minister Harper’s visit to the U.S. 20 Canada – Welcomes the World 50 Congress – Kristin Davis 80 Geopolitical – Arctic Ice 54 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit 32 Turkey – Interview with Ambassador Namik Tan 24 United Nations, Ashley Judd 74
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President Barack Obama (C) speaks as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (R), and Mexican President Felipe Calderon participate in a joint press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House April 2, 2012, in Washington, DC. Obama hosted his counterparts from Canada and Mexico for the North American Leaders Summit (NALS) with talks on cooperation among the three countries, North American’s role in the Americas, and other global economic, political, and security issues, according to a White House news release.
by Monica Frim
It
wasn’t so much the Rose Garden talks among President Barack Obama, Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon that stirred the political pot on April 2, but the after-summit conversation between Stephen Harper and Jane Harman. Ms. Harman is a former congresswoman of California, now President and CEO of Washington’s Woodrow Wilson Center, a non-partisan think-tank for international dialogue and programs. Stephen Harper went straight from the White House to the Woodrow Wilson Center, his only private stop on his visit to the North American Leaders Summit in Washington. In an event billed as an intimate discussion of bilateral and global issues, the Prime Minister provided insight into a variety of issues that encompassed economy, trade, energy, intelligence and security, Arctic policies and healthcare. But the hottest topic was Keystone XL, a pipeline that, if built, would run from the Athabasca oil sands in Northern D I P L O M A T I C C O N N E C T I O N S B U S I N E S S edition | M A Y - J U N E 2 0 1 2
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Alberta, Canada, to ports and refineries in Texas. Mr. Harper Streamlining cross-border procedures would certainly be is determined for the project to go through, while the Demoa start, especially for industries that rely on both Canadian and crats and Republicans are tossing this oily hot potato about American components. “The Canada/U.S. collaboration on cars as if their entire political careers depended on where it lands is huge,” said Ms. Harman. “Exports between the United States — which may well be the case. While polls show that most and Canada keep adding content on both sides of the border. Americans support the Keystone project, many native groups The same thing is true in Mexico.” and environmental agencies are adamantly opposed. The proj Mr. Harper concurred, citing that the average North ect has already been under review for three years and still no American car crosses the border 16 times during production. decision is expected until after the election. Simply put, the biggest hold-up is red tape. Mr. Harper Mr. Harper is not waiting around. “The very fact that a said officials have been “working for several months now, ‘no’ could even be said underscores to our country that we working with industry on a range of ways that we can must diversify our energy exports,” he standardize, harmonize, simplify said. “We cannot be, as a country, in regulatory differences between our a situation where really our one, and countries... We want to find a way in many cases, almost only energy with our largest trading partner to partner could say no to our energy make our border as seamless as products.” His eye is to the east. “To possible, and dealing with regulatory not diversify to Asia when Asia is a simplification and standardization growing part of the world… it simply is a big part of that.” makes no sense.” It’s a tall order and the border is But even if President Obama a hotbed of differing perspectives. approved the project, Mr. Harper When asked by an audience member Former Representative Jane Harman (D-CA) would still be looking for other export if each side of the border could do markets for Canadian oil. “For us, the United States cannot be more to make crossings faster and easier, perhaps through the our only export market,” he reiterated. use of biometric screening, Mr. Harper jumped on the bio Mr. Harper’s decision to not place Canadian oil exports metric bandwagon as a no-brainer solution to long lines and into a single American basket is effectively a matter of sound extensive screenings. “The principle is really very simple,” Mr. business for Canada. But in another sound business endeavor, Harper said. “It’s how do we increase the ability of ordinary the Prime Minister joked that there was one form of energy businesses, ordinary travelers, tourists, friends and neighbors Canada would not be exporting to Asia: hydro-electricity. that cross the border regularly and seamlessly while at the “There’s lots of capacity for Canada to dramatically increase its same time being able to identify risks and threats? Biometrics, hydro-electric power and to export more of that power to the information sharing... all of those things are part of the proUnited States. We have tremendous capacity for growth here.” gram that we put together with the Obama Administration.” While he skirted the regulatory obstacles, his commentary The process comes on the heels of attempts by terrorists reached sales pitch level with the statement, “It would make to enter the United States. Ms. Harman didn’t mince words a lot of sense for the United States to find ways of purchasing when she stated, “It is much easier to get into Canada than more hydro power from Canada.” Indeed. it is to get into our country and that one of the worries was As the world’s biggest trading partners — more than $700 that the folks who are not that appealing would get into billion dollars in annual bilateral exports (a trillion trilateryour country and then try to cross the border to attack us in ally with Mexico) — the United States and Canada share not our country.” The rhetoric was the kind of pseudo-paranoia only the benefits of trade but also the impediments. In fact, repackaged as mainstream thinking that has never unfazed according to Ms. Harman, “One of the things on the President’s Mr. Harper. He countered, “I can tell you today that withlist that was agreed to [at the North American Leaders Sumout a shadow of a doubt that there is a far higher percentage mit] was a joint regime for simplifying regulatory reform.” She of illegal immigrants in the United States than there is in asked Mr. Harper to expound on that agreement as well as Canada. I can also tell you that in terms of movement across some other ways to spur competitiveness and “take the trillion the border, in terms of undesirable individuals or weapons or we now have and multiply that by a lot.” drugs, there’s far more that comes north than goes south.”
Alex Wong/Getty Images
President Barack Obama (C), Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (R), and Mexican President Felipe Calderon (L) come out from the Oval Office for a joint press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House April 2, 2012, in Washington, DC.
But if the border was prickly territory, Ms. Harman had nothing but praise for Canada’s economy. She reiterated the World Economic Forum’s statement that Canada’s banks are the soundest in the world and that not a single Canadian bank failed during the long recession. The fact that Forbes magazine ranks Canada as the best place on earth to invest prompted Ms. Harman to bemoan, “Alas, no one has said that about the United States lately.” So how was Canada able to maintain a healthier budget and economy than the United States and other countries during the lowest point of the recent recession? Mr. Harper chalked it up to a strong fiscal position owing to solid financial institution regulation going into the recession, which gave the country more flexibility. The fact that Canada also had a low debt level meant that Canada could put money — $60 billion, in fact — into a large-scale stimulus program, similar to what was done in the United States, and “incur that kind of deficit in the short term without worrying about the effect on our interest burden down the road.” According to Mr. Harper, “Having that fiscal flexibility has made all the difference.” If there was one area that caused Mr. Harper to undergo a temporary hiccup, it was Ms. Harman’s final question:
“What in your experience is the greatest myth people hold about Canada and Canadians?” “I guess I don’t know how to answer that,” Mr. Harper confessed. “There are all kinds of stories — I don’t know how true they are — about Americans showing up in Canada in the middle of summer wearing winter clothing, but that cools off in time.” But always the polished statesman, Mr. Harper finished with an eloquent revelation of how it is sometimes difficult to get the United States to pay attention to issues that are important to Canada. “The greatest misunderstanding, the greatest challenge that Canada has with the United States is that the relationship between us is so deep and so close and, for the most part, so seamless, that, in spite of its enormous size, Americans simply do not understand the scale of economic consequence... and occasionally we will find ourselves on matters before Congress or before the Administration getting sideswiped by policies that have absolutely nothing to do with Canada.” Paraphrasing Tom Donahue, Mr. Harper surmises an American explanation: “The only reason Americans and the United States sometimes treat Canada badly is because we view Canada not really as a foreign country. We view Canadians as family.” n
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t’s a rare combination when both a diplomatic residence and its resident are newsworthy at the same time. That is exactly the situation, however, with His Excellency Namik Tan, the current Turkish Ambassador to the United States and the home in which he lives. Trained as a lawyer at Ankara University, Ambassador Tan is a career diplomat who was named Ambassador to the United States in February 2010 and has previously served two tours of duty as Counselor (1991 – 1995) and as First Counselor (1997 – 2001) at the Turkish Embassy. That means he has seen four different presidential styles — George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — at close hand and is no stranger to presidential elections in the United States. Good background for steering Turkish-U.S. relations through the tumult of an American presidential campaign with its overblown rhetoric, melodramatic confrontations and non-stop media coverage. Ambassador Tan’s first posting as a junior foreign service officer was to the Turkish embassy in Moscow during the years (1984 – 1987) that Mikhail Gorbachev was pursuing the reform policies of glasnost and perestroika that would set the stage for the end of the Communist Party and the collapse of the Soviet Union. From there he spent two years as First Secretary of the Turkish Embassy in Abu Dhabi. He recalls
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this time as a shift from “- 40° Celsius to +50° Celsius.” Despite the temperature extremes, these were superb opportunities for a young diplomat to understand Turkey’s Black Sea neighbor, Russia, with whom it had a history of conflict over control of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean as well as to connect more closely with Turkey’s Arab neighbors with whom it shared Muslim tradition but whose diplomatic focus was more often on the politics of energy and the Persian (Arabian) Gulf than the Mediterranean Sea and Europe. Following these early appointments, and interspersed with those in the United States, Ambassador Tan held a variety of assignments at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Istanbul. He served as Deputy Director of the Office of the President under Turkish President Turgut Özal (1989 – 1991) and later as Chief
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of Cabinet to the Foreign Minister during a period of time when Turkey had a series of coalition governments. Later in his career, Tan served as Head of the Americas Department and then as spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Immediately before being named Ambassador in Washington, he served as Turkey’s Ambassador to Israel. But, the Turkish Ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C. has quite an interesting story itself. The home was built between 1910 and 1915 and contains a mixture of architectural and decorative styles that can only be called “American
Opulence.” The owner and builder of the home was Edward Hamlin Everett, an Ohio businessman who made multiple fortunes in oil and gas, the manufacture of glass beverage bottles, and the invention and production of the corrugated metal caps that came to “crown” bottled beverages from beer to soft drinks. Everett met architect George Oakley Totten, Jr. in Istanbul and commissioned him to design the mansion in Washington on Sheridan Circle. Totten was fascinated with Turkish architectural styles, especially as they were blended with European styles, and actually designed the first U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul. It was inevitable that the home in our nation’s capitol should show Turkish influences. 26
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In his will, Edward Hamlin Everett left strict instructions that, were the mansion ever to be sold, the Turkish representation in Washington should be given first right of refusal. Exactly that offer was made, and the Turkish government first leased and then purchased the house and everything in it in 1936. The home served as the Turkish Embassy Chancery and Residence until 1999 when a new chancery was opened on Massachusetts Avenue. The Turkish Ambassador in Washington from 1934 – 1944 was Münir Ertegün. During his posting, the Ambassador’s two sons became fascinated with the music scene in Washington, especially jazz and the precursors of what would become rock and roll. The sons began inviting musician friends, many of them African American, to the embassy for jazz jam sessions. It was by many accounts a swingin’ place! The sons befriended figures like Duke Ellington, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Ray Charles long before they were celebrities. One of those two boys — Ahmet Ertegün — founded the iconic jazz and rock and roll label Atlantic Records and would become a music legend in his own right. Ambassador Ertegün died on duty in 1944 and because of wartime conditions his body was not returned to Turkey until 1946. At the time of his death, there was no mosque in Washington, D.C. at which to hold the funeral, an absence that led the Washington diplomatic community to conceive and build the Islamic Center on Massachusetts Avenue, NW. Even the return of Ertegün’s body to Istanbul in 1946 became an important symbol of early Cold War American support for Turkey and a precursor of the Truman Doctrine as President Truman chose to return the body aboard the USS Missouri, the same battleship on the decks of which General Douglas MacArthur had accepted the surrender of the Japanese just months earlier. If the traditions of the Turkish Residence and its occupants are deeply rooted in American history and the history of U.S.-Turkish relations, then the style of Turkish diplomacy owes much to the jazz traditions that are part of that heritage as well. As jazz is a blend of American musical traditions ranging from the spirituals to ragtime and beyond, so is Turkish diplomacy a blend of cultural traditions and a history deeply embedded in the multiple traditions of Eurasia. And just as jazz depends on the ability of soloists to improvise on their chosen instruments and yet come back together to jam around a common theme, so too has Turkish diplomacy celebrated the traditions of its Muslim culture while reaching out to bridge continents and cultures. Ambassador Namik Tan tells us more about the style and content of Turkish diplomacy and the state of Turkish-U.S. relations in the interview that follows.
