December 2014

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■ DECEMBER 2014

UNITED STATES

World Is All Aboard With High-Speed Rail, Except the U.S.

AFRICA

“Some of our colleagues have been calling us the Ebola ambassadors,” says Liberian Ambassador Jeremiah Sulunteh grimly as he’s joined by fellow envoys Bockari Kortu Stevens of Sierra Leone and Mamady Condé of Guinea for an exclusive talk on the disease that has ravaged their three nations and spread fear and panic around the globe. PAGE 11

American politicians rarely miss an opportunity to assert American exceptionalism, but one area where patriots cannot claim dominance is high-speed rail, which has been adopted by many countries over the last 50 years, while progress in the United States has stalled. PAGE 6

DEVELOPMENT

Too Much, Too Little: The Contradictory State Of 21st-Century Hunger About 805 million people suffer from chronic hunger. Yet inhabitants of the oil-exporting sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf wolf down an average of 3,700 calories a day. These incongruities illustrate the challenges of feeding the world — equally — in the 21st century. PAGE 8

culture

A British Captain’s Astute Eye for Asia British Captain Linnaeus Tripe embraced the emerging technology of photography to capture India and Burma in the 19th century. PAGE 26

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PEOPLE OF WORLD INFLUENCE

DIPLOMATIC SPOUSES

Rothenberg Breaks Down U.S. Election

Ecuador Couple Breaks the Mold

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He drives a motorcycle, scuba dives and Approved __________________________________________________________ Stuart Rothenberg, one of Washington’s most makes dark beer. His wife rides his bike, Changes ___________________________________________________________ respected and___________________________________________________________________ clear-eyed political analysts, calls dives and drinks his homebrew. Iván the recent election a classic protest vote filled Hernandez is not a typical diplomatic with anger at President Obama and apathy for spouse, but then his wife, Nathalie Cely the direction of American politics. PAGE 4 Suárez, is not a typical ambassador. PAGE 27 ADVERTISEMENT

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December 2014

CONTENTS tHE WasHINGtON DIPLOmat

december 2014

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8 21st-century hunger

[ news ] 4

2014 Holiday Gift Guide

‘Pippin’ makeover

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PEOPLE OF WORLD INFLUENCE

ALL ABOARD!

[ luxury living ] 19

Fifty years after Japan introduced the world’s first bullet train, a multitude of countries are investing in high-speed rail, while progress in the united States has stalled.

8

21st-CENTURY HUNGER

23

COVER PROFILE: EBOLA

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16

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THE OTHER HALF From Vienna to the Vatican, the experiences of diplomatic spouses are as varied as the foreign capitals to which their husbands and wives are posted.

COVER: Ambassadors’ photo taken at the Embassy of Liberia by Lawrence Ruggeri.

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[ culture ]

‘PIPPIN’ MAKEOVER “Pippin,” the classic musical that made its broadway debut in 1972, is getting an inventive makeover thanks to some high-flying circus acrobatics.

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DINING texas-based del Frisco’s is going big with a national expansion that includes a new grille in a big new complex that’s trying to transform maryland’s Rockville Pike.

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FILM REVIEWS in the well-polished british biopic “the imitation game,” benedict cumberbatch shines in his nuanced portrayal of the brilliant, doomed british mathematician alan turing.

TYSONS EVOLVES

BOOK REVIEW “triumph and demise” chronicles the internecine warfare in australian politics that combines Shakespearean tragedy with 21st-century political farce.

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CITYCENTERDC EMERGES

the developers who built tysons corner center in 1968 had no idea what it would become: the area’s number-one shopping destination, with ambitions to be much more.

the ambassadors of liberia, Sierra leone and guinea talk with us about the ebola epidemic, how it has changed their nations and what the world needs to do to stop it.

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it’s time for the diplomat’s annual gift guide, and this year we focus on one of the best shopping destinations in the country: our own backyard.

BREAKING WALLS the berlin Wall, a physical barrier and metaphorical divide between east and West, was also a source of endless inspiration for american artists.

2014 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

a year after reenergizing downtown Washington, citycenterdc is finally taking shape, with high-end retail shops opening up and high-profile residents moving in.

more than one-ninth of the world’s population suffers from chronic hunger, yet other parts are dying of gluttony. these incongruities define the face of hunger in the 21st century.

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MEDICAL For a long time, hypothyroidism, estimated to affect as much as 3 to 5 percent of the u.S. population, was an under-recognized problem, but that seems to be changing.

Political commentator Stuart Rothenberg discusses what the recent election means for the next congress, the final years of the obama presidency and his foreign policy agenda.

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FILM INTERVIEW Jon Stewart and Stephen colbert bring their trademark humor to a special preview for Stewart’s new film “Rosewater.”

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CINEMA LISTING

When linnaeus tripe first visited india and burma in 1839, he was a member of the british military. When he returned in 1854, he was armed with something more: a camera.

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EVENTS LISTING

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DIPLOMATIC SPOTLIGHT

DIPLOMATIC SPOUSES

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APPOINTMENTS / WORLD HOLIDAYS

ambassador nathalie cely Suárez and her husband iván hernandez are as well versed in economics and ecuador as they are about riding motorcycles and making beer.

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CLASSIFIEDS

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REAL ESTATE CLASSIFIEDS

EXPLORER’S EYE

P.O. Box 1345 • Silver Spring, MD 20915-1345 • phone: (301) 933-3552 • fax: (301) 949-0065 • e-mail: news@washdiplomat.com • web: www.washdiplomat.com Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Victor Shiblie Director of Operations Fuad Shiblie Managing Editor anna gawel News Editor larry luxner Contributing Writers martin austermuhle, michael coleman, Rachel hunt, Stephanie kanowitz, ky n. nguyen, gail Scott, dave Seminara, gina Shaw, John Shaw, gary tischler, lisa troshinsky Photographer lawrence Ruggeri Account Managers Rod carrasco, chris Smith Graphic Designer cari henderson The Washington Diplomat is published monthly by the Washington diplomat, inc. the newspaper is distributed free of charge at several locations throughout the Washington, d.c. area. We do offer subscriptions for home delivery. Subscription rates are $29 for 12 issues and $49 for 24 issues. call Fuad Shiblie for past issues. if your organization employs many people from the international community you may qualify for free bulk delivery. to see if you qualify you must contact Fuad Shiblie.

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December 2014

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PEOPLE OF WORLD INFLUENCE

Stuart Rothenberg

Respected U.S. Political Watcher Sees More Gridlock Ahead

by Michael Coleman

I

n today’s hyper-partisan political environment, where 24-hour cable news chatter and endless blogger blather dominate the public discourse, opinions about Washington politics are as common — and about as reliable — as a wink and a nod on Capitol Hill.

The spinmeisters of partisan Washington preach mostly to the already converted, generally with little chance of swaying public opinion or affecting actual policy.

But there are still a few deeply informed, clear-eyed analysts who shoot straight about winners and losers, and are not persuaded by partisan rhetoric. When these political prognosticators have something to say, the real players — the campaign managers, Capitol Hill fundraisers, chiefs of staff and the politicians themselves — actually listen.

Stuart “Stu” Rothenberg is one such analyst. As the author and publisher of the independent Rothenberg Political Report, he has been calling Washington politics as he sees it for more than two decades.

Rothenberg’s regular newspaper column in Roll Call is a mixture of sober analysis, wry wit and occasionally a bit of pique, as when he chastised a set of liberal bloggers for loudly — and wrongly — predicting a series of congressional victories that didn’t happen.

A former political science professor at Catholic University and Bucknell University, Rothenberg’s op-eds can also be found in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and elsewhere. On Election Night during the last three cycles, including the one that just concluded in November, Rothenberg was on the set of PBS NewsHour, breaking down the poll results with Judy Woodruff

“

in the real world of politics.”

The Diplomat caught up with Rothen­ berg just two days after the Nov. 4 election and asked him what the Republican landslide would mean for the next Congress, the final two years of the Obama presidency and especially his foreign policy agenda.

Rothenberg said the election was a referendum on Obama but that the vote totals don’t necessarily reflect the mood of a majority of Americans. As Obama pointed out the day after the election, twothirds of eligible voters stayed home.

Turnout on Election Day was the lowest since World War II, with white and more affluent men — who are more likely to be Republican — comprising the largest numbers of voters.

“The election was overwhelmingly about the president,” Rothenberg said. “I don’t know that every voter thought about the president’s policies in detail, but it was a classic midterm election where people were unhappy. They felt angry, disappointed, afraid and not sure tomorrow is going to be better than today.They went to the polls to express that mood of dissatisfaction or worry or anger and they voted against the president’s party.”

As of press time, several races remained too close to call. Since Election Day, Republicans have picked up at least seven seats in the Senate, enough to give them control of the upper chamber of Congress

I don’t know that every voter thought about the president’s policies in detail, but it was a classic midterm election where people were unhappy. They felt angry, disappointed, afraid and not sure tomorrow is going to be better than today.

— Stuart Rothenberg

”

editor and publisher of The Rothenberg Political Report

and Gwen Ifill. Even Rothenberg’s competitors respect his judgment.

“I don’t think anybody reads Stuart Rothenberg’s stuff any closer than I do,” said Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report, another bible for serious political handicappers in Washington.“When I find myself in agreement with him, I’m a lot more comfortable with my position. He’s a blend of academic credentials and living

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for the first time in eight years. Meanwhile, House Republicans padded their majority in the lower chamber, gaining at least 12 seats. Although the GOP will control the House and Senate — and the legislative agendas — they have not accrued enough seats to override a presidential veto if they pass legislation that Obama opposes.

Rothenberg said he was surprised by how wide the margin of Republican vic-

Photo: The Rothenberg Political Report

tory was in Arkansas, Georgia and elsewhere — and how close races in Maryland and Virginia were — but that he predicted there would be a “sizeable” GOP wave, similar to what happened in 2010.

Rothenberg said opposition to the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare, drove some disenchanted voters to the polls, as did voter chagrin at what has become — in part because of events out of the White House’s control — a fairly murky foreign policy.

“Voters are frustrated and the only way they could send a message is by voting against the president’s party,” he said.“This is not unusual. It happened in 2010, 2006, it happened in 1996.”

Now the onus shifts back to the GOP, which has the next two years to show Americans that it can actually govern while in power, and not just reflexively reject the president’s agenda.

Some pundits have suggested that foreign policy is one area in which Obama and congressional Republicans might be able to compromise. To be sure, Republicans will most likely try to force

the president’s hand (and veto pen) on certain issues. They’ll want to slap more sanctions on Iran regardless of the outcome of the nuclear talks; restore some of the sequestration spending cuts to the Defense Department; and pass the Keystone XL oil pipeline with Canada.

But potential areas of cooperation include increasing funding to combat the Ebola crisis in West Africa and granting the president fast-track authority to negotiate major free trade agreements with AsiaPacific and European Union countries.

Rothenberg, though, isn’t so sure the two sides will come together, even on trade.

“You’d think that between the White House and Republicans there is more consensus on something like trade, although the bipartisan consensus has kind of fractured over the last 20 years,” he explained.

“You have Republicans now who don’t like trade. And the president’s instincts on foreign policy and national security seem to be a long way from those of John McCain and Lindsey Graham.”

McCain, a hawkish Arizona Republican,

The Washington Diplomat

December 2014

is poised to take the chairman’s gavel on the Senate Armed Services Committee while Graham of South Carolina will take over the chairmanship of the State, Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.

“The sweet spot on foreign policy in the Republican Party is a more muscular defense and using American power to help friends and protect friends,” Rothenberg said.“You get the sense that the president’s view is much more multinational and multilateral. He doesn’t want it to seem that the U.S. is big-footing other countries.

Republicans are still much more supportive of using both American military power and economic might.”

Those muscular instincts may come in handy now that Obama has said he will seek congressional authorization for a military campaign against the Islamic State, which has taken over parts of Iraq and Syria. Even though Republicans have been clamoring for a debate on the president’s war strategy, they remain an incoherent bunch, with some hawks like McCain going so far as to press for more boots on the ground, in combat roles, while others side with Democrats in wanting to keep American troops out of another Mideast quagmire. The division reveals the internecine split between establishment conservatives and tea party isolationists that threatens to rear its head again in the next two years.

Having said that, Rothenberg isn’t convinced most American voters have a coherent view on foreign policy either, which makes it difficult to gauge public opinion.

“Americans don’t think a lot about foreign policy,” he said. “Their attitudes are kind of reactive and short term. If they hear some news about foreign policy, it can move opinion quickly but there is no real depth of understanding, so a different event can move things in another direction. Part of the president’s problems both on foreign policy and in general have to do simply with news.”

December 2014

Rothenberg pointed out that since the launch of the Affordable Care Act, Obama has had to deal with Boko Haram in Nigeria, the two Malaysian Airlines sagas, American beheadings at the hand of the Islamic State in the Middle East, the Ebola outbreak and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meddling in Ukraine, among other nerve-racking global events.

“We’ve had a series of just bad news stories, some of them international, and that has created a sense that we’re no longer leading or that we’re no longer in control,” he said. “There are a lot of bad guys out there we need to stop and I think it’s hurt the president. We pulled out of Iraq and now Iraq and Syria are an absolute mess. Maybe pulling out was the right thing, but the result is that people are now wondering about the president.”

Rothenberg said he wouldn’t be surprised to hear a more hawkish Republican-controlled Congress talk tough about Putin and his bellicose stance toward Eastern Europe — and some members, like Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) of the Foreign Relations Committee, may push for sending weapons to Ukraine to blunt Russian aggression — but he doesn’t expect a clamor for military intervention.

“Nobody wants to divert more resources, financial or military, overseas,” he said.“When was the last time you heard somebody say we need boots on the ground? It was to fight Ebola.

“I’m not sure Congress is really ready to focus on international issues,” he added.

And Rothenberg certainly doesn’t expect Obama to suddenly bow to Republican demands in foreign policy, which, unlike domestic policy, traditionally falls under the realm of the president’s authority as the country’s commander in chief.

“I don’t think this president after six years is the kind of guy who will say, ‘Well, I gave it the good old college try, but now I’m going to change the way I operate for the final two years,’” Rothenberg said.“I just can’t imagine that.”

As for how the new Republican-controlled Congress will govern, Rothenberg said that for starters, he doesn’t expect much cooperation with Democrats, despite the post-election rhetoric in some GOP quarters.

“There is always talk of cooperation and conciliation starting anew after every election,” he said.“But in politics and in Washington, the devil is always in the details. It’s always in the fine print and colored by when and how and where the outside groups start to get involved. Anyone who has been in this town ought to be cynical about this.”

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio are both old-school Republican pragmatists who will be challenged to keep unruly, upstart tea party conservatives from derailing deals that Democrats support.

“Obviously, Boehner and McConnell are dealmakers,” Rothenberg said.“They are very conservative but they understand their role as legislators as passing legislation and negotiating differences. I think both of them have problems with their caucuses. We’ll have to see how some of these freshmen behave, particularly in the Senate.

“If you looked at those Republican primaries last cycle and saw [numerous establishment Republican incumbents] winning and said the tea party is dead, you were mistaken. They are particularly active in the House and now you have these new question marks in the Senate,” Rothenberg added. “I don’t think this is a fundamental shift in either chamber’s Republican caucus.”

In fact, tea partiers like Sen.Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are likely to continue their confrontational stance on government spending and other conservative priorities now that their party decisively won the last election. But Rothenberg said the question of a Republican mandate is iffy.

“I can imagine the tea party-libertarian wing of the Republican Party saying,‘Look, we have these

huge majorities now. We were blocked by [Democratic Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid, but now we have the Senate … and we can stick it to the president and force the Democrats to consider our legislation,’” Rothenberg said. “That could lead to a kind of legislative arrogance that would cause the Republicans to overstep, even though Boehner and McConnell and other leadership Republicans understand that is unwise.”

Regardless of how Republicans in Congress attempt to govern, Rothenberg doesn’t see Obama as particularly humbled by the Nov. 4 election blowout — in part because as he pointed out, two-thirds of voters stayed home — nor does Rothenberg expect the president to roll over for Republicans who have been at odds with him ever since he took office.

“He thinks he knows what the views of the entire country are and he’s going to pursue the agenda he thinks is in the best interest of the country and is consistent with the views of the entire country,” Rothenberg said.

As many political observers have pointed out, Democrats have demographics on their side in 2016, when the electoral map shifts and Republicans no longer have the luxury of gerrymandered districts — devoid of minority voters — to fall back on. Republicans may still be celebrating election victories today, but looking ahead two years from now, they have their work cut out for them if they want to recapture the White House.

Rothenberg pointed out that Obama will no longer be on the ballot and noted the fleeting, sometimes brutally fickle nature of politics:“2016 will be a choice between two new nominees and presidential elections are fundamentally different than midterms,” he said.“It’s a different electorate.

It will be younger and will have more color. I think 2016 looks pretty good for the Democrats and not so good for Republicans.”

Michael Coleman (@michaelcoleman) is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

The Washington Diplomat Page 5

International Affairs

Infrastructure

High-Speed Rail: Everyone’s All Aboard, Except America

by Dave Seminara

A

merican politicians rarely miss an opportunity to assert that the United States is the world’s leading nation. Some, like Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican who won election to the Senate in November, take American exceptionalism to another level. “This is the greatest nation in the history of mankind,” she said on election night.

But there is at least one sphere where not even Ernst and other patriots can claim American dominance: highspeed rail. Fifty years after Japan introduced the world’s first bullet train, a multitude of countries around the world are investing in high-speed rail, while progress in the United States has stalled.

In the ’50s and ’60s, while Japan and some Western European nations invested billions in upgrading their rail infrastructure, the U.S. chose to let the nation’s rail system wither while investing billions to develop the nation’s interstate highway system and to upgrade aviation facilities and infrastructure. In 1964, the year the Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train opened, American automakers led the world, gas cost 25 cents a gallon and millions moved to the suburbs after World War II, when America’s car culture began to take root.

Today, intercity passenger rail travel is practically irrelevant as a transportation option for most Americans.

According to Tom Zoellner, an associate professor of English at Chapman University and the author of “Train: Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World,” 98 percent of Americans have never been on an intercity train ride. Prior to World War II, rail travel was wildly popular and travelers had myriad options for where they could go and how they could get there, with everything from basic carriages to opulent sleeping cars.

While at least 15 nations now have high-speed rail (generally defined as trains that go at least 130 miles per hour or more in some parts of the world and 186 mph or more in others), the U.S. still doesn’t have it. (Amtrak’s Acela can reach speeds of up to 150 mph, but doesn’t qualify as true high-speed rail because the average speed is just 68 mph.)

And many perceive Amtrak,America’s rail carrier, as expensive, inefficient and extremely limited in terms of the services and routes it offers.

“If all you saw of America was riding around on Amtrak, you would think you were in a third world country,” said Andy Kunz, president and CEO of the U.S. High Speed Rail Association (USHSR). “We haven’t invested in rail for 70 years, so the rails are falling apart, the stations are ancient, the food is horrible. But if you move around through our airport system, we look like a leading country. It’s two different worlds. Millions more would ride trains if we had decent options.”

Some are skeptical that America will ever have a true high-speed rail network, or even a more extensive, higherquality, traditional rail network, but others think that the time is right to revisit the high-speed rail debate. Gas prices have abated in recent months, but they still remain a concern for most Americans. Traffic congestion and environmental concerns are a major issue for many.And Americans have never been more dissatisfied with airline travel. A

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“

Photo: E6-E5-Coupling in Omiya 20130320 by Rsa / Wikimedia Commons

If all you saw of America was riding around on Amtrak, you would think you were in a third world country…. But if you move around through our airport system, we look like a leading country. It’s two different worlds. Millions more would ride trains if we had decent options.

— Andy Kunz

”

president and CEO of the U.S. High Speed Rail Association

survey released by the U.S. Travel Association in June revealed that Americans avoided taking 38 million trips, costing the U.S. economy $35 billion in 2013, because of the well-publicized headaches associated with air travel.

These and other factors have led a host of nations, including some you might not expect, to invest or consider investing in high-speed rail. China is building a number of highspeed lines and in 2015 will complete the world’s longest: the 1,390-mile Beijing-Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High Speed Railway, which will whisk travelers from Hong Kong to Guangzhou in just 50 minutes. Turkey recently opened a high-speed link between Ankara and Istanbul that cost $4 billion and is reportedly looking into expanding high-speed services. A high-speed service between Saudi Arabia’s holy cities of Mecca and Medina will open in December 2015. South Korea will also introduce new high-

The East E6 Series Shinkansen high-speed train approaches Omiya Station in Japan, which introduced the world’s first bullet train 50 years ago.

speed service in 2015 that will cut travel time between Seoul and Busan, the country’s second-largest city, to just 90 minutes, from two hours and 40 minutes.

And the traditional high-speed rail powerhouse countries like Japan, France, Spain and Italy are also launching newer, faster and more environmentally sound services. In Italy, the new Frecciarossa 1000 service will make the run between Rome and Milan in just two hours and 20 minutes.These trains will reach speeds of up to 400 kilometers per hour (250 mph) and have won rave reviews in test runs for being eco-friendly and eerily silent. Eurostar has recently expanded its popular service that shuttles travelers from London to Paris in just two hours and 15 minutes, while Spain and France have introduced new high-speed lines and Germany has high-speed services that link 32 cities.

A host of other countries, including Mexico, Brazil, India, Russia, Argentina, the Netherlands, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and Belgium, are in various stages of developing or considering new high-speed rail services or expanding existing ones. And a group of U.S. investors, with support from several noteworthy American politicians and a $5 billion commitment from the Japanese government, is trying to introduce a $100 billion highspeed Maglev train that would jet passengers from New York to Washington, D.C., in an hour. is trying to introduce a $100 billion high-speed Maglev train that would jet passengers from New York to Washington, D.C., in an hour.

But critics call it a pipedream and even the USHSR, a pro-

The Washington Diplomat

See rail, page 10 December 2014

December 2014

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International Affairs

Food Security

Despite Food Security Gains, Parts of World Remain Hungry

by Larry Luxner

A

bout 805 million people — more than one-ninth of the world’s population — suffer from chronic hunger. Yet inhabitants of the oil-exporting sheikhdoms and emirates of the Persian Gulf wolf down an average of 3,700 calories a day, leading to the highest rates of obesity on Earth.

Such huge disparities will ultimately lead to widespread unrest, especially in the water-scarce Middle East, warned experts meeting Oct. 16 at George Mason University’s School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs in Arlington, Va. “Essentially, there’s been an absence of political will,” said GMU event organizer Phil Thomas, ex-assistant director of global food security and food aid issues at the Government Accounting Office.“Five years after the 1996 World Food Summit in Rome, many countries had developed plans of action on paper, but things had not changed. There was just a growth in rhetoric. What we found was a lack of will to implement the policy plan.”

The World Food Summit set a bold target of “eradicating hunger in all countries, with an immediate view to reducing the number of undernourished people to half their present level no later than 2015.”

Meanwhile, in 2000, the Millennium Declaration promoted the goal of halving, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of

“

It’s like putting a Band-Aid on cancer…. Food aid is not food security, and it has to be put in that context.

— Phil Thomas

”

George Mason University School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs

people who suffer from hunger.

There has been some progress. Accord­ ing to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organ­­ization (FAO), the number of chronically undernourished people around the world is down more than 100 million over the last decade. But the developing world won’t reach the ambitious target set by the

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Photos: UN / Tim McKulka

World Food Summit, and gains in some parts of the world mask wide disparities in others, such as sub-Sahara Africa and Asia.

Women and children are also disproportionately affected by hunger and malnutrition, Thomas said, noting that the world will need to increase food production by at least 60 percent by 2050, in order to feed the 9 billion people expected to inhabit the planet by then.

Thomas was among 15 scholars at GMU’s first-ever Summit on Global Food Security and Health. Among the organizations represented: Oxfam America, the International Medical Corps and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Thomas said that besides inadequate funding of agriculture development, there’s been way too much dependence on food aid and not enough on long-term solutions.

“It’s like putting a Band-Aid on cancer,” he quipped.“Food aid is not food security, and it has to be put in that context.”

The issue grabbed headlines in late 2007 and early 2008, when dramatic increases in the price of wheat, rice, corn and other basic commodities — triggered by droughts, rising oil prices, the increasing use of biofuels and the demand for more varied, richer diets in rapidly growing countries like China and India — led to food riots in Africa and elsewhere.Violence broke out in dozens of countries, but protests were particularly intense in Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Haiti, Mozambique, Senegal, Somalia

Above, Sudanese youth scavenge for food and clothing in a municipal garbage dump in Juba.

At left, internally displaced Sudanese carry away food supplied by the World Food Program and UNICEF.

and Yemen.

In response, the Bush administration in 2008 launched an internal inter-agency review of U.S. global food security issues.

The incoming Obama administration continued that review, and at the G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy, in 2009, the White House pledged $3.5 billion, leveraging an additional $18.5 billion to address global hunger issues.

That led to the May 2010 establishment of the Feed the Future (FTF) initiative, an alphabet-soup of bureaucracies led by USAID that also involves the U.S. Depart­ ment of Agriculture, State Department, Mill­­­en­­­ni­­­um Challenge Corp., Peace Corps and other agencies.

Together, FTF is committed to spending $1 billion a year on 19 food-insecure countries in four regions, but with a primary focus on sub-Sahara Africa.

Thomas said he’s seen some advances, noting that under USAID’s development of a results-oriented monitoring and evaluation system, the program has: helped more than 7 million smallholder farms and food producers adopt improved technologies and management practices to increase yields; reached more than 12 million children under 5 with nutrition programs; and supported a $100 million increase in the value of agricultural products sold by farm households.

In 2012, the U.S. government strengthened FTF with the establishment of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, which has expanded its reach to 10 African countries, more than 160 local and international companies, and more than $7 billion in planned investments.

Meanwhile, in September, members of the House and Senate each introduced

The Washington Diplomat

December 2014

SIDEBAR

Food of the Future Doesn’t Look Very Familiar Ocean-grown vegetables. Crunchy, textured steak chips made from soy.

Worm-and-grasshopper muffins. Printed 3D meat. Nobody we know eats any of these things now, but all may be staple foods, even delicacies, of the future — and that future might be sooner than you think.

At a Nov. 3 event titled “Technology on the Menu” sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, three experts discussed how farmers might feed the 9 billion people expected to inhabit our planet by 2050.

Andras Forgacs is co-founder and CEO of Modern Meadow Inc., a startup based in Brooklyn, N.Y. He explained the principle of biofabrication, which is basically a way of taking cells, multiplying them in large quantities and organizing them into tissues.

“It’s actually not a new technology; it’s been around for quite awhile. For the last couple of decades, there’s been an emerging field known as regenerative medicine, where doctors grow body parts like ears, trachea and skin,” said Forgacs, a Hungarian-born pioneer in the use of 3D bioprinting.

In addition to medicine, Forgacs would like to use biofabrication to create meat and leather, without killing animals for steak and handbags. It’s an almost alien concept, but one that may prove useful given that by 2050, it will take 100 billion land animals to provide the world’s population with meat.

“In 2007, I founded a company named Organovo that pioneered a certain approach

for tissue engineering for medicine,” he said. “Then I thought, if we can make medical-grade human tissue for medical applications, could we also grow muscle that could be made into meat, and skin that could be made into leather? This was the idea behind Modern Meadow.”

Forgacs said there’s a long history of using cells as an “engine” to grow things.