To see the entire video interview, go to: www.DiplomaticConnections.com
Diplomatic Connections: Ambassador Tan, thank you
Diplomatic Connections: We’ve lived through now
for agreeing to speak with us today and for inviting us into your residence. It’s fascinating that the house is a link not only to Turkish-American relations but also to the history of Washington, D.C. beyond the federal government, including the development of the jazz scene and rock and roll and to the whole musical community here. Ambassador Tan: Actually, when we started the Ahmet Ertegün Jazz Series here — last year we did six different concerts and this year we’re continuing the series — people repeatedly asked us what Turkey and jazz had to do with each other. Diplomatic Connections: Please tell us more about your time as Ambassador to Israel. Israel and Turkey have had a relationship that has often been surprisingly close. What was it like being a bridge between two worlds, and what did you learn in the process? Ambassador Tan: The relationship between Turkey and Israel is a unique one and an historical one. We have had more than five hundred years of an impeccable relationship with all the Jews in general. It was always appreciated by the Jews because all along this relationship gave support and embrace to the Jews. Immediately after the establishment of Israel, right after the United States recognized the state of Israel, Turkey was the first Muslim majority state — the only one — which stood up and made its decision to recognize Israel. From then until now, we have had an uninterrupted relationship with Israel. It has its ups and downs, but this relationship is critically important for stability and peace in the region. If you look back, you see these two countries — Turkey and Israel — as the main actors of the region which is dominated geographically by the Arab states. Turkey has sought to play a mediating role between Israel and its Arab neighbors. We have always tried to build bridges and to help to create an understanding and cooperation between the two parties. We supported the two state solution from the very beginning, and we still do so. What makes Turkey different from others is that Turkey is the only Muslim country out of 57 others that has a free market economy, a parliamentary democracy, secularism, and also strong connections, direct relations, with all the Western institutions that you can name — not only NATO. So, Turkey is the only country which brings democracy, Islam and modernity together in a most impressive way.
a year and a bit more of the cascading events of the Arab Spring — Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and elsewhere throughout the region. You just referred to Turkey’s delicate but very stable balance between a free market economy, democracy and Islam. What has Turkey learned about that balancing act that would be helpful for other nations just beginning to experiment with democracy and the balance between democracy and Muslim identity as well? Ambassador Tan: First and foremost Turkey has always listened to the will of its own people. You cannot do anything against the will of your own people. Today the Turkish people with all these universal values are asking for a better democracy, for better living standards, better concern for their personal aspirations. Turkey, geographically, is at the crossroads of civilizations, cultures, and at the crossroads of several conflicts. We’re [Turkey] sitting right in the middle of fire. We have the entirety of North Africa. We have the Middle East. We have Syria, Iraq, Iran, the Caucasus, the Balkans. We have Afghanistan and Pakistan. On top of these areas of concern, we have some issues like the fight against terrorism. We have energy supply and energy security concerns. We have many other concerns that are also on the agenda of the United States. The concerns are almost identical between us. We have to deal with those problems together. But, Turkey sits in the middle of these fires as an island of stability. What makes Turkey so powerful is two things: economic stability and political stability. I believe that, given our performance so far, we can look to the future with great confidence. Diplomatic Connections: You referred to Turkey’s economic growth, and it’s been remarkable. Many people don’t realize that Turkey’s rates of economic growth have actually matched or exceeded the economic growth of China. What are the pros and cons of that rapid economic growth? Growth has happened very fast over the last decade, but growth has also created great changes within the country. Growth brings with it difficulties of its own, inflation, for example, and large amounts of foreign direct investment that may or may not come with strings attached. Ambassador Tan: In the past 10 years our economic development has been remarkable. We have tripled our
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gross domestic product (GDP), and we have tripled the per capita income of our people. We have expanded the overall economy in the most impressive way. How was this possible? The first thing is the commitment of the people. Next is a commitment of the government to the values we all share: like tolerance, trust, accountability, transparency, rule of law, professionalism and so on and so forth. Those values really flourished in the last decade. If you look at the accession process of Turkey to the EU, that also added a great deal of dynamism in Turkey. We have benefited from those steps and improvements which came through our EU accession efforts. However, Turkey’s accession efforts were not responded to in the way that should have been. We were treated differently from the way other candidate countries were treated in the EU accession process. We feel that we were discriminated against. However, we will never shy away from the shared values that form the core of the European Union’s identity. Turkey’s commitment is still there. We are determined to make it to full membership in the European Union. Why do we believe EU membership is so important to us? I personally believe that the EU can never be a global power if it does not put religious and cultural diversity at the center of its project. The only country that could offer Europe such diversity is Turkey. Turkey is the only country among the European group who can give that diversity to the European Union as a European country. Turkey is a part of Europe. The Turkish people are committed to those values that we all share. Our values and achievements have not been appreciated in the way that they should be. But this experience will not in any way diminish our commitment to full membership in the European Union. Turkey is the sixth largest economic power in Europe. It is the sixteenth largest economic power on the globe. Last year we achieved a remarkable growth rate above nine percent. This year we project 8.5%. These figures are second only to China’s recent growth rates . We will continue this. We will do it for our own people because they want us to deliver, and they deserve that better life. Diplomatic Connections: You spoke very directly to the question of Turkey’s accession to the European Union. Turkey has had a particularly close relationship both in trade and in industrial development with Germany. There was a time when there were large numbers of Turkish guest workers in Germany and then was a time where many of those Turkish workers were “encouraged” to leave Germany. There has been a very emotional dimension to the relationship between Europe and Turkey. To be sure, Turkey has a literal and figurative foothold in Europe, but it’s also been the case that there is an undercurrent of uncertainty about each other between Europe and 28
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Turkey. How could that uncertainty be overcome? Ambassador Tan: Again, that’s a very nice question. Why is the United States first among equals in international relations? The reason is because of its diversity. The acceptance of diversity, the accepting attitude of the system here makes the United States powerful. The second thing is the big thinking that characterizes the American approach to problems. People are taught to think big in this country. I should be diplomatic here. I would not quite easily say the same thing for Europe because taking Turkey into the ranks of Europe and embracing Turkey’s full membership in the European Union takes big thinking. In that sense, we can easily see Turkey’s relationship with Germany as a sort of test case in our broader relationship with the EU. There are about four million Turks in Germany, and we wanted them to become integrated into the country, to be a part of the society, in order to contribute their added-value to the German society. We wanted them to be bridge builders between Turkey and Germany. Due to some failures on both sides — I wouldn’t just put the blame on one side or another — I think that integration and that diversity has not been created. But, things are turning around lately. It’s not the case any more. I think now the Turkish-Germans, let us say, like Turkish-Americans, are becoming more accepted and are found in many walks of life and are becoming more integrated into the society. They have started to become more represented in different political organizations and parties, and they are more active in daily life. This will help not only Turkey or Germany, but in the final analysis I think we will see the creation of a bigger change for both of us to take our own share. This same analysis could be made regarding our standing in the European Union. When you look at our relationship with the EU, they think that we want to enter the EU and take our share from the existing cake, which is not the case. We want to go into the EU, make the cake bigger and then take our share. This is what it takes. When we hear some arguments about the size of Turkey, the population of Turkey, the religious identity of Turkey . . . all of those arguments are void. When we started this accession process we were Muslims. We were a big country. Our population was quite significant. Nothing has changed. My main message is the importance of diversity and the values that establish the foundations of the European Union — compromise, consensus, embracement, inclusiveness — these should be consolidated. Diplomatic Connections: At the same time that accession to the EU has been a continuing issue over a decade now, Turkey’s membership in NATO has been integral to its identity, and Turkey has been a very active player often
referred to as the “eastern anchor” of NATO. Why do you think that relationship in the NATO alliance has been so different from the history of Turkey seeking membership in the EU? How has the NATO alliance changed from Turkey’s point of view with the collapse of the Soviet Union? Ambassador Tan: This is a very interesting process. NATO has changed its nature after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was originally a defensive military alliance, but now it has become an organization that promotes the values of democracy that we all share and to which friendly countries aspire. Turkey made its own contribution as being the sole Muslim member of NATO. It is through Turkey’s membership that NATO has the legitimacy that it needs when it operates in countries like Afghanistan. Just imagine the absence of Turkish troops there that are contributing importantly to ISAF — the International Security Assistance Force. In Afghanistan it is a NATO force, and Turkey has been asked to command ISAF four times. And, at the same time, we have been commanding the Kabul Regional Command. Why is Turkey asked to take on these missions? Because Turkey is uniquely placed among the Muslim majority countries. Turkey’s significance is that those values it holds dear are the same values that constitute NATO and shape its revised mission today. Diplomatic Connections: You referred to this past year’s experience with Libya and NATO’s role in helping to overthrow the Gaddafi regime there and particularly Turkey’s role in NATO’s Libya operations. As we look around the region, and we look at the aftermath of the Arab Spring, which has been quite different in different countries, are there lessons to be learned from the experience in Libya that can be drawn and perhaps applied more widely elsewhere in the region? Ambassador Tan: You’re right. There are important lessons to be drawn. These countries are going through a very, very difficult transformation to democracy. These efforts at change should come from the people themselves. Change cannot be imposed from outside, which was the case actually if you look at the historical background of colonialism and its aftermath. Surprisingly, the impetus for change just popped up in Tunisia after a person burned himself in protest and started this whole process. This isolated individual, yet very symbolic, act nevertheless created the dynamism that encouraged people to stand against tyranny. Today, in each country, the ownership of these change processes is different. We cannot just compare countries and find a single template for all of them. Each country’s case is different. However, what is important is that this should be owned by the people, and it should be done peacefully. Third, change should stand on legitimate grounds. Legitimacy is of utmost importance. Everything should have a 30
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legitimate ground. We feel the difficulties in Syria arise from not meeting these criteria that I have just outlined. Diplomatic Connections: Mr. Ambassador, our time together — unfortunately — is running out. It’s been a fascinating conversation. You’ve been very articulate about your country’s accomplishments over the last decade and really over its modern history. Would you share with us two things as we conclude? First, what is your greatest fear for your country? And, then, what is your greatest dream for your country’s future? Ambassador Tan: My dream is the dream of my people. Very soon we will have the hundredth anniversary of our republic [1923 – 2023]. When we reach that milestone, Turkey wants to be one of the 10 biggest economies in the world. That’s our aspiration. That requires that we have half a trillion dollars of exports. We have to have a two trillion dollar economy. We have to have a per capita income of about $30,000 for our people. These represent the dreams of our own people. Accordingly, this is my dream. People are asking: why is Turkey so active diplomatically? The only aim, the only objective is to put off those fires I have identified — one by one. We are engaged in all our power with all those problems. We cannot stay indifferent. If you look at the political difficulties around Turkey, it has an impact on Turkey and the Turkish people. Whatever happens in Syria affects us. In Iraq, the same is true. In Iran, the same is true. In the Caucasus, the same is true. In the Middle East, the same is true. We have cultural and historical affinity with our wider region in the Middle East, in North Africa, in Central Asia. And, Turkey is an inspirational role model for all those countries. Most of them are Muslim majority countries. They look at Turkey as a model of what might be possible. I’ll give you one example. We were given a negotiation date by the EU in 2004. I’ll never forget. It was 17 December, 2004. There were 274 journalists from all over the Islamic countries physically present in Brussels. Why were they there? They were looking at the example of Turkey. They could have covered the news story through the news wires or other sources, but they were there to witness what Turkey was doing. They were saying to their own people: if Turkey can do it, we can do it. We are proud to give such inspiration to our friends in our neighborhood. Turkey will never lose its commitment to all those universal values that we share. Diplomatic Connections: Thank you, Mr. Ambassador, for your candor and your insights and your experience, and for sharing both your dreams and your fears for your country and the region. It gives a very clear-eyed view of the special place that Turkey holds in its diplomatic role, its economic role, and in its historical role. n
Photo Michel Gibert. Special thanks: Pierre Faucher, TASCHEN.
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President Obama (center) speaks as China’s President Hu Jintao (far left), Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev (second from left), South Korea’s President Lee Myung-Bak (second from right) and thenRussian President Dmitry Medvedev (far right) listen to the first plenary session of the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit at the COEX Center in Seoul on March 27, 2012.
Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images
South Korea’s President Lee Myung-Bak (center, right) is joined by U.S. President Barack Obama (center, left) and other leaders for the group photo at the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit at the COEX Center in Seoul on March 27, 2012. World leaders came together for the two-day summit in South Korea aimed at curbing the threat of nuclear terrorism.
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failed North Korean missile launch or an underground nuclear test does not make or break foreign policy initiatives aimed at slowing North Korea’s weapons development, changing its “rogue state” behavior, or modifying North Korea’s “hermit state” status on the fringes of the global community. What it does do, however, is to underscore the difficulty of achieving “leverage” over the behavior of a state that has little stake in the existing international system and openly defies the system of international agreements that is in place to try to halt the spread of nuclear weapons and limit the development of ballistic missile technology. It is a truism that power is the currency of international politics, but translating that power into leverage over the behavior of another state is a sensitive and difficult task. Power itself is a subtle commodity, but diplomatic leverage is an art form that blends the talents of a gifted orator with the sleight of hand of a three-card monte dealer and then leavens these with the insights of a skilled negotiator coupled with the muscle of a gangland enforcer. President of the United States Barack Obama’s recent trip to South Korea and the Demilitarized Zone that separates
Above: President Barack Obama (L) and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev shake hands prior to the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit at COEX on March 27, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. World leaders gathered in Seoul to discuss the issues to prevent possible nuclear terrorism, recurrence of meltdown of nuclear power plants and to minimize nuclear material across the world. Below: South Korea’s President Lee Myung-Bak (left) greets then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as he arrives for the welcoming ceremony for the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul on March 26, 2012. The two-day meeting in South Korea was a follow-up to an inaugural summit in Washington in 2010 hosted by President Obama, which kick-started efforts to lock up fissile material around the globe that could make thousands of bombs.
Yonhap/AFP/Getty Images Yonhap News via Getty Images
South Korea from North Korea was a multi-tiered exercise in diplomatic leverage. Obama’s primary mission was to attend a biennial summit of the partners of the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Nuclear Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction [a.k.a. the Nuclear Security Summit] in Seoul. He took advantage of the summit, however, to hold bilateral meetings with heads of government from several critical states, among them Russia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, South Korea, China and Turkey. Though this was his third trip to Korea since taking office, President Obama took the occasion to make his first visit to the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas. The DMZ visit sought both President of South Korea Lee Myung-Bak (right) and Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake to reassure South Korea of the continuing hands during a bi-lateral meeting in Seoul on March 27, on the sidelines of the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit. The leaders or top officials from 53 countries, plus Interpol and three other international organizations, support of the United States and to starkly officially began the event with a working dinner hosted by South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak. underscore the dramatic differences in the quality of life between the two Koreas. The visit also indirectly acknowledged the succession of power in North Korea marked by the emergence of Kim Jong Eun, the youngest son of Kim Jong Il, following his father’s death. North Korea will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s birth this year, and there is deep concern that North Korea will mark the occasion by a series of aggressive moves — the missile test, an underground nuclear test, and other military muscleflexing — designed simultaneously to assert the North’s sovereign identity and leverage a measure of economic assistance in the form of food and fuel from its Chinese patron, the United States, and the Chinese President Hu Jintao and Korean President Lee Myung-bak shake hands during the 2012 Seoul Nuclear United Nations. The Obama presence Security Summit at COEX on March 27, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. was intended to underscore the message peace, to suspend, not end, that war and preserve the division that such aggressive acts would prove counterproductive as of the peninsula, and the continuing presence of U.S. forces potential bargaining chips with the outside world. in South Korea as a guarantor of the country’s security and The Korean Peninsula has had a special place in the syma catalyst for its explosive economic growth. The DMZ bolic politics of American diplomacy since the early days of the physically divides the Korean peninsula and formally separates Cold War, when the Korean War came to symbolize not only a single people divided by ideology. It stands as a potent the policy of containment of communism, but also the balance symbol within a symbol of the lasting scars of Cold War of forces that resulted in long-term stalemate — a truce, not a D I P L O M A T I C C O N N E C T I O N S B U S I N E S S edition | M A Y - J U N E 2 0 1 2
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North Korean men (lower right) walk in North Korea’s border county of Kaepoong, as seen from a South Korean observation post in Paju near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas. The South Korean government allowed private groups to send condolence messages to North Korea following the death of its leader Kim Jong-Il, Seoul’s unification ministry said. A conciliatory gesture came one day after Seoul expressed sympathy to the North Korean people for Kim’s death, despite high cross-border tensions.
Above: A North Korean soldier looks at South Korea across the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Panmunjom, South Korea. The death of Kim Jong Il has brought concerns about instability in the Korean Peninsula, with heavy attention being paid to the movements of the country’s 1.2 million military personnel. Left: A South Korean soldier patrols along an iron fence in Paju near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas. 36
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IInset bottom right: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images Left photo of soldier behind fence: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images; Inset photo of Obama: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images
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US President Barack Obama (left) looks through binoculars towards North Korea from Observation Post Ouellette during a visit to the Joint Security Area of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) near Panmunjom on the border between North and South Korea on March 25, 2012. Obama arrived in Seoul earlier in that day to attend the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit that was held on March 26-27.
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This April 14, 2012 picture released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on April 15, 2012 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (2nd L) reviewing honor guards while attending the opening ceremony of Exhibition of Arms and Equipment of the Korean People’s Army in Pyongyang.
confrontation and the ways in which that historic conflict has transformed itself over time into a very present threat to regional peace and global stability. The two Koreas — the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) — have persisted over six decades marked by economic success in the South and economic stagnation in the North; the slow emergence of a functioning democracy in the South and the dominance of a dynastic ruling family — now in its third generation — in the North; the integration of the South into the global community of nations and the hermit-like near-isolation of the North; the high tension militarization of relations between the two Koreas; and a vitriolic rhetoric between the two that vacillates between intermittent attempts at improved relations and more than occasional shooting confrontations. Presidential visits to South Korea and inspection tours to the DMZ have become a ritual part of the symbolic politics of American foreign policy in East Asia designed to recall the sacrifices of the past and reinforce the security and nonproliferation agendas of the present. The Obama visit to the DMZ was no exception. While he celebrated the service and
the sacrifices of U.S. and South Korean forces along “Freedom’s Frontier,” the President was also delivering a series of pointed messages. “The contrast between South Korea and North Korea could not be clearer,” he told the troops. “The reason that the South is doing so well is obviously attributable to the incredible resilience of their people and their incredible talents and hard work, but it also has to do with... what you guys do each and every day — the dedication and the professionalism you show.” Later in the day, at a joint press conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, President Obama reasserted the leadership role of the United States in the Asia Pacific and the importance of the “unshakeable” alliance between the United States and the Republic of South Korea. He went on to insist that, “North Korea will achieve nothing by threats or provocations. North Korea knows its obligations, and it must take irreversible steps to meet those obligations.” “They need to understand,” he continued during the question and answer period, “that bad behavior will not be rewarded.” In response to a question regarding China’s influence on North Korea, President Obama indicated that, “What I’ve said to [the Chinese] consistently is [that] reward-
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South Korea’s President Lee Myung-Bak (front right) reviewed an honor guard with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao (front left) during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijng on January 9, 2012. Lee held talks with Hu previous to the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, Beijing and Seoul are closely watching the North amid fears of instability after the death of its longtime leader Kim Jong-Il. 38
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ratification of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and support for strengthening the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. In that context, President Obama spoke directly to the nuclear development programs in North Korea and Iran. “For the global response to Iran and North Korea’s intransigence,” he stated pointedly, “a new international norm is emerging: Treaties are binding; rules will be enforced; and violations will have consequences. We refuse to consign ourselves to a future where more and more regimes possess the world’s most deadly weapons.” Obama closed his remarks at Hankuk University by articulating a vision of a unified Korea along the lines of today’s unified Germany. “No two places follow the same path,” the President acknowledged, “but this much is true. The currents of history cannot be held back forever. The deep longing for freedom and dignity will not go away. So, too, on this divided peninsula. The day all Koreans yearn for will not come easily or without great sacrifice. But make no mistake, it will come. And when it does, change will unfold that once
Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images
ing bad behavior, turning a blind eye to deliberate provocations, trying to paper over these not just provocative words but extraordinarily provocative acts that violate international norms — that’s obviously not working.” In what was his most substantive policy address of this South Korean visit, President Obama spoke to students and faculty at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. “Here in Seoul,” he explained, “More than 50 nations will mark our progress toward the goal we set at the summit I hosted two years ago in Washington — securing the world’s vulnerable nuclear materials in four years so that they never fall into the hands of terrorists.” The President enumerated a long list of specific instances where countries had disposed of nuclear materials, increased secured control over them, removed or downgraded their stocks of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU). He then went on to outline steps toward a world without nuclear weapons achieved by reducing nuclear arsenals and limiting missions for nuclear weapons. President Obama promised continued efforts to seek U.S.
Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images
President Obama (left) held a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (right) in Seoul on March 26, 2012 while at the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit. The two men and dozens of other world leaders began the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit on March 26 curbing the threat of nuclear terrorism, but North Korea’s atomic plans were in focus on the sidelines.
the entire enterprise as functionally non-productive at best and dangerously self-deceiving at worst. President Obama offered an answer to these criticisms in his final intervention at the conclusion of the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit. “This modest investment of our time,” the President noted, “is the forcing mechanism that allows our teams to do all the work leading up to these summits.” In the movie version of “Field of Dreams” there is a President Obama greeted by Chinese President Hu Jintao for a bilateral meeting in Seoul on great line that looms over the story of the ghosts of March 26, 2012 on the sidelines of the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit. the great old timers of baseball appearing out of an Iowa cornfield to play the game once again on a makeshift seemed impossible. And checkpoints will open and watchball field. A disembodied voice repeats one line to the story’s towers will stand empty, and families long separated will protagonist like a mantra, “If you build it, they will come.” finally be reunited. And the Korean people, at long last, will That line translates into diplomacy and President Obama’s be whole and free.” trip to Korea in a far more mundane and less epigrammatic, It is easy to become cynical about the work of interbut more practical, way: “If you come, the vision you seek national summits, to criticize such efforts as mere excuses — of peace on the Korean Peninsula, greater nuclear security, for pomp and ceremony, to denigrate the promises made as and limited nuclear proliferation — might get built. If you devoid of real content and the extensive preliminary work of don’t come . . . fuhgeddaboudit.” n the conference as “much ado” about very little, and to assess D I P L O M A T I C C O N N E C T I O N S B U S I N E S S edition | M A Y - J U N E 2 0 1 2
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By Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas Martin Public Affairs Attaché, Canadian Embassy
T
here are two distinct delicacies that Canadians love to share with international guests — Nanaimo Bars and Butter Tarts. Both were a huge hit this past March when defense attaché spouses from more than 35 countries converged at the Canadian Embassy to enjoy our nation’s home baking, specialty teas and the Embassy’s breathtaking view of Capitol Hill. The event was dubbed “Canada Welcomes the World.” “We wanted our friends from around the world to enjoy a taste of Canada,” said Monika Greenwood, spouse of Canada’s Defence Attaché, Rear-Admiral Richard Greenwood. “We also wanted to inspire them to consider visiting Canada during their diplomatic assignment in Washington.” To that end, the Canadian ladies baked dozens of Canuck-inspired cookies, squares and cupcakes, presented a slide show highlighting Canadian celebrities and inventions, then treated their guests to a music video featuring a full-length vocal rendition of “O Canada” providing a Monika Greenwood, spouse of Defense Attaché, Rear-Admiral Richard Greenwood, glimpse of the diversity and majesty found throughout the thanks the Royal Canadian Air Force band Jet Stream for their performance during “Canada Welcomes the World.” nation’s 10 provinces and three territories. was led to the Embassy’s theatre by a bagpiper from the Royal “Our spouses of Canadian attachés’ and I have been Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Pipes and Drums ensemble from guests at many embassies,” noted Mrs. Greenwood. “This was Winnipeg, Manitoba. Once gathered in the theatre, the ladies our way of showing appreciation to them for sharing their were welcomed with remarks by Rear-Admiral Greenwood cultures and cuisines and of reciprocating their kind and grawho stressed the significant contribution made by spouses of cious hospitality we’ve experienced at their embassies.” attachés. The famed Nanaimo Bars and Butter Tarts were cre “Being a Defense Attaché is very much a team sport,” ated especially for the event by Canada’s ambassadorial chef, the Admiral observed. “We depend on what you do as atThomas Naylor. Nanaimo Bars originated in Ladysmith on taché spouses and very much benefit from the networks that Vancouver Island, near the town Nanaimo in the early 1950s. are created and the good relations that you enjoy with each Butter Tarts are considered genuinely Canadian, having been other.” a staple in Canadian cuisine since early pioneer days of a Admiral and Mrs. Greenwood then drew names for a young nation. multitude of truly Canadian door prizes — from maple syrup Following the tea and treats, the international contingent 50
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Keegan Bursaw
Canada Welcomes the World
Defense attachĂŠ spouses from more than 35 countries gathered on the balcony of the Canadian Embassy to enjoy the spectacular view of Washington, D.C.