“Yeast, for example, has been used to make foods for centuries. This is just a way of making meat, animal protein, using a different type of cell,” he said. “The benefits are significant in terms of environmental efficiency, not having to kill animals and making products that have nutritional advantages.”

The steak chips Modern Meadow developed earlier this year contain about 70 percent protein and almost no fat, he said.

But they don’t fall under the category of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) because nothing has been genetically modified.

“We take healthy, natural cells from the most perfect animal you can imagine, we grow them in large quantities, mix in a little pectin which is the fruit sugar that congeals

jam, and add barbeque sauce or teriyaki spice, and then bake it in a food dehydrator,” Forgacs explained. “It’s an extremely controlled, very sterile, highly auditable process. And it results in something that’s food-safe, shelf-stable and nutritionally sound. We’ve had about 100 people try our product, and they’re all still alive and well, as far as I can tell.”

Yet this snack, which tastes like crunchy beef jerky, doesn’t come cheap.

“Each steak chip we produce costs about $80,” he said. “But at scale, we know it’ll get down to pennies. The question really is, how do you get to that scale? Could this be considered safe? We’re just at the early days of understanding the regulatory process.”

No matter how good the science is, however, new ideas need financial support.

That’s where Robert Leclerc, co-founder and CEO of AgFunder, comes in. He says lack of capital is the single biggest obstacle to increasing agricultural production.

“We started AgFunder because we saw a large investment gap,” he said. “I was working in West Africa, where I was developing agricultural projects, but we found it difficult to attract additional capital. A group of 1,500 farmers today do not have jobs because we were unable to efficiently aggregate investors, given the time and resources we had. That was a big shame because we worked very hard, and it would have been great for the people there. And I thought, there’s got to be a better way of

legislation to authorize the FTF initiative with an that this exists,” he said.“It seems common-sensiannual appropriation of $1 billion and make it cal, but economists don’t see it that way because permanent. everything is about preferences rather than “Our concern is that once the Obama admin- needs.” istration leaves, it will cease to exist. There is Those needs, he said, include clean water, some hope that when the lame-duck sessanitation, health services, housing, sion of Congress reconvenes [after the electricity, security and nutritious November midterm elections], it will food.The last, said Reinert, is a “cenpass,” said Thomas. “The rhetoric is easy, tral basic good that addresses a set but the reality is that it takes time to get of needs: calories, vitamins, minerCongress to understand that you can’t als and micronutrients. Over 800 get quick results. This has to be done in million people suffer from chronic a planned, consistent, strategic manner.” hunger, and vitamin, mineral and Asma Lateef agrees. Since 2007, she’s micronutrient deficiencies are even been director of the Bread for the World Asma Lateef more widespread.These can lead to Institute, a Washington-based Christian severe health problems. nonprofit that aims to end world hunger by “The United Nations says we will add 2 billion 2030. people by 2050 and an additional 1 billion by “There’s bipartisan support in Congress 2100, for a total world population of around 10 around the two bills, and there has been quite a billion,” Reinert added. “Approximately 1 billion bit of support for funding levels over the last few of these additional individuals will reside in years. Where we are now is more than double Africa, and another 1 billion in Asia. Both Africa where we were in 2008,” said Lateef, who also and South Asia are currently basic goods-despoke at the GMU food security summit. “The prived environments.” fact it hasn’t slid during various attempts at slashEven worse, he said,“the majority of countries ing the budget is quite promising.” whose population growth is expected to be fastIn addition, Lateef said recent est in the future are precisely those years have seen a huge effort to showing inadequate food consumption integrate nutrition into agriculture, and high levels of undernourishment.” with politicians paying more attenAt the other extreme are a handful of tion to issues like malnourishment small Arab states in the Persian Gulf that in children and its long-term impliowe their mind-blowing wealth entirely cation for public health. to oil and gas. Yet Deborah Wheeler, a Yet experts frequently disagree professor at the U.S. Naval Academy in on how best to solve these comAnnapolis, Md., sees dark clouds on the plex problems.

Kenneth A. Reinert horizon even for nations overflowing Kenneth A. Reinert is a professor with energy riches. of public policy at GMU. He said that too often, “These countries depend more than 90 pereconomists treat food as a commodity — “just cent on the global food market to eat and drink,” one of many things that can be consumed by she pointed out. “Kuwait imports 98 percent of households or by governments” — rather than as what it eats and drinks. It makes sense for them a basic need. to import. But relying on that global market is “My lens for food security is through this becoming increasingly problematic.” basic-goods approach, but it’s extraordinary how See Food, page 44 difficult it is to get economists to acknowledge December 2014

doing this.”

So Leclerc turned to the internet.

“We see how internet marketplaces have been able to pull together customers and demand where there was none before and created liquidity in the markets. This would be the best place for investment in agriculture, because it’s so fragmented.

There’s no center of gravity, no Silicon Valley for agriculture. So I thought, if we’re going to improve the ability to invest, it’s probably going to be centered around technology. We are a crowd-funding platform, but more generally we’re an investment marketplace that will bring investors and foreign capital — wherever that foreign capital may be.”

But the long-term solution to the world’s coming food production dilemma will be a combination of new technologies and sound economic policies at the national level.

That’s the word from Mark Rosegrant, a senior official at the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

These technologies include things like integrated soil fertility management, precision farming, no-till irrigation and improved seed varieties, said Rosegrant, who directs IFPRI’s Environment and Production Technology Division.

“We found that a combination of those could reduce hunger by almost 40 percent by 2050, compared to a baseline without these technologies. It could also reduce areas planted with rice, maize and wheat by

about 20 percent, which would save a lot of land that otherwise would be fallow,” he said, noting that precision agriculture significantly boosts farm yields but also reduces runoff of nitrogen as well as water use.

“We also found that improvements are highest in Africa and South Asia, probably because they’re so far behind in technology,” he said. “But these technologies aren’t going to just happen. We must continue investing in agriculture research and target it more to things like [fighting] pests and diseases, as well as drought and heat resistance, which we know will increase as a result of climate change.”

Also crucial, Rosegrant said, will be the dismantling of protectionist policies that contribute to hunger and malnutrition.

“In most developing countries, regulatory and legal systems are a real impediment to getting new seed varieties out there.

There are barriers against foreign investment, biotech and other types of new technologies — not even just GMOs but other kinds of new seed varieties that tend to be regulated too highly,” he said. “There also has to be a push to keep and extend open trade in agricultural products; that took a real hit during the price spikes of 2008 and 2011, when countries started banning exports and taxing imports and we lost a lot of confidence in the agricultural trade system. That has to be restored.”

— Larry Luxner

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Rail ponent of high-speed rail, opposes the project. “We support advanced high-speed rail in the Northeast corridor, but our understanding is that the Maglev is five times as expensive as regular 200 mph high-speed rail,� said Kunz. “For that money, we could build high-speed rail to 20 cities, not just two.�

Zoellner says the United States should focus on introducing traditional, high-speed rail on airline routes with flight times of about one to three hours. “From a climate change perspective, the shorthaul flights are the most damaging because take off and landing is where you burn the most fuel,� he said. “The way to get the most bang for the buck is focusing on the short haul. A good way to gauge feasibility is to look at a list of the busiest short-haul air corridors and work your way down through those.�

Zoellner thinks that high-speed rail makes the most sense in the New York-Washington and San Francisco-Los Angeles corridors. Despite myriad legal challenges, it looks like the California corridor will get high-speed service, eventually, though it will likely take a decade or more depending on the political winds. “When it [the San Francisco-Los Angeles line] opens, there will be tremendous excitement and envy,� said Zoellner, who is based in Los Angeles. “Once Americans see how flexible and how convenient and inspiring this is, it’ll touch off a boom of high-speed rail construction. You’ll see routes like Dallas-Houston, Chicago-Minneapolis, BostonNew York.�

Kunz predicts that the privately financed DallasHouston high-speed line will open sooner than the coastal corridors, making it the country’s first true high-speed rail line. He says that the outlook for high-speed rail in the United States has never been brighter. But Randal O’Toole, a senior fellow

Photo: Shinkansen0-N700 by Pagemoral / Wikimedia Commons

American automakers led the world and gas cost 25 cents a gallon in 1964, the year the Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train, above, opened, and ever since, the U.S. has focused on investing in highways while Japan and Western European nations invested billions in upgrading their rail infrastructure.

at the CATO Institute and a leading rail skeptic, disagrees. “Right now, there is zero momentum for highspeed rail outside of California,� he said in an email. “I don’t think California can put together a financial package capable of building a true highspeed rail line, so it will either settle for secondbest or give up entirely.A second-best system won’t attract many new travelers, so it won’t change the momentum elsewhere in the country.�

O’Toole says that when the energy cost of constructing new high-speed lines is counted, even the most energy-efficient trains won’t be as energy-efficient as driving the average car in 10 years.

He believes that even privately financed ventures like the Dallas-Houston line will eventually end up costing taxpayers.

“I’d be all in favor of trains if people’s own fares paid for them,� he said.“I like trains too, but would you rather take a train over a bus if the train cost $158 and the bus cost $10? Fares on Amtrak’s Acela from New York to Washington start at $158 while Megabus offers the same trip for as little as $1.50.�

Even rail enthusiasts admit that America’s geography and car culture make building a viable highspeed rail network more challenging compared to most of the countries that already have it. One might look to China as a reasonable comparison, but as Megan McArdle pointed out in a 2010 piece for The Atlantic, China’s largest cities are much more closely clustered than America’s. Moreover, “the Chinese government does not have to worry unduly about things like environmental impact

and acquiring the right of way,â€? she wrote, referring to the straight path often needed to build high-speed rail. Clearing that path would require uprooting existing transport networks and “would mean approximately a century of court battles with homeowners, environmental groups ‌ and sundry others.â€?

Zoellner says that critics are right to be scrutinizing proposed high-speed rail projects. “I’m a rail proponent, but even I don’t think every rail line should be built,� he said.“The history of railroad construction around the world is pockmarked with many instances of corruption.

But I do wish the critics wouldn’t be so dogmatic that they’re allergic to any project that has tracks because the fact is that rail is a proven, popular method of transportation.�

O’Toole says he’s not opposed to all projects, so long as they pay for themselves, but contends that just because people are frustrated with airline travel, that doesn’t automatically make high-speed rail a viable alternative. “New transportation technologies succeed when they offer transport that is faster, less expensive, and/or more convenient than what previously existed,� he said. “High-speed trains are slower and more expensive than flying and less convenient and more expensive than driving, so they won’t be able to compete.�

Time will tell if that’s true but for anyone who has traveled to countries with first-rate rail service and been seduced by the comfort and romance of riding the rails, train travel is worth the extra time and money. “From a shear enjoyment perspective, there is no question a train ride beats a plane or automobile trip,� Zoellner said. “There are all kinds of emotional reasons: the unparalleled views of the landscape, the opportunity to interact with other passengers and the completely relaxing, if not hypnotic environment on board.�

Dave Seminara (@DaveSem) is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

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The Washington Diplomat

December 2014

COVER PROFILE

Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea

The ‘Ebola Ambassadors’ Talk About Death, Determination

by Larry Luxner

A

mbassador Bockari Kortu Stevens of Sierra Leone won’t soon forget the steamy hot August day he accompanied the president of his West African country, Ernest Bai Koroma, to an Ebola emergency treatment center in Freetown, the capital.

“It was a somber moment for us. This was the first time he had seen the disease for himself,” Stevens said, recalling the emotionally devastating visit. “These people in front of him knew they were going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it.”

It was then and there Koroma decided he wouldn’t be able to join 50 other heads of state already departing for Washington to attend the 2014 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. Instead, the president immediately declared Sierra Leone to be in a state of emergency and announced stringent new security measures to contain the growing epidemic.

In neighboring Liberia, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf also skipped the summit, sending her vice president instead. She shut down the country’s schools, placed all nonessential government workers on 30-day leave and closed Liberia’s borders with all neighboring countries.

Guinea, an impoverished Frenchspeaking nation of 12 million, is larger than Sierra Leone and Liberia combined. It’s also where the current West African outbreak is believed to have started with socalled “patient zero,” a 2-year-old boy named Emile Ouamouno. The toddler — who was from Guéckédou, a district close to where the three countries meet — died on Dec. 6, 2013, only four days after first exhibiting hemorrhagic fever, black stool, vomiting and other hallmark symptoms of the disease, which first appeared in 1976.

Africans, killed over 5,100 and spread panic across the globe. Nigeria saw eight Ebola deaths before eradicating the disease. New cases recently appeared in Mali, which had contained an earlier outbreak.

Isolated cases have also emerged in Senegal, Spain and the United States, though on a much smaller scale.

Even so, the death of Liberian citizen Thomas Eric Duncan at a Dallas hospital — and the subsequent Ebola infections of two nurses who had treated him — spread fear across the nation, while controversy over the Obama administration’s handing of Ebola and talk of a travel ban from West Africa became a hot potato in the Nov. 4 midterms.

Over a four-day span leading up to the elections, candidates for both the House and Senate ran 734 ads about Ebola, according to Kantar Media. In a recent poll, nearly two-thirds of Americans worried about a possible widespread Ebola epidemic, despite constant reassurance from experts that the disease would have a hard time spreading in developed countries with advanced health-care systems. In addition to Duncan, a Maryland doctor who had been working in Sierra Leone was transported to the United States last month while critically ill and also died here.

Otherwise, there have been eight Ebola patients treated in the U.S., all of whom survived. To put those numbers into perspective, about 90 Americans are killed by guns — each day. Mother Jones magazine called the misplaced panic over Ebola and

“

I often tell people we are the face of Ebola in Washington. Every time there are meetings at universities or NGOs, they call the three of us to talk about Ebola.

People want firsthand information about what’s happening.

We share information and talk almost on a daily basis.

— Bockari Kortu Stevens ambassador of Sierra Leone to the United States

In the last year, Ebola has spread like wildfire across three countries whose health systems were among the least equipped to handle it. According to the World Health Organization, the Ebola virus has infected more than 14,000 West December 2014

”

the Islamic State “the two horsemen of the present American apocalypse.”

The American cases have, however, demonstrated that early, aggressive care seems to boost otherwise dismal survival rates.

Human trials for potential vaccines are also

Photo: Lawrence Ruggeri of ruggeriphoto.com

From left, Ambassador of Sierra Leone Bockari Kortu Stevens, Ambassador of Guinea Mamady Condé and Ambassador of Liberia Jeremiah Congbeh Sulunteh talk to The Diplomat about the Ebola crisis in West Africa.

underway, and even as Ebola continues to spread rapidly in Sierra Leone and Guinea, transmission of the virus appears to have slowed in hard-hit Liberia, thanks to massive public-awareness campaigns urging citizens to, among other things, quarantine infected family members and not touch the bodies of loved ones who have died of Ebola. (Doctors worry, though, that any tentative gains might inspire complacency in the international community, which has only just begun a forceful response to the outbreak.)

“Most of the highly infected communities are in slums,” said Jeremiah Congbeh Sulunteh, Liberia’s ambassador to the United States. “People who have good housing and good water systems are not likely to get infected. But it’s very difficult to stop kids from playing together. Liberians have also been told not to shake hands.

Whether we’ll go back to that later on, I don’t know.”

Last month, The Washington Diplomat met at the Liberian Embassy with the ambassadors of the three African countries at the epicenter of the Ebola epidemic: Sierra Leone’s Stevens, Liberia’s Sulunteh and Guinea’s Mamady Condé.

“Some of our colleagues have been calling us the Ebola ambassadors,” Sulunteh said, a slight touch of sarcasm in his voice.

“We have been working as a team, meeting periodically to compare notes and see what lessons we can learn from each other,” he said. “We’ve taken trips to New York together, and we were recently in Atlanta, meeting with Dr. [Thomas] Frieden and other authorities at the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention].”

Continued on next page The Washington Diplomat Page 11

Continued from previous page Added Stevens: “I often tell people we are the face of Ebola in Washington. Every time there are meetings at universities or NGOs, they call the three of us to talk about Ebola. People want firsthand information about what’s happening. We share information and talk almost on a daily basis.”

Liberia, founded in 1820 by freed American slaves, has borne the brunt of the current epidemic. As of Nov. 12, it has reported over 6,800 cases of Ebola and more than 2,800 deaths (over half the Ebola deaths worldwide). Making matters worse, the Tennessee-size tropical country only recently emerged from back-to-back civil wars that killed an estimated 250,000 people and displaced 1.5 million.

“It’s a difficult time for West Africa and for Liberia, especially for a country coming out of a war which affected the fabric of our country and all of its institutions and infrastructure. It caused brain drain. Professionals left the country — doctors, nurses, teachers, professors,” said Sulunteh.

“But since 2003, we’ve had relative peace. The warring factions signed a peace accord, paving the way for an interim government that was backed by the international community and the United Nations, which provided about 15,000 peacekeepers.”

Sulunteh,55,comes from the village of Suakoko, which is located in Bong County, Liberia’s third most populous. His parents were subsistence farmers.

“I wasn’t born in a hospital, because there were no hospitals in my community. There were no schools, either. I had to walk three miles to school every morning, and three miles back, until I was 8 years old.”

Sulunteh waited out Liberia’s civil war as a refugee in Côte d’Ivoire, then won a scholarship

Photo: Army Africa (USARAF) / Cmdr. Peter Niles

Three decontamination workers assigned to treat Ebola patients in Liberia come out of the “hot zone” behind the orange lattice fencing. They only work 45 minutes to one hour in the hot zone at a time.

to study at the American University in Cairo. He immigrated to Canada and returned to Liberia after the war ended.A one-time candidate for vice president, he served as minister of transport, communications and then minister of labor before arriving in Washington two years ago as ambassador. He was also an economics professor at the University of Liberia and Cuttington University, also in Liberia.

“We have a lot of natural resources — iron ore, diamonds and rubber. Firestone has 1 million acres of land planted with rubber, making us the second-largest producer of rubber in the world,” Sulunteh said, noting that Liberia has attracted $17 billion in foreign direct investment since the

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Page 12

end of the war.

“However, this $17 billion can only be converted into job-creating opportunities when you have infrastructure.We have a broken health-care system, the roads are dilapidated and electricity has collapsed.”

And that was before Ebola. Now, Sulunteh lamented, “all the gains that were being made have been reversed. Since Aug. 1, civil servants are not working. Factories are closed down, foreign investments are on hold and everything has been affected.”

Liberia’s embassy itself has been hurt as well.

Usually, the mission earns $30,000 to $50,000 a month in visa fees charged to U.S. tourists and visitors on business trips.

“But because of Ebola, no one is going to Liberia, so revenues from visas have been zero since July,” Sulunteh told us. “I’m sorry I have to say it, but I’m very worried how we’ll pay our bills by the end of this month. If we don’t have visa fees, we cannot cover our operational costs.

We all hope conditions will improve sometime soon.”

The ambassador said he applauds the U.S. government’s efforts to help Liberia fight the Ebola plague. The Pentagon will deploy some 3,000 soldiers to West Africa to build 17 Ebola treatment units (ETUs). The first ETU opened Nov. 10 in Tubmanburg, about 60 kilometers north of Monrovia, the capital, where the U.S. has also constructed a 25-bed field hospital dedicated to treating infected health workers.

“This is the largest-ever U.S. response to a global health crisis,” said Bill Berger, disaster response team leader at USAID. In early November, Obama asked Congress for $6.18 billion in emergency spending to fight Ebola both in the United States and in West Africa.

The funding request was quickly met with skepticism by Republicans who’ve been critical of the administration’s efforts to fight the disease, here and abroad. The money would go toward building new clinics, distributing food and supplies, and training health care workers and burial teams in West Africa, in addition to training U.S. hospitals.

“My foremost priority is to protect the health and safety of Americans, and this request supports all necessary steps to fortify our domestic health system and prevent any outbreaks at home,” the president wrote in a Nov. 4 letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).“Over the longer term, my administration recognizes that the best way to prevent additional cases at home will be to contain and eliminate the epidemic at its source in Africa.”

Sulunteh said that even though the infection rate is subsiding in Monrovia, Liberia still needs more training of local doctors and nurses, and more ambulances (only about a dozen were

Photo: Chief Petty Officer Jerrold Diederich / U.S. Army Africa

U.S. Navy Lt. Jose Garcia inspects specimen labels and prepares for the first step in sample-processing at a Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) mobile laboratory located on Bushrod Island in Liberia. The NMRC sent two mobile testing labs to Liberia to support Operation United Assistance; each two-person lab is capable of testing up to 80 samples per day.

available for 4 million people, in good times).

“President Obama was kind enough, on behalf of the American people, to commit troops to help with building the needed infrastructure. They’re also sending supplies, but we need more of that.

I appreciate the support that’s been coming in the last month or two, but had that been the case three or four months ago, we would have been able to contain this virus,” he complained.

“Part of the reason Ebola has spread so fast is the lack of ambulances. If a relative is sick or suspected of having Ebola and there’s no ambulance, they’ll revert to public transport. They’ll take a sick person by taxi to the nearest hospital.

The driver may not be aware, and all the people who ride in that taxi will get infected.”

Sulunteh, who’s in touch with President Sirleaf on a weekly basis, said Ebola now takes up 95 percent of his time as ambassador — meeting with experts, making speeches, doing media interviews and sorting out bureaucratic issues.

But he’s also heard plenty of grumbling from Liberian immigrants suddenly being viewed with suspicion. One employee of a local nursing home told him she was ordered by a supervisor to get checked for Ebola simply because she’s African. Even people who’ve traveled to places like Kenya and South Africa, thousands of miles from the epidemic, are sometimes being asked to stay away from schools and other public places.

“We are getting an enormous amount of pressure from Liberians in the diaspora community who feel they’re not being treated well,” the ambassador said.“Most [Americans] are in sympathy with us. But some may not want to interact

The Washington Diplomat

Correction The November 2014 cover profile of PLO Chief Representative Maen Areikat mentioned that he was “wined and dined” by AIPAC. While Areikat did meet with the group, he did not say anything to suggest he was wined or dined by AIPAC.

December 2014

with you, simply because you come from Liberia.

“Last week, my security guard saw a fellow coming into the embassy. He used his shirt to open the door handle. That’s just ludicrous,” Sulunteh said. “People assume if you’re black and you come from Africa, you have Ebola. We don’t think embassy people should be treated that way.

Do our embassy staffers now have to start wearing gloves?”

Stevens has similar frustrations.

“The Duncan case in Texas — after he died and then the nurses working with him got infected — that was the main genesis of this phobia that has engulfed the American population,” he said.

Meanwhile, the pattern and rate of Ebola transmission have been quietly shifting. In the most recent three-week monitoring period, Sierra Leone reported three times as many new Ebola infections as Liberia, according to the World Health Organization (infections have also waned somewhat in Guinea).

“There’s hardly anything we do now that doesn’t concern Ebola,” said Stevens, adding that the epidemic has consumed virtually all his waking hours. “This is time I would normally spend on seeing congressmen and senators to get support for my country for the Millennium Challenge Corp., and now that has to be reduced because of my engagement with fighting Ebola.”

Stevens, 63, is the son of Sierra Leone’s first president, Siaka Stevens, who led the country from 1971 to 1985. Koroma named him ambassador to Washington in 2007; previously, he was posted to London and Conakry, Guinea’s capital.

Like its neighbor Liberia, Sierra Leone was wracked by years of civil war.The conflict, lasting from 1991 to 2002, left some 70,000 people dead, 2.5 million displaced and the economy in ruins.

Despite ample natural resources including diamonds, gold, bauxite, iron ore, fish, coffee and

Photo: CDC / World Health Organization (WHO)

This World Health Organization map illustrates the geographic distribution, as of Oct. 10, of the West African Ebola outbreak and demarcates some of the focal points involved in the epidemiologic investigation of what has become an international epidemic, including the location of Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs), field laboratories, transit centers and hospitals.

cocoa, Sierra Leone ranks 183rd out of 188 countries on the U.N. Development Program’s latest Human Development Index.

When Nigeria’s first case of Ebola was announced in late July, the news terrified health experts around the world.After all, an outbreak in densely packed Lagos would have been catastrophic for Africa. Yet unlike oil-rich Nigeria,

which Stevens said had the money and resources to fight the epidemic — and which was declared Ebola-free in October — Sierra Leone simply wasn’t prepared.

“Ebola took us by storm, and within the space of three weeks, it overwhelmed our medical services, and they collapsed,” said the ambassador, urging Congress and the White House to do

more.“The best thing is boots on the ground.The Americans must fight Ebola at the source, and not wait until we get outbreaks in the United States.

It would cost much more to treat Ebola in the U.S. than in Africa.”

Stevens said he’s often awakened in the middle of the night with urgent requests. For example, one recent late-night call came from a group of 25 medical volunteers from Massachusetts who needed visas issued immediately.

“Our embassy is actively engaged,” he said.

“The United States has the largest numbers of Sierra Leoneans [abroad]. Many of them are qualified nurses, doctors, epidemiologists and paramedics.The first thing we did was to call our community together and let them appreciate the magnitude of the problems we have. We opened a bank account, and Sierra Leoneans have started contributing.”

A new Ebola response call center in Freetown, reached by calling 117, has helped local residents notify the authorities when an infected person dies, or when someone becomes infected. Sierra Leone currently has four ETUs built by the British, the country’s former colonial masters; a fifth, capable of caring for 200 patients, is nearing completion.

“The turnaround time is very important, from the time a case is identified and the blood samples are taken and confirmed whether it’s Ebola or not,” Stevens said.“Right now it’s about four to five days. The Chinese and the Cubans have told us they can do it within 24 hours.”

But in a sign of the hurdles that cash-strapped governments face, hundreds of staff at a clinic in southern Sierra Leone run by Doctors Without Borders recently went on strike to protest the government’s failure to pay them promised “hazard payments,” leaving some Ebola patients stranded.

See Ebola, page 44

Visit our Open House to learn how we personalize learning so that each child achieves more.

Open House Wednesday January 14, 2015

To reserve a place call 202.829.3700. Learn more at www.britishschoolofwashington.org

December 2014

The Washington Diplomat Page 13

Book Review

Paul Kelly

Internecine Warfare Hobbles Australia in ‘Triumph and Demise’

by John Shaw

W

hile I was visiting Australia in late October, the country learned of the death of former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. The former Labor Party leader and prime minister was a large and controversial figure in Australian politics in the 1960s and 1970s, eventually becoming a national icon.

His death at the age of 98 ignited a wide-ranging discussion about his vast impact on Australian life. Not even his harshest critics disputed that Whitlam had been a charismatic and consequential leader who profoundly shaped his country.

One of the consequences of Australia’s renewed focus on Whitlam has been to underscore the relative smallness of his most recent Labor Party successors as prime minister, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. Rudd was elected leader of the Labor Party in 2006 and became prime minister in 2007. But in a stunning development, after three turbulent years as leader, Rudd was deposed by the Labor Party as Australia’s prime minister and replaced by Gillard, his deputy. However, Gillard’s tenure as prime minister was equally troubled, partly as the result of Rudd’s relentless efforts to undermine her.

Three years into her term as prime minister, Gillard was ousted and replaced by Rudd. Several months later the vicious circle finally ended, as Rudd and the Labor Party suffered a decisive defeat in national elections and Tony Abbott, the leader of the Liberal Party (which is Australia’s conservative party), became the new prime minister.