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to ice wine — from specialty cheeses to coffee table books. There was even a pair of woollen mittens for the adventurous winner who’ll need them if she goes to experience the hotel made completely of ice during Québec City’s annual Carnival event held each February. The event was concluded with a musical performance by the RCAF Pipes and Drums, and the contemporary RCAF Jet Stream band. The melodically powerful voices of Sergeants Cindy Scott and David Grenon delighted the audience as they enjoyed many well-known selections made famous by artists ranging from Canadian Michael Bublé to Britain’s Adele. The concert ended with a standing ovation and shouts of “Encore!” To oblige the appreciative audience, a lone piper began the very familiar tune “Amazing Grace.” He was soon joined by the full band. Many joined in the singing, a fitting cap to Canada welcoming the World. n
Keegan Bursaw
Top photo: Sergeants Cindy Scott and David Grenon of the Royal Canadian Air Force band Jet Stream performed numerous well-known songs from Michael Bublé to Adele. Botton photo: Sergeant Matt MacIssac of the Royal Canadian Air Force Pipes and Drums from Winnipeg, Manitoba, leads the band in “Amazing Grace.”
Classical Concerts Held in the Intimate Settings of Embassies and Ambassadors’ Residences Since 1994, the Embassy Series has worked with over 100 ambassadors, hosted 300 plus concerts in 46 embassies involving more than 500 artists from the Washington area. By extending public access to the embassies in the Nation’s Capital, the Series offers its audience the opportunity to participate in a cultural exchange - to watch and listen to a musical performance that highlights the contributions of a particular country. Such a backdrop allows the audience to “get a feel” for the nation being represented, which is key to promoting and celebrating the diversity of both a host embassy and Series patrons. These wonderful experiences are accentuated by a reception at the host embassy or residence immediately following the concert, where guests are encouraged to interact with the featured artists and the diplomatic community .
Visit EMBASSYSERIES.org
for tickets, upcoming concerts and exclusive sponsorship opportunities or call 202-625-2361 52
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UpComIng EvEntS...
Music from Iraq
May 11th and May 12th (repeat performance)
Iraq Cultural Center
Two Rivers six-piece group of Middle Eastern and Western instruments that combines jazz with maqam.
Narek Arutyunian, Clarinet/ Steven Beck, Piano June 1st - Armenian Embassy
18-year-old clarinetist Narek Arutyunian won First Prize in the 2010 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. Mr. Arutyunian has performed widely in Europe, with concerts at the Louvre Auditorium in Paris and the Palazzo del Principe in Genoa.
Yevgeny Kutik, Violin / Timothy Bozarth, Piano June 8th - Embassy of Luxembourg
Possessing a “dark, brooding intensity”, Russian-American violinist Yevgeny Kutik has, at age twenty-four, become a sought-after artist on the concert stage worldwide. The New York Times said his violin projected “an old-fashioned rhapsodic style, which was magnified by (his) rich, sweet tone.”
October 30
2012
SAVE THE DATE Diplomatic Connections is Hosting Another
eception D iplomatA ppreciation R On October 30, 2012 at the Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C. 1330 Maryland Avenue, SW
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“The geopolitical importance of the Arctic has never been greater, because as far as we know, the natural environment in the Arctic in civilized times has never changed faster.� Admiral James A. Winnefeld Jr., former commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, testifying before the House Armed Services Committee 54
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ust months ago, the Arctic region was receiving great attention as the residence of Santa Claus and his reindeer at the North Pole. But Santa and all the related Christmas paraphernalia no longer have a monopoly on news out of the North. In the last decade, the Arctic ice cap has undergone significant transformation with polar ice melting at a rate much faster than what scientists had earlier predicted. Thinning or non-existent polar ice and warming polar waters are bringing about significant environmental changes, moving commercial fishing grounds northward, making large caches of natural resources accessible, offering new opportunities for tourism, opening new shipping routes across the top of the world and creating new opportunities for international conflict as well as potential threats to national security. Recent scientific studies have suggested that somewhere around 100 million years from now the North American and Eurasian continents will collide with each other to form a new supercontinent — Amasia. Long before that geologic event, however, the Arctic Ocean is expected to become open water making the area ripe for economic exploitation. Experts suggest that by the summer of 2040, the entire Arctic
Ocean may be ice-free at least part of the year, and when polar waters do begin to freeze the ice that forms will be thin, structurally weak seasonal ice rather than the thick perennial year-round ice that historically built up over many winters to nearly 10 feet thick. The North Polar ice cap is storied as the home of polar bears, several varieties of whales, walruses, Arctic foxes, Arctic wolves, reindeer and caribou. Human population of the Arctic region is more than four million. Because much of that population has migrated northward as communications have improved, resources have been tapped and living conditions have become less harsh, indigenous populations are now in the minority across the Arctic. As population and economic activity have increased, however, several Arctic countries have acted to try to assure that indigenous people’s voices are heard and their livelihoods and traditions protected. The two polar regions — the Arctic and the Antarctic — share extreme weather conditions but are geographically quite different from each other. Antarctica is an uninhabited continent, save for teams of scientific investigators, surrounded by an ocean; the Arctic, by contrast, is an ocean surrounded by the land masses of North America, Europe,
and Asia. The Arctic is the locale of the fabled Northwest Passage, which explorers unsuccessfully sought for centuries as a shorter trade route between Europe and Asia, significantly shorter than the alternatives presented by the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal when they were constructed in the nineteenth century. British explorers John Cabot (1497) and later Martin Frobisher (1576) were among the first to search for the Northwest Passage, but the voyage was only successfully completed by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen in a three-year voyage (1903 – 1906). Amundsen used a relatively small ship with a shallow draft, however, meaning that the route he traversed by sea was commercially not viable. It is that commercial viability that the rapidly shrinking Arctic ice pack has now made possible. Both the Northwest Passage(s) (NWP) and a Northeast Passage across the northern coast of Russia, designated the Northern Sea Route (NSR) are now open for significant periods of time each year. For at least part of the year it is possible to circumnavigate the Arctic ice mass and to ship goods from Europe, Russia, and North America to Asia across the top of the world. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced at the Second International Arctic Forum in Arkhangelsk in September
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On August 2, 2007, Russia used MIR submersibles to perform the first manned descent to the seabed under the Geographic North Pole, to a depth of 4,261 m, to scientifically research the region in relation to the 2001 Russian territorial claim. This front view shows the versatile manipulator arms and the huge viewing port.
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2011 that it was Russia’s intention to turn the NSR into a key global transport route. “We believe,” he stated, “that NSR has a bright future as an international transport artery capable of being a competitor to more traditional routes when it comes to price, safety and quality.” Commercial shipping is beginning to make good on these promises. U.S. Coast Guard figures show a significant increase in Bering Strait transits to and from Northern waters. In 2011, Russia had the highest number of vessels in transit between Murmansk and another country ever recorded. Executives of Russia’s Gazprom suggested that LNG shipping along the NSR to the Asia-Pacific region will grow rapidly. Some estimates suggest that using northern polar shipping routes can cut more than 4,500 miles off southern routes using the Suez or the Panama Canal as shortcuts. Danish shipping group Nordic Bulk Carriers indicated that it saved one-third of the cost and almost half the time shipping goods to China by sailing north of Russia instead of going through the Suez Canal. There are significant problems to be encountered and dealt with on both the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route, however. The shipping insurance industry openly worries that ice floes, narrow straits, shallow waters, poor infrastructure and stormy winters present significant obstacles to safe and profitable shipping on any polar route. These commercially unused waters also lack the infrastructure needed to keep the shipping lanes open, track and route shipping through the region, deal with emergencies at sea that might require rescue capability or environmental cleanup, as well as the harsh weather conditions that commercial shipping and mining or drilling operations will encounter. The Norwegian government has established a Vessel Traffic Service [VTS] at Vardø on the northern tip of Norway to manage maritime traffic and prevent accidents in the Barents Sea where significant offshore oil and gas production as well as fisheries activities take place. The VTS is charged with coastal
management, maritime safety, maritime transport management, Defense Foundation noted, however, that “none of this fricand emergency preparedness in case of accidents at sea or tion is beyond the realm of diplomacy. States such as Norway serious pollution incidents. To date, neither the United States, and Russia have much to lose economically from Arctic conCanada nor the Russian Federation have comparable centers flict, as do the many non-Arctic countries and multinational that cover northern waters and are fully operational. corporations that will be among the eventual investors in, Beyond the commercial, safety and environmental conand consumers of, future Arctic ventures.” cerns posed by the thinning of the Arctic ice pack and the opening of Arctic waters to commercial activity, there are significant diplomatic concerns regarding boundaries, territorial claims, exclusive economic zones and national security issues to be dealt with as well. Canada, for example, insists that the various Northwest Passages wending their way through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago actually represent Canadian interior waters. Therefore, Canadian authorities claim that The Arctic Council was formed under the terms of the Canadian law, not international law, should apply. Given that Ottawa Declaration of 1996 as “a high level intergovernmental legal interpretation, the Canadian government takes the posiforum to provide a means for promoting cooperation, coortion that all shipping through the NWP should be required dination and interaction among the Arctic States, with the to register with Canadian authorities. The Russian Federainvolvement of the Arctic Indigenous communities and other tion, following a logic based primarily on maritime safety has Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues, in particular isargued that all shipping in the Northern Sea Route (NSR) sues of sustainable development and environmental protection should require Russian piloting assistance, thereby implying in the Arctic.” It includes the eight Arctic littoral states as well that a fee could be charged for transiting the passage. The as six Arctic indigenous people’s organizations and a number of United States and many other leading shipping countries, observers. Six non-Arctic states have been given observer stahowever have maintained that both the Northwest Passage tus — France, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain and and the Northern Sea Route are international straits that the United Kingdom. Additionally, observer status has been should be governed by appropriate international law, not the extended to nine intergovernmental or inter-parliamentary domestic law of the coastal states. organizations and 11 non-governmental organizations. China, As these developments have unfolded, they have preItaly, Korea and the EU have applied for observer status, but sented a new range of diplomatic problems that underscore the inevitable clash between state sovereignty and the concepts of freedom of the seas and the global commons. There are eight Arctic littoral states — Canada, Denmark because of its role in Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and the United States. These states, however, are not the only countries that have significant economic and environmental interests in the Arctic Ocean. Neither are sovereign states the only international actors that have potential stakes in the region. Various groups of indigenous peoples, major multinational corporations— especially in the energy and resource sectors, and a range of groups with global environmental concerns — are all anxious to make their voices heard. Lawson Bigham, Distinguished Professor of The Los Angeles class attack submarine Charlotte (SSN-766) surfacing at the North Pole during a Geography and Arctic Policy at the University of January 2006 Arctic transit from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to Norfolk, Virginia. Alaska, speaking before the National Homeland
Arctic Diplomacy Established on Thin Ice
Critical questions surround the nature of such Arctic diplomacy, however.