The Rudd-Gillard rivalry and the collapse of the Labor government combined Shakespearean tragedy with 21stcentury political farce — a point that is made compellingly and provocatively in Paul Kelly’s book,“Triumph and Demise:The Broken Promise of a Labor Generation.”

Kelly is one of Australia’s leading political journalists. He is the editor-at-large of The Australian newspaper and has also served as the paper’s editor-in-chief. He is the author of seven other books on Australian history and politics and has skillfully chronicled an array of Australian prime ministers, including Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating and John Howard.“Triumph and Demise” is based on Kelly’s extensive reporting and interviews with more than 60 participants in the political drama between 2007 and 2013, including Rudd, Gillard, Abbott and their top associates.

Kelly tells the story of the Rudd-Gillard debacle forcefully, angrily and in a way that is accessible to those who are not experts in Australian politics. He argues that their battle divided the Labor Party, undermined its policy agenda, damaged its standing with the Australian public and highlighted systemic problems with the nation’s political system.

The Rudd-Gillard brawl should be seen in the context of recent Australian political history, Kelly argues. After eight years in the political wilderness following the controversial dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975, Labor dominated Australian politics between 1983 and 1996 under the leadership of two purposeful and formidable prime ministers, Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.They pushed market-oriented economic policies that focused

Page 14

Photo: Melbourne University Press

“

There was no glory in the final Rudd-Gillard showdown…. It wasn’t about the Australian people; it was about saving the Labor Party. This was a bunch of desperate politicians saving their necks.

— Paul Kelly

”

editor-at-large of The Australian newspaper

on generating growth and bolstering the Labor Party’s relationship with the business community. They deregulated the economy, floated the currency, cut tariffs and promoted other structural changes. Hawke and Keating also drove the Labor Party to modernize its policy agenda and modify its organizational structure. Like Whitlam, they succeeded in uniting the Labor Party’s trade union and white-collar wings.

Labor’s ascendancy ended in 1996 when the Liberals led by John Howard defeated Keating’s government.

Howard skillfully helped the Liberal Party secure the reputation of being competent economic stewards who supported both business and struggling middle-class voters whom he called “battlers.” Howard won four national

elections and served as prime minister until 2007.

Rudd, a relative newcomer to Parliament, won the Labor Party leadership in 2006 and mounted a spirited, even inspiring, campaign to defeat Howard’s Liberal Party in 2007. According to Kelly, Rudd forged a close partnership with Gillard and the revived Labor Party launched a fierce attack on Howard and his policies on climate change, education, workplace rules and refugees seeking to live in Australia. “Rudd and Gillard were the brightest stars of their generation,” Kelly writes, adding that “the Rudd-Gillard pact had the potential to set up Labor for a decade in office.”

They were opposites who complemented each other. Rudd was from outside the traditional Labor Party base of Sydney and Melbourne.

Hailing from Queensland, he was a former diplomat and a devout Christian who had a prominent wife and several children. Gillard’s political base was Melbourne, where she was an established Labor Party insider with strong union ties. She was single, had no children and described herself as an atheist.“Rudd and Gillard took control of the Labor Party, steamrolled Howard, and, in office, looked set to ignite a brilliant chapter in Labor’s saga,” Kelly writes.

Rudd’s winning 2007 campaign was based on the promise of a vigorous new leadership that enacted climate change legislation, education and health care reforms, and fiscal conservatism. It was a large agenda.“There would be revolutions ad infinitum.

He made it sound so easy,” Kelly writes.

Rudd initially struggled to find his footing as prime minister but then was energized by the need for an emergency response to the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. He crafted several fiscal stimulus packages, worked hard to make the G20 an important forum for global financial cooperation and took advantage of Australia’s strong fiscal position and sound banks to help prevent the nation from falling into recession.Australia, in fact, was one of the few nations in the developed world to avoid a recession during this time.

However, once the financial crisis eased, Rudd foundered. As Kelly sees it, Rudd blundered badly on three major issues: climate change legislation, a mining tax and refugee policy. Rudd also presided over a chaotic and disorganized government that lurched from policy to policy, was obsessed with the media and tried to win every news cycle rather than assemble a long-term agenda. “He had little of Hawke’s cunning, judgment or smell for power,” Kelly writes of Rudd.

Kelly argues that Rudd was a brilliant “solo player” but not a strong leader. He was intelligent but undisciplined, erratic and politically cautious. His failure to fight passionately for climate change legislation earns particular scorn from Kelly.“Rudd wanted to help save the planet, but not at any political cost to himself,” the journalist asserts.

He also says that Rudd treated people badly, including his staff, cabinet ministers and other members of Parliament. “His grasp of human nature was defective,”

The Washington Diplomat

December 2014

Kelly charges. known or especially popular with the public. Gillard was too much of a transactional dealA Labor Party operative once called Rudd the Gillard struggled to govern and had to negotiate maker without vision. Neither was able to set most hated political figure in Australia in half an alliance with the Green Party after the 2010 aside personal ambition for the good of the party century. Within the party, Rudd was criticized for elections to stay in power. Kelly calls this deal in or the nation. “Their tragedy lay in the willful, centralizing decision-making power in the prime which Gillard made major policy concessions to unnecessary destruction of their partnership. minister’s office, mismanaging the cabinet, trying the Greens a “political death warrant” that under- This event doomed the Rudd-Gillard generation. to do too much, lacking clear priorities and focus- mined her authority. Presiding over this tenuous It would destroy the Labor government they had ing on politics rather than substance. Party mem- alliance, Gillard was also undermined by Rudd, won, and provoke recognition that the party bers grumbled that Gillard often had to clean up who remained in Parliament, and was hammered faced a deeper crisis.” after Rudd and that he failed to make firm deci- daily in Parliament by Abbott, who relished his In Kelly’s view, the Rudd-Gillard debacle shows sions. stance of total opposition. the underlying weakness of the Labor Party. He When Rudd’s polling numbers tumbled in Kelly argues that Gillard adjusted some of says it needs to update its policies, decide what it 2010 and it looked like the Labor Party might Rudd’s policies but as her poll numbers plunged, really believes in and rebuild its organizational lose the approaching election, Labor leaders Labor leaders grew restless and decided to oust structure. It’s now getting squeezed on both sides decided to drop Rudd and install Gillard as party her — and replace her with Rudd.The final Rudd- of the political spectrum — by the populist right leader and prime minister.This move shocked the Gillard contest was about personalities and that is mostly aligned with the Liberal Party and nation. Kelly says the full story of Gillard’s par- power, not ideas or visions. “There was no glory by the idealistic left that is captivated by the ticipation in Rudd’s dismissal remains in dispute. in the final Rudd-Gillard showdown…. It wasn’t Green Party and prefers purist positions to realGillard insists she stepped forward only after her about the Australian people; it was about saving world solutions. colleagues were convinced the Rudd govern- the Labor Party. This was a bunch of desperate Kelly also argues that Labor’s demise is part of ment was imploding, but others claim Gillard politicians saving their necks. Past Labor leader- a broader crisis of Australian democracy in which NOTE: effort is made Rudd’s to assureship your ad is free mistakes in spelling playedAlthough a far moreevery active role in instigating contests had aofgrander purpose: winningandthere is a large and growing disconnect between content it is ultimately up to the customer to make the final proof. ousting than she has acknowledged. office or staying in office. There was no honor the severity of the nation’s problems and the Whatever the full story, Kelly says Labor’s deci- left. The Rudd-Gillard era had been reduced to a quality of its leadership. “The deepest lesson of The sion firsttotwo faxed changes will be made at no mad, cost self-interested to the advertiser, subsequent depose Rudd was a foolish political move. scramble for power,”changes Kelly the Rudd-Gillard era is that Australia’s political destruction Rudd triggered a seriesalteration. of writes.Signed ads are considered approved. system is failing to deliver the results needed for will“The be billed at a of rate of $75 per faxed falling political dominoes that would reduce Back as prime minister, Rudd tried to present the nation, its growth in living standards and selfLaborPlease to a minority government within months himself as a wiser and chastened leader check this ad carefully. Mark any changes to your ad.but he esteem…. The business of politics is too de-couand would see its convincing defeat three years had changed little. He ran a chaotic, negative pled from the interests of Australia and its citilater. By her action Gillard assumed political campaign and was defeated by Abbott and the zens. This de-coupling constitutes the Australian If the ad is correctfor sign and fax to: (301) responsibility its consequences, ” Kelly 949-0065 writes. Liberal Party.needs Labor’schanges government, which began crisis,” he writes.

He argues that Gillard’s role in Rudd’s dismissal with such promise in 2007, collapsed in ignomi“Triumph and Demise” is a good, if discouragThe Washington Diplomat (301)not933-3552 tainted her badly; she became known as the ny in 2013. Both Rudd and Gillard retired from ing, book. Kelly’s description of the travails of the lady-in-waiting of Australian politics, but as Lady politics and their colleagues were left to rebuild Rudd-Gillard government is both compelling and Macbeth. a badly diminished Labor Party. distressing. He shows that really smart people Approved __________________________________________________________ Gillard became prime minister in June of 2010, Kelly is sharply critical of both Rudd and can do really dumb things — out of impatience, Changes but ___________________________________________________________ had neither a narrative for why she was the Gillard, rebuking them for lacking the necessary anger or while under siege — which undermine nation’s new leader nor a plan for governing. She wisdom, maturity and vision to be successful their long-term objectives. The struggles of ___________________________________________________________________ was an inside player with strong ties to the trade prime ministers. Rudd, he argues, was too much Australia’s democracy that he describes are simiunion wing of the Labor Party but was not well of a talking head without convictions, while lar to those in other nations that are also hurt by

Let Your Smile Reach Out to the World

fierce political polarization and by the tendency of opposition parties to reflexively criticize the government for everything rather than offer constructive, and possibly controversial, alternatives.

Kelly’s book is a work of first-rate journalism.

He is tough, fair-minded and draws on an impressive array of sources who tell their side of the story, usually on the record and directly. This book will be an essential tool that is used by historians to understand this chapter in Australian history.

However,“Triumph and Demise” is less impressive as an example of polished history. The events are too fresh, Kelly is too close to the story and he is too angry and frustrated to render a totally fair account.The book is very long, often repetitive and sometimes hyperbolic. Some of Kelly’s judgments are too sweeping and overly harsh.

“Triumph and Demise” provides a provocative perspective on a fascinating but dispiriting time in Australian political history. It also, perhaps inadvertently, highlights the importance of leaders such as Gough Whitlam who endeavored to do big things out of conviction and with courage.

This is not likely to be history’s verdict of Rudd and Gillard.

John Shaw is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

follow the Diplomat connect at www.washdiplomat.com.

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December 2014

The Washington Diplomat Page 15

Diplomacy

United States

Four Wives and a Husband Talk About Life as Diplomatic Spouses

by Larry Luxner

F

or Janet Blanchard, being the wife of the U.S. ambassador to Canada didn’t take that much getting used to. As first lady of Michigan, she already knew all about hosting official dinners and receptions.

Elizabeth Berry Gips, who moved to Pretoria with her husband, the new U.S. envoy to South Africa, immediately immersed herself in national education policy — an outgrowth of her years working in international development.

But Thomas Schneider had a much tougher adjustment. Once his Dutch-speaking wife Cynthia became U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands in 1998, the globetrotting executive was forced to take a back seat and become, in his own words,“invisible.”

From Vienna to the Vatican, the experiences of diplomatic spouses are as varied as the foreign capitals to which their husbands and wives are posted. Five such spouses shared their stories at an Oct. 29 event organized by the Meridian International Center and its Council on Women’s Leadership.

“Until 1971, diplomatic spouses were almost exclusively wives. Diplomatic husbands were virtually unheard of,” said Natalie Jones, U.S. deputy chief of protocol.

“Today, the demographics are very different, and the State Department has made significant strides in recognizing the diversity of families.”

Of 180 overseas U.S. embassies and other missions, she said, 130 are now headed by ambassadors, with another 50 waiting to be confirmed. And of those 130 ambassadors, 110 have spouses or partners, and 25 are males.

“We also have a number of same-sex partners. Since 2009, they have equal benefits and protections,” Jones said.“We have a number of posts considered too dangerous for spouses to travel to, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen. And we also have cases where husbands and wives have both served as ambassadors.”

Noting that “there is no official job description” for a diplomatic spouse, the common thread is that these spouses “have an enormous opportunity to make an impact on their host country” and among embassy staffers as well, Jones told her audience of about 40 people, which included Sharon Hardy of the Foreign Service Institute; ALSO SEE: Susan Frost, director of the State Read this month’s Department’s Family Liaison Office; and Diplomatic top State Department official Jennifer Spouses profile Wicks. of Ecuador on “Spouses are champions for cultural or philanthropic issues, and they face PAGE 27 challenges while navigating between official and unofficial channels. They travel around the world and set the stage and tone for diplomatic relationships to flourish,” Jones said.

That was definitely the case with Blanchard, who already knew what it was like to oversee a household staff — having done so in Lansing, where her husband, a Democrat, had lived as governor of Michigan from 1983 to 1991.

“Jim had served as governor at about the same time

Page 16

Photo: Larry Luxner

From left, Michele Manatt, chair and founding member of the Council on Women’s Leadership at the Meridian International Center, joins the five spouses who spoke at Meridian’s Oct. 29 event: Suzanne Nicholson, Thomas Schneider, Donna Eacho, Elizabeth Berry Gips and Janet Blanchard.

“

Spouses are champions for cultural or philanthropic issues, and they face challenges while navigating between official and unofficial channels. They travel around the world and set the stage and tone for diplomatic relationships to flourish.

— Natalie Jones U.S. deputy chief of protocol

”

Bill Clinton was governor of Arkansas, so public service was not new to us. We were accustomed to being in the public eye,” she said.“It also gives you great cache in your designated country when their political leaders know you’re friends with the president and the first lady.”

Shortly after settling in as the new ambassador to Canada, James Blanchard and his wife took a crosscountry tour of Canada, visiting all 10 provinces in their first six weeks, making 29 stops and participating in more than 100 events along the way.

“That set the tone for our entire stay in Canada,” she said.“Because our posting in Canada was right next door to the U.S., we did not have to handhold the Foreign Service members in our embassy. They integrated easily, with some making Canada their last posting before retirement.They had their own homes and there was no compound, and minimal security risks.”

Among the guests the Blanchards entertained were

several top officials of the Clinton administration, including Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, FBI Director Louis Freeh and Attorney General Janet Reno.

“Jim once asked Janet Reno if it was true she had wrestled an alligator. I wanted to die,” she said.“Without missing a beat, she said,‘Yes, but it was a small one.’”

Being from Michigan, the Blanchards had already traveled extensively in Canada and knew the country well.

And since Canada is partner in “virtually everything the U.S. is involved in” — from fishing and agriculture to defense and NAFTA — the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa is a very busy post. It oversees seven consulates across Canada, which is geographically larger than the United States despite its population of only 35 million.

“The biggest misconception about Canada is when Americans say, ‘We like Canadians, they’re just like us.’

That’s the worst thing you can say about them.”

For example, she said, “Canadians are dumbstruck by our fascination with guns.They even serve tea differently.

You sit down, you have sandwiches and sweets, and then you drink your tea. Here, we just throw hot water into a mug.”

Shortly after leaving Ottawa, the ambassador wrote a book about his time there, titled “Behind the Embassy Door:Canada,Clinton,and Quebec.”In fact,the Blanchards still consider Canada their second home. “Our house is 15 minutes from the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor,” said Michigan’s former first lady.

Blanchard’s ambassadorship ended five years before the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, so security wasn’t that much of an issue in Ottawa before 9/11. Not so for Suzanne Nicholson, whose husband Jim became U.S. envoy to the Holy See in late 2001 (and later went on to become U.S. secretary of veterans affairs).

“We arrived in Rome about 10 days before 9/11, and

The Washington Diplomat

See Meridian, page 18 December 2014

Medical

Thyroid Disorders

Hidden Hypothyroidism: Should You Be Screened?

by Gina Shaw

Y

ou’re tired. You’re draggy. You wrap yourself in blankets and wear socks to bed even though the thermostat is set to a comfy 70 degrees. You feel bloated and constipated. You’re not eating any differently but you’ve put on a few pounds.

You’re constantly rubbing lotion into your dry, flaky skin.

These symptoms could be the signs of a million and one different disorders (well, maybe not quite that many), or maybe nothing at all in particular. But one condition they could be pointing to — one that’s often missed — is hypothyroidism.

When the thyroid, a major driver of the body’s metabolism, is not calibrated properly, it produces too much or too little of two important hormones, thyroxine, or T4, and triiodothyronine, or T3. In hypothyroidism, the thyroid is underactive and produces an inadequate supply of T3 and T4, slowing down your physical and mental functioning like a toy train running low on batteries. (In hyperthyroidism, the opposite happens and the body produces too much thyroid hormone, causing a host of different symptoms.)

It’s estimated that as much as 3 percent to 5 percent of the U.S. population has some form of hypothyroidism (hyperthyroidism is less common). It occurs in both men and women, although it’s more common among women, and the chance of developing hypothyroidism increases with age.

Two-part For a long time, hyposeries thyroidism was an underThis story is the recognized problem, but first in a two-part that seems to be changing: Between 2006 and 2010, series on thyroid prescriptions for the disorders. Next generic thyroid hormone month’s issue replacement drug levothywill examine roxine rose by 42 percent, hyperthyroidism. and in 2013, there were more than 23 million new prescriptions and refills for just one namebrand thyroid replacement drug.

Leading endocrine societies in the United States (those are the groups of doctors specializing in hormones and hormonal dysfunction) recommend routine thyroid screening for adults, although the specifics of their recommendations December 2014

Photo: Alexander Raths / iStock

differ. The American Thyroid Association recommends that everyone receive thyroid testing starting at age 35, and every five years afterward. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists recommends routine screening in “older patients” — not specifying the age — with a particular emphasis on women.

The American Academy of Family Physicians, although not specifically an endocrine group, recommends routine screening in patients older than 60.

of finding these individuals and treating them. We need more research in this area.”

Because many people may have thyroid problems without knowing it, what’s the harm in a routine blood test every few years? Well, the USPSTF acknowledges that the studies to date don’t directly show any specific adverse effects from screening, but they say that indirect evidence “points to the likelihood of important and frequent harms associated with

“

We stand by our recommendation of liberal [thyroid] screening in older Americans, particularly females with nonspecific symptoms.

— Dr. R. Mack Harrell

”

president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists

But in October, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) once again declined to endorse routine thyroid screening for asymptomatic patients who aren’t pregnant, saying that there is insufficient evidence to make a recommendation for or against screening.

“People can have mild abnormalities in their thyroid tests and not have symptoms,” Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingoco, cochair of the task force’s recommendations, said in a statement.“We don’t know enough about the health consequences

screening.”These are the typical potential problems that arise from screening tests, like false positives and overdiagnosis and overtreatment.

But on the other hand, undiagnosed and untreated thyroid disorders can have long-term health consequences. Over the years, untreated hypothyroidism can weaken muscles, including perhaps the most important muscle in your body, the heart. Hypothyroidism is associated with unhealthy cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and heart failure.

Both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism are more common among women, and the chance of developing hypothyroidism increases with age.

On the other other hand, however, the USPSTF notes that treatment of subclinical hypothyroidism — the kind with minimal symptoms, in which thyroid levels are only mildly abnormal, which is probably the kind most likely to be found by routine screening — doesn’t necessarily improve cardiac outcomes. They note that one trial seemed to show that treatment of subclinical hypothyroidism reduced heart disease and death, but that study didn’t adjust for other heart medications that patients might also have been on.

The USPSTF, you might remember, are the same folks who got into a kerfuffle a few years back with the American Cancer Society and some prominent breast cancer groups when they upped the recommended age at which women should start getting mammogram screening from 40 to 50. Most cancer groups have ignored the changes and continue to recommend that women begin getting mammograms at 40.

And that’s probably what will happen with these new thyroid recommendations too.“We stand by our recommendation of liberal screening in older Americans, particularly females with non-

Continued on next page The Washington Diplomat Page 17

Agency for International Development got some not heard, so for the 34 months she served there, events and to get on our good side.”

Eacho said that as ambassador, her husband funding to start an education program in South I commuted — 66 trips to the Netherlands and 25 round-the-world trips,” he said.“My reputation “was able to get through a number of treaties Africa, and the ambassador’s wife was invited to was that she was supposed to be married, but that had been stalled for years.Austria is typically join the new team. She accepted the job without Jim presented his credentials to Pope John Paul nobody ever saw me. She still has very good very opposed to sanctions. At the time, Austria pay and loved it.

“Because I was the ambassador’s spouse, I had II on Sept. 13,” she said. “However, because of friends over there who have never met me. It was was a member of the U.N. Security Council, and the Red Brigade terrorist attacks during the a very strange type of relationship. I attended we needed their vote on sanctions against Iran. access to a vantage point and the ability to leverThey were dead-set against it, but we turned age the role in a really unique way,” said Gips. “I 1970s, Italy was already very much accustomed events, but I was literally invisible.”

On several occasions, Schneider’s wife had them around in the end. A lot of that was behind brought South Africa’s minister of education, the to providing security to officials. We had lots of head of the teacher’s union and some NGO leadhim fly into Amsterdam with duffel bags full of the scenes.” security.”

Of the five people on the podium, Liz Berry ers to D.C., where they met with the U.S. secreAl-Qaeda’s attacks on NewYork andWashington Virginia country hams so they could be served at frustrated many of her husband’s plans as ambas- the U.S. Embassy’s annual Fourth of July party. Gips was the only one whose spouse was named tary of education [Arne Duncan] and other offisador, though as his wife, she barely had time to Schneider also organized a conference about U.S. ambassador to a developing country.The Yale cials. That paved the way for some really big polgenetically modified organisms in 1998 — an School of Management graduate recalled how icy decisions in South Africa. I was able to put think about it.

“For me, it was very different to be in charge event he said “brought huge results and changed she and her husband, Donald Gips — a former together a public-private partnership with a large of a staff and have constant entertaining respon- the Dutch government’s view towards GMOs, leader on the Obama presidential transition team bank and foundation that tripled the money the — arrived in Pretoria just as South Africa was U.S. government had.” sibility. Everybody wants to visit Rome, and every- but again, it was totally behind the scenes.”

Despite South Africa’s notoriously high rate of Donna Eacho is the wife of William Eacho, preparing to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. body wants an audience with the pope. We “We moved from Boulder, Colo., to South violent crime, the Gips family did not have a parentertained, I think, at least once a day and some- who helped raise more than $500,000 for President Obama’s election campaign and was Africa with our three boys. The school year had ticularly heavy security detail. times twice a day, for three and a half years.”

“Security is at the discretion of the host govThe Nicholsons worked together to bring rewarded in 2009 with a posting as U.S. ambas- just started. We were fortunate that our boys really embraced the experience,” she recalled.“I’d ernment. My husband had a driver and a very attention to the problems of human trafficking, sador to Austria.

“The entire four years we were there, I never been doing international development work and protected car, and I drove myself,” Gips recalled. religious freedom and international justice; they jointly organized a symposium on human traffick- got tired of the honor when people would I’m impatient by nature, but I went to South “We lived in a beautiful residence that had a lot address you as the representative of your coun- Africa eager to contribute. Looking back, I real- of security, but my kids did service work in the ing that attracted people from all over Europe.

“At first, he got a lot of discouragement from try,” said Eacho, who returned to the Washington ized that the spouse role is ambiguous, and you nearby townships. We all took the same precaudo have to gain people’s trust and find your tions that all South Africans take.” the State Department and other ambassadors. area in 2013.“I never thought it was corny.”

Eacho said the role of the spouse is totally niche. In my case, it ended up being a very They were very negative about it. But my husLarry Luxner is news editor of The rewarding experience.” band was able to raise some initial seed money, undefined.

“You’re not an employee of the State During their first year in Pretoria, the U.S. Washington Diplomat. after which the State Department came on board,” she said. “Over 400 participants came to Department, so there’s no job description.That’s his seminar, including trafficked people and ordi- also because the people who work in our embassies have a lot to do, on a limited budget. nary citizens.” for hypothyroidism. Many medications also Schneider — the only man on the Meridian They don’t want to have to spend their resourcContinued from previous page affect thyroid function, so if you’re on any panel — also got discouragement from the State es on pet projects of ambassadorial spouses,” she specific symptoms,” Dr. R. Mack Harrell, medication for a chronic condition, talk to Department, but for an entirely different reason. said.

On the other hand,“people are pretty happy in president of the American Association of your doctor about its effects on your thyAs the husband of Washington’s new envoy to Clinical Endocrinologists, told the medical roid. the Netherlands, Schneider was already running Vienna, and you can’t really overstate the imporFinally, if hypothyroidism or other thyreporting website MedPage Today. a successful company specializing in restructur- tance of just showing up. Our predecessors had So what does this mean for you? Should roid problems run in your family, or if ing troubled corporations. But he was told by the to leave the post early, so there was a certain wariyou’ve had radiation to your you have your thyroid levels State Department that he could not do business ness that Austria didn’t matter to the U.S. But once Although every effort is we made to assure your ad is free mistakes in spelling up neckoffor esophageal cancer and tested? Obviously (or so in the Netherlands because it would be a conflict they saw us embracing our role and showingNOTE: for every major cultural and sporting event, they content it is ultimately the final proof. or another type of cancer, hope), you should be asking up to the customer to make of interest. that also ups your risk for your doctor this question. If “The safest thing for me was to be seen and were thrilled — and everybody wanted us at their thyroid problems. you have some of these The first two faxed changes will be made at no cost to the advertiser, subsequent changes test forapproved. thysymptoms, you may want to will be billed at a rate of $75 per faxed alteration. Signed adsThe arestandard considered roid disorders is a blood test consider testing: chronic Nuestras diferencias son lo que tenemos en común.. común... Nos for thyroid stimulating horfatigue; difficulty concentratKPќtYLUJLZ ZVU[ JL X\L UV\Z H]VUZ LU JVTT\U... Nuestras Please to check this ad carefully. Mark any changes your ad. mone to(TSH).

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Changes ___________________________________________________________ KPќtYLUJLZ ZVU[ JL X\L UV\Z H]VUZ LU JVTT\U Nuestras ing TSH, free T4, free T3, You’re at higher risk for diferencias son lo que tenemos en común.. común... 5VZ KPќtYLUJLZ ___________________________________________________________________ hypothyroidism if you have certain autoim- reverse T3, and SHBG (sex hormone-binding ZVU[ JL X\L UV\Z H]VUZ LU JVTT\U... Nuestras diferencias mune diseases, like Type 1 diabetes, lupus, globulin). son lo que tenemos en común... 5VZ KPќtYLUJLZ ZVU[ JL X\L anemia and rheumatoid arthritis. Polycystic UV\Z H]VUZ LU JVTT\U Nuestras diferencias son lo que ovarian syndrome, myasthenia gravis and Gina Shaw is the medical writer tenemos en común... Nos Addison’s disease also put you at higher risk for The Washington Diplomat.