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these applications have not yet been granted because of concerns expressed by some member states. The diplomatic difficulties as well as the possibilities of the Arctic Council structure become immediately apparent from its size and diversity. It provides an excellent consultative body that can catalyze significant degrees of cooperation — where there is agreement. Its diversity, however, also makes an excellent forum for airing grievances and a formula for gridlock — where there are significant disagreements, especially territorial and economic disputes. That diversity also leads some critics to suggest that the Arctic Five — Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States — may be potentially a more effective grouping when it comes to enacting or enforcing cooperative security driven initiatives. Meeting in Greenland, these five signed the Ilulissat Declaration in May 2008 affirming the goal of keeping the Arctic as a region of peace and cooperation and of establishing mechanisms for settling overlapping territorial claims. While the existence of the Arctic 5 alongside the Arctic Council is no more contradictory than the parallel existence of NATO and the EU side by side, it does recapitulate the confused security architecture with which Europe has lived for decades and is a source of potential confusion, if not diplomatic tensions. Recently, in the so-called Nuuk Agreement, signed at the Seventh Ministerial Meeting in Greenland (May 12, 2011), the Arctic Council took two significant steps forward. First, it was able to announce the Agreement on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic as the first legally binding agreement negotiated under the auspices of the Arctic Council. Second, the Arctic Council was able to announce the establishment of a standing Secretariat to be headquartered in Tromsø, Norway. This was also the first
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ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council in which a U.S. Secretary of State took part, and Secretary Clinton signed the Nuuk Declaration on behalf of the United States. Secretary Clinton noted that, “The challenges in the region are not just environmental. There are other issues at stake. The melting of sea ice, for example, will result in more shipping, fishing and tourism, and the possibility to develop newly accessible oil and gas reserves. We seek to pursue these opportunities in a smart, sustainable way that preserves the Arctic environment and ecosystem.” United States policy regarding the Arctic, she continued, is marked by six “overarching goals:” 1) meeting national security and homeland security needs relevant to the Arctic region; 2) protecting the Arctic environment and conserving its biological resources; 3) ensuring that resource management and economic development in the Arctic region are environmentally sustainable; 4) strengthening the institutions for cooperation among the Arctic nations; 5) involving the Arctic’s indigenous populations in decisions that affect them; 6) enhancing scientific monitoring and research into local, regional, and global environmental issues. Collaboration seems relatively straightforward in areas such as maritime safety in the Arctic region. Difficulties arise, however, when the other Arctic states take similar positions regarding development of oil and gas reserves. And concerns deepen significantly when the national security implications of more open Arctic waters are taken into consideration. Ironically, the core legal issues surrounding access to resources and control of the seas in the High North are dealt with most directly in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS], a document ratified by 162 states and the European Union and including all of the Arctic littoral states except the United States. The United States played an active role in negotiating the language of this foundational document, but the United States Senate has never ratified the treaty because of alleged concerns about subjecting the sovereignty of the United States to the authority of an international body. That reluctance to ratify now means
that the United States has limited leverage to pursue its own national interests alongside those of other states in the Arctic region. The treaty establishes that a coastal state exercises full sovereignty 12 miles out to sea; controls customs and immigration 24 miles out; owns economic, research and conservation rights 200 miles out in an Exclusive Economic Zone; and has the sole right to natural resources on its continental shelf. And there the rub begins. Russia, for example, deployed a Deep Submergence Vehicle to drop the Russian flag (2007) on what it claims is a natural extension of its continental shelf near the North Pole. Denmark, staking its claim on its role in Greenland, has also made continental shelf claims extending to the North Pole. Canada has been particularly assertive in claiming extensive ownership of potential undersea resources and mounting military exercises in order to prepare to defend Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Passages. Lacking full participation in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea means that the United States significantly weakens its own territorial claims in the Arctic region and seriously hampers its right to challenge the claims of others. At the height of the Cold War, the “roof of the world” was a significant piece of geostrategic real estate. The now defunct Distant Early Warning (DEW) line was a string of radar bases designed to provide warning of Soviet bombers and later missiles coming over the North Pole. And NORAD’s binational U.S.-Canada command (now the North American Aerospace Defense Command), famous for tracking Santa’s Christmas Eve flight pattern, continues to monitor airspace against terrorist threats and drug trafficking. Both the Soviet Union and the United States routinely operated attack and nuclear missile submarines under the polar ice cap. Following the cold War in the 1990s, efforts were made to secure nuclear material and waste in the Arctic and to decommission Soviet nuclear submarines in ways that protected against accidents or rogue threats. But, in the opening decades of the 21st century, the earlier efforts to maintain a balance of power in the High North and to protect national security against potential enemies were largely tossed aside in hopes that a post-
Cold War world would no longer present such threats. As the Cold War thawed, however, Arctic temperatures warmed and a whole new series of potential threats, packaged as economic opportunities, revealed themselves. Competition for resources, especially energy, will be central to everything else in the Arctic region. Not far behind and closely related to resources, however, will be nationalistic claims to control of territory and sea lane passages. Almost tragi-comically, the Cold War thaw has been followed by warming temperatures and melting polar ice and a whole new round of national security concerns. The age-old security dilemma of international relations — whereby one state’s enhanced security encourages a neighboring state’s insecurity, which in turn attempts to enhance its security, only to threaten its neighbor’s security, and so on, and so on, and so on — now threatens to recapitulate itself. Only this time the currency will be ice breakers, enhanced naval capabilities for Arctic operations, missile defenses, new generations of nuclear submarines, and expanded air defense capabilities. All of these potential hardware requirements, however, need to be mitigated by a new brand of Arctic diplomacy that balances environmental concerns with resource access and sustainable development and that learns to share a new maritime domain in ways that acknowledge overlapping claims, settles disputes peacefully, and convert scarce resources to shared resources. Read-Admiral Gene Brooks (USCG), former commander of District-17, the Alaskan waters, has noted that the average American doesn’t realize that they are part of an Arctic nation. When asked, “What is an Arctic nation?” Brooks noted that, “an Arctic nation is one that owns land, water and submerged lands in the Arctic. That means you have opportunities in the Arctic. It also means that you have responsibilities and obligations in the Arctic, especially to preserve indigenous peoples and the environment.” Brooks continued by warning that, “We could ignore the Arctic. The Russians aren’t. The Canadians aren’t. Even non-polar nations like the Chinese aren’t. It will take a decade to build the infrastructure to meet our responsibilities in the Arctic. The others will be ready. Will we?” n
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by Monica Frim
In
Austria the hills are not only alive with music but with sustainable agriculture. Seventy percent of the country is mountainous and when the snows melt, this ski paradise reinvents itself as a lush summer playground with idyllic pastures that cater to tourists and farmers alike. While tourists hike the mountain trails and wander in the meadows breathing in the fresh, clean Alpine air, farmers do their part to preserve the breathtaking scenery with agricultural practices that are friendly to the environment. They eschew genetically engineered crops, hormones and antibiotics in favor of organic farming methods with a view to preserving the quality of the soil, water and air for generations to come. Mountain farming is predominant in the west with a focus on dairy and beef production; arable farming in the east, where the land is more suitable for corn, wheat, barley, rye, sugar beets, rapeseed, sunflowers, and grapes for making wine. Pork and poultry farming is also widespread. The challenge of Austria’s geography is that it does not allow for a great deal of diversification; Austria’s response is to focus on preservation and environmental sustainability. Mr. Hans Kordik, Counselor of Agricultural and Environmental Affairs at the embassy of Austria since 2007, is an expert on environmental sustainability. He began his career at the General Directorate Agriculture of the European Commission in Brussels in the 1990s, returned to Austria for a position at the Austrian Farm Service Agency “Agrarmarkt Austria,” then moved back to Brussels as an agricultural attaché at the Austrian Permanent Representation to the European Union, then back again to Vienna as the political advisor to the
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Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management. He was also head of the department for EU-Coordination in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, as well as spokesman in the Special Committee of Agriculture in Brussels. Diplomatic Connections spoke with Mr. Kordik at the Embassy of Austria. Here are some highlights from that interview: Diplomatic Connections: Mr. Kordik, your function at the Embassy of Austria unites agriculture and environment. What are the objectives and tasks of a Counselor for Agriculture and Environment? Mr. Kordik: Well, I need to mention that this title of agriculture and environment is unique, as I have not encountered any other diplomat here in Washington, D.C., who has a comparable title that encompasses both agriculture and environment. The title comes from the Ministry I have been sent from, which is the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management. It is comparable to the Foreign Agriculture Service of the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), which sends their agricultural specialists to their embassies much in the same way as I have been sent here. In terms of tasks, there are many reasons for my being here. Trade is at the top of the list. Trade is an important part of my portfolio, as the United States is the third biggest export market for Austrian food and drinks. In addition, Austria has a big tradition of exporting environmental technologies. In the United States there is a growing demand for these technologies, especially in the field of renewable energy. So, in addition to trade, naturally my task is to promote our
Hans C. Kordik, Counselor for Agriculture and Environment, Embassy of Austria, Washington, D.C.
agricultural and environmental policy. Diplomatic Connections: Does Austria’s environmental policy pose any barriers to agriculture or are there synergies between agriculture and the environment? Mr. Kordik: It is interesting that you address this question because back in February 2000 these two ministries, which had been independent up until then, were merged: the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry with the Ministry of Environment. The debate took place in Austria and the question was how can two ministries that have very long independent traditions now be merged. But it was a very logical move because agriculture and environment have many synergies. Look at the topography of Austria. Two-thirds of the country is covered in mountains — our national anthem, in fact, is called “Land of Mountains.” These mountains are great for skiing and for tourism but they limit the diversification of agriculture. Therefore, many years before these two ministries
were merged, we made the decision to promote environmentally friendly forms of agriculture. Instead of promoting yield-intensifying techniques by using chemical pesticides and fertilizers, Austria has chosen to promote agriculture that meets the principles of sustainable development. So uniting agriculture and environment just makes sense in Austria. Diplomatic Connections: The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development will take place in Rio de Janeiro in June. How will Austria address the challenges of sustainable development as they pertain to agriculture? Mr. Kordik: Sustainable development received global recognition at the Rio Earth Summit of the United Nations in 1992, and this June we will celebrate its 20-year anniversary. It was the former Norwegian Prime Minister Harlem Gro Brundtland who first defined sustainable development as meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising future generations.
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But there are many definitions of sustainable development. In Austria we align our definition with the Brundtland definition but we take it a step further. We try to balance sustainability on three pillars: economic sustainability, environmental sustainability and social sustainability. That means we do not promote economic sustainability to the detriment of the environment and we take care to also respect the social aspect. Sustainable development has a long tradition in Austria. I would say it started about 150 years before the UN definition even emerged because Austria was already practicing sustainable development in the mid-19th century. At that time, Austria introduced a forest law that defined that for every tree logged, another tree had to be planted. This forest law originally had tax purposes but, in fact, it fulfilled the ideals of sustainable development. Another area where Austria has introduced sustainable development is in energy policy. Austria promotes numerous technologies in renewable energy. Last year 30.6 per cent of the total energy consumption in Austria came from renewable energy technologies. We also consider our organic farming policy as another example of sustainable development. Based on the high number of organic farmers — 22,000 or about 16 per cent of farmers are organic farmers — Austria has the highest share of organic farmers in the European Union, if not in the world. Diplomatic Connections: It is interesting that Austria has a tradition that goes back so far yet is very forward thinking in addressing the needs of the future. What makes organic farming so successful in Austria? Mr. Kordik: I think that there are many examples of how Austria has implemented certain aspects in the past before they have received global recognition. Sustainable development is one example; organic farming is another. For example, the first organic farm dates back to 1927. It was based on the principles of the Austrian anthropologist Rudolf Steiner. And 10 years before the European Union or the United States established legislation for organic farming, Austria already had an organic farming law in place. This is something very exceptional for us. It means that Austria recognized at an early stage the needs of the future and has taken early action to preserve the environment and to think of the future. Diplomatic Connections: Organic farming is a more expensive way to farm, I think, yet organic farming has been very successful and economically viable in Austria. How so? During his visit to Plains, Georgia, Counselor Hans Kordik presented a rucksack with a variety of “Tastes of Austria” to President Jimmy Carter. 62
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Mr. Kordik: Organic farming is a niche in agriculture and it will most likely always be a niche as it has challenges for farmers and also for consumers when it comes to prices. Just as every product or service needs a supply and demand side, so too does organic farming. This market only works if you have farmers providing a product or a service and, of course, consumers buying it. In Austria, we have both. We have a high share of organic farmers and consumers demanding produce that meet the organic standards. Diplomatic Connections: You have been able to follow farm policy in the United States for many years now. In your opinion, what are the major parallels as well as the differences between American and Austrian farm policies? Mr. Kordik: I think it’s necessary to point out that farm policies can be compared to market policies. And in that sense the farm policies try to unite both the expectations of the farmers, who are on the supply side of the market, and the expectations of the consumers, who are on the demand side. And looking at the United States and Austria, there are some parallels. Farmers on both sides of the ocean demand a fair income for the services that they render to society. Farmers also want to be recognized for their services, and they want conditions that will enable them to plan and manage their farms in the future. Consumers, on the other hand, both in Austria and the United States, wish to have abundant food, not only in quantity and quality, but also at affordable prices. But I think Austrian consumers are more demanding of their farmers. They expect farmers to practice farming by preserving the environment and adhering to the principles of sustainable development. They also expect farmers to maintain the landscape. Two-thirds of the farmers manage farms in the mountains and these mountain-farmers are essential for maintaining the lushness of the mountains — this picture that we all know from The Sound of Music — because these regions are so important for our tourism industry. Diplomatic Connections: Can you explain to us why Austrians reject biotechnology, especially given the argument that science has proven the benefits of biotechnology in agriculture? Mr. Kordik: Having worked here in Washington for over four years, this is one of the most common questions that I have been asked by members of Congress or the US administration. And this question is conceivable considering that the United States is the global leader of biotechnology and therefore has economic interests in promoting this technology on a global scale.
Austrian consumers reject this technology, as they see no advantages in using biotechnology. Food is not cheaper containing biotechnology and it’s not healthier either. So the Austrians would not understand why they should buy a product that has been genetically altered rather than a product that has been growing so strongly in Austria by means of organic farming. Organic farming rejects yield-intensifying techniques such as chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides. Using modern technologies that do not meet the standards of organic farming just would not make sense for Austrian consumers or Austrian farmers. Even in conventional farming, in Austria it is forbidden to use hormones or antibiotics.
Diplomatic Connections: Back in February, the United States and the European Union signed an agreement recognizing each other’s standards in organic farming. What impact will this agreement have on Austria? Mr. Kordik: This is a great breakthrough and Austria is very happy that both the United States and the European Union could find common ground recognizing each other’s standards in organic farming. The European Union and the United States make up 97 per cent of the global organic turnover, which is over $50 billion per year. This agreement will open markets for both sides and Austria naturally hopes to take advantage of the growing demand for organic food here in the United States. Diplomatic Connections: Can agriculture that is focused on sustainable development compete with other agricultural methods on a larger or even global scale? Mr. Kordik: When addressing the question of competitive agriculture, I think we will find the United States farming sectors always on top of the list. American agriculture is all about competitiveness. It’s the economies of scale, the specialization in agriculture, and the continuously improving technologies that give the United States a competitive edge in agriculture. It’s all about increasing productivity and efficiency. It’s sometimes hard to imagine that Austrian agriculture can be competitive. But Austria has been successful in integrating sustainable development into its policies. In fact, per capita, Austria ranks among the 10 wealthiest countries in the world. We have the lowest unemployment rate within the European Union and our exports are continuously growing. In the last two years our exports to the United States have increased by 44 percent, so we feel that our “taste of nature” food is not only treasured by the Austrians but across the ocean as well. Diplomatic Connections: Thank you, Mr. Kordik. n
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Hotel Brings Traditions of the Orient Together with L’Enfant’s Vision of the Capital City and Its Power Structure
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imperial China, the mandarins were scholar-administrators, a highly educated class who obtained their positions through success in a demanding and competitive examination system. Preparation for these examinations involved years of study of the classics of Chinese literature, especially the works of Confucius, as well as study of the arts in the form of the Four Accomplishments — painting and calligraphy, poetry, a complex board game of strategy known as weiqi (way-chee) and playing a zither-like instrument called the qin (chin). Mandarin Oriental Washington takes those Chinese traditions and places them alongside the business acumen of the great Western trading houses that shaped the China trade of the 19th century to create an exceptional culture of hospitality. Washington’s Mandarin Oriental hotel follows the mandarin ideal of mixing
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responsible administration with exquisite attention to detail and melds those functions of a hotel with a deep appreciation for the arts of caring for guests and colleagues in an atmosphere that is at once functional and beautiful. One of Washington’s newest luxury hotels, having opened its doors on March 22, 2004, the Mandarin Oriental has succeeded in creating a unique place for its blend of Asian sensibilities, luxurious accommodations, stunning location and delightfully attentive guest services. These attributes have been carefully shaped to fit into the capital of the United States in a way that respects the architectural shape of the city, that acknowledges the political and economic lifeblood of the city and that offers a striking gateway into the halls of power and government. Amanda Hyndman, General Manager of the Mandarin Oriental Washington, manages to fit all of these chords of cultural tradition and of place into her personal experience in the hotel industry. She has the Scottish roots of the JardineMatheson Group (Jardine’s), one of the original China trading houses founded in 1844, and of which the Mandarin Oriental Group is now a part. She has worked her way up the ladder
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of the hotel-restaurant trade from washing-up, to working as a room maid, to joining the graduate training program at the Copthorne Hotel in Glasgow, to becoming the first female and the youngest general manager in the Copthorne Hotels group at the four-star Copthorne-Aberdeen. Her career has taken her from North Sea-Scottish oil trade in Aberdeen to the front office oil culture of Houston, Texas. She has managed 4- and 5-star hotels — the Millennium Knightsbridge and Le Meridien Waldorf in London and The Excelsior in Hong Kong — on two continents before being named to head the Mandarin Oriental Washington in 2009. In just over three years Amanda Hyndman has managed to make a dramatic impact on the hotel she leads and the community it serves. She was recognized as “General Manager of the Year” by the Hotel Association of Washington, D.C., in 2011 for the extensive improvement plans she has undertaken throughout the hotel and her high degree of involvement with the Southwest and greater Washington, D.C., communities. Diplomatic Connections is delighted that Mrs. Hyndman agreed to share her experiences with our readers.
Mrs. Amanda Hyndman General Manager, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Washington, D.C. Diplomatic Connections: You’ve had a truly international career. Since you’ve managed hotels in both the United Kingdom and Hong Kong . . . and now in the United States, what do you think you’ve learned about this business from that international experience? Amanda Hyndman: I think, even if you’re working domestically in your home country, it’s about learning agility because you’re in different situations all of the time. The key is the way you respond to those situations. I read a lot about the best way to take on the challenge of managing cross-culturally, but actually a personal friend to me said: “You must respect your Asian colleagues. It’s all about ‘face.’ Praise loudly and publically, but — if you have to criticize — you should do it very privately and quietly and discretely.” I took this on-board very seriously, and I have to say that the principle has stood me in very good stead. Then, when I came to the U.S., I thought: Well, what’s so different about that in any culture? Everybody appreciates being recognized and being thanked for their efforts. And, you want to put people in an environment where they can thrive and do their best. Certainly in Hong Kong there is a fabulous service ethic. People tend to take jobs as being for life, and they want their families to work in the same place. There’s a real intrinsic loyalty and passion there, whereas in the U.S. there’s loyalty and passion, but it may not necessarily be a job for life. Here we’re trying more to encourage people to come into the hospitality industry and make it first choice. Diplomatic Connections: Please tell us a bit about what it means to have the tradition of Asian culture mixed with the identity of Western hotels but particularly a hotel here in Washington?
Amanda Hyndman: I think all of our hotels aspire to
achieve a unique sense of place. You walk into some hotels anywhere in the world, and you wouldn’t necessarily know which city you were in. But, when you arrive in our hotel, you walk into our Jefferson Memorial inspired lobby, which is a real “wow” with its domed rotunda, huge oak pillars and marble flooring. But, whatever you do, don’t ever stand on one side of the lobby rotunda and whisper because the sound of your voice will travel right round to the other side! I know, I’ve been caught out before. That is unique. There are also many design features throughout the hotel that showcase our oriental heritage. We have a fabulous painting of the Dowager Empress Cixi (Tsuh-she), the last empress of China, swinging over Washington, D.C. The original of this painting is actually in the Forbidden City, but of course she’s swinging over Beijing. We have many pieces of art, our Oriental Spa, Asian-inspired floral arrangements and our colleague’s uniforms. But, most importantly, it is about the service. We aspire to be truly respectful, and we want to truly delight our guests and recognize their needs and expectations. We want to make a truly memorable, but authentic, experience. So, although we are here in Washington, D.C., we’re very much a part of the Mandarin Oriental tradition. Diplomatic Connections: One of the interesting things is that your location is not in what is most often thought of
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as the mainstream of luxury hotels in Washington, D.C. Why choose this location at the edge of the Tidal Basin? How does this location in Southwest make you unique? Amanda Hyndman: We’re very proud of our location in Southwest. I think that the single most important thing is that the vast majority of our rooms have water views. On one side we have the Tidal Basin and Mr. Jefferson’s Memorial, and on the other side we have the Washington Channel and the Potomac. Our views are very important. But, the proximity to all the monuments and the National Mall is an enormous advantage to our location. We’re only two blocks from the Mall and all the museums of the Smithsonian Institution plus all of the fabulous monuments. And, the city views are even more spectacular by night with so many of the monuments and important buildings flood-lit. If you look at the Mandarin Oriental on a map, we are equidistant between the Capitol, the Pentagon, the White House, many federal agencies and the leading international financial institutions. This is ideal for our guests. It’s very quick and convenient to get anywhere in the city. We’re literally minutes from both Reagan National Airport and also Union Station. I’d be the first to concede that we’re not in a traditional hotel location in D.C. But, for all of the reasons outlined above, we are very proud of being in Southwest. And, of course, there’s also a whole regeneration of the Southwest Waterfront that’s coming about, which is breaking ground very shortly and will make us one of the hot places to be in the city. Diplomatic Connections: You mentioned colleagues and training. One of the things that you instituted coming to the hotel was a new or refreshed program of colleague training. Can you tell us a bit about that and how it works? Amanda Hyndman: We have a very high percentage of colleagues who have been at the hotel since it opened. And, it is our priority to keep those colleagues because we want to keep their knowledge and their understanding and their passion. If we can offer career development within the company, it’s much better than bringing people in from outside. Rather than recruiting outside, we have a rigorous process of assessing our colleagues and going through a two-way appraisal process to say: “What do you see yourself doing? What is your aspiration? Well, I think that you have potential to go to this level.” Then they have the opportunity to undergo cross-exposure in various areas of the hotel and to receive additional specialized training to understand the challenges ahead and decide if it is right for them. Personally, I would always rather give an internal colleague the opportunity, even if they’re not ready, because 68
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they understand our hotel; they understand the company; they understand the brand and our culture. And, everybody needs to be given a chance as I was throughout my career. Diplomatic Connections: The Mandarin Oriental has some of the largest meeting and banquet space of any hotel in the city. Can you tell us how that space is used and how that piece of the business meshes with what we might think of as the more traditional hotel operations? Amanda Hyndman: Our meeting space is the largest meeting space in a luxury hotel in D.C. We have 38,000 square feet, which — even by Mandarin Oriental standards — is pretty large. We have two ballrooms - the Grand Ballroom and the Oriental Ballroom. It’s on a whole dedicated level of the hotel with direct access from Maine Avenue. And then we have a series of breakout rooms, some of which have natural light. So our group business, as well as the catering and our social business are very important for us. Diplomatic Connections: What facilities do you have to deal with the requirements of the diplomatic community, such things as translation facilities and communications facilities as well as cultural and dietary requirements? And, what about security? For better or for worse, security is an absolute concern in this day and age. Amanda Hyndman: When the hotel was built, which was only eight years ago, our Mandarin Oriental designers actually consulted with the security services as to the specific things that needed to be incorporated into the structure. For instance, we have a number of entrances into the hotel. A VIP may require a totally separate entrance, or in the case of a mega-VIP, they may even require multiple exits. We have an in-house security team headed by our Director of Security who has been with the company for 15 years. She is hugely experienced in dealing with these types of delegations. We currently have colleagues from 65 different countries, and between us we speak 24 different languages. In fact, when visiting delegations arrive or when I have the opportunity to go and visit in the embassies, I will usually take colleagues along with me who are from that country. Many of the requirements of local meet-and-greet we can manage in-house, but professional simultaneous or consecutive translation services are brought in for face-to-face meetings or also for audiovisual set-ups and staging. Diplomatic Connections: Thinking along those lines, what about special events, things like weddings or family celebrations that in Washington come from a thousand different cultural directions? How are you set up to deal with
the particular cultural demands of dietary requirements or particular kinds of celebrations that might not be the norm in the United States?
Amanda Hyndman: Almost every wedding, gala and event has unique and special needs. From a culinary perspective we have a very broad reach. Our chef actually came from the Mandarin Oriental in Geneva, Switzerland, where he had a Michelin star. So, actually, to have a Michelin star banquet chef is pretty unique, even in Washington, D.C. And so, depending on the requirements in terms of menus, and entertainment and service we have a very strong repertoire. For instance, there are many National Days for the embassies, which we love hosting. And, of course, with all of the different suites and the different ballrooms and the meeting room configurations, we have a lot of flexibility to offer the best choice. Diplomatic Connections: CityZen has become an icon within an icon here at the Mandarin Oriental. How does having that sort of world-class restaurant impact the hotel and the hotel impact the restaurant? Amanda Hyndman: I’m glad you asked about CityZen because it’s a subject that’s very dear to my heart. We believe that CityZen (pronounced “citizen,” a play on Washington’s political role) has become a “modern classic.” Eric Ziebold, our chef patron, opened CityZen eight years ago, and what differentiates CityZen from all of the other fine restaurants in the city is that Eric Ziebold cooks dinner every single night that service is open. Eric Ziebold is literally a man obsessed, and I mean that as a compliment. It’s amazing the number of D.C. people who say things to me like: “Hey, I don’t see your chef out on the cocktail circuit.” And my response is: “You’re damn right, that’s because he’s cooking!” He is passionately single-minded about this. CityZen is the only five diamond restaurant in Washington, D.C. We had the highest combined rating on Zagat last year, so, what Eric is doing is really very, very special. Eric isn’t given to promotions or this fad and that fad. What he’s really interested in doing is working with farmers to produce truly authentic local ingredients. He specifies the way we’d like the cattle to be raised or the crops to be grown so that he has exactly the produce he needs to create his workmanship. Eric started his career here in Washington, D.C., at Vidalia, but he moved to Los Angeles as Chef de Partie at Spago and then joined Thomas Keller and became Chef de Cuisine at The French Laundry in Yountville before relocating to New York after seven years, where he also assisted in the opening of Per Se on Columbus Circle. Then we brought him back to Washington to open CityZen.