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December 2014

LIVING L U X U R Y

■ A Special Section of The Washington Diplomat

■ December 2014

Shopping Capital Washington Area Home To Holiday Gifts Galore

by Stephanie Kanowitz

W

hen you live somewhere, it’s easy to take the beauty of the

place for granted. But the

Washington area has no shortage of

beauty — or shopping for that matter, from cosmetics and cookbooks to high-tech gadgets and highend experiences. that’s why we stuck to local businesses for this year’s holiday gift guide, although a few chains pop up now and again. so while you wait for the wearable Apple Watch to come out, don’t miss out on the hidden gems sure to satisfy the technology wizard, spa lover, theatergoer or child in your life. Additionally, we feature staycation options to help you get (re)acquainted with the beauty that Washington tourists experience, rather than the meeting rooms and office buildings that its residents often see. happy holidays — and happy shopping.

Willard InterContinental Washington

Continued on next page

December 2014

LUXURY LIVING

The Washington Diplomat Page 19

Holiday Gift Guide

Cooking

Continued from previous page

Beauty and Spa

 Reasonable: “Richard Sandoval’s New latin Flavors” richardsandoval.com Local award-winning chef richard sandoval has seven area restaurants, including masa 14, Zengo, Ambar, toro toro and el Centro D.F., and more than 25 others in places such as Dubai, hong Kong and Qatar. now the mexico City native shares 125 recipes for contemporary Latin cuisine in his new cookbook, released in october ($29.95). Dishes include quesadillas, ceviche, arepas and enchiladas in addition to cultural fusions such as the meeting of Japan and mexico with the togarashi tuna in mini Won ton Bowl.

Reasonable: erwin Gomez cosmetics 1104 24th st., nW (202) 293-3333 erwingomezcosmetics.com erwin Gomez, the local eyebrow guru with a cult following, now has a cosmetics line that includes makeup, brushes and tools. Pick up the Waterproof eye Brow Pencil ($19) to keep brows in line or the Picture Perfect Powder Foundation ($35) to smooth skin with a matte finish. Gomez’s clients include oprah and actresses Claire Danes and rosario Dawson.

Splurge: cooking classes at culinAerie 1131 14th st., nW (202) 587-5674 culinaerie.com

Splurge: Aura Spa’s collagen 90-ii Facial auraspa.net

Photo: GorAnFoto

December classes ($85 per person, $175 per couple) include a holiday baking workshop (Dec. 7 at 2 p.m.), popular indian recipes (Dec. 14 at 2 p.m.) and French favorites (Dec. 14 at 2 p.m.). Couples can enjoy the classes together at special date-night events such as “Date night: thailand” on Dec. 20 at 6:30 p.m., when the menu includes papaya salad, pad thai, roasted duck and red curry, and coconut bananas.

Aura spa’s 75-minute Collagen 90-ii facial ($150) is a treatment by G.m. Collin skin Care, founded in France in 1957, that combines a pure native collagen sheet with other ingredients to hydrate and firm the skin in addition to reducing signs of aging by minimizing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Visit Aura spa’s fourth and newest D.C. location at the yards in southeast (1212 4th st., se).

extravagant: Range and Reef  (240) 476-7291 rangeandreef.com

extravagant: The Mandarin Oriental Spa’s Thai Ritual – Journeys 1330 maryland Ave., sW (202) 554-8588 mandarinoriental.com/washington/luxury-spa/overview

Don’t feel like cooking this upcoming holiday season? hire a personal chef to prepare meals from range and reef (contact for pricing). Jim holderbaum traveled to 60 countries in his pursuit of creating unique food experiences where cooking becomes part of the event. meals to choose from include shrimp and seafood boils, lobster and clambakes, grilled ribs, and top sirloin and prime rib.

relax the body and mind with this treatment ($495) that involves meditation, controlled breathing and a combination of yoga stretches with muscle manipulation. recommended for people with chronic pain and tension, thai massage has been practiced in thailand for more than 2,500 years.

Mandarin Oriental Spa

Dining

Book Lovers Reasonable: Upshur Street Books 827 Upshur st., nW (202) 726-0380 upshurstreetbooks.com

 Reasonable: holiday Afternoon Tea at the Willard intercontinental 1401 Pennsylvania Ave., nW Willard holiday hotline: (202) 637-7350 intercontinental.com/Washington

this new bookstore in the Petworth neighborhood is the product of restaurateur Paul ruppert and artist Kristina Bilonick — and their Kickstarter online funding campaign. open since nov. 1, it features books by local authors and topics for area entrepreneurs.

take a break from fancy peppermint frappacinos and white chocolate lattes with a Willard interContinental holiday Afternoon tea in the hotel’s elegant Peacock Alley ($51, or $65 with a glass of moët & Chandon Champagne). As you listen to live harp music, you can munch on egg salad, smoked salmon, goat cheese on brioche, ham and brie mini sandwiches, candy cane puffs, mini chestnut rum yule logs and gingerbread men. it’s available daily beginning Dec. 1 (except Dec. 25, 26 and 31) from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Afterward, see how the Willard has decked its halls with the complete White house historical Association’s Christmas ornament collection, including the 2014 ornament honoring President Warren harding, who signed the first federal child welfare program and oversaw a 50 percent unemployment drop. started by the association in 1981, the ornaments chronologically honor a different president or White house event each year. the decorations will be on the hotel lobby’s tree through early January.

 Splurge: Politics and Prose 5015 Connecticut Ave., nW (202) 364-1919 politics-prose.com Washingtonians’ famous Politics and Prose bookstore continues to recommend the fictional work “All the Light We Cannot see” ($27) by Anthony Doerr, which came out this summer and is now Photo: CAssiDy DUhon PhotoGrAPhy on the shortlist for the national Book Award this year. on the nonfiction side, women have produced big sellers this year, the store’s director of marketing and publicity said. Among the top picks are comedian Amy Poehler’s memoir, “yes Please” ($28.99) and helen thorpe’s “soldier Girls” ($28) about three women who join the indiana national Guard in the decade before sept. 11, 2001.

Become a member ($25 a year) and get 20 percent off all purchases Dec. 5 to 7.

Splurge: minibar by José Andrés 855 e st., nW (202) 393-0812 minibarbyjoseandres.com A famous dining experience, minibar’s menu ($250 and up) is at the whims of celebrated and award-winning chef José Andrés. small plates of avant-garde imagination flow from the kitchen as they are ready. “the creations combine art and science as well as tradition and technique,” according to the restaurant’s website. “here you will be taken on a culinary journey. each bite is designed to thrill the senses by pushing the limits of what we have come to expect, and what is possible from food.” reservations are required and can be made via e-mail each season.

extravagant: hay-Adams Author Series  800 16th st., nW (202) 638-6600 hayadams.com/author-series the hotel’s namesakes — John hay, a personal secretary to Abraham Lincoln, U.s. ambassador to the United Kingdom and secretary of state, and henry Adams, the grandson and great-grandson of U.s. presidents — hosted gatherings that included famous authors such as mark twain. it’s in that tradition that the hay-Adams started its author series ($85) in 2005. since then, writers such as toni morrison, John Grisham and Joyce Carol oates have participated. the next event will take place in early 2015. it will include a three-course meal, wine and participation in the author discussion.

Page 20

The Washington Diplomat

extravagant: Mari Vanna’s New year’s eve Special  1141 Connecticut Ave., nW (202) 783-7777 marivanna.ru/washington/ Photo: DAn ChUnG

mari Vanna feels — and tastes — like stepping into a traditional russian home. the eclectic restaurant rings in 2015 with a prix-fix new year’s eve menu ($395 per person) that includes black caviar and a bottle of Dom Perignon, along with russian classics such as piroshki, blinis, khachapuri and beef stroganoff.

LUXURY LIVING

Photo: trAVis VAUGhn PhotoGrAPhy

December 2014

Holiday Gift Guide

Theater & Performing Arts Reasonable: The Washington Ballet’s “Sleepy hollow”  the Kennedy Center (202) 362-3606 washingtonballet.org Washington irving’s ghostly love triangle will be told through ballet and original live music (tickets are $25 to $125). in the classic tale, a new school teacher, ichabod Crane, finds himself smitten by a flirtatious beauty, Katrina Van tassel, much to the displeasure of “Brom Bones” Van Brunt. A rivalry ensues and the headless horseman pays a visit one night. Costumes were designed by a Cirque du soleil costume dancer, and art by the local firm Design Army will be on display citywide in early 2015. seven performances run from Feb. 18 to 22.  Splurge: Radio city Music hall christmas Spectacular 1260 Avenue of the Americas, new york City (212) 247-4777 radiocitychristmas.com

Radio City Music Hall

Photo: msG entertAinment

Get into the holiday spirit with a high-energy performance by the rockettes at the famed radio City music hall in new york City (tickets are $46 to $109). Before the show, visitors can take pictures with a dancer or santa, stock up on sugary treats at the sweets shop or sip cocktails at the Delta sky360 Lounge.  extravagant: Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts’ President’s circle Membership 1645 trap road, Vienna, Va. (703) 255-1927 wolftrap.org

Wolf Trap

membership ($25,000) has its privileges at Wolf trap, whose stages have welcomed Art Garfunkel, Josh Groban and ringo starr. members get priority seating, access to special events, insider news, backstage tours and the opportunity to buy tickets before they open to the general public. memberships are available in other amounts, too, starting at $75.

Staycations

Photo: WoLF trAP FoUnDAtion

Morgann Rose and Hyun-Woong Kim perform in“Sleepy Hollow.”

Photo: DeAn ALeXAnDer

Continued on next page

This year, give a gift they’ll remember forever...

Reasonable: Dc Ducks  (855) 323-8257 dcducks.com We live here, but do we really appreciate all that Washington has to offer? take a seat on an original World War ii DUKW amphibious vehicle for a 90-minute tour of the city’s most notable sites before floating down the Potomac river ($39 per adult, $29 per Photo: BLACKDoG ADVertisinG child). Pick up the tour at Union station. From there it winds its way to the national mall before sailing the river to ronald reagan Washington national Airport and returning to the train station.

�he Wolf Trap

Experience!

Memberships & gift certificates make the perfect holiday gift!

 Splurge: “Take in the city Tour” at the hay-Adams 800 16th st., nW (202) 638-6600 hayadams.com this two-hour evening tour (starting at $529) takes you for a leisurely look at D.C.’s famous monuments illuminated with holiday lights. enjoy the views while noshing treats from a deluxe champagne goodie basket. it’s part of a Photo: DAn ChUnG Hay Adams two-night getaway package that also includes accommodations, your own White house chocolates and a full American breakfast for two. extravagant: capella christmas Package  1050 31st st., nW (202) 617-2400 capellahotels.com/washingtondc/georgetown/ one of the District’s poshest places, the Capella in Georgetown is a luxuriously appointed escape from the surrounding bustle. its Christmas package (starting at $645) gets you a one-night stay in a room with a view — of the C&o Canal and historical Georgetown — a welcome cocktail called the “rye Ginger totty,” a holiday stocking on Christmas morning and either Christmas eve dinner or Christmas Day brunch in the hotel’s restaurant, the Grill room. Additionally, a Christmas gift-opening ceremony will take place in the Capella Living room and includes a gift for each guest.

December 2014

Photo: roBert reCK

Capella Living Room

wolftrap.org/give Wolf Trap Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

LUXURY LIVING

703.255.1927

The Washington Diplomat Page 21

Holiday Gift Guide

Children

Continued from previous page

Home & Garden

Reasonable: Kinder haus Toys  1220 n. Fillmore st., Arlington, Va. (703) 527-5929 kinderhaus.com

Reasonable: custom Wreaths of Potomac  (301) 424-7940 customwreathsofpotomac.com

At this Arlington toy store, anything associated with Disney’s latest animated hit “Frozen” is flying off the shelves, with charm bracelets, costumes, activities and picture books Photo: sWeet Lime PortrAit DesiGn especially popular, an employee said. the Washington-based picture books by sue Pyatt, “Call me madame President” and “D.C. Daniel - Washington superhero” ($18 each), are also tough to keep in stock.

Local artist Linda hobbins has been making seasonal wreaths, wall hangings and table displays in her Potomac, md., studio for about five years, using fresh, dried flowers or silk flowers. she also designs custom arrangements and holly and mistletoe balls. Prices vary.

Splurge: The Puppet co. Party Package 7300 macArthur Blvd., Glen echo, md.

(301) 634-5380 thepuppetco.org

 Splurge: lori Graham Design + home 1412 14th st., nW (202) 745-0118 lorigraham.com

Photo: GeoFFrey hoDGDon

Logan Circle, D.C., resident Lori Graham recently added a line from Canadian design team Gabriel-scott to her showroom. A must-have from the collection is the marx stool, available in a black steel base with brass fittings for $850 or with a brass base for $1,350. Both versions come with a heather-grey herringbone cushion.

Photo: stACy ZArin GoLDBerG

Add a little culture to this year’s holiday party by taking your kids and their friends to see “the nutcracker” on the main stage (for kids in pre-K through fourth grade) or the “nutcracker Fantasy” for tiny tots ages 0 through 4, both through Dec. 30 ($295 for main stage, $255 for tiny tots).

Afterward, head to the party room, which gives you access to a fridge, freezer, sink, closet, tables and chairs. the package includes 20 tickets to one of the day’s performances. extravagant: Wisp Resort  296 marsh hill road, mchenry, md.

(301) 859-3159 wispresort.com

extravagant: eames Aluminum Soft Pad Management chair  by herman Miller at Room & Board 1840 14th st., nW (202) 729-8300 roomandboard.com/catalog/office/herman-miller-collection/ eames-soft-pad-group-leather-chairs

When the weather outside is frightful, get out and dive into it. Wisp resort Photo: WisP resort offers learn-to-ski programs for kids ages 3 to 14. A full day’s session runs $89 to $159, while a two-day goes for $209 or $229.

An extracurricular hour-long private lesson goes for $64. in addition to skiing, visitors can go snow tubing, snowmobiling and snowshoeing. While the kids are riding the slopes, parents can stay warm in the hotel’s heated indoor pool and hot tub. Call for pricing and packages.

this leather desk chair ($2,839) is available in 12 colors, including classic black. For something to liven up the office more, however, try red (they call it Canyon), olive or white, which costs $90 more. the chair was first created in 1958 by Charles and ray eames. it’s made with two-inch-thick foam padding and cast aluminum ribs.

Women

Reasonable: Bliss Spa Products  515 15th st., nW (202) 661-2416 blissworld.com you’ve had your massage/facial/ body scrub and now you have to maintain it. enter Bliss spa’s pampering products. there’s the Buttah Bing ($39), which includes bliss lemon+sage body butter, grapefruit+aloe body butter and blood orange+white pepper body butter; mistletoe Gems ($12), which comes with bliss high-intensity hand cream and Fabulips lip balm; and Diamonds in the rough ($12.50) with bliss snowflake hand cream and peppermint hand cream.  Splurge: Shinola Mini Backpack Area nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and neiman marcus (844) 744-6652 shinola.com

Purses from the motor City? shinola proudly manufactures American products in Detroit that range from bicycles to watches to fine leather goods. the mini Backpack ($255) emphasizes minimalist design and handcrafted details and was cut and sewn by expert Shinola Mini Backpack craftspeople in ste. Genevieve, mo., from genuine horween leather produced in America’s oldest continuously operated tannery. Purses come in five colors and each is individually numbered, with a hand-sewn, whip-stitched internal card pocket. extravagant: Tiffany and co.  tysons Corner, Va., and Chevy Chase, md. tiffany.com the little blue box with the thick white ribbon. it’s been mentioned here before, and it appears again because it rarely disappoints. this year, we point out the delicate yet dazzling tiffany seed pearl and diamond tassel pendant in platinum, which is part of the tiffany masterpieces 2014 collection. it debuted this fall and was created by design director Francesca Amfitheatrof (pricing available on request).

see GiFT GUiDe, page 24 Glashutte_WashingtonDiplomat_SenatorMoonPhase_DDF.indd 1

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The Washington Diplomat

Photo: © tiFFAny & Co.

12/19/13 10:12 AM

LUXURY LIVING

December 2014

[ hotels ]

A City Rises CityCenterDC Comes Into Its Own With New Hotel, Retail, Residents

by Martin Austermuhle

A

decade ago, there wasn’t much to be said about large parts of downtown Washington, D.C. Home to uninspired office buildings, the portion of the city located between 9th and 15th Streets, NW, and Pennsyl­ vania and Massachusetts Avenues, NW, was better known as a large office park — buzzing with professional activity during the day, but dead at night. The retail offerings largely reflected that reality, with food and shopping being more utilitarian than unique.

But that has started changing, and one of the cata­ lysts is CityCenterDC, a 10-acre complex of buildings located on the site of the city’s old convention center.

Encompassing five city blocks and totaling 2.5 million square feet of condominiums, rental apartments, office space, dining and shops, CityCenterDC’s six buildings have taken shape this year. After close to 15 years of planning, the $950 million development — most of which was funded by the Qatar Investment Authority, the Middle Eastern country’s sovereign wealth fund — is taking in new residents, retailers and office ten­ ants, and in the process is remaking the city’s down­ town.

“I think what it’s done is raise the bar one more level. We’ve been on a trajectory to higher-quality offerings — whether it’s office, retail or residential — over the last decade. I think this pushes us one step further,” said Richard Bradley, executive director of the Downtown DC Business Improvement District, which works to attract office tenants and visitors to the area.

Photos: The Apartments at CityCenterDC

Tenants of the Apartments at CityCenterDC now have a growing number of shops and restaurants at their disposal, including DBGB Kitchen and Bar, Kate Spade, Burberry, Hugo Boss and other high-end retail.

“I think what it’s done is raise the bar one more level.

We’ve been on a trajectory to higher-quality offerings — whether it’s office, retail or residential — over the last decade. I think this pushes us one step further.”

— Richard Bradley, executive director of the Downtown DC Business Improvement District Those higher-quality offerings are evident in the names and reputations of the retailers who are coming to CityCenterDC — in some cases, their first outposts in the city. Kate Spade, Burberry, Hugo Boss, Longchamp and Zadig & Voltaire have opened storefronts in the development; Hermès, Salvatore Ferragamo, Jimmy Choo and Louis Vuitton also have plans to open.

Comparisons to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, along with New York and Paris, have been ambitiously tossed around.

That has D.C. officials excited at the prospects of new high-end business; in recent years, they have focused on stanching what’s known as “retail leakage,” or the practice of both local residents and visitors leav­ ing the city to do their shopping. In cases of luxury outlets that cater to the city’s well-heeled residents and international visitors, those destinations were Tysons in Virginia and Friendship Heights in Maryland.

December 2014

No longer.

“For so many years, it turned out that Friendship Heights and the retail up there was the highest-priced retail, and quite frankly, a lot of the people who went there were people from overseas, from other coun­ tries. We’ve now brought that down to CityCenterDC,” exclaims Bradley.

That will pay dividends with international visitors, he says. Local downtown retailers like Macy’s already rely on customers from overseas for a quarter of their business, according to Bradley, and the presence of luxury brands at CityCenterDC will not only attract more of them, but also prompt them to spend more money. In 2013, 1.6 million of the 17.4 million visitors to D.C. came from abroad, but they tended to spend more per visit — $472 per stay, with an average stay of three nights.

It’s not just the retail, though.The hundreds of luxu­

LUXURY LIVING

ry condominiums herald a new era of downtown liv­ ing that D.C. officials have been seeking to promote — at times to the dismay of the city’s less well-off residents, who are being increasingly crowded out by the young, affluent urban professionals flocking to the nation’s capital.

Since 2000, the number of people living within a mile of the intersection of 9th and G Streets, NW, alone has jumped from 38,000 to 55,000, and officials expect CityCenterDC to continue fueling a virtuous cycle of economic prosperity whereby more people mean more offerings — which then attract even more people. Prominent Washingtonians that will call the development home include Attorney General Eric Holder, who purchased a $1.5 million condo, and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who paid $2.7 million for hers (prices average $700 per square foot).

CityCenterDC has also landed an anchor for its office space: global legal powerhouse Covington & Burling, which moved into a 420,000-square-foot space this summer. A luxury hotel is also planned: Conrad Hotel, Hilton’s luxury brand, is set to open a 370-room hotel on the development’s western end. It even changed the area’s traffic — portions of 10th and I Streets, NW, both long closed off by the old conven­ tion center, were recently reopened to car, bikes and pedestrians, allowing more movement through an area once dominated by the monolithic convention center.

Continued on next page

The Washington Diplomat Page 23

Holiday Gift Guide from page 22

RELATED STORY

Tysons: Shopping Staple Expands Its Horizons The original shoppers on the land where Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria in Virginia now stand were, according to a county historian, Ice Age hunter-gatherers who were searching for food long before you were calling ahead to Founding Farmers restaurant while browsing the racks at Nordstrom. of course, they didn’t envision the tysons of today. the developers who stood up tysons Corner Center in 1968 had no idea what it would become: the area’s numberone shopping destination. “i don’t think there was the extensive vision plan that we have today,” said Bob maurer, senior marketing manager for the mall. “there was a lot of opportunity back in the day — 1968 — and everybody saw it, but until the success of some of that initial growth was realized, nobody knew the full potential that existed.”

As more job opportunities moved to the Virginia suburbs, tysons flourished as a retail and office hub. it also doesn’t hurt that the unincorporated section of Fairfax County it inhabits neighbors mcLean, one of the country’s wealthiest communities. “mcLean itself is very affluent and a great market to have as your base to draw from for a shopping center of this caliber, coupled with the fact that you have the tysons-to-Dulles corridor that is high-tech and growing with office and residential [space] as well,” maurer said. “the whole area since 1968, when tysons first opened, has really continually grown.”

And that growth has no end date. Well, maybe it has two. one from macerich, a real estate investment trust company that owns and operates tysons Corner Center, and another from the county itself. macerich has a 10-year, five-phase plan that includes adding more retail, office and residential space. Phase 1 is ongoing and met major milestones this year, including the addition of 23,000 square feet of retail space connecting to a 1.5-acre outdoor plaza that sits 33 feet above ground level. the tysons tower office building opened in June, the hyatt regency will open its 310 hotel rooms in late January and a 429-unit luxury rental apartment building will be ready in the spring.

But the main event was the opening of the metro silver Line in July, with a stop that’s directly connected to the new plaza via an elevated walkway. it takes shoppers, workers and diners about 25 minutes to get from downtown D.C. to the mall. “tysons was once a small farming community centered around a general store at the intersection of route 7 and route 123,” said sharon Bulova, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of supervisors. “in the 1960s, the construction of the Capital Beltway, Dulles Airport and tysons Corner mall transformed the area from a rural community to a bustling business district. the recent expansion of metro into tysons is drawing people to the area like never before to shop, work and live.” in september, the Washington metropolitan Area transit Authority reported that in its first two months, the silver Line performed at 60 percent of projected ridership for its first full year of service. “it’s expanding our reach to parts of the greater Washington area that knew of tysons only by driving around the Beltway,” maurer said. “We’re seeing lots of new audiences that are coming to tysons for the first time: international tourists and travelers who don’t necessarily have their own transportation when they come to D.C., but we’re that much more accessible now, as well as residents from other parts of the city. now we’re a metro ride away and it’s that much more convenient.” “tysons is no longer suburbia,” said michael Caplin, executive director of the tysons Partnership, an association of citizen and business organizations working with local government on the area’s development. “With the silver Line, we are connected with the entire metro region and all of its amenities. tysons now offers new amenities not available elsewhere in the D.C. region: beautiful new skyscrapers with the latest architecture, latest design plan for modern workspaces, latest in sustainable practices … beautiful new apartments … located adjacent to the metro stations — which means people can live here and get to work anywhere without needing [a car].”

Developers are hoping the metro expansion entices people

Page 24

The Washington Diplomat

Gift Guide

Men

Reasonable: Kiehl’s Since 1851 essentials for him bluemercury.com

Nice Laundry socks

Who says women should get all the pampering? Bluemercury, one of the area’s fast-growing local-based chains, sells a Kiehl’s holiday package for guys ($31) that includes the Ultimate man Body scrub soap, Facial Fuel energizing Face Wash, Facial Fuel energizing moisturizer treatment for men and Ultimate Brushless shave Cream - White eagle.  Splurge: Sock Drawer Makeover by Nice laundry (888) 968-2434 nicelaundry.com

Photo: ron BLUnt / tysons Corner Center

Tysons Corner Center is home to more than 2 million square feet of retail space, five department stores, including Nordstrom, above, and more than 300 shops and restaurants. to not only shop and work in tysons, but also to live there. retail and office space have long dwarfed residential offerings in the area, but that’s beginning to change as more high-end living options come online. ovation at Park Crest, for example, became the first to offer high-rise apartment living in tysons with luxury amenities such as quartz countertops, resort-style pool and 24-hour concierge services.

Developers are also adding green space and hiding parking garages to transform the area from a sprawling office park into a walkable, sustainable urban center. in 2010, the Fairfax County Board adopted an ambitious plan that will make tysons the county’s downtown, home to 100,000 residents (up from the current 17,000) and 200,000 jobs by 2050, a county spokesman said. so far, about 27.5 million square feet of new development — half of which is zoned residential — in tysons has been approved. Currently, the area has 47.2 million square feet in development, and that’s expected to grow to 113 million in 2050, the official said. the tysons Partnership is also looking to 2050 to boost amenities such as parks, paths, art and other special events. this year, for instance, tysons Corner will host a German Christmas market surrounded by a 5,200-square-foot ice rink from nov. 28 to Dec. 24. “tysons is becoming a little manhattan,” Caplin said. “throw away any old notions about the suburbs of Virginia. tysons is becoming America’s next great city.”

When it opened, tysons Corner Center was one of the first fully enclosed, climate-controlled malls in the area. it took up 1.2 million square feet and had three department stores and 100 specialty shops. in 1988, Lord and taylor and nordstrom were added — the first nordstrom east of the mississippi river. now the mall has more than 2 million square feet of retail space on three levels, five department stores and more than 300 shops and restaurants in addition to a 16-screen movie theater. it’s one of the top 10 largest malls in the country. tysons Galleria, owned by General Growth Properties, opened in 1988 with higher-end anchor stores such as neiman marcus and saks Fifth Avenue. it has 824,000 square feet of retail space. “tysons Galleria’s strong retail mix of iconic international luxury brands, with more than 28 exclusive to the market retailers, including Prada and saint Laurent, have contributed greatly to our growth,” said tysons Galleria’s senior general manager, rich Dinning. “Additionally, location, location, location. tysons Galleria is situated in a strong trade area with an upscale demographic of well-traveled, well-educated, affluent consumers that have an appetite for luxury.”

Stephanie Kanowitz is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

LUXURY LIVING

A couple of Washington residents launched this online company last year after noticing that many men’s socks could use revamping. Choose any three packages of six socks ($99 each) to liven up Photos: LAUrA FrUChtermAn PhotoGrAPhy your selection. the socks come in bright or muted colors and prints such as argyle, camouflage, stripes and dots.

Athletic socks are now available, too. Bonus: send nice Laundry your old socks and they will have them recycled. extravagant: Meisterstück 90 years Skeleton 149 Fountain Pen  (800) 995-4810 montblanc.com technology may be overtaking handwritten notes, but for diehard writers, there’s nothing like a quality, classic writing instrument. this pen ($9,600) is inspired by montblanc’s first skeleton Pen from 1999, designed for the meisterstück line’s 90th anniversary. it has a ruthenium-plated finish and a special anniversary design. meisterstück is the flagship line of pens from montblanc, the Germany-based company founded in 1906.

Stephanie Kanowitz is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

Continued from previous page There’s even a 25­foot­high electronic art installation to break up the complex’s sleek but somewhat sanitized feel.

The one thing that won’t appear at CityCenterDC are banks — rarely considered a sign of retail vibrancy — bars or liquor stores. As part of its investment in the project, Qatar demanded that retail tenants comply with the tenets of Islamic law, which prohibits alcohol or the charging of inter­ est. (Restaurants will be able to serve alcohol, but businesses whose primary business is alcohol are prohibited.)

For Bradley, all the movement at CityCenterDC — whether high­end retail or luxury living — is helping ele­ vate Washington’s status from a staid government town to a global destination on par with New York and Paris. The NewYorkTimes compared CityCenterDC to Rockefeller Center. “This positions us.

When people come here, they’re going to say, ‘I don’t find anything better any­ where.’ Washington has arrived at that point,” he said.

It is also helping spur projects in

encompassing 2.5 million square feet of condominiums, rental apartments, office space, dining and shops, CityCenterDC has taken shape this year.

Photo: the APArtments At CityCenterDC

other parts of downtown, including extending the retail corridor up toward the Washington Convention Center and transforming K Street into a “grand bou­ levard.”The downtown of yesteryear will look nothing like the downtown of the future, Bradley predicted.

“We are de facto creating a retail dis­ trict, which this is anchoring,” he said. “I think we’re becoming a regional destina­ tion. It’s not as if we’ve reached a pinna­ cle.This is just one step along the way of the transformation of downtown.”

Martin Austermuhle (@maustermuhle) is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

December 2014

culture & ■ WWW.WASHDIPLOMAT.COM

arts

entertainment

■ DECEMBER 2014

DIPLOMATIC SPOUSES

Not So Typical He drives a motorcycle, scuba dives and makes dark beer. Iván Hernandez and his wife, Ecuadorean Ambassador Nathalie Cely Suárez, are not your typical diplomatic couple. PAGE 27

HISTORY

Inspiring Walls On the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Goethe-Institut looks back at the enigmatic hold that this barrier between the West and communism had on American artists. PAGE 28

THEATER

High-Wire ‘Pippin’ The current production of “Pippin” at the National Theatre incorporates high-flying circus acrobatics into the original dark coming-of-age musical that premiered on Broadway in 1972. PAGE 29

ACAPTAIN’S PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

EYE

Photography was just bursting onto the scene when Linnaeus Tripe, a captain in the British Army, combined his surveying skills with artistic vision to help open British eyes to a whole new world in 19th-century India and Burma — a glimpse of which is now on display at the National Gallery of Art. PAGE 26

DINING

FILM REVIEWS

Texas-based Del Frisco’s comes to Maryland as the first tenant of the new Pike & Rose development project. PAGE 30

Benedict Cumberbatch is the real deal in his nuanced portrayal of a brilliant, doomed British mathematician in “The Imitation Game.” PAGE 32

[ photography ]

A Captain’s Eye Linnaeus Tripe Offered British a Picture of India and Burma PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

by Stephanie Kanowitz

W

[ Page 26

hen Linnaeus Tripe first visited India and Burma (now Myanmar) in 1839, he was a member of the British military. When he returned in 1854, he was armed with something more: a camera.

Photography had just emerged when Tripe, a Devonport, England, native, visited the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 while on leave from the army. He embraced the new technology and his success with it is the subject of “Captain Linnaeus Tripe: Photographer of India and Burma, 1852-1860,” on view at the National Gallery of Art. The exhibit displays about 60 of his photographs in a chronological retrospective that aims to acquaint American audiences with Tripe and his pioneering work. (The exhibition travels next to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.) The images show peaceful landscapes and religious and secular sites in India and Burma, several of which are now destroyed. Many of the pictures are the first taken of important monuments, shrines and temples there, said Sarah Greenough, senior curator and head of the Department of Photographs at the National Gallery.

“Photography was just bursting on the scene in India More than 60 of Linnaeus Tripe’s when he began to work,” Greenough said. photographs on display at the Two of her favorite Tripe photos are “Rangoon: View National Gallery of Art reveal a near the Lake” and “Madura: The Vygay River, with stunning picture of 19th-century Causeway, across to Madura” because they both exemIndia and Burma, including, from plify how looking at one image from multiple viewtop: “Madura: The Vygay River, with points can enhance the understanding of the time Causeway, across to Madura,” period.

“Amerapoora: View on the Lake” “It’s an extraordinary, beautiful picture,” she said of and “Quarterdeck of HMS the first.“If you looked at it and didn’t look at the back‘Impregnable,’” as well as “Pugahm ground, you might think that Tripe was perhaps back in Myo: Carved Doorway in Courtyard his native England and making simply a picturesque of Shwe Zeegong Pagoda,” pictured landscape because it shows this little path in the foreon the culture cover. ground, leading our eye into the background. There’s lovely grass and shrubs on either side; it’s framed very beautifully. But as soon as you look in the background, you see this pagoda rising up in the distance, and it shows, I think, this sort of layering of history and a sense of place in his pictures, which is what often makes them so highly charged.”

The pagoda was a prominent site for Burmese Buddhists and a number of key battles between British and Burmese forces in the 1800s. Tripe’s regiment was engaged in fightCaptain Linnaeus Tripe: Photographer ing near there, in fact.

That’s why “when Tripe made this picture in of India and Burma, 1852-1860 November of 1855, he could bring to this through Jan. 4 image a full sense of the history of the place National Gallery of Art and this layering of the collision between the English and Burmese people,” Greenough said. on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th In “Madura,” the causeway represents a Streets at Constitution Avenue, NW sacred Hindu crossing site leading to a temple.

For more information, please call (202) 737-4215 Hindus believed that the crossing site was a or visit www.nga.gov. gateway that enabled people to pass from a worldly state to transcendence.

“It’s such a graphically strong image,” Greenough said.“I think you see how Tripe’s training as a military surveyor comes very much to the fore in the construction of the image” because he lined up the posts on either side almost “like notes on a musical score leading our eye to the background.”

Tripe, who rose to the rank of captain in the British military, worked for the East India Company at a time when it was the world’s largest and most powerful commercial enterprise — and the virtual ruler of India and Burma.According to the National Gallery, administration of this vast area created a need for collecting data, maps, surveys, drawings and eventually photographs.

]

The Washington Diplomat

PHOTO: COURTESY ROBERT HERSHKOWITZ, CHARLES ISAACS, HANS P. KRAUS JR.

Tripe combined his surveying skills with artistic vision to shed light on unknown cultural treasures.

For example,“Tanjore: Great Pagoda, Inscriptions around Bimanum,” a 19-foot panorama, is the first of its kind in photography. Tripe circled around the Brihadishvara Temple in India taking 21 separate exposures, which he joined into a final composition that depicts the ancient Tamil inscriptions around the temple’s base.

PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART In addition to his artistic vision, the photos represent Tripe’s innovative use of an emerging technology.To contend with the technical challenges of a fledgling industry and the effect of the area’s heat and humidity on photographic chemistry,Tripe made paper negatives, which he usually waxed to make more transparent and add greater detail. Paper negatives were outdated by then, but “the waxing of the negative was more of a newer invention,” Greenough noted.

“Photography at this point was still very much of a handmade process,” she added.“He made his own paper negatives; he made his prints or directed others to do it, who were working for him. It was a very, very laborious process.”

Tripe was part of a peace-treaty expedition in 1855 to Upper Burma, where he made more than 200 negatives. At the group’s destination, the royal city of Amerapoora, he made almost 100 negatives; 26 photographs from this trip are on display.

The next year he was appointed photographer to the Madras Presidency, an administrative British subdivision covering most of southern India, making him the first person to photograph the area’s holiest temples and British efforts to modernize the region.There, he made more than 290 large-format negatives, which yielded 17,745 prints, 30 of which are on display.

Tripe’s prolific photography career eventually teetered out as the influence of the East India Company waned in the late 1850s and the British government made India a crown colony. Budget cuts forced Tripe to close his studio in 1960 and he eventually left India in 1873.

But his photographs live on, more than a century after Tripe’s passing. Greenough and her colleagues first came up with the idea for the exhibition eight years ago and have been actively pursuing it for the past four. She hopes visitors leave with a better sense of Tripe’s artistry, photography’s history and the embattled history of the region he captured.

Stephanie Kanowitz is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

December 2014

[ diplomatic spouses ]

Freewheeling Diplomacy Ecuadoran Husband Rides Bikes, Makes Beer and Breaks the Mold

by Gail Scott

H

e drives a motorcycle, loves to go scuba diving with his family and makes dark beer in the basement. His wife, Ecuadorean Ambassador Nathalie Cely Suárez, rides on the back of his Yamaha Super Ténéré to see the foliage in the Blue Ridge Mountains and motorbikes with him through Europe. She also scuba dives and drinks his homebrew.

Iván Hernandez is not a typical diplomatic spouse, which works out well because his wife is not a typical ambassador.

Part of the reason for their adventurous, approachable demeanors may have something to do with the fact that this is their first diplomatic posting abroad. She is a presidential appointee and an economist who previously served as Ecuador’s coordinating minister of production, employment and competitiveness. An international consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank, Cely was also president of Stratega, a firm that helps micro and medium enterprises, and president of Edúcate, a foundation that works to improve education through information and communication technology.Along the way, she got married and had two boys, Iván Jr. and Daniel.

As a development economist who worked in finance, sales and marketing back home, Iván Hernandez is currently an Ecuador advisor at the World Bank in D.C. “I walk to work every day, except when it’s really rainy or snowy,” he told us.“It’s a beautiful walk.

It only takes me about 25 minutes.”

Among his varied positions in Ecuador, he worked for Banco Bolivariano,Transfiec Investment Bank and the country’s Department of Technological Innovation and Competitiveness. He was in charge of marketing for a 300-outlet mall; oversaw a business plan for a biotech lab in Guayaquil; was president and CEO of a floriculture exporter in Quito; and studied the intellectual property impact of a free trade agreement with the U.S. on the pharmaceutical and agriculture chemicals industry.

Hernandez also headed up Stratega and Edúcate alongside his wife.

Although they both went to Harvard University for postgraduate work (she studied public administration and he specialized in management), they did not meet there.“We met in Ecuador in 1990,” Hernandez said. “Nathalie’s sister was the girlfriend of one of my best friends.

Nathalie and I got to know each with a two-year courtship.”

Ecuador is a paradise other His first trip to the United States was to attend on earth, both weather-wise the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the 1980s.“I got out a U.S. map and looked to see who and things to do — great for had a direct flight.Too far north would be too cold.

Too far south was too close to Miami. Charlotte was adventure and sports. a small city, although now it’s a big one,” he explained of his decision to go to UNC, where he graduated cum laude in economics and business — IVÁN HERNANDEZ administration and received the first scholarship husband of Ecuadorean Ambassador from the Economics Department.

Nathalie Cely Suárez He also studied how to make beer in college. “I had a business professor from Turkey who taught me. Drinking age was still 18 then,” Hernandez recalled.“Five years ago my sister brought me a beer-making kit. Now I’m hooked on good beer. Next I want to try making wine.”

Today, their two boys are in college: Ivan Jr. is a sophomore at Penn State, while Daniel is a freshman at George Washington University, living in the dorm.“For three months now we have been an empty nest,” Hernandez said. “We wanted Daniel to live in the dorm to get the full experience.The last two years they were at St. Albans.”

Fernandez, who holds a Ph.D. in development economics, likes Washington for its “nice people of different cultures and the great museums. I’ve been to all the museums already.

I like Air and Space the best. I walk or take the Metro…. You can walk everywhere from our residence.”

One of their favorite things to do is pick a random Metro station and explore a whole

“

”

December 2014

Ecuadorean Ambassador Nathalie Cely Suárez and her husband Iván Hernandez, an advisor at the World Bank (who’s pictured with their two sons Daniel and Ivan Jr. at left), both specialize in economics and development and share a love of travel, motorcycling and scuba diving.

new part of the area for four to five hours with lunch. “We’ve gone to Clarendon, Eastern Market, Rosslyn. I do some research ahead of time. We also try not to miss the wine and beer festivals around the Washington area. We just went to the Brewfest in Manassas, [Va.].”

As much as he likes Washington, his heart belongs to his homeland.“Ecuador is a paradise on earth, both weather-wise and things to do — great for adventure and sports. We are known for the Galapagos [Islands]. We are closer than Europe, only a four-hour flight from Miami. Half is the Andes region with Quito in the highlands.Then Guayaquil is along the coast with seafood. And the Galapagos, only a two-hour flight away. This is one place you have to visit before you die. It is marvelous, a living museum. Friends cry when they leave [the islands].There is such harmony of nature and human beings.”

The second reason to go: “We have wonderful cuisine,” Hernandez said. And despite perennial tensions between the United States and the leftist government of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, an economist who took office in 2007, Hernandez says people-topeople relations remain strong.

“Half a million Americans left the U.S. to retire in Ecuador.The living cost is better [and] it is spring-like weather all year round. It is the second spot after Panama” for Americans to retire outside the United States.

Back in Washington, Cely has been a vocal advocate for Correa’s economic policies, which have slashed poverty and unemployment but frightened away international investors and drawn comparisons to other Latin leftists, such as the late President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.

In a July 2013 cover profile in The Washington Diplomat, Cely defended her president.

“Sometimes in the United States, President Correa is wrongly portrayed as a person who

See DIPLOMATIC SPOUSES, page 31 The Washington Diplomat Page 27

[ history ]

Wall of Contradiction Goethe’s ‘Wall in Our Heads’ Reflects on Berlin, 25 Years Later

by Gary Tischler

W

alls are the great contradictory, dual-functioning, mystical architectural constructions of mankind. They let people in, but also keep them out. They define houses, demarcate borders and stretch across empires, dividing lines of property and thought.

Walls are everywhere, like giant breadcrumbs of history, and even when a wall comes down, the ghost of it lingers. And like so many ghosts, the memories depend almost entirely on which side of the wall you came from.

Some walls like the Great Wall of China still stand as a living testament to man’s ingenuity — and fear of outsiders. Other walls only remain in our imaginations, specters from the past that often continue to shape our present.

Last month marked the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which from 1961 to 1989 existed not only as a bleeding affront to freedom everywhere, but also as a visible dagger that cleaved a country and a continent.

Although East and West Germany eventually reunited, as did Europe, in many ways the two sides remain separated by political, economic and cultural differences that linger to this day.

And while the Iron Curtain may have come down, barriers — whether physical or political — continue to be put PHOTOS: GOETHE-INSTITUT WASHINGTON up around the world, from Ukraine to North Korea. In other places they’re Photographs and artwork by American artists beginning to fall, as revolutions in the Middle East chip away at the borders such as, from top, Shinkichi Tajiri, Carol M. that were largely drawn up by colonial powers. Even Europe and the United Highsmith and Keith Haring reflect on the Berlin States seem to be fortifying their own walls against immigrants fleeing vioWall, and the 25th anniversary of its demise, in the lence in Central America and North Africa in these in uncertain times.

Goethe-Institut exhibit “The Wall in Our Heads.”

But as much as today’s turmoil jangles nerves, it pales in comparison to the threat of nuclear annihilation that permeated the Cold War. The conWall was built, took shots of American troops inspectstruction of the Berlin Wall itself was a potential flashpoint for war between ing the construction, including an African American the superpowers. For Americans, the wall not only divided the German soldier looking directly at the camera. It’s a searing capital, it was transatlantic boundary between their ideal of Western liberalcommentary on the still-budding Civil Rights Movement ism and their archrival of Soviet communism. that was attempting to tear down the walls of longThe wall was also a symbol of injustice and a source of inspiration to artstanding social injustice back home. ists. A city divided by an ugly, snaking, 96-mile barrier lined with guard staIn inimitable fashion, Keith Haring is here, as is Nan tions, snipers and barbed wire became a powerful metaphor for American Goldin, the poet of raw contemporary American urban artists — and a dangerous reality to the Germans who died trying to breach intimacies in photography. Goldin premiered her the wall.

PHOTO: GOETHE-INSTITUT WASHINGTON / SCHEDIVY PICTURES INC. groundbreaking 1986 work “The Ballad of Sexual The Goethe-Institut in Washington examines how the Dependency” in Berlin and has said that “the best years of Berlin Wall influenced American artists — ranging from The Wall in Our Heads: American my life were here in Berlin.” For Americans like Goldin, film producers to hip hop rappers — in a stirring, eclecArtists and the Berlin Wall Berlin would in some ways become what Paris was for the tic exhibition called “The Wall in Our Heads,” part of a through Dec. 15 lost generation of the 1920s — a place that inspired the series of programs commemorating the 25th anniversadisaffected. ry of the Berlin Wall’s fall.

Goethe-Institut Washington D.C. artist James Huckenpahler explored the landscape The exhibition features the work of some 24 American 812 7th St., NW surrounding the wall and discovered an amusement park artists inspired by both the bohemian counterculture For more information, please call (202) 289-1200 that straddled East and West Berlin; photographer and filmthat emerged in Cold War-era Germany and the enduror visit www.goethe.de/washington. maker Allen Frame captures scenes of a multicultural ing afterlife of a wall that is no longer physically there Berlin; and Bill Van Parys and Reyes Melendez construct an — broken up into high-priced relics and souvenirs — but still looms large as a “transnational creative exchange between the United States anecdotal, quasi-historical map of early 1980s Berlin, complete with national flags of the four divided sectors. In the East, there’s a place designated simply as “Spies” and an and Germany,” according to the Goethe-Institut.

Curator Paul Farber calls the American fascination with the Berlin Wall a form of address as “Wiped off the Map, 1943-1945.” Under the French-sector flag, there’s the American cultural and political reckoning. Some of the art is obvious — created by label “boring stuff.”

It seems only fitting that Americans should be drawn to the wall. It’s a ghost, but it Americans living in Germany at the time. Other works touch on distinctly American still intimidates.As the exhibit points out, during the Cold War,“the Berlin Wall was the themes.

Consider, for instance, the work of rap artist Chuck D, who was born a year before world’s most notorious line of demarcation” — a global epicenter of “ideological conthe Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961. He has responded to the recent immigration flict, military occupation and artistic experimentation.” It was also a mirror for many backlash along America’s Southwest border as a kind of musical and visual reflection Americans of the walls they erect and those they fight to break through — the ruins with the piece “By the Time I Get to Arizona,” an ironic, compelling riff on an old Glen of which cannot be forgotten.

Campbell song.

Meanwhile, Leonard Freed, a photographer living in Berlin at the time the Berlin Gary Tischler is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

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Page 28

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December 2014

[ theater ]

Circus Meets Broadway High-Flying Acrobatics Take Classic Musical ‘Pippin’ to New Heights

by Lisa Troshinsky

“P

ippin,” the classic musical that made its Broadway debut in 1972, is getting an inventive makeover. While the original production combined medieval sets and costumes with themes of sexual experimentation and political upheaval, this new version is Cirque du Soleil meets Broadway.

Winner of four 2013 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival, the production is set to hit D.C.’s National Theatre over the winter holidays and is part of the musical’s first national tour that began in September.

Directed by Diane Paulus (who also directed “Hair” and “Porgy and Bess”),“Pippin” features an international cast with performers from Canada, Argentina, Germany, Ireland and Poland.

The current production incorporates high-flying circus acrobatics into the original dark coming-of-age musical. How can this timeless classic, already packed with Bob Fosse choreography and Stephen Schwartz’s music and lyrics, fit in human circus acts?

The new addition — breathtaking acrobatics by the Montreal-based circus company Les 7 doigts de la main (also known as 7 Fingers) — might not be as far-fetched as it seems on the surface, says one of the show’s main acrobats, Preston Jamieson. The addition of gymnastics is in keeping with the original focus of the plot, he told The Diplomat.

The musical follows Pippin, a young prince, as he PHOTOS: TERRY SHAPIRO spends his days desperately searching for his identify Sasha Allen and an all-star cast present a and trying to find fulfillment and purpose in his self-imposed circus-inspired production of the Broadway chaotic life. The story uses the premise of a mysterious perclassic “Pippin” at the National Theatre. formance troupe, led by a Leading Player (originally made famous by showman Ben Vereen), to tell the story of how pline of “hand to hand,” an acrobatic skill Pippin kills his father, King Charlemagne, leader of the Roman that involves partner lifts and hand balEmpire, for being a tyrant. Pippin comes to woefully regret ancing. Along with Preston, she has perhis tragic decision and spends most of the play trying to undo formed for Cirque du Soleil, Les 7 doigts his mistake while searching for some sort of direction in his de la main and Cirque Éloize. life.

Preston describes meeting Kelsey According to Jamieson, the play has two interpretations: “doing pas de deux [a ballet dance duet] one literal, the other figurative. and dance lifts.” In this production, at one The literal reading is that Pippin is being welcomed into point she jumps off a 15-foot platform the performance troupe as a way to find himself. Acrobatics, into his arms, and in another instance, then, are a part of his initiation. The figurative explanation Preston literally balances Kelsey on his (the one Jamieson believes) is that Pippin’s trials and head. “This brings trust in a marriage to a whole new level!” he tribulations are part of a surreal dream. In this case, the Pippin quipped. circus-inspired version merely takes Pippin’s internal Dec. 16 to Jan 4 The trained acrobats aren’t the only ones involved in the conflict to another level. Because his journey takes daredevil stunts. “Even the leading actors get in on the action, National Theatre many, sometimes risky, twists and turns along the way, it throwing swords, riding unicycles, hula hooping and even flying makes sense for his psychological struggle to be por1321 Pennsylvania Ave., NW on the trapeze” during this two-and-a-half-hour extravaganza, trayed as physical contortions.

Tickets start at $48. says a press release from the show, citing the use of six yoga “He’s defying gravity, experimenting with edgy posFor information, please call (202) 628-6161 balls, 15 hula hoops, and 10 swords in the production. sible expectations and outcomes,” which translate into or visit http://thenationaldc.org.

Turning an event “into a circus” doesn’t always have a positive daring physical feats, Jamieson muses.Although Pippin’s connotation. However, in this case, it seems to work. ethereal journey might only live in his twisted psyche, According to Deborah Walk, curator of collections for the Ringling Museum of Art, his toils are so real that they manifest outside the mental and into the physical realm.

Canadian-born Jamieson, who performed in the Broadway production and is part of “There’s something thrilling about seeing things live.There is that immediacy, the electhe national tour, portrays the character of the Leading Player in the performance tricity in the air, the idea that real people are doing real things in real time,” she said in troupe. He grew up dancing but transitioned into the circus world, graduating from an interview with PBS. “The ring is primitive and embedded into our psyche….

Quebec’s L’École nationale de cirque (National Circus School) in 2009. Afterward, he Comedy is the root of our humanity, and the circus pulls these constantly enduring spent four years performing for Cirque du Soleil, which included a performance in the elements together.”

The latest iteration of “Pippin” brings this sentiment home — one twist, turn, leap, 84th annual Academy Awards.

In this production, Jamieson is lucky enough to be performing alongside his wife roll, spin and handstand at a time. and fellow acrobat, Kelsey Jamieson. Like Preston, Kelsey started her career as a dancer.

The two met while attending the National Circus School, where she studied the disci- Lisa Troshinsky is the theater reviewer for The Washington Diplomat.

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December 2014

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The Washington Diplomat Page 29

[ dining ]

Del Frisco’s on the Pike Big Texas Taste Comes To Big New Development

by Rachel G. Hunt

A

few months ago, the Texas-based Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group continued its national expansion by opening the second of its Del Frisco’s Grilles in the area, and the first in Maryland, joining the group’s other concept restaurants, Double Eagle Steak House and Sullivan’s.

Double Eagle, in fact, recently opened a steakhouse in the massive CityCenterDC luxury complex in downtown D.C. Likewise, Del Frisco’s Grille opened in a large new development project that’s also trying to modernize and transform the face of its respective neighborhood — this one in a part of Maryland long dominated by big box stores and drab strip malls.

The new Del Frisco’s is the first commercial tenant to open in Pike & Rose, one of those huge mixed-use complexes that are springing up along Rockville Pike, in what promoters call the “repikealization” of the area.

Del Frisco’s is big, Texas style, with a total seating capacity of 250, including 27 at the bar and 54 outside seats. The design theme, a play on urban industrial, is handsome and understated with gray walls, rich wood architectural features, polished concrete floors and accents of red in the seating, lighting and scant carpeting. When crowded, the design fades into the background, but early in the evening, it easier to appreciate what the designers have done with the space.

Del Frisco’s went with a local talent, Cody Lynch, as executive chef at the new location. It was a good choice. Lynch is an advocate of the fresh and locally sourced approach to cooking, so much so that at another restaurant he grew the produce himself. While a difficult thing to do at high-volume restaurants like Del Frisco’s and McCormick & Schmick’s in Del Frisco’s Grille Crystal City,Va., where he worked 11800 Grand Park Ave., most recently, the underlying North Bethesda, Md. principle remains the same.

(301) 881-0308 As a native of southern Maryland, Lynch knows his way www.delfriscosgrille.com around seafood and it shows in Lunch: Mon. - Sat., 11:30 a.m.- 4 p.m. his crab cakes. Meaty and paired with Cajun lobster sauce for a bit Brunch: Sun., 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. of kick, they are nice as a starter Dinner: Mon. - Thu., 4 - 10 p.m.; or as a main course, or in sliders Fri., Sat., 4 - 11 p.m.; Sun., 3 - 10 p.m. with Old Bay tartar sauce. He also knows his way around local Starters: $7.50 to $17 ingredients. For the oysters on the half shell, Lynch uses Entrées: $18 - $44 Cherrystone Aqua-Farms oysters Desserts: $9 - $11 from the venerable Ballard Fish & Reservations: Accepted Oyster Company in Cheriton, Va. The oysters are sustainably raised Dress: Casual in the waters off the southern Delmarva Peninsula that have yielded both the renowned ocean-side super-salty “old salts” from Chincoteague, and the milder Chesapeake Bay-side oysters. Lynch’s presentation at Del Frisco’s is classic with a sharp, tomato-filled cocktail and mouth-puckering mignonette sauces.

An equally memorable small plate, the Buffalo-style grit cakes, begins with grits from Byrd Mill. Located on the South Anna River in Ashland, Va., the mill has been in operation since 1740. Puck-shaped cakes of coarse ground white corn are fried and topped with avocado

The steakhouse salad is one of the many hearty dishes at the new Del Frisco’s Grille in Maryland.

ranch dressing, blue cheese crumbles, spicy buffalo sauce and micro celery.

They are a whimsical turn on a bar food classic and are a great way for meat avoiders to experience the pleasure that is the Buffalo wing.

The crispy tacos of ahi tuna tartare and avocado slices topped with spicy citrus mayo, a Del Frisco’s signature dish, is refreshingly light, but tasty Meyer lemon vinaigrette and parmesanblack pepper aioli are not enough to save the fire-roasted artichoke from mediocrity.

Del Frisco’s menu offers a variety of casual fare. Chewy, thin-crusted flatbreads with several nice topping combinations — including a simple roasted tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil version; pesto chicken; wild mushroom; or pepperoni and sausage — are large enough as a meal, but also share well.

Del Frisco’s is one of the few places around that does a Greek-style burger with lamb instead of beef, and they do it well. Served with roasted tomato, arugula and tzatziki sauce, it is an interesting alternative to the traditional burger.

Chef Lynch works his way through the rest of the menu with a combination of more formal signature dishes and preparations unique to this Del Frisco’s, displaying equal skill with myriad dishes.

Domestic and ethnic comfort foods such as meatloaf, roast chicken, Alfredo pasta and beef stroganoff are solid dishes (though the preparations PHOTOS: LINDA ROTH ASSOCIATES, INC. have not been entirely consistent over several visits), but the fish choices have been the most interesting. The sole Francese, pan-seared in chive-lemon butter, topped with lump crab and accented with an arugula-cherry tomato salad, another Del Frisco’s staple, is pleasingly mild.

As part of a steak-dominated brand, the Grille offers steak in several guises.The meat is always well prepared, whether it’s one of several cuts served a la carte, in a packed steak sandwich or on a big steakhouse salad — a hearty combination of broiled prime sliced steak, deviled egg, baby mixed greens, avocado, bacon, parmesan, blue cheese and lemon-horseradish dressing.

Several other salads are worthy of note and are a good value. An interesting kale and Brussels sprouts salad with roasted Marcona almonds, dried cranberries, orange segments and shaved Manchego cheese, dressed in a Creole mustard vinaigrette, is an excellent meatless choice. The seared Asian tuna salad with Napa cabbage, arugula, mango, chilled noodles, peanuts, almonds, tomato, avocado and a ginger-sesame dressing, while a bit cliché, is satisfying.

The large bar is central to Del Frisco’s design theme, and libations from that quarter are a key part of the concept. The drink menu features signature cocktails, a short wine and beer list and off-menu specials.The VIP, a pineapple and vodka concoction, and the Morning After — Pearl Coconut Vodka, coconut water, fresh lemon sour and a splash of Sprite — are representative of the mostly sweet house specialty cocktails. A refreshing white sangria of

[ ] want to

go?

Page 30

The Washington Diplomat

December 2014

The Washington Diplomat

(301) 933-3552

Approved __________________________________________________________ Changes ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

DINING GUIDE

THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT

December 2014

THE NEW DIPLOMAT DINING GUIDE YOUR RESTAURANT HERE 123 Dining Way www.web.com • (123) 555-1234

h

With more than 120,000 readers, The Washington Diplomat is the flagship newspaper of the diplomatic community, featuring news and culture stories that reach our highly targeted and lucrative market. The new dining guide is a unique opportunity to put your restaurant in front of our readers. Call (301) 933-3552 to advertise in the dining guide of our next issue.

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pinot grigio, white peach purée, Peach Schnapps and fresh berries is somewhat diminished by excess ice. Some of the best things come in tiny packages on the cocktail menu.The Plum Drop is a blissful thimbleful of Pearl Plum Vodka, Triple Sec and fresh lemon sour.

Desserts include an unusual lemon Doberge cake. A traditional New Orleans dessert that was developed from the Hungarian Dobos torte, the Doberge’s finely crumbed layers are separated by pudding and iced with lemon buttercream icing and lemon glaze. It is a Texassize slice that is perfect for sharing.

Another nice choice, the Nutella bread pudding, though slightly dry, is served with coffee ice cream and caramel sauce.

The restaurant’s service has come in for some criticism since it opened. Wait staff have be instructed to interact with guests in a manner that some have found insincere. That, coupled with revealing costumes and an apparent unwillingness to address the complaints of patrons directly, suggest management may not fully understand the market they are in.Though in several visits we have not observed these particular concerns, we have noticed a problem with timing. Both the sole and the paparadelle Bolognese seemed to have been sitting under a heat lamp for some time, and staff repeatedly tried to remove plates before we were finished. These may simply be opening glitches, but they may also be symptomatic of a high-volume chain restaurant where rapid December 2014

Call (301) 933-3552 to Advertise Your Restaurant in the New Diplomat Dining Guide.

from page 27 Del Frisco’s Grille combines classics such as its prime cheeseburger with an emphasis on fresh, locally sourced ingredients.

PHOTO: LINDA ROTH ASSOCIATES, INC.

table turnover is part of the business model.

Only time will tell.

But there is much to recommend in this new addition to an evolving Rockville Pike.The food and drinks are good, and the space is attractive.

Parking is easily accessible and a new high-end movie theater experience is just steps away at iPic. It is, however, a large commercial chain establishment with all that brings. It seems well suited to its place in the Pike & Rose complex, sharing its ethos. Whether that particular formula appeals to diners is largely a matter of taste.

Rachel G. Hunt is the restaurant reviewer for The Washington Diplomat.

Diplomatic Spouses doesn’t appreciate American culture. But that’s totally untrue because the president really admires this country’s deep values,” she said, noting that he attended the University of Illinois.

Cely herself spent time in the U.S. when she was young — in Macedonia, Ohio, in her teens — while her husband spent much of the 1980s in Charlotte, N.C. Today, their lives in Washington are very different. Hernandez said that diplomacy has its pluses and its minuses.

“It’s good if you have one to two events a week — that’s wonderful. But if you have them too frequently, four or five times a week, you come home late too many nights and everyone still has to work the next day,” he said, noting that embassies “offer different and wonderful food and drink, but you can’t burn enough calories for all those events.”

“I signed up for three months at the sports club but I never went once so I canceled my membership. I keep walking and try to close my mouth,” he quipped.

When they can both get time off from their busy jobs, they love traveling together to beautiful scuba-diving spots around the world.

They particularly like the Philippines and Hawaii.

Another annual excursion is their weeklong

Ecuadorean Ambassador Nathalie Cely Suárez and her husband Iván Hernandez bike through Lake Como, Italy.

bike trip through Europe.“Nathalie’s sister and our brother-in-law go with us. We rent two motorbikes and just start out,” Hernandez said.

“We make no hotel reservations. We just see where we are at the end of the day. If a place has a lot of people, we try to eat there. It takes the stress out of the trip, trying to get somewhere by a certain time, and gives us the freedom to stay wherever we want.”

One of the things he likes best about their motorbike adventure is that with “only two small luggage compartments, it cuts out shopping.”

“How wonderful is that for a man? No shopping for eight days!”

Gail Scott is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.

The Washington Diplomat Page 31

[ film reviews ]

Real Deal Cumberbatch Passes the Turing Test in ‘The Imitation Game’ by ky n. nguyen

[

I

the imitation Game (English; 113 min.; scope)

]

n the well­polished British biopic AFI Silver Theatre “The Imitation Game,” prolific ris­ Date TBA ing star Benedict Cumberbatch Area Theaters (“The Hobbit” trilogy, “The Fifth opens Fri., Dec. 12 Estate,” “Sherlock” BBC TV series, “Star Trek Into Darkness”) shines ★★★★✩ in his nuanced portrayal of the brilliant, doomed British mathematician humankind, even after a growing body of docu­ and computer scientist Alan Turing. mentaries and photography. Due to the seventh Cumberbatch’s mesmerizing turn is continent’s challenging remoteness and weath­ complemented by the rest of the British er, its wilderness remains relatively unspoiled thespians, notably spirited performances despite a surprisingly substantial presence of

by Charles Dance, Matthew Goode and people.

Keira Knightley’s as Joan Clarke,Turing’s “Antarctica: A Year on Ice” stands out by pioneering female colleague and one­ complementing the exceptional nature footage time fiancée. of landscapes and seals with a very humanistic PHoTo: THE WEInSTEIn CoMPAnY InC. Thankfully, Norwegian director Morten story, co­written by Simon Price, that focuses on Tyldum (“Headhunters”) utilizes brisk Benedict Cumberbatch, center (surrounded by Allen leech, left, and Matthew Beard), stars as the the intrepid semi­permanent human inhabitants pacing to move the action along ener­ brilliant but doomed British mathematician Alan Turing in “the imitation Game.” of McMurdo and Scott Bases. The sites act as getically in his first English­language film, largely self­sufficient villages requiring workers avoiding the sad fate of many other British period pieces with regular jobs going through their everyday that are beautiful to see but feel rather stale and lack suffi­ routines to keep the bases operating. Powell arrived cient fresh air. In many ways an old­fashioned movie, “The as a satellite telecommunications engineer.

Imitation Game” delivers an engaging classic narrative, this Viewers see the tight­knit community celebrate one interspersed with flashbacks. Screenwriter Graham Powell’s wedding to his bride Christine. Base resi­ Moore adapted his streamlined script from Andrew dents enjoy activities such as holiday parties, Hodges’s book “Alan Turing: The Enigma,” infusing some Antarctica’s own music festival, Icestock, and the serious matters with plenty of levity. international 48 Hour Film Project, which facilitates During World War II, the eccentric math prodigy a weekend of intense filmmaking by independent became an unlikely World War II hero — whose efforts local filmmakers. Let’s face it, though. Despite the were still closely guarded secrets post­war. The anti­social amenities, the bases are still very small and claustro­ genius maneuvered his way into the position of leading a phobic. The minority of women says of the men: team of newly tapped code­breakers in Bletchley Park.

“The odds are good, but the goods are odd.”

Their highly classified mission aimed to decipher the noto­ The sacrifices are much greater for the year­ rious German Enigma code­making machine widely round residents of Antarctica, where the population regarded as unbreakable, in a desperate attempt to keep peaks in the summer. Only a very select fraction, the German military from winning the war. Against all mostly researchers and scientists, dares to stay PHoTo: AnTHonY PoWEll / MUSIC BoX FIlMS odds, Turing succeeded by building a large, complex through the six­month winter’s extreme weather, machine to calculate the Enigma’s numerous possible con­ new Zealand filmmaker Anthony Powell directs the stunning documentary which prohibits departures even for medical and figurations in a finite period. He named his groundbreaking “antarctica: a year on ice.” family emergencies.After the winter residents endure computer Christopher in honor of a beloved classmate months of dark isolation and 24­hour nights without who died as a schoolboy. sunlight, they often suffer from depression that Fast forward to 1952, and the Manchester police respond to a break­in unbalances their minds to varying degrees. The film shows antarctica: a year on ice at math professor Turing’s home, who denied anything was stolen, raising them not knowing what to do when faced with the relative (English; 91 min.) their suspicions. The ensuing investigation leads to Turing’s conviction flood of newcomers in the spring. for gross indecency for committing homosexual acts. The court­ordered Landmark’s E Street Cinema Powell gained valuable experience shooting other docu­ chemical castration wreaks havoc on his mind and body, causing him to mentaries in Antarctica. For “Antarctica: A Year on Ice,” Powell’s opens Fri., Dec. 5 commit suicide at the age of 41, an ignoble early end for one of the most own first feature, he wore many hats as director­producer­ influential minds of all time. ★★★★✩ writer­cinematographer, assisted by his wife Christine as sec­ Tyldum and Moore maintain a generally upbeat tone by not digging ond unit director. On screen, he demonstrates how he hacked too deep into the dirty details of Turing’s stressful life, so “The Imitation Game” often feels his gear to tolerate the exceptionally brutal sub­zero conditions. He photographed the vast like a simplified highlight reel of his complicated existence. On the other hand, one could collection of footage for “Antarctica: A Year on Ice” over a period of what was actually 15 argue that glossing over the nitty gritty may have been a worthy sacrifice for a motion years living and working in Antarctica, including nine long winters. picture already nearing two hours. Despite its current running time, the movie does not feel too long, a fate that might have befallen it with a denser plot, even if that would have Fruitful ‘Diplomacy’ crafted a richer story.

Master German director Volker Schlöndorff (“The Tin Drum,” “Death of a Salesman”) delivers another gem with “Diplomacy.”The skillful translation of French playwright Cyril ‘antarctica’: Big-Screen must Gely’s 2011 play averts a common trap of such stage­to­play adaptations, which frequently Kiwi filmmaker Anthony Powell’s stunning documentary “Antarctica: A Year on Ice” is seem too stagy. the definition of a film with epic scale that is best seen on the big screen. Please do not Gely’s play distills multiple­day historic events between two real­life figures into one wait to catch this on Netflix or cable if you can. The doc certainly benefits from some of fictional night. In the wee hours of Aug. 25, 1944, as the Allies close in on Nazi­occupied the Earth’s most beautiful, stark scenery, including revealing time­lapse photography.

Compared to the rest of the world,Antarctic images have only been sparingly captured by See Film rEViEwS, page 35

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December 2014

[ film interview ]

Nuanced ‘Rosewater’ Funnyman Stewart Takes Serious Turn Into Iranian Solitary Confinement

by Ky N. Nguyen

“

A

t a special preview screening in Manhattan of the smart absurd­ ist comedy “Rosewater,” Ameri­ can writer-director-producer Jon Stewart (“The Daily Show”) bantered about his first feature film behind the camera with fellow political satirist and Comedy Central television host Stephen Colbert (“The Colbert Report”). They were joined on stage by London-based IranianCanadian journalist Maziar Bahari, who cowrote the non-fiction bestseller book “Then They Came for Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival.” The post-screening Q&A was a barrel of laughs, as expected when Stewart and Colbert are involved, but Bahari also held his own.

Stewart adapted Bahari’s memoir into the English-language screenplay for “Rosewater,” in which Mexican leading man Gael García Bernal (“Y Tu Mamá También,”“The Motorcycle Diaries”) stars as Bahari. While covering the disputed 2009 Iranian presidential elections and protests for the BBC, Bahari was arrested, imprisoned and brutally interrogated for 118 days on charges of espionage, until he was freed fol­ lowing international pressure. The film’s title refers to the rosewater that Bahari said he smelled on his captor.

“After he was released, he came to New York. He wrote an article for Newsweek about his experience,” Stewart recalled.

“He was still in Iran for about three days [after his release].

His interrogator and Haj Agha, who is the boss of the inter­ rogator, took him out for coffee.”

Colbert chimed in with a joke:“A little Nescafé?”

Stewart proceeded with Bahari’s story. “They sat down with him and said, ‘Just so you know, you’re getting out. But if you tell anybody about what happened here, we will bring you back in a bag — and not the nice bags you see in the airport. The bad bags.’ And he thought, right then and there, ‘I will write this article on the [expletive] plane.’”

Repertory Notes

In America, the conversation about Iran is, ‘You’re the Axis of Evil.’ In Iran, it’s, ‘You’re the Great Satan.’ Hopefully, this begins to create a conversation that uses more texture.

”

— Jon Stewart, director of ‘Rosewater’

“I believe it is a weapon, but it’s a soft weapon,” Stewart clarified. “I don’t believe a film, I don’t believe a skit, I don’t believe anything that you can do can change the world in the way that we want it to in the narra­ tive we create in our minds. We want things to tidy up in … an hour and 42 minutes. We want to have a resolution to it.

What I do believe is bearing witness — creating a conversa­ tion that hopefully is more nuanced and thoughtful than the conversation that had previously been occurring — becomes weaponized in its aggregate. It changes the momentum of a conversation.

“If this is a weapon, it is the type of soft weapon that comes from breaking down what had been a one- or twodimensional conversation. In America, the conversation about Iran is, ‘You’re the Axis of Evil.’ In Iran, it’s, ‘You’re the Great Satan.’ Hopefully, this begins to create a conversation that uses more texture.”

Stewart manages to make the film as much fun as 118 days of solitary confinement and torture could be while seri­ ously addressing such a solemn subject. “I was able, I think, to allow the humor to live organically. It’s in the book,” he said. “That’s what so compelling about the book. For us, we’ve always lived by this idea that in your darkest moments,

Photo: Fathom Events/Open Road Films

Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, left, and Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” talk about Stewart’s first film, “Rosewater,” which recounts Bahari’s 118 days in Iranian custody.

Stewart was personally involved with Bahari’s situation in a wacky case of life intersecting with art.The Iranian author­ ities presented a video of a comedic segment from “The Daily Show,” in which Bahari is satirically interviewed in Tehran about the presidential elections, as evidence that Bahari was an American spy. Colbert grilled Stewart:“Did you feel guilty about that?”

“We felt nervous because ‘What do we do?’ We didn’t feel guilty because it’s banal,” Stewart replied.

Colbert concurred. “I used to do what you do,” he quipped.

Stewart carried on. “It’s banal idiocy. The idea that that could be weaponized is a remarkable leap of faith. It shows that it’s a pretext, that they were searching for any methodol­ ogy for which to link him as a saboteur between reformist elements within Iran and then Western elements that were coming in.”

Colbert pointed out that, “If cameras can be weapons, is the film a weapon?”

See Rosewater, page 35

by Washington Diplomat film reviewer Ky N. Nguyen

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

2014 European Union Film Showcase The 2014 European Union (EU) Film Showcase (Dec. 3-21), programmed by cultural offices of EU member embassies in D.C., returns to packed audiences at the American Film Institute (AFI) Silver Theatre. Jan Ołdakowski, the director of the Warsaw Uprising Museum, introduces Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa’s “Warsaw Rising” as the opening-night film. The U.S. premiere of French director Anne Fontaine’s “Gemma Bovery” serves as the closing-night film.

(301) 495-6700, www.afi.com/silver

Athens Today The National Gallery of Art series “Athens Today” (Dec. 5-28) showcases six contemporary films by young Greek filmmakers addressing how the nation’s stressed economy challenges its people. It screens at the

American University’s Malsi Doyle and Michael Forman Theater, presented with thanks to the Embassy of Greece, Hellenic Foundation for Culture, Greek Film Center, and the James and Theodore Pedas Family Foundation.

(202) 842-6799, www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/calendar/ film-programs.html

DCJCC The Washington Jewish Film Festival Year-Round Screenings offer Israel’s “The Syrian Bride” (Tue., Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m.), “Zero Motivation” (Tue., Dec. 9, 7:30 p.m.), “A Place In Heaven” (Wed., Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m.), “Comedy Warriors” (Tue., Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m.) and France’s “It Happened In St. Tropez” (Wed., Dec. 24, 7:30 p.m.).

(202) 518-9400, www.washingtondcjcc.org/center-for-arts/film/

Also Like Life: The Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien

the work of the legendary Taiwanese director, continuing at the Freer Gallery of Art (through Dec. 21) and the Goethe-Institut (Dec. 4-13), the latter’s films programmed by the National Gallery of Art. The series was organized with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of China, Taipei Cultural Center, Taiwan Film Institute and the Center for Moving Image Arts at Bard College.

(202) 357-2700, www.asia.si.edu/events/films.asp (202) 842-6799, www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/ calendar/film-programs.html

Goethe-Institut The program “Animation Films about the Berlin Wall” (Mon., Dec. 8, 6:30 p.m.) screens as part of the event series “The Wall in Our Heads – Arts – Civil Society and Walls: American Perspectives” (through Dec. 15).

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

The retrospective “Also Like Life: The Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien,” reviews

December 2014

The Washington Diplomat Page 33

[ film ]

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

Bulgarian Viktoria Directed by Maya Vitkova (Bulgaria, 2014, 155 min.)

In 1979 Bulgaria: Boryana dreams of fleeing her Communist country for freedom in the West, but an unintended pregnancy grounds her, even more so after the child’s birth causes a national sensation: she was born without a belly button.

AFI Silver Theatre Thu., Dec. 4, 4 p.m., Fri., Dec. 5, 12 p.m., Wed., Dec. 10 9 p.m.

Belfast, 1971: After a riot breaks out in a staunchly Republican stronghold, rife with both IRA and splinter group “paras,” a Derbyshire lad, already far from home, finds himself trapped behind the lines.

THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT Kim Jong-un is a fan of the show, they land an interview with him in an attempt to legitimize themselves as journalists.

follows a lost, angry teen on a dreamlike odyssey through bleak Helsinki streets in this stunning coming-of-age tale.

workers, who were forced to choose between keeping her on or forgoing their annual bonuses.

Area theaters Opens Thu., Dec. 25

AFI Silver Theatre Thu., Dec. 11, 7:15 p.m.

AFI Silver Theatre Thu., Dec. 4, 7:15 p.m.

Mr. Turner

AFI Silver Theatre Fri., Dec. 12, 7:30 p.m., Sun., Dec. 14, 3:40 p.m.

Flemish

Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain

Directed by Mike Leigh (U.K., 2014, 149 min.)

Directed by Ravi Kumar (U.K./India, 2014, 96 min.)

Inspired by real events, the interwoven stories of people in India and U.S. reveal dilemmas of a lifetime in the months leading to the biggest industrial disaster in human history that claimed 10,000 innocent lives within a few hours (English and Hindi).

English Romantic painter Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) receives a bigscreen biopic that, by delighting in the dayto-day details, illuminates the artist’s great passion, his rapturous vision of the world and his drive to realize it on canvas.

Angelika Pop-Up

AFI Silver Theatre Sun., Dec. 7, 5:15 p.m.

Angelika Mosaic Opens Thu., Dec. 25

Croatian

Clouds of Sils Maria

Point and Shoot

Cowboys (Kauboji)

Directed by Olivier Assayas (France/Switzerland/Germany, 2014, 124 min.)

Directed by Tomislav Mršić (Croatia, 2013, 107 min.)

Offered an opportunity to re-start the neglected community theater in his hometown, a big-city director Saša reluctantly returns to the dull industrial town of his youth and is forced to cast a group of eight lovable oddballs.

AFI Silver Theatre Mon., Dec. 8, 5:30 p.m., Tue., Dec. 9, 5:15 p.m.

Nowhere in Moravia (Díra u Hanusovic) Directed by Miroslav Krobot (Czech Republic, 2014, 102 min.)

A former German teacher has moved back in with her difficult mother and sister and now runs the village pub, contenting herself with a rotation of no-strings-attached suitors.

AFI Silver Theatre Sun., Dec. 14, 9:45 p.m., Mon., Dec. 15, 9:30 p.m.

Danish The Hour of the Lynx (I lossens time) Directed by Søren Kragh-Jacobsen (Denmark/Sweden, 2013, 100 min.)

In a high-security psychiatric ward for killing an elderly couple, a murderous youth claims his suicide attempt was God’s will, leading his psychiatrist to call for the help of a priest to understand his erratic behavior (Danish and Swedish).

AFI Silver Theatre Fri., Dec. 12, 9:30 p.m., Sun., Dec. 14, 7 p.m.

Someone You Love (En du elsker) Directed by Pernille Fischer Christensen (Denmark, 2014, 95 min.)

Aging rocker Thomas Jacob, distrustful of other people after “all the booze, divorces and drugs,” returns to Denmark after decades living in Los Angeles and comes face to face with his shortcomings as a man and father.

AFI Silver Theatre Fri., Dec. 12, 5:15 p.m., Wed., Dec. 17, 9:30 p.m.

AFI Silver Theatre Sun., Dec. 7, 3 p.m., Mon., Dec. 8, 7 p.m.

Comedy Warrior Five severely injured American veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars explore their wartime experiences and confront their disabilities through the healing power of comedy.

Directed by Yann Demange (U.K., 2014, 99 min.)

Remote Area Medical Directed by Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman (U.S., 2013)

During the U.S. debate about healthcare reform, many people failed to put a human face on what it means to not have access to healthcare. This documentary fills that gap by focusing on a single three-day medical clinic held in the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.

West End Cinema Opens Fri., Dec. 5

On a bitterly cold London evening, a schoolteacher receives an unexpected visit from her former lover, a much older, charismatic restaurateur whose wife has recently died.

Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema Sun., Dec. 7, 11 a.m.

Unbroken

Exodus: Gods and Kings

A chronicle of the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was taken prisoner

by Japanese forces during World War II.

Area theaters Opens Fri., Dec. 12

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Directed by Peter Jackson (New Zealand/U.S., 2014)

Bilbo and company are forced to be embraced in a war against an armed flock of combatants and the terrifying Smaug from acquiring a kingdom of treasure and obliterating all of Middle-Earth.

Area theaters Opens Wed., Dec. 17

Directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen (U.S., 2014, 112 min.)

’71

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

AFI Silver Theatre Wed., Dec. 10, 7:15 p.m.

The defiant leader Moses rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses, setting 600,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrifying cycle of deadly plagues.

Dave Skylark and his producer run the popular celebrity tabloid TV show and when they discover that North Korean dictator

AFI Silver Theatre Tue., Dec. 16. 9:15 p.m., Wed., Dec. 17, 7:30 p.m.

Girlhood (Bande de filles)

Directed by Stephen Daldry (U.K., 2014)

Directed by Ridley Scott (U.K./U.S./Spain, 2014, 146 min.)

When the body of a Congolese teen washes ashore, a hardboiled homicide detective is drawn into the immigrant underworld of Brussels and quickly finds himself a stranger in his own land (Flemish and French).

An American sets out with his motorbike to find both adventure and his sense of manhood, leading him on an extraordinary journey he could not have imagined, including fighting in the Libyan Revolution.

Effie Gray Victorian England was shocked by the sensational divorce of art critic John Ruskin from his younger wife Effie Gray, which pitted non-consummation of the marriage against the vaguely described “circumstances in her person.”

Directed by Pieter Van Hees (Belgium, 2014, 97 min.)

French

Skylight

Directed by Richard Laxton (U.K., 2014, 108 min.)

Waste Land

Directed by Marshall Curry (U.S., 2014, 83 min.)

Washington DCJCC Tue., Dec. 15, 7:30 p.m.

The Interview

English

Page 34

Olivier Assayas’s latest film is a brilliant exploration of identity, relationships and role-playing, as international movie star Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) is offered to star in a stage revival of the film that made her famous 20 years earlier.

Directed by John Wager (U.S., 2013, 74 min.)

Czech

December 2014

Directed by Angelina Jolie (U.S., 2014)

Area theaters Opens Thu., Dec. 25

Cantonese Flowers of Shanghai (Hai shang hua) Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien (Taiwan/Japan, 1998, 130 min.)

In a Shanghai brothel circa 1890, an intimate gambling party is going on — a continuation of last night’s events and a preview of tomorrow’s. Fueled by opium on one side and economic need on the other, love blossoms and withers (Cantonese and Shanghainese).

Freer Gallery of Art Sun., Dec. 14, 2 p.m.

Finnish Concrete Night (Betoniyö) Directed by Pirjo Honkasalo (Finland/Sweden/Denmark, 2013, 96 min.)

Veteran Finnish filmmaker Pirjo Honkasalo

Directed by Céline Sciamma (France, 2014, 112 min.)

Céline Sciamma’s vital coming-of-age tale follows shy 16-year-old Marieme as she navigates the ins and outs of joining an Afro-French all-girl gang in a rough Parisian suburb.

AFI Silver Theatre Thu., Dec. 4, 9:45 p.m., Sat., Dec. 6, 10 p.m.

If You Don’t, I Will (Arrête ou je continue) Directed by Sophie Fillières (France, 2014, 102 min.)

Empty nesters Pomme and Pierre are comfortably settling into the routine of middle age, the magic long ago having faded from their relationship. But on one of their regular weekend hikes, Pomme decides she needs a break and remains in the wild to fend for herself.

AFI Silver Theatre Sun., Dec. 14, 1:30 p.m., Tue., Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m.

It Happened in St. Tropez Directed by Danièle Thompson (France, 2013, 100 min.)

Roni, a gauche, successful, irreligious diamond dealer is the polar opposite to brother Zef, a classical musician, cultured and observant. Bound by their decrepit, elderly father and beautiful daughters, the family experiences fall-outs, fall-ins and fall-overs.

Washington DCJCC Wed., Dec. 24, 7:30 p.m.

Jacky in the Kingdom of women (Jacky au royaume des filles) Directed by Riad Sattouf (France, 2014, 87 min.)

In the Popular and Democratic Republic of Bubunne—an Amazonian military dictatorship run by women—the menfolk are kept in their place, draped in full-body chadors and bejeweled collars.