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Andrew Myers, our sommelier, is quite a character in his own right. He’s just been short-listed for a James Beard Award for our beverage program. Whether he’s giving you custom wines or beers to accompany your cheese selection, he has an absolute passion for wine and cocktails — with a lot of funny stories into the bargain. And, as you may have heard, our pastry chef — Matthew Petersen — is a really hot young talent who Eric hired two years ago. He won the “fan favorite” online contest for Bravo’s “Top Chef — Just Desserts.” He had a true vision to win for Caleigh, his beautiful little daughter who inspires a lot of what he does. We now have a dessert tasting menu in the restaurant. So, it’s a lot of fun. I really, really enjoy it. Diplomatic Connections: So, the hotel really has become a restaurant destination in and of itself. But, CityZen is not the only restaurant in the hotel. Amanda Hyndman: Three years ago we wanted to emulate Eric’s success with CityZen, and he took over our other restaurant, which he named Sou’Wester. And this was to use a lot of the local produce from Maryland and Virginia. It’s much more casual, comfort food, but, we achieved our two-and-a-half star rating last year in the Washington Post. There’s a huge lunch scene in there from the adjacent office buildings, but where the business is really ramping up now is in the evenings with a mixture of hotel residents but more and more D.C. guests who are prepared to make the journey and enjoy a more chilled atmosphere with great food and lovely views. We have a fabulous chef named Eddie Moran and whether it’s chicken under a brick or huge rib-eye steaks or great seafood, it’s fun. But, it’s a total contrast to CityZen. So, if you were to come here and stay for a weekend or a “staycation” you could stay over in a beautiful suite, relax in the Oriental Spa, have a fabulous world-class dinner at CityZen, but then the next day get up and do something totally different — going to Sou’Wester for a jazz brunch or for an evening meal, and you don’t need to leave the hotel. We have it all under one roof. Diplomatic Connections: You’re located in Southwest Washington. How has the hotel tried to deal with its impact on the neighborhood, interact with the local community, and make itself part of a community where it’s not automatically a natural citizen? Amanda Hyndman: You know, eight years ago the hotel’s presence was very new. I’d like to think that the neighborhood’s gotten used to having us around — but in a constructive way. As both a business and as an employer we have a professional responsibility to “give” to the community. And 70
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then, hopefully, all things being equal, they will feel comfortable reciprocating. For example, last year I met Councilman Tommy Wells, our local D.C. council member. I said to him, “We’re going to have a big fundraising effort for the neighborhood. Is there anything you would particularly suggest?” And, he explained to me that some local residents were very keen to build a children’s playground at Third and Eye Street since there are all but no children’s public play areas in this neighborhood. Sadly, families were moving out of Southwest because there wasn’t a safe place for them to take the kids to play. So, I dreamed up the FANtastic March. It was a 10K from this hotel along the National Mall and around the Capitol, along to the Lincoln Memorial, around through the new Martin Luther King Memorial, and all the way down Hains Point. We had runners as well as people walking it, and the colleagues brought their children as well as their dogs. Members of the Southwest community also took part. We had nearly 300 people for the 10K and finished up on Hains Point with a gourmet barbecue cooked by Eric Ziebold and his team. We raised $41,000 from our colleagues, suppliers and friends. We’re very proud to be the single biggest contributor to this new playground. Our initiative for this year is to support Amidon-Bowen Elementary School with the FANtastic March II. We’ve always donated books through Teach for America to read in the classroom, and we also collect guest toiletries for clinical recycling and gifting to such areas as Haiti after the earthquake. Two of our CityZen colleagues are from Japan so we were all truly moved by the enormity of the tsunami and held a unique fundraiser called “CityZens for Japan” that donated $70,000. So, we’re always looking at new ideas to give back. As I say, we haven’t got cash but we’ve got time and passion and commitment. And, we’re very keen to offer that, if we can work in partnership Diplomatic Connections: We’ve touched on the restaurants, but one of the facilities of the hotel that we haven’t touched on yet is the SPA. Here again you have world-class SPA facilities, among the best if not the most outstanding in Washington. Can you tell us a bit more about that? Amanda Hyndman: Our Mandarin SPA is the only four diamond spa in Washington, D.C. And, the spa is actually one of the key pillars of Mandarin Oriental as a brand. It’s one of our true distinguishing factors, and, of course, it comes from the holistic concept of the mind and the body being in a good place. We offer a myriad of treatments which are centered around traditional Chinese medicine.
Our specialty is different types of massage. And, we have different facial and body treatments as well, but really the essence of it all is massage. We have a wide range of Mandarin Oriental signature products in use. We just opened our Lifestyle Boutique in the lobby, which features all of our signature oils as well as an array of items and gifts to promote the Seven Steps of Wellness — food, hydration, nature, community, sleep, meditation, and fitness. As a guest of the Spa, you should arrive well before your treatments so you have time to really relax. On arrival we offer oshiburi, towels and slippers and tea. Then there are several heat and water experiences, which are very special. For the ladies there is a Vitality Pool as well as “experience” showers, and an amethyst crystal steam room. And, on the gentleman’s side there’s a warm plunge pool, a sauna, an “experience” shower and an amethyst crystal steam room. The idea is that you can take full advantage of these facilities as well as the 50 foot swimming pool before you actually begin your treatment. And then the specific treatment is customized to whatever your needs or wishes are: whether you wish to relax after a long flight or whether you’ve got some muscle tension perhaps from being stressed out, or whether you want something like a pre-natal massage for expectant mothers. Diplomatic Connections: The hotel also has gallery space where you offered a celebration of kimonos during the Cherry Blossom Festival. How is that space used throughout the year? Amanda Hyndman: Our art gallery had featured commercial exhibitions, but we really felt there was an obvious opportunity to work with the com-
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ll Mandarin Oriental colleagues wear a small gold lapel pin in the shape of a folding fan. It is a symbol of corporate identity designed to instill loyalty and pride and to serve as a constant reminder of the qualities of caring and service that are expected of all colleagues. That same logotype appears in all Mandarin Oriental Group advertising and has even spawned a global advertising campaign which showcases celebrities — ranging from actor Kevin Spacey, to musician Harry Connick, Jr., to international architect I.M. Pei, to entrepreneur and founder of the Shanghai Tang fashion chain Sir David Tang and from actress Helen Mirren, to fashion designer Vivienne Tam, to violinist Vanessa Mae, to singer, songwriter Sa Dingding — who offer their reasons for being a “fan” of the Mandarin Oriental. Amanda Hyndman explains that when the Mandarin Oriental group was launched on the Hong Kong stock exchange in the mid-1980s a symbol was needed behind which to unite the Mandarin Hotel (Hong Kong) and the Oriental Hotel (Bangkok) traditions as they merged into a single culture of superlative service and unsurpassed luxury coupled with Asian heritage and a commitment to building a global presence. “We chose the fan,” Hyndman explains, “as a profoundly meaningful symbol of our oriental culture that would strike a delicate balance between our roots in Hong Kong and Bangkok and our international identity. Classically simple, visually elegant and indisputably a part of the Orient, the eleven-bladed fan ties together each hotel into the single identity of our luxury hotel group.” “Very specifically,” Hyndman continues, “each blade of our fan represents one of the eleven pillars of our Legendary Quality Experience,” a promise to engage guests warmly, to listen carefully and respond in a timely manner, to anticipate needs, and engage in creative problem solving to meet guests’ requests. Each Mandarin Oriental hotel around the
world is encouraged to find its own unique fan to reflect not only its corporate identity but to acknowledge the unique characteristics of the individual property and its locale. It was natural, then, for the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C., to turn to the Freer and Sackler Asian art galleries of the Smithsonian Institution to select a signature fan that would represent the hotel’s presence in the heart of the capital city of the United States. The fan selected is from China’s last dynasty – the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911) — and was created in 1822 by the artist Gai Qi, famous for his images of nature and of Chinese beauties. Appropriately, for the Washington Mandarin Oriental’s site on the Tidal Basin facing the Jefferson Memorial, the fan is entitled “Lady and Maid in the Garden at Midnight.” The scene shows a lady of the Chinese court and her maid standing in a classical Chinese garden facing a small lake with the full moon shining. Chinese gardens are traditionally seen as miniature landscapes of the larger world, and water is the critical core of any gardenscape because it is believed to concentrate qi (chee), the vital energy at the heart of the Chinese universe. The selected fan not only honors the hotel’s Chinese heritage but speaks directly to its auspicious site between the Tidal Basin and the National Mall. Originating in Asia, fans have moved across the globe and become familiar objects in virtually every cultural tradition. What began as a simple utilitarian object designed for the mundane task of moving air to create a cooling and refreshing effect on the human body in hot weather has been transformed into an object of cultural expression, exquisite art, and extraordinary beauty. In the hands of the Mandarin Oriental hotel group, the fan has become a symbol of corporate commitment to the art of delighting guests through unmatched hospitality, exceptional facilities, painstaking attention to detail, and passionately provided service.
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important to us, and it is our service to them upon which our reputation is based. But, honestly, to me, I see my principal role as being with our colleagues who look after our guests because unless they’re happy and motivated we’re not going to be able to give great service. Then the guests are delighted. And, if the guests are delighted, then they’re going to tell other guests and also they’re going to choose to come back. And, when that happens, we’ll all be successful. For us, it’s all about taking care of our colleagues so that they can delight our guests. munity. To celebrate the Cherry Blossom Centennial we had a fabulous selection of kimonos which were on display for six weeks spanning the entire festival. We have also worked with the D.C. Public Schools for Art Night, which is almost our best exhibition all year, and it’s great for the children and families to see their work displayed. We’ve also worked with D.C. Public Arts and Humanities Commission, and staged a big exhibition for the Congressional Black Caucus. And, also one that’s very dear to my heart, there is a school for ladies and gentlemen with special needs called ARTiculate, which has now become part of St. John’s Community Service. We gave them our fan logo, and we asked them to design fans to represent the different countries around the world where there are Mandarin Oriental hotels. There were over 20 fans submitted to this competition, which were displayed and then purchased by our sister hotels around the world. For us to work with and host these truly gifted individuals, who aren’t able to work and earn a living in the way the rest of us are privileged to do, was truly humbling. And, we’ve continued to work with them on a variety of projects going forward. Diplomatic Connections: You recently won the “General Manager of the Year” Award from the Hotel Association of Washington, D.C., and they noted several of the things that you’ve accomplished in your time here, particularly the outreach to the community and your training programs for colleagues. What does an award like that mean to someone in your position?
Amanda Hyndman: That’s a very difficult question. I honestly think it’s a great compliment to be recognized by your peers. I was very grateful and very flattered. To me, we’re all in business and are responsible to deliver a return on investment. Our guests are hugely 72
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Diplomatic Connections: One last question, and it’s a very Washington question. We are just a few months away from 2013 and a presidential inauguration. How does an event like that impact the hotel? Amanda Hyndman: A presidential inauguration is a wonderful opportunity to showcase D.C. and our hotel. We deal with a lot of high profile delegations and a lot of galas all the time. Of course, the inauguration is very special, but we have to deliver the same level of service that we try always to do . . . maybe just a little bit more because of the heightened level of expectations. Particularly what we’ve seen is that heads of state and other dignitaries come here with huge supporting delegations, and they’re really looking for a very special experience. Of course, we have almost direct access to the National Mall here, so we’re the closest luxury hotel. But, I think the primary requirements tend to come around security and special requests. The last time we had an inauguration here, colleagues from our other Mandarin hotels came to help, recognizing that we’d really need to go over and above in our service levels. So, we reinforced our colleagues’ strength to deal with the most exacting requests, and there were many colleagues from sister hotels who really wanted to participate in such a special occasion. Diplomatic Connections: So, in the best of all worlds, every day is Inauguration Day at the Mandarin Oriental. Amanda Hyndman: Absolutely. We’d very much like to think so and aspire for it to be that way. Diplomatic Connections: Thank you very much for taking time to speak with us today, for giving so generously of your experience, and for allowing us to visit your beautiful hotel and stunning locale. n
To see the entire video interview, go to: www.DiplomaticConnections.com
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Ashley Judd attends “Ashley Judd in Conversation” with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at the United Nations on March 14, 2012, in New York City.