AFI Silver Theatre Sat., Dec. 20, 10:10 p.m., Sun., Dec. 21, 7:45 p.m.

Two Days, One Night (Deux jours, une nuit) Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne (Belgium/France/Italy, 2014, 95 min.)

On a Friday afternoon, Sandra learns that her part-time job at the solar panel factory is going to be eliminated, the decision having been finalized by the vote of her 16 co-

German Beloved Sisters (Die geliebten Schwestern) Directed by Dominik Graf (Germany 2014, 138 min.)

Maverick filmmaker Dominik Graf explores the passionate, unconventional relationships between the poet and playwright Friedrich Schiller and the von Lengefeld sisters.

AFI Silver Theatre Sat., Dec. 6, 3 p.m.

Lose My Self (Vergiss mein Ich) Directed by Jan Schomburg (Germany, 2014, 95 min.)

A university professor experiences acute memory loss — not only does she fail to recognize herself and loved ones, but her personality and tastes have rebooted, resulting in a newfound sense of openness to experience but also some comical problems with impulse control.

AFI Silver Theatre Sun., Dec. 21, 3 p.m.

October November (Oktober November) Directed by Götz Spielmann (Austria, 2013, 114 min.)

Götz Spielmann (returns with this acutely observed and emotionally affecting drama of two sisters’ fractious relationship.

AFI Silver Theatre Sun., Dec. 7, 7:45 p.m.

Stations of the Cross (Kreuzweg) Directed by Dietrich Brüggemann (Germany, 2014, 107 min.)

As the contradictions of devout faith and modern life multiply, a devout teenager eschews the easy way out and chooses to follow the hardest road of all — that of the savior, with all the pain and sacrifice that might entail.

AFI Silver Theatre Mon., Dec. 15, 9:15 p.m., Sun., Dec. 21, 5 p.m.

Greek The Daughter Directed by Thanos Anastopoulos (Greece, 2012, 87 min.)

A bright and serious teenager on the verge of womanhood tries to take charge of her own life when her father suddenly disappears. For no apparent reason she kidnaps the young son of her father’s business partner, revealing a picture of a family undone by the recent economic crisis.

National Gallery of Art Sun., Dec. 28, 4:30 p.m.

The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas (I aionia epistrofi tou Antoni Paraskeva) Directed by Elina Psykou (Greece/Czech Republic, 2013, 88 min.)

Antonis Paraskevas is a popular morning TV host. One day, after 20 successful years, he suddenly disappears. It couldn’t have gone better if Antonis had planned it

The Washington Diplomat

December 2014

National Gallery of Art Sat., Dec. 13, 5 p.m.

millennium mambo (Qian xi man po)

Directed by Talya Lavie (Israel, 2014, 100 min.)

Lithuanian

Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien (Taiwan/France, 2001, 119 min.)

Filmmaker Talya lavie steps into the spotlight with “Zero Motivation,” a zany, dark comedic portrait of everyday life for a unit of young, female Israeli soldiers.

the Gambler (lošėjas)

Washington DCJCC Tue., Dec. 9, 7:30 p.m.

A celebrated paramedic, vincentas has a dangerous addiction: he’s a gambler.

In over his head, he ups the ante by betting on the odds of his own patients’ survival.

himself — which, of course, he did.

Tue., Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m.

National Gallery of Art Sun., Dec. 21, 4:30 p.m.

Zero motivation

Evaporating Borders Directed by Iva Radivojevic (Cyprus/U.S., 2014, 73 min.)

This poetic visual essay chronicles the hard political realities of immigration as experienced in the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus, whose population of a little over a million people includes, by some estimates, 25 percent new immigrants from north Africa and the Middle East (in Greek, English and Arabic).

AFI Silver Theatre Mon., Dec. 15, 7:30 p.m.

at home (Sto spiti) Directed by Athanasios Karanikolas (Germany/Greece, 2014, 103 min.)

A visually resonant and restrained story of a Georgian-born au pair whose relationship with her affluent Greek employer is jeopardized when she develops a rare disorder, this film’s subtext — the chasm between rich and poor — is handled with rare delicacy and perception.

National Gallery of Art Sun., Dec. 14, 4:30 p.m.

wild Duck Directed by Yannis Sakaridis (Greece, 2013, 88 min.)

Prompted by a recent Athenian wiretapping scandal, Yannis Sakaridis constructs this intricate character study revolving around a telecom contractor and his accidental involvement in a human tragedy in an Athenian apartment block.

American University Doyle and Forman Theater Fri., Dec. 12, 7 p.m.

Xenia Directed by Panos H. Koutras (Greece/Belgium/France, 2014, 128 min.)

After the death of their Albanian mother, two brothers — the younger Dany, a flamboyantly gay teen, and the elder ody, a hunky aspiring singer — set out on a road trip to find their long-lost, reputedly rich Greek father (Greek and Albanian).

Hungarian For Some inexplicable reason (Van valami furcsa és megmagyarázhatatlan) About to turn 30 and still jobless, Áron gets dumped by Eszter. A booze-soaked night out in Budapest with his pals results in an Internet impulse-buy of a one-way flight to Portugal on his parents’ credit card.

from page 32

Film reviews

the puppetmaster (Xi mend ren sheng)

Mandarin cheerful wind Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien (Taiwan, 1981, 90 min.)

Freer Gallery of Art Sun., Dec. 7, 2 p.m.

Black Souls (anime nere)

cute Girl

Polish

Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien (Taiwan, 1980, 90 min.)

Directed by Francesco Munzi (Italy/France, 2014, 103 min.)

Bored with life in a rural hamlet, teen leo aspires to the flashier ways of his mafiosi Milanese uncles, disdaining his father, who, instead of pursuing criminal business, chose to look after the family farm and herd goats.

AFI Silver Theatre Thu., Dec. 19, 7:20 p.m., Sat., Dec. 20, 5:45 p.m.

Hou Hsiao-hsien’s first feature is a richgirl-meets-poor-boy melodrama, a bright, youthful picture with a happy ending (screens with “Cheerful Wind”).

National Gallery of Art Sat., Dec. 6, 2 p.m.

Goodbye South, Goodbye Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien (Taiwan/Japan, 1996, 124 min.)

the Eyes, the mouth (Gli occhi, la bocca) Directed by Marco Bellocchio (Italy/France, 1982, 93 min.)

A burnt-out actor returns to his provincial hometown to attend the funeral of his twin brother. He finds himself drawn to his dead brother’s fiancée, a working-class immigrant from latin America, even as he blames her for his brother’s death (Italian, Japanese and English).

Journeying through southern Taiwan from one poorly conceived scam to another, 30-something Kao, his teenage protégé Flathead, and their girlfriends Hsi and Pretzel are “gangsters” in name only. More clueless failures than violent outcasts, they want to get rich quick but are too confused, or too human, to be any good at it (Mandarin and Hokkien).

Freer Gallery of Art Fri., Dec. 12, 7 p.m.

Good men, Good women (hao nan hao nu) Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien (Taiwan/Japan, 1995, 108 min.)

Moving among narrative strands in the past and present while blending the personal with the political, “Good Men, Good Women” tells the story of an actress preparing for a role in a movie about the real-life heroes Chung Hao-tung and Chiang Bi-yu, figures in the Resistance of the 1940s and 1950s.

Directed by Marco Bellocchio (Italy, 1977, 132 min.)

This rarely seen adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s 1895 play was produced for Italian television in the 1970s. Marco Bellocchio’s typically unconventional approach and careful staging managed to transcend normal limitations of filmed theater as it dramatized the conflicts among four of Chekhov’s most intriguing characters.

National Gallery of Art Sat., Dec. 13, 2 p.m.

[

Diplomacy (Diplomatie) (French and German with subtitles;

papusza Directed by Joanna Kos and Krzysztof Krauze (Poland, 2013, 131 min.)

Criss-crossing in time across the 20th century, poignant vignettes from Roma poetess Bronisława Wajs’s life show her deep love of language and the terrible cost it extracted on her — she became an important ambassador from the Roma people, even as she was excommunicated from her own clan.

city 44 (miasto 44) Directed by Jan Komasa (Poland, 2014, 127 min.)

nazi-occupied Warsaw, 1944: Although his mother forbids him from getting mixed up with the Polish resistance, Stefan joins his

warsaw uprising Directed by Jan Komasa (Poland, 2014, 87 min.)

Working with authentic documentary and newsreel footage filmed in Warsaw in 1944, director Jan Komasa has fashioned a remarkable one-of-a-kind film: a non-fiction narrative of the momentous events surrounding the Warsaw Uprising, when Polish resistance fighters rose up to strike a blow against their nazi occupiers in what became a two-month battle — the longest sustained counter-attack by any European resistance movement in the history of World War II (opening-night film of the European Union Film Showcase).

AFI Silver Theatre Wed., Dec. 3, 7:15 p.m.

See cinEma liStinGS, page 37

Stewart said he hopes the film changes perceptions about Iran — “the idea is that Iran is not a monolith. It has this incredibly complex and vibrant … youth culture, and it’s educated and humor can be a shield of sorts. It can artistic.”

“It was hopefully a way of setting give you sustenance.

“But what if you remove the audi­ the film in Iran but not necessarily ence? He’s in solitary. The audience is about Iran,” he continued. “It’s a more gone, and you and I both know it. universal story of suppression, as tech­ Would humor still be something that nology has democratized who is a could grant you sustenance in a vacu­ journalist, as citizen journalists have um?” Stewart asked.“Maziar was able to come to the fore. There are now not retain his humanity in that vacuum by just journalists, but thousands of blog­ still being able to conjure the absurdity gers and activists who are being swept of a situation, by leaning on his culture, up and not just in Iran — in Egypt, his family, his memories, his rich histo­ Turkey, countries that are aligned with ry…. So the humor I tried to not the West, not aligned with the West.”

Colbert interjected and noted that impose on the story. It could have been Jordan, the country where a ‘Strangelove’ story. It could “Rosewater” was shot, has have created black comedy to elements of both pro­ and and farce and characters of anti­Western sentiment. a grand absurdity at play, “Jordan has issues with but I thought it would have that,” Stewart said. “The detracted from the reality.”

“Rosewater” United States now has this Colbert shared with is now playing at deep security state that Bahari how he was struck area theaters. we’re building that has by the banality of the very strange tentacles that Iranian security bureaucra­ cy. Speaking about his torturer, nick­ reach out and put pressure on informa­ named the eponymous Rosewater, tion and journalists. I always see expres­ Bahari quipped,“Like any other employ­ sion as an antidote to ignorance and ee he comes to work, he punches his journalism as an antidote to ignorance. card, he tortures people, he gets over­ If I have any aspiration for the film, it’s for this to engage that conversation.” time and he goes home.”

“I think for the first time we see a Stewart added, “At the time, 2009, there were thousands of people that nuanced image of Iran, an image with had been arrested. So these guys, to young people who are inclusive, open­ them, it’s the busy season for them. It’s minded, pro­democracy,” Bahari added.

“And they are the best allies of the like tax time.”

Bahari offered a similarly witty West. I think it’s very important for the response to Colbert’s question about American politicians … who subscribe Iranians seeing the film.“I’m sure in Iran to going to war with Iran to think they’ll have the DVD by next week,” he about these young people. If they ever joked. “I’d love the Iranian government go to war with Iran, if they ever bomb officials to watch this film as a mirror to Iran, these young people who are now their actions, that they look at it and see the best allies of the West, they are how ridiculous they are, how brutal going to be the first victims of this they are. Even if one person in the war.”

Iranian government watches this film and changes his behavior, I would be Ky N. Nguyen is the film reviewer for The Washington Diplomat. happy. I did my job.”

from page 33

]

Paris, Swedish Consul 85 min.; scope) General Raoul Nordling Landmark’s E Street Cinema (André Dussollier) man­ ages to sneak through a ★★★★✩ hidden tunnel into the German military head­ tion in the Hôtel Meurice, site of the quarters in Paris. His goal actual German headquarters in Paris is to convince German PHoTo: ZEITGEIST FIlMS / JÉRoME PRÉBoIS during World War II, which lends General Dietrich von authenticity to the mise­en­scène of the Choltitz (Niels Arestrup), niels Arestrup stars as a German general facing predominant set. Schlöndorff’s gor­ the commanding officer a critical decision in World War II Paris geous outdoor shots of the Parisian in charge of Greater in “Diplomacy.” streets and the River Seine add a dose Paris, to stand down on Hitler’s command that Paris can only be captured “as a of cinematic scale. Meanwhile, French actors André field of rubble.” Nordling utilizes all his powers to save the Dussollier and Arestrup reprise their roles on stage to beloved City of Lights and convince the general to aban­ stunning effect. don Hitler’s plans.

The bulk of the story’s indoor scenes are shot on loca­ Ky N. Nguyen is the film reviewer for The Washington Diplomat.

December 2014

The puppeteer li Tien-lu (1909-98) was one of Taiwan’s official national treasures. Hou Hsiao-hsien achieves a masterpiece of storytelling in recreating li’s life, which was set against tumultuous times that made art both impossible and essential (Mandarin, Taiwanese and Japanese).

National Gallery of Art Sat., Dec. 6, 2 p.m.

AFI Silver Theatre Fri., Dec. 5, 9:30 p.m., Tue., Dec. 9, 7:15 p.m.

AFI Silver Theatre Sat., Dec. 13, 12 p.m.

Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien (Taiwan, 1993, 142 min.)

Italian

the Seagull (il gabbiano)

Washington DCJCC

Freer Gallery of Art Sun., Dec. 21, 2 p.m.

AFI Silver Theatre Fri., Dec. 19, 7:30 p.m.

Hebrew

Young bride Mona knows that once she crosses the border between Israel and Syria to marry a Syrian soap star, she won’t be able to return to her home and her family in a Druze village in Golan Heights (Hebrew, Arabic, Russian and French).

A Taipei youth culture of raves, techno music and ecstasy pills is distilled into trancelike luminescence as the glamorous Shu Qi pouts her way through the city’s neon nightclubs and hostess bars, accompanied by either her jealous DJ boyfriend or a much older, somewhat wiser gangster (Mandarin and Japanese).

This popular romantic comedy follows a film crew from the city as they set up to shoot a commercial in a picturesque seaside town (screens with “Cute Girl”).

National Gallery of Art Sat., Dec. 13, 2:30 p.m.

Directed by Eran Riklis (Israel/France/Germany, 2004, 97 min.)

AFI Silver Theatre Sun., Dec. 7, 10 p.m., Wed., Dec. 10, 9:20 p.m.

Directed by Gábor Reisz (Hungary, 2014, 96 min.)

AFI Silver Theatre Fri., Dec. 19, 9:40 p.m.

the Syrian Bride

Directed by Ignas Jonynas (Lithuania/Latvia, 2013, 109 min.)

friends in the militia to bravely fight back against the Germans.

rosewater

want

go?

The Washington Diplomat Page 35

[ around town ]

EVENTS LISTING **Admission is free unless otherwise noted. All information on event venues can be found on The Diplomat Web site at www.washdiplomat. com. Times and locations are subject to change.

Unless listed, please call venue for specific event times and hours of operation.

ART Through Dec. 4

The Early Days: Hip-Hop Culture in the German Democratic Republic As hip-hop spread around the globe in the early 1980s — and even behind the Iron Curtain — it also excited youth in the German Democratic Republic whose new passion not only challenged the People’s Police (Volkspolizei) and the Stasi, but also the socialist youth organizations whose plans did not allow for youth subcultures.

German Historical Institute Dec. 5 to April 12

Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea

For millennia, Mary has been one of the most popular subjects in the history of Western art. This landmark exhibition of more than 60 beautiful depictions of the Virgin Mary explores the concept of womanhood represented by Mary and the power her image has exerted through time.

National Museum of Women in the Arts Through Dec. 12

Divinités noires

The French Cultural Service in partnership with FotoWeekDC presents this stunning photography exhibition by Dany Leriche and Jean Michel Fickinger. Unveiling a collection of large-scale photographs printed on canvas and tarpaulin, these portraits were taken by the French artists in Togo and Benin on the occasion of ritual ceremonies. Contrary to the ethnographic use of photography, the models used here become active subjects rather than mere objects of observation.

Embassy of France Dec. 13 to June 14

Zen, Tea, and Chinese Art in Medieval Japan

Zen Buddhism, tea and ink painting — well-known expressions of Japanese culture — have their roots in Chinese arts and ideas brought to medieval Japan from the late 12th to the 16th century. Chinese and Japanese paintings, lacquer ware and ceramics illuminate this remarkable period of cultural contact and synthesis.

Freer Gallery of Art Dec. 14 and 15

ReUse, ReTouch, ReDutch

The Dutch Embassy and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines showcase the best in sustainable design with the pop-up exhibition that includes clothes that generate energy, baskets made out of used flip-flops and chairs from used refrigerators. “ReUse, ReTouch, ReDutch” highlights more than 50 examples of sustainable and social Dutch design that can be seen in everyday life. “ReUse, ReTouch, ReDutch” is part of Holland on the Hill, a joint program of the Netherlands Embassy, the Dutch Caucus, corporate partners and the Netherland America Foundation to strengthen the ties between the Netherlands and the United States. For information, visit http://dc.the-netherlands.org.

Royal Netherlands Embassy

Page 36

Through Dec. 15

The Wall in Our Heads: American Artists and the Berlin Wall To mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, an exhibition of American artists’ reflections on the Berlin Wall and an outdoor installation of photos by German artist Kai Wiedenhöfer form the visual framework for more than a dozen events at the Goethe-Institut around the commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall and critical observation about the many new walls that have been put up since then.

Goethe-Institut

THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT and continues to shape the friendship between Canada and the United States.

Embassy of Canada Through Jan. 4

Captain Linnaeus Tripe: Photographer of India and Burma, 1852-1860

In the first major traveling exhibition of photographs by Captain Linnaeus Tripe (1822-1902), some 60 works will include early pictures he took in England as well as the outstanding body of work he produced in India and Burma (now Myanmar) in the 1850s.

Through Dec. 18

National Gallery of Art

Iter: Photo Exhibit

by Renato D’Agostin

Through Jan. 4

Embassy of Italy

The Foundation for Victims of Terrorism, in collaboration the Permanent Observer Mission of Spain to the OAS, presents the visual and literally exhibition that denounces terrorism as a mass violation of human rights, while at the same time honoring victims by promoting the global effort toward a more just world of freedom from violence.

In Renato D’Agostin’s photographs, location immediately looses its identity, as images from around the world focus on the city, the one we all want to escape from but which sticks to us like an occasionally painful shell.

Through Dec. 19

A Different View of Vienna Barbara Zeidler has set out to discover museums in Vienna that are open to the public but off the beaten track, away from any Museum Mile or Art Quarter. Some of her discoveries are not even mentioned in guidebooks. This unique display offers a fuller picture of Vienna, a city steeped in culture and museums.

Embassy of Austria Through Dec. 31

Cartier: Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Dazzling Gems

One of Cartier’s most important and enduring clients, Marjorie Merriweather Post commissioned some of the most exquisite jewelry sets, fashionable accessories and finely crafted jeweled frames of any American collector.

Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens Through Dec. 31

Imagine Art in Nature

At Wanås, with its white castle and beautiful park, international artists create new site- specific sculptures and installations for the garden, the art gallery and various indoor spaces on the grounds. Now it’s your chance to see a selection of the actual site-specific pieces rendered by Swedish and American artists, together with films, models, photos and sketches.

House of Sweden Through Dec. 31

Titian’s Danaë from the Capodimonte Museum, Naples

One of the most sensual paintings of the Italian Renaissance, Titian’s “Danaë” from the Capodimonte Museum in Naples will be on view to celebrate the commencement of Italy’s presidency of the Council of the European Union.

National Gallery of Art Through Jan. 1

Celebrating 25 Years on Pennsylvania Avenue

To mark the Canadian Embassy’s 25th anniversary, this exhibit of photos, commentary, historical records and objects traces the evolution of Canada’s diplomatic presence in D.C., the history of the embassy at 501 Pennsylvania Avenue, and the many ways in which the embassy reflects

En Pie de Foto: Terrorism – A Crime Against Humanity

Art Museum of the Americas Through Jan. 4

One Nation With News for All

Ethnic newspapers, radio, television and online publications have helped millions of immigrants to America become part of their new country while preserving their ties to their native lands. This exhibit tells the dramatic story of how immigrants and minorities used the power of the press to fight for their rights and shape the American experience.

Newseum Through Jan. 4

A Tribute to Anita Reiner

The Phillips Collection hosts a tribute exhibition in memory of Anita Reiner — one of D.C.’s most active art collectors and a longtime friend of the Phillips who passed away Aug. 15, 2013 — with 13 works in a variety of media from Reiner’s wide-ranging and highly personal collection of contemporary art.

The Phillips Collection Through Jan. 9

What We Have Within

Possibilities to externalize and communicate essential aspects of our psyche, beliefs, affiliations or sexual orientations are increasing in modern societies, where freedom of expression is a fundamental right. The artists in this exhibition promote this right, breaking with convention and reinforcing the desire for free and genuine expression.

Art Museum of the Americas Through Jan. 11

Degas’s Little Dancer

“Little Dancer Aged Fourteen” (1878–81), Edgar Degas’s groundbreaking statuette of a young ballerina that caused a sensation at the 1881 impressionist exhibition, takes center stage in an exploration of Degas’s fascination with ballet and his experimental, modern approach to his work.

National Gallery of Art Through Jan. 11

Neo-Impressionism and the Dream of Realities: Painting, Poetry, Music With more than 70 paintings and works on

December 2014

paper, this exhibition demonstrates how the neo-impressionists employed stylization and a deliberate orchestration of color to create landscapes and figures that went far beyond observed nature to accentuate subjectivity and an inner world of experience.

The Phillips Collection Through Jan. 11

Salvatore Scarpitta: Traveler A fascinating and singular figure in postwar art, Salvatore Scarpitta (1919-2007) created a powerful body of work that ranges from nonobjective abstraction to radical realism.

Hirshhorn Museum Through Jan. 19

Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor “Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor,” which features the Lincoln Cathedral Magna Carta, the great charter of rights and liberties, one of only four surviving copies of the original issue in 1215, celebrates the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, telling the story of the charter’s creation in England, reinterpretation through the centuries and emergence as an enduring document of constitutional law in the United States.

Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building Through Jan. 25

From the Library: The Book Illustrations by Romeyn de Hooghe Artistically gifted and socially well connected, Romeyn de Hooghe (1645– 1708) can help us to unravel the complexities of the late Dutch Golden Age, particularly through his vast and varied oeuvre of book illustrations.

National Gallery of Art Through Jan. 31

Contemporary Identities/ Invisible Gestures

Showcasing the immense cultural diversity of Iberoamerica through the art of photography, this exhibit features work from artists from 18 different countries of Latin America, Portugal and Spain, centering on the relationship between identity and the self in a digital world.

Mexican Cultural Institute Through Feb. 1

From Neoclassicism to Futurism: Italian Prints and Drawings, 1800–1925 The visual arts in Italy between the first stirrings of nationalistic sentiment and its corruption into Fascism — the long development of the modern Italian state — remained extraordinarily diverse and vital.

The National Gallery of Art has in recent years begun to develop a collection of Italian prints and drawings of this period that is surpassed only by the holdings of Italy’s principal museums.

National Gallery of Art Through Feb. 1

Modern American Prints and Drawings from the Kainen Collection

The final in a series of three exhibitions celebrating the generous bequest of Ruth Cole Kainen, this show explores the first seven decades of 20th-century American art.

National Gallery of Art

Through Feb. 1

Modern and Contemporary Art in the Dominican Republic: Works from the Customs Office Collection

This scenic view and historic sketch of 30 artworks showcases the consistency, quality and diversity of the Collection of the Directorate General of Customs, which stands as one of the more important creative spaces in the region.

Art Museum of the Americas Through Feb. 6

War from the Victims’ Perspective: Photographs by Jean Mohr In partnership with the Swiss Embassy, Geneva-born photographer Jean Mohr presents images of war, from young refugees to destroyed buildings, to mark the 150th anniversaries of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the 1864 Geneva Convention.

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Through Feb. 16

El Greco in the National Gallery of Art and Washington-Area Collections: A 400th Anniversary Celebration

On the 400th anniversary of El Greco’s death, the National Gallery of Art — with one of the largest number of the artist’s works in the United States — presents a commemorative exhibition of El Greco’s paintings.

National Gallery of Art Through Feb. 26

Decoding the Renaissance During the Renaissance, the art and science of cryptography came into its own.

The advent of printing, development of diplomacy and creation of postal systems created an obsession with encryption that produced some of the period’s most brilliant inventions, most beautiful books and most enduring legacies. This exhibition features the best collection ever assembled of early works on codes and ciphers.

Folger Shakespeare Library Through March 22

Nasta’liq: The Genius of Persian Calligraphy

More than 20 works ranging in date from 1400 to 1600 form the first exhibition of its kind to focus on nasta‛liq, a calligraphic script that developed in the 14th century in Iran and remains one of the most expressive forms of aesthetic refinement in Persian culture to this day.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Through April 12

Days of Endless Time

This exhibit presents 14 installations that offer prismatic vantage points into the suspension and attenuation of time or that create a sense of timelessness, with themes such as escape, solitude, enchantment and the thrall of nature.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Through May 31

Style in Chinese Landscape Painting: The Yuan Legacy

Landscape painting is one of the most outstanding achievements of Chinese culture.

Key styles in this genre emerged during the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) and are still followed today.

Freer Gallery of Art

The Washington Diplomat

December 2014

Through May 31

The Traveler’s Eye: Scenes of Asia

Featuring more than 100 works created over the past five centuries, “The Traveler’s Eye: Scenes of Asia” provides glimpses of travels across the Asian continent, from pilgrimages and research trips to expeditions for trade and tourism.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

The Warner Theatre

Through June 7

Perspectives: Chiharu Shiota

Performance and installation artist Chiharu Shiota, Japan’s representative at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015, will recreate a monumental yet intimate work in the Sackler pavilion that amasses personal memories through an accumulation of nearly 400 individual shoes, each with a note from the donor describing lost individuals and past moments.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Through June 7

Unearthing Arabia: The Archaeological Adventures of Wendell Phillips

Wendell Phillips, a young paleontologist and geologist, headed one of the largest archaeological expeditions to remote South Arabia (present-day Yemen) from 1949 to 1951. Through a selection of unearthed objects as well as film and photography shot by the expedition team, the exhibition highlights Phillips’s key finds, recreates his adventures (and misadventures), and conveys the thrill of discovery on this important great archaeological frontier.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Through Sept. 13

Chief S.O. Alonge: Photographer to the Royal Court of Benin, Nigeria This retrospective showcases the work of noted Nigerian photographer Chief S.O. Alonge, the first indigenous photographer of the Royal Court of Benin, in conjunction with royal arts from the Benin kingdom.

The collection of historic photographs was captured on Kodak glass-plate negatives and documents more than 50 years of the ritual, pageantry and regalia of the obas (kings), their wives and retainers.

National Museum of African Art

DANCE Dec. 4 to 28

The Nutcracker

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of

from page 35

Cinema Listings Romanian The Japanese Dog (Câinele Japonez) Directed by Tudor Cristian Jurgiu (Romania, 2013, 86 min.)

A devastating flood ravages a small Romanian village, destroying the stoic Costache’s home and killing his wife. When his long- estranged son turns up with his Japanese wife, son and robotic dog, Costache is forced to reexamine his life (Romanian and Japanese).

AFI Silver Theatre Sat., Dec. 13, 11:10 a.m., Thu., Dec. 18, 5:30 p.m.

Slovenian Class Enemy (Razredni sovražnik) Directed by Rok Bicek (Slovenia, 2013, 112 min.)

When a no-nonsense German teacher takes over a classroom, a

his highly acclaimed production, Septime Webre is planning some special surprises for his celebrated all-American “Nutcracker,” a gorgeous production set in 1882 Georgetown that showcases the grandeur of the Washington Ballet’s international roster of dancers and majesty of Tchaikovsky’s music. Please call for ticket information.

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

Dec. 18 to 21

Through Dec. 14

Sex, Drugs and Serafin

National Symphony Orchestra: Handel’s Messiah

As You Like It

Daniel Serafin takes the audience on a rollicking journey to the edge of the underworld, spanning two continents and three languages. Serafin, a native of Vienna, interprets music from the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s.

Admission is free but registration is required; for information, visit http://acfdc.org.

Embassy of Austria

MUSIC

Fri., Dec. 12, 7:30 p.m.

Wed., Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m.

Andrea Eckert Performing ‘Lotte and Great, Two Ladies from Vienna’ Lotte Lenya and Greta Keller, two extraordinary performers, whose lives were bifurcated by war, are at the heart of this program. Singing in German, English and French, the renowned Austrian actress and singer Andrea Eckert takes us on a thrilling journey through the lives, loves and losses of these two remarkable performers. Admission is free but registration is required; for information, visit http://acfdc.org.

Embassy of Austria Wed., Dec. 3, 6:30 p.m.

Ricardo Cobo, Colombia

In this concert homage to Gabriel García Márquez (1927-2014), renowned Colombian guitarist Ricardo Cobo performs works from the region where García Márquez was raised. The program will also include Caribbean composers from Cuba and Venezuela, and a world debut of a musical piece inspired by García Márquez called “Romanzas de Rioacha,” by the Chilean composer Javier Farías as part of his “Seis Miradas por Latinoamérica” honoring the six Nobel Prize winners from Latin America.

Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center Enrique V. Iglesias Auditorium

Remembering the Battle of the Bulge Cabaret artist Karen Kohler, tenor Joshua Glassman, pianist George Peachey, and MC Robin Philips perform cabaret and World War I and II songs with a connection to the Battle of the Bulge, a decisive event in the war that marks its 70th anniversary this month. Tickets are $150, including buffet and wine; for information, visit www. embassyseries.org.

THEATER

In this 2014 Hanukkah-timed concert, Pro Musica Hebraica presents the young Israeli virtuosos of the Ariel Quartet to trace the arc of modern Israeli music. Tickets are $44.

Kennedy Center Terrace Theater Dec. 14 to 22

The Washington Chorus: A Candlelight Christmas With brass, organ, percussion, harp, and the 200-voice chorus, this beloved holiday event features Christmas classics, singalongs, theatrical lighting and the glorious candlelight processional. Tickets are $15 to $70.

The Choral Arts Society of Washington: A Capital Christmas

Spanish Aventurera (Adventuress) Directed by Alberto Gout (Mexico, 1950, 101 min.)

One of the most popular Mexican films ever made, this cult sensation belongs to the cabareteras genre, a film noir and musical hybrid popular in Mexico in the ’40s and ’50s. Starring the immortal Ninón Sevilla, it follows the rise and fall of a nightclub performer with a dark past and plans for revenge.

GALA Hispanic Theatre Sun., Dec. 7, 2 p.m.

Falling Star (Stella cadente)

Hear the Choral Arts Chorus perform your holiday favorites, enjoy carols from Argentina, this year’s embassy partner, and experience the versatility of Jeff “Skunk” Baxter on his guitars, which will showcase sounds that range from warm and rich to almost like the sounds of a harp or the singing voice. Tickets are $15 to $75.

Kennedy Center Concert Hall

Directed by Luis Miñarro (Spain, 2014, 105 min.)

After Spain’s 1870 “Glorious Revolution,” the country’s legislature votes to place Italian Duke Amedeo upon the Spanish throne, but the energetic, reform-minded monarch is stymied at every turn.

AFI Silver Theatre Fri., Dec. 19, 5:15 p.m., Sun., Dec. 21, 12:50 p.m.

Los Insólitos Peces Gato (The Amazing Catfish) Directed by Claudia Sainte-Luce (Mexico, 2013, 95 min.)

Winner of multiple awards at film festivals around the world, this is a heartwarming tale of two unique women who bond while recuperating in a hospital and whose lives become intertwined as one bonds with the other’s children.

GALA Hispanic Theatre Fri., Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m.

Juan de los Muertos (Juan of the Dead) Directed by Alejandro Brugués (Cuba/Spain, 2011, 97 min.)

A zombie comedy with the subtext

George Mason University Center for the Arts

Dec. 2 to Jan. 11

The Tempest

Trickery and magic, romance and revenge set the stage for one of Shakespeare’s late masterpieces, in which sprites, goddesses and fools hold court. Please call for ticket prices.

The Shakespeare Theatre Through Dec. 7

Julius Caeser

Folger Theatre launches its 2014-15 season in Rome with Shakespeare’s enduring political tragedy and epic portrayal of the battle between ambition and honor, conspiracy and loyalty. Tickets are $40 to $75.

Folger Shakespeare Library

Kariné Poghosyan, Piano

AFI Silver Theatre Sun., Dec. 21, 9:45 p.m.

Vienna Boys Choir: Christmas in Vienna

Pro Musica Hebraica: Zion’s Muse: Three Generations of Israeli Composers

Dec. 15 to 24

student commits suicide following an especially demeaning interaction with the authoritarian teacher, and the tight-knit senior class rebels against his humiliating methods and the “system” (Slovenian and German).

Sat., Dec. 20, 8 p.m., Sun., Dec. 21, 4 p.m.

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

Embassy of Luxembourg

Fri., Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m.

Embassy of Armenia

Kennedy Center Concert Hall

Few experiences capture the wonder and magic of the holiday season quite like these remarkable Austrian youngsters in their annual Christmas concert. Their spirited performance features everything from ancient hymns and traditional Christmas carols to popular holiday favorites and songs from across the globe. Tickets are $30 to $50

Kennedy Center Concert Hall

Kariné Poghosyan has performed in recitals at Carnegie’s Well Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Steinway Hall, the Young Artists International Peninsula Festival in California and many other venues. She performs a program of Komitas, Khachaturian, Beethoven and more. Tickets are $80, including Armenian buffet; for information, visit www.embassyseries.org.

Get in the holiday spirit with Handel’s epic masterpiece, performed each year with a fresh perspective by the NSO and acclaimed guest artists. This year, Nicholas McGegan conducts four gifted singers and the Washington Chorus in this NSO tradition. Tickets are $10 to $85.

Dec. 9 to Jan. 25

Diner

Signature Theatre

GALA Hispanic Theatre Sat., Dec. 6, 7 p.m.

Mapa (Map) Directed by León Siminiani (Spain, 2012, 85 min.)

A young director fired from his TV job and dumped by his girlfriend goes to India in search of his first feature film, only to discover that the real search is back home.

GALA Hispanic Theatre Thu., Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m.

Melaza (Molasses) Directed by Carlos Lechuga (Cuba, 2012, 80 min.)

When the local sugar mill shut down, the town of Melaza is left devastated and a young couple are

December 2014

The Shakespeare Theatre Dec. 16 to Jan. 4

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Democrat

Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical about the trials and triumphs of Israel’s favorite son features Broadway stars and “American Idol” sensations, husband-andwife duo Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young.

Tickets are $25 to $155.

Kennedy Center Opera House Through Dec. 21

Bad Jews

The night after their grandfather’s funeral, three cousins engage in a verbal battle royale over a family heirloom. In one corner is “Super Jew” Daphna: volatile, self-assured and unbending. In the other, Liam: secular, entitled and just as stubborn. And in the middle, Liam’s brother Jonah tries to stay out of the fray. Tickets are $44 to $88.

Studio Theatre Through Dec. 28

Five Guys Named Moe

Dance the blues away as big band meets boy band in this dynamic, dazzling musical revue featuring classics have been remixed in this explosive tribute to “King of the Jukebox” Louis Jordan. Please call for ticket information.

Arena Stage Through Jan. 1

A Christmas Carol

Acclaimed Washington stage actor Edward Gero returns for the sixth year to play Ebenezer Scrooge in the production the Washington Post hailed as “musically highspirited” and “infectiously jolly.” Tickets are $22 to $95.

Ford’s Theatre

Christmas, Baltimore, 1959: A circle of childhood friends reunite for the upcoming wedding of one of them. From the comfort of their all-night diner, the men, now in their early-twenties, confront the realities of adulthood: marriage, careers, money and the ever-mysterious opposite sex. Please call for ticket prices.

of the Cuban Revolution, this irreverent satire centers on a man who is initially convinced that the attack is another stage of the Revolution, but when he realizes that the attackers are zombies and killing them is an acquired skill, he decides to make some money from it — and a business is born.

All the world’s a stage in “As You Like It,” one of Shakespeare’s fullest comedies, where poetry, mistaken identities and true love lost and found abound. Please call for ticket prices.

Through Jan. 4

Fiddler on the Roof

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of an American musical classic with this new, in-the-round production of the joyful tale of family, community and life’s unexpected miracles. Tickets are $50 to $99.

Arena Stage

pushed to the point of desperation as they struggle to survive without losing their personal passions, principles and faith (preceded by an artists’ reception at 6 p.m.).

GALA Hispanic Theatre Wed., Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m.

Los Niños Salvajes (The Wild Children) Directed by Patricia Ferreira (Spain, 2012, 100 min.)

This engrossing drama and a cry for social change tells the story of three teens in a big city who are perfect strangers to their parents, teachers and themselves — an emotional isolation that has unexpected and dire consequences.

GALA Hispanic Theatre Sat., Dec. 6, 2 p.m.

Swedish The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann) Directed by Felix Herngren (Sweden, 2013, 114 min.)

Based on a bestselling novel, this crowd-pleasing comedy tells the unbelievable story of former dynamite expert, the titular 100-year-old man who isn’t ready to stop life’s party.

AFI Silver Theatre Sat., Dec. 13, 5:15 p.m.

Turkish Winter Sleep (Kis uykusu) Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey/France/Germany, 2014, 196 min.)

a former actor, runs a small hotel in central Anatolia with his young wife Nihal with whom he has a stormy relationship and his sister Necla who is suffering from her recent divorce.

Angelika Mosaic Angelika Pop-Up Opens Fri., Dec. 19 For a complete list of films, please visit our Web site at www.washdiplomat.com.

The Washington Diplomat Page 37

DIPLOMATIC SPOTLIGHT

The Washington Diplomat

December 2014

cpS 2014 Dissects midterm Elections More than 200 diplomats representing over 60 nations, including over a dozen ambassadors, attended the third annual Country Promotion Strategies (CPS) Conference on nov. 6 to hear NO INTEREST expert analysis on the recent U.S. election and insider tips for navigating Washington.

For 12 Months The all-day annual event — the only one of its kind in D.C. — is organized by The SAME AS CASH! Washington Diplomat and was held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade With approved credit and minimum purchase of Center in conjunction with the Meridian International Center. The goal of CPS is to help diplo$4000 APR 23.97% mats promote their nations in the U.S. by offering advice on lobbying, public relations and crisis management, digital diplomacy and social media, economic development and other topics.

To view all The keynote speaker was virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, the photos from the who touted virginia as the “best state” in the country and Country talked about the importance of attracting international busiPromotion Strategies ness to virginia. In his first 10 months in office, the Conference, be sure to like Democratic governor with close ties to the Clinton camp has The Washington already brought in $5 billion in foreign direct investment, Diplomat on Facebook. double from last year.

McAuliffe pointed to his recent trip to China, where he got a ban on virginia poultry lifted. He also discussed the state’s attractive corporate interest rates From left, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Pakistani Embassy Asad M. Khan; Ambassador of Costa Rica Roman Macaya; Ambassador of lesotho and lamented the impending cuts to the Defense Department. noting that his next trip abroad Eliachim Molapi Sebatane; Anne Hung of the Taipei Economic and Cultural office (TECRo); Washington Diplomat Publisher victor Shiblie; virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe; Whatmore Goora of the Zimbabwean Embassy; Ambassador of the Arab league Mohammed Al-Hussaini might be to the Middle East, McAuliffe said he wants to open virginia up to the world. “It’s all Al-Sharif; Ambassador of Zimbabwe Ammon Mutembwa; and Ambassador of latvia Andris Razans. about jobs,” he said. “I am all for opening U.S. markets. I love competition.”

During the luncheon, former Sen. Richard lugar (R-Ind.), who headed up the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former Rep. Connie Mack Iv (R-Fla.) reflected on the recent midterm election, how it will affect the country’s political polarization and what to expect from a new Congress. lugar said the vote was a “debate on President obama and it was a debate that turned off much of the electorate.” Mack said he hopes spending bills will now move through Congress more easily, and his advice to diplomats was to “find an advocate” on the Hill, get straight to the point and “don’t get discouraged.” other speakers included: U.S. Protocol Chief Peter Selfridge, who discussed the State Department’s relationship with the diplomatic corps; Italian Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero, who explained his embassy’s public relations campaign; Debra B. Whitman, who highlighted AARP’s global footprint; former Hungarian Ambassador András Simonyi, who recalled his time on “The Colbert From left, moderator Stuart Holliday, president and CEo of the Meridian International Center; virginia Gov. Report”; Microsoft’s John Paul Farmer, who talked about innovation in governvirginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe greets Terry McAuliffe; Bradford Fitch, president and CEo of the Congressional Management Foundation; and Ambassador of latvia Andris Razans. victor Shiblie, publisher and editor in chief of The Washington Diplomat. ment; as well as reps from lEvICK, the Podesta Group and many others.

to

see

more

3From left, Daniela Kristo nesho of the Embassy of Albania; Ambassador of Dominica Hubert J. Charles; Shireen Yousuf of the Embassy of oman; and Ana Maria Raquel Alberto of the Embassy of Mozambique.

Former Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) talks to the crowd.

Bradford Fitch, president and CEo of the Congressional Management Foundation, left, and Ambassador of Barbados John Beale.

4virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, left, shares a laugh with Ambassador of the Arab league Mohammed Al-Hussaini Al-Sharif.

4Ambassador of Cabo verde Jose luis Rocha, left, talks with Kerry Parmley, sales manager of entertainment, sorts and diplomatic sales at the Peninsula Chicago of the Peninsula, one of the sponsors of CPS.

3AARP was the luncheon sponsor of the CPS Conference.

Page 38

The Washington Diplomat

Ambassador of Italy Claudio Bisogniero, left, and virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

From left, Whatmore Goora of the Zimbabwean Embassy; recently appointed Ambassador of Zimbabwe Ammon Mutembwa; and Monique McSween of the Meridian International Center.

Former Ambassador of Hungary András Simonyi, now with the Johns Hopkins Schools of Advanced International Studies, left, and Regine Aalders, senior global health advisor at the netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.

December 2014

Former Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), now president of the Lugar Center.

From left, Maya Seiden of the BGR Group, Vineta Mekone of the Embassy of Latvia and Kristjan Kuurme of the Embassy of Estonia.

Jane Pearlman, senior international account manager of Cort Furniture, left, and Ambassador of Latvia Andris Razans.

Managing Editor of The Washington Diplomat Anna Gawel, left, and Ambassador of Slovakia Peter Kmec.

From left, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Uzbekistan Said Rustamov; Talgat Baimukhambetov of the Embassy of Kazakhstan; Walid Kildani of the State Department; and Mukhamed Lou of the Embassy of Kyrgyzstan.

From left, former Ambassador of Sri Lanka Devinda Subasinghe, now with the Ambassadors Group; Deputy Chief of Mission of the Pakistani Embassy Asad M. Khan; and Ambassador of Sri Lanka Prasad Kariyawasam.

Mark Irion of LEVICK, left, and former Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.), executive vice president at LEVICK.

Bandula Somasiri of the Embassy of Sri Lanka, left, and Maria Roseni Alvero of the Embassy of the Philippines.

From left, Masego S.D. Nkgomotsang of the Botswana Embassy, Ndumiso Mngadi of the South African Embassy and Letlhogonolo Desmond Moreki of the South African Embassy.

John Shaw, author and reporter for The Washington Diplomat and Market News International.

James Fabiani of Fabiani & Company, left, and Ambassador of Colombia Luis Carlos Villegas.

From left, Charlotte Grant of the Embassy of Belgium, Sanna Kangasharju of the Embassy of Finland, Omar Faqih of the PLO Delegation, Edona Dervisholli of the Global Harvest Initiative and Kaitlin Rittgers of the Embassy of Singapore.

David Huang of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECRO), left, and Stefan Gudjohnsen of Globescope Internet Services.

Clifton Greene talks to guests at the DHL booth.

From left, Meridian International Center President Stuart Holliday, David Marin of the Podesta Group, James Fabiani, former White House Special Counsel Lanny J. Davis, Jessica Ross of Finn Partners and Kevin Kelly of Van Scoyoc Associates Inc. headline the lobbying and public relations panel.

Physicians are not employees or agents of this hospital.

December 2014

Rendolf Lee, minister plenipotentiary for Aruba, left, and Luis S. Chang, chief tourism and investment specialist for the Peru Trade, Tourism and Investment Office.

Suchada Maktara of the Royal Thai Embassy, left, and Sylvana Simson of the Embassy of Suriname.

— MORE Photos ON NEXT PAGE —

Appointment scheduling • Interpretation Package/Cost estimates 202-715-5100 • helen.salazar@gwu-hospital.com

The Washington Diplomat Page 39

DIPLOMATIC SPOTLIGHT

The Washington Diplomat

December 2014

Country Promotion Strategies Conference

From left, Ambassador of Costa Rica Roman Macaya; Ambassador of Lesotho Eliachim Molapi Sebatane; and Anne Hung of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECRO).

U.S. Chief of Protocol Peter Selfridge talks about the State Department’s Office of Protocol.

Victor Shiblie, publisher and editor in chief of The Washington Diplomat, welcomes guests to the 2014 CPS Conference.

Bill Black, president of the Greater Washington China Investment Center, left, and Xiaoyan Qian of the Embassy of China.

Helen Salazar talks with a guest at the George Washington University Hospital International Patient Program booth.

Moderator Stuart Holliday, president and CEO of the Meridian International Center, left, talks with panelist John Paul Farmer, director of technology and civic innovation at Microsoft.

From left, Frank Yee Wang, Yueh-chin Wang and Charles Liao of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECRO).

Gizem Salcigil White, president at American Turkish Association of Washington D.C., pours Turkish coffee for guests at the Turkish Airlines booth.

3From left, Jodi Mahardi of the Embassy of Indonesia, Omar Faqih of the PLO Delegation and Bounthala Panyavichith of the Embassy of Laos.

Ted Middleton, senior vice president of development for Latin America and Hilton Grand Vacations at Hilton Worldwide, talks about attracting hotel investment.

4Ambassador Stuart Holliday, CEO and president of the Meridian International Center, served as moderator.

4From left, Jodi Mahardi of the Embassy of Indonesia, Bounthala Panyavichith of the Embassy of Laos, Luis Plaza of the Embassy of Chile and Alex Morales of The Washington Diplomat.

4Van Scoyoc Associates Inc. was one of the various sponsors of the CPS Conference.

3Aetna was one of the various sponsors of the CPS Conference.

Page 40

4Debra B. Whitman, executive vice president of policy, strategy and international affairs of AARP — which, with 37 million members, has the population of a small country — opens the luncheon.

Mariusz Gbiorczyk, left, and Katarzyna Czop, both from the Embassy of Poland.

3Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, left, talks with Ambassador of Lesotho Eliachim Molapi Sebatane at the VIP reception.

4From left, moderator Stuart Holliday, John Paul Farmer, Microsoft director of technology and civic innovation; Rodolfo Pereira, head of the Peruvian Embassy Digital Diplomacy Department; Matthew Dybwad of CRAFT Media/Digital; Helen Seidel, public affairs counselor for the Australian Embassy; and Andreas Sandre, press and public affairs officer at the Italian Embassy, headline the digital diplomacy and technology panel.

The Washington Diplomat

December 2014

Meridian Ball

photo: Joyce Boghosian

photo: Joyce Boghosian

From left, congressional co-chairs Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Dr. Sonya Horsford, and Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif). and Marie Thérèse Royce of Alcatel-Lucent; White-Meyer chairs Maxmillian Angerholzer III and Lindsay Angerholzer; ball chairs Gov. James J. Blanchard and Janet Blanchard; Edilia Gutierrez and former Commerce Secretary and Meridian Board Chairman Carlos M. Gutierrez; and Gwen Holliday and Meridian President and CEO Stuart Holliday attend the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

Stuart Holliday, president and CEO of the Meridian International Center, left, and Ambassador of France Gérard Araud attend 46th annual Meridian Ball, which featured 26 pre-ball dinners at ambassador embassies and residences followed by desserts and dancing at the Meridian International Center.

Ambassador of Azerbaijan Elin Suleymanov and his wife Lala Abdurahimova attend the 46th annual Meridian Ball, which attracted over 800 ambassadors, members of Congress, senior U.S. and foreign government officials, business leaders and media.

rom left, Carmela Villegas and Ambassador of Colombia Luis Carlos Villegas join Didi Cutler and former Meridian President Walter Cutler at the White-Meyer Dinner as part of the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Congo Faida Mitifu, left, and Fran Cine attend the WhiteMeyer Dinner of the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

Ambassador of Liechtenstein Claudia Fritsche, left, greets former U.S. Ambassador to Barbados Mary Ourisman at the 46th annual Meridian Ball held at the Meridian International Center.

photo: Joyce Boghosian

Guests enjoy the gardens of the Meridian International Center, a nonprofit that promotes international understanding through professional exchange, educational and arts programs.

photo: Joyce Boghosian

From left, Ambassador of Barbados John Beale, Iris De Graaf of the International Finance Corp., Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago Neil Parsan, Leila Beale and Ambassador of Grenada Angus Friday attend the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

From left, former Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), Leslie Gordon, Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and LuAnn Bennett attend the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

From left, Loran Brueggen Aiken, Kristen Olson and Marilyn Baker attend the White-Meyer Dinner of the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

photo: Joyce Boghosian

The Meridian International Center is decked out to welcome hundreds of high-profile guests to its annual ball.

December 2014

From left, Ambassador of Poland Ryszard Schnepf, Frank Stipo, Marya Rozanova of the Wilson Center and Dorota Schnepf attend the White-Meyer Dinner of the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

From left, Director of the Phillips Collection Dorothy Kosinski, Thomas Krahenbuhl, Ambassador of Argentina Cecilia Nahón, Cherie Feeley and Ambassador of Peru Harold Forsyth attend the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

From left, Cedric Careau, Queenie Thompson and Ambassador of Fiji Winston Thompson attend the White-Meyer Dinner of the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

From left, Leila Beale, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Monaco Embassy Lorenzo Ravano, Ambassador of Ecuador Nathalie Cely Suárez and her husband Iván Hernandez attend the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

Shamim Jawad, associate at TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, and her husband, former Afghan Ambassador Said Tayeb Jawad, attend the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

From left, Georgetown Law professor Mark Vlasic, Parita Selfridge of the Millennium Challenge Corp., U.S. Chief of Protocol Peter Selfridge and Anu Rangappa of the Dewey Square Group attend the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

From left, Ambassador of Denmark Peter Taksoe-Jensen, Ellen Noghes, former Ambassador of Monaco Gilles Noghes and Gitte Wallin Pedersen of the World Bank enjoy the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

photo: Joyce Boghosian

Deputy Chief of Protocol Natalie Jones, left, enjoys the sandwich stand at the Meridian Ball.

From left, Ambassador of Brazil Mauro Vieira, Stephanie Green of Bloomberg, Artistic Director of the Washington Ballet Septime Webre and Lyndon K Boozer of AT&T attend the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

photo: Haik Naltchayan

Ambassador of Egypt Mohamed M. Tawfik and his wife Amani Amin attend the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

Former Acting Administrator of USAID Alonzo Fulgham, now vice president of strategy and sustainable international development for CH2M Hill, left, and his wife Nicole Fulgham, founder and president of the Expectations Project, attend the Meridian Ball.

Laura Denise Bisogniero and her husband Italian Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero hosted a preball dinner at their residence, Villa Firenze.

From left, Director of Outreach and Protocol for the House Foreign Affairs Committee Elizabeth Heng, Ambassador of Barbados John Beale and his wife Leila Beale, senior Hill staffer Baker Elmore and Ambassador of Monaco Maguy Maccario Doyle attend the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

photo: Joyce Boghosian

Guests enjoy desserts at the 46th annual Meridian Ball.

The Washington Diplomat Page 41

DIPLOMATIC SPOTLIGHT

The Washington Diplomat

December 2014

Ayenda Foundation

Points of Light

photos: kate Oczypok

Ambassador of China Cui Tiankai welcomes guests to his country’s I.M. Pei-designed embassy for an awards dinner and fundraiser for Points of Light, which in 2012 mobilized 4 million volunteers in 29 countries to improve their communities.

From left, Alex Metzman, Points of Light honoree Charles Orgbon III, founder of Greening Forward, Maria Belding and Paul Hollahan, vice president of corporate engagement for Points of Light, attend the volunteer nonprofit’s awards dinner and auction at the Chinese Embassy.

Longtime Points of Light supporter and NBA basketball great Dikembe Mutombo, left, lifts child prodigy cellist Jun “Justin” Yu as they pose with Yue-Sai Kan, known as the Oprah of China, at the 2014 Points of Light Tribute Awards at the Chinese Embassy.

Ashley Bush poses by the dancing dragon puppet at the Chinese Embassy, which opened its doors to host the 2014 Points of Light Tribute Awards.

From left, Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren, Maria Andrews and her husband Neil Bush, chair of the Points of Light Foundation, attend the 2014 Points of Light Tribute Awards at the Chinese Embassy.

The nonprofit was started by President George W. Bush in 1990 to encourage volunteerism and community service.

From left, Honorary President of International Hotels & Restaurants Association Ghassan Aidi, Ambassador of Liechtenstein Claudia Fritsche and Ray Mahmood attend the Ayenda Foundation Benefit Dinner celebrating nine years of educating Afghan children.

From left, Adam Severt of the U.S. Justice Department, Wycee Liu of the Chinese Embassy and Travis Chapman, also with the Justice Department, attend the 2014 Points of Light Tribute Awards at the Chinese Embassy.

From left, Richard Marks, Mina Popal, Afghan soccer player Shamila Kohestani and Amy Haines attend the Ayenda Foundation Benefit Dinner at the Italian Embassy.

Kathleen Rogers, president of the Earth Day Network, left, and Kate Irvin, diplomatic relations director for Coca-Cola, attend the 2014 Points of Light Tribute Awards, which honored basketball player Yao Ming, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Orgbon and José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen.

Former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, left, and Bob Goodwyn attend the Tribute Awards dinner and auction for Points of Light, the largest organization in the world dedicated to volunteer service.

3From left, a bevy of ambassador wives enjoy Singapore’s National Day reception: from left, Vicky J. Cuisia of the Philippines, Datin Mahani binti Dato Abu Zar