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t might come as a surprise to learn that this statement was not made by a missionary, or an aid worker or a good Samaritan, but instead by world-famous actress Ashley Judd. With more than two decades of Hollywood experience under her belt — and plenty of time spent outside of Tinsel Town — Judd is, in fact, full of surprises. On March 14, the actress made the statement before an audience gathered at the United Nations in New York to hear about her experience as a global health ambassador. The con-
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versation was organized by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), an extension of the UN that she has worked closely with in recent years to combat human trafficking. At the public discussion, Judd shared some of the reasons why she has remained committed to the cause. “I’ve been taught that I can’t keep what I have until I give it away,” she told Simone Monasebian, Chief of UNODC’s New York office, who organized the discussion. “There’s a love and a tenderness that I feel when I’m
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Dario Cantatore/Getty Images
By Meghan Lawson
Simone Monasebian, Chief of the New York Office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), addressesing the issue of human trafficking: “Exposing denial and benign neglect.”
with vulnerable people,” she remarked, running off her list of causes that included everything from malaria and HIV/AIDS to labor slavery. “I can’t get enough of it, and I’ll just keep doing it.” Best known for her roles in films such as “Double Jeopardy” and “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” as well as her current turn as a soccer mom and former CIA officer in the television series “Missing,” Judd has been somewhat absent from the limelight in recent years because of her commitment
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Dario Franchitti, of Scotland, driver of the #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda, gets a kiss from wife Ashley Judd after he won the IndyCar Championship during the IndyCar Series Cafes do Brasil Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.
her apart in her graduating class. The daughter of famed country singer Naomi Judd, Ashley’s childhood was a tumultuous one that saw her attend 12 schools in 13 years. As a teenager, she also endured emotional and sexual abuse that has come to inform her advocacy work on gender equality and maternal health. Before taking to the silver screen, Judd attended the University of Kentucky, but only received her bachelor’s degree in 2007 after a 17-year delay due to, she says, missing paperwork. Now splitting her time between a farm in Tennessee and a home in Scotland with her racing driver husband Dario Franchitti, it is often asked why she leaves the comforts of her life to bear witness to atrocities around the world. “I go because I must. I go because I love it,” she explained to the audience gathered at the UNODC discussion.
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to advocacy work. The 42-year-old actress comes by her humanitarianism honestly. While she considered a post-college stint in the Peace Corps, it was only after making her mark in the acting world that she devoted considerable efforts to public service. In 2004, Judd joined the Board of Directors of YouthAIDS, a prevention program run by Population Services International (PSI), a global health organization. Through her work with PSI and simultaneously traveling to more than a dozen countries to visit brothels, slums and hospices, she personally has invested a great deal of time and effort to become more educated about how grassroots initiatives can successfully combat human trafficking, itself a $32 billion annual industry. And, this has subsequently given her the ability to engage the world at-large in a conversation about these topics on a proper global platform. While it’s no surprise that humanitarian work has become one of her life’s greatest and most beloved endeavors — such activities now seem to go hand-in-hand with the Hollywood elite — she is one of the few among her peers who has completed formal education on the subject. In the spring of 2010, she graduated with a masters in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Geared toward mid-career professionals, the graduate program’s alumni list is star-studded — current UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as well as Bill O’Reilly of Fox News are both graduates — but Judd says she didn’t enroll to gain credibility, but simply to learn. ‘’I didn’t go to Harvard Kennedy School to be approved of by anyone, but to immerse myself in some very serious, earnest, practical learning with people who have literally dedicated all they have to public service,” she told the New York Times in 2010. Still, this global ambassador’s exceptional background set
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Ashley’s mother and sister, musicians Naomi Judd and Wynonna Judd
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UN Photo/Armando Waak
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A woman sits in her house with 11 of her charges, as she prepares to store the bean crop for winter. She is the third of three wives in an area where polygamy is common. Her husband and his two other wives died of AIDS, leaving her to care for all of the offspring. Photo taken in Tanzania.
Left: Mary, an HIV-positive woman, is pictured with her daughter by her doorway in a township in Soweto, South Africa. Mary is a widow and jobless. Her daughter is also HIV-positive and often sick.
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Above: A Haitian child with HIV in Port-au-Prince.
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Ashley Judd attends Ashley Judd in Conversation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at the United Nations on March 14, 2012 in New York City.
“That moment when that one kid in the slum whose been edgy and standoffish and hard to reach, when they finally crack,” Judd said, “there’s just nothing like it.” Attempting to frame her international experiences for an American audience, she told reporters that, upon returning home from every trip, it is a struggle to cope with the consumerist ethic in American society — or as she calls it, the “American anesthesia.” In the wake of major cuts to foreign aid in 2011, for instance, Judd wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times, stating “In 13 trips around the world, I have personally seen that defeating public health threats like malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis and empowering reproductive health do not just enrich lives abroad, but also have a direct impact on the quality of American lives at home.” For her, global advocacy work has also been part of an emotional journey. In order to cope with the personal toll of working in areas of intense hardship, she began writing diaries. 650 pages of reflection later and a bestselling memoir has manifested: “All That is Bitter and Sweet.” Judd read an opening passage from the memoir, published in 2011, at the UNODC discussion, explaining that through her public service, “I hoped it might be possible that I could help change, and perhaps even save, lives. What I did not expect was that the one life I would change and save would be my own.” She concluded her visit to the UN with a book signing. n
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Kristin Davis and Raymond C. Offenheiser pose for a photo after Davis receives the Oxfam Women’s Leadership Award during the Oxfam Sisters on the Planet Summit awards ceremony & reception at the Rayburn House Office Building on March 7, 2012, in Washington, D.C.
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ristin Davis has been an ensemble player throughout her acting career, but for the last eight years she has shifted from being part of the award-winning “Sex and the City” ensemble of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda to being part of the Oxfam ensemble as an Oxfam Global Ambassador tackling the problems of global hunger and highlighting the situation of women farmers in developing countries. She was recently in Washington, D.C., as part of
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Oxfam’s “Sisters on the Planet” program to participate in Oxfam’s International Women’s Day Summit, to lobby members of Congress regarding needed changes in the U.S. food aid program, to give a series of media interviews and to receive Oxfam’s Women’s Leadership Award. Contrary to what might have been expected from her image as privileged urban professional woman in the “Sex and the City” series, Davis has circled the globe for Oxfam
seeing for herself the crippling effects of natural disasters, drought and famine on communities, families, and especially on women and girl children. She has used her star power to shine light and media attention on severe humanitarian crises from the tsunami in Asia to the earthquake in Haiti to the famine in East Africa and multiple refugee crises on the African continent. “Most people living below the poverty line are women,” notes Davis, “who face daily discrimination, hunger and inequality. In my travels with Oxfam it has become clear to me that the best way to forge solutions and tackle hunger is to invest in women farmers who are the key agents of change in their communities.” It is easy to be cynical about the impact of “celebvocacy” — media and sports stars advocating for specific causes often with limited information and less experience — but Kristin Davis has traveled extensively to the locales where help is most needed and where Oxfam’s programs are delivering direct assistance on the ground. She has seen the situations she describes first-hand, and she can advocate from experience as she discusses issues from domestic violence to the situation of
women and children affected by HIV/AIDS and from maternal mortality to the impact of women-owned small businesses that enable their owners to raise their family’s standard of living. A spokesperson for Oxfam noted that when the 2011 drought in Tanzania and the refugee situation in Kenya, with an unexpectedly large surge of Somali refugees into the Dadaab camp, were attracting little media attention and assistance donations were lagging, Kristin Davis’s travels in the region caused donations to spike. Ms. Davis’ Women’s Leadership Award citation highlighted her travels and her commitment not only to Oxfam as an organization but to women around the world. “We are honoring Kristin’s unwavering commitment to improving the lives of women around the globe,” the citation read. “When she could choose to be home and look the other way, she chose instead to make a personal difference in the lives of thousands.” Ms. Davis shared her award with Anna Olshuro Okaro, a Masai woman from Morogoro, Tanzania, who she met during her travels in that country. Okaro lost virtually everything in a
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Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon of long running series Sex And The City.
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Anna Oloshuro Kaiti and Kristin Davis pose for a photo during the Oxfam Sisters on the Planet Summit awards ceremony & reception at the Rayburn House Office Building on March 7, 2012 in Washington, DC.
security as well as economic justice for the world’s farmers, especially smallholders and women in agriculture. Today Oxfam’s GROW campaign focuses on building a global food system that can sustainably feed a growing global population currently at 7 billion and projected to reach 9 billion by 2050 and on empowering poor people to earn a living, feed their families and thrive. Valerie Jarrett, Senior Adviser to the President and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, also addressed the “Sisters on the Planet” summit. She began by noting that, “Women grow more than half the food produced in many developing countries, but when prices rise, they are often the first to go hungry. Discrimination, both legal and cultural, still prevents too many women from contributing fully to their families and their communities.” In order to help ensure that the world’s women are included and empowered in the fight against hunger, Jarrett pointed to USAID’s new Policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment introduced by USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah. The policy Kristin Davis and Valerie Jarrett pose for a photo at the Oxfam Sisters on the Planet Summit keynote at The Double Tree by Hilton on March 7, 2012, in Washington, D.C. 82
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Kris Connor/Getty Images
difficult divorce decided according to traditional Masai culture. She has rebuilt her life as a single mother shaping a livelihood, with assistance from Oxfam, by nurturing a herd of cattle, sheep and goats. “Women farmers and pastoralists are forces for change around the world,” Okaro observed, “helping to feed, educate and nurture their communities in the face of grave obstacles. If we raise the voices of women and ensure they have the resources and the rights that they are due, anything is possible.” Oxfam was born in the early days of World War II (1942) in Oxford, United Kingdom, as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief with the goal of persuading the British government to allow food relief through the Allied blockade of Axis-occupied Greece in order to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of that country. Today the organization has grown into an international confederation of 15 organizations working in more than 90 countries around the world. Together they work toward the goal of eliminating poverty and related injustice and maintain particular interests in global and local food
includes a “Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index” designed to “help measure where women are getting the support they need and where we need to be doing more.” The lobbying efforts of the “Sisters on the Planet” group were coordinated by Oxfam America President Ray Offenheiser and included more than 100 meetings on Capitol Hill to highlight specific concerns about the food aid provisions in the agriculture bill currently before Congress. “In a time when we have enough food for everyone,” Offenheiser emphasized, “it is completely unacceptable that approximately half a billion women still go hungry and lack access to basic resources like clean water, or markets where they can sell their crops at a fair price.” Oxfam’s “Sisters on the Planet” ambassadors asked members of Congress to support President Obama’s “Feed the Future” program designed to help build the capacity and the adaptability of small scale women farmers and to adjust U.S. food aid programs to modify rules requiring that food aid be purchased from preferred growers in the United States and shipped from the U.S. on preferred shipping lines. Such a shift in food aid rules would allow
USAID to source some food supplies locally near the famine site and to avoid undermining the agricultural economies of other developing agricultural states. Ms. Davis repeatedly emphasizes that she was attracted to Oxfam’s work because of the organization’s focus on empowering people in need to discover local solutions to the problems they encounter. “One of the things that separates Oxfam is that they always honor the dignity in people. They’re never going to put people in a position where they’re seen as less than human or as someone who we should pity.” Davis expressed the same idea in more anecdotal terms when she recalled meeting women goat herders in Somalia. “It seems like such a little thing, having goats,” she said. “But the women told us, ‘No one asked for our opinion before we had these goats.’” With goats came dignity, respect, empowerment, self-reliance and livelihood. That’s a difference worth making. In an interview with The Hill, Kristin Davis was asked about how she balances the impact of her travels in Africa with Oxfam with the work she does as an actress. “It can be
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Somali refugees set up an informal market, buying and selling meats, camel milk, goats and other essentials at their camp in Dollo Ado, Ethiopia.
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Women weep after their goats were stolen in an early morning raid. Livestock raiding is a persistent problem which has heightened tension between the various tribes and led to the loss of many lives, limbs and livelihoods in Sudan.
Somali refugees set up an informal market, buying and selling meats, camel milk, goats and other essentials at their camp in Dollo Ado, Ethiopia.
strange,” she reflected. “It can definitely be very surreal. I came back from a trip and went directly to the Golden Globes red carpet, and I was so jet-lagged. It seemed like the trip was real and the red carpet not real, which in a lot of ways is actually true.” She went on to say that the work with Oxfam keeps her grounded. “It educates me. It inspires me. I feel like it feeds my acting work. It expands me as a person every time I go out in the world and see how other people live.” n 84
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UN Photo/Evan Schneider; inset photo: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Children pass time playing in the streets of the village of Kandaga, Tanzania.
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Lawrence Dunham with Sarah Deam of The Hay-Adams speaking at the conclusion of the event. H.E. Audrey Marks, Ambassador of Jamaica; H.E. Gilles Noghes, Ambassador of Monaco
H.E. Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Ambassador of Sri Lanka; H.E. Dr. Hans Peter Manz, Ambassador of Austria; Lawrence Dunham, Former Assistant U.S. Chief of Protocol, Department of State; H.E. Hunaina Sultan Al-Mughairy, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman 88
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H.E. Jan Matthysen, Ambassador of Belgium
H.E. Winston Thompson, Ambassador of Fiji with Mrs. Thompson (second from right) and Susan Choi-Grant, The Peninsula Beverly Hills (second from left) and Ray Baleikasavu, Embassy of Fiji (far left)
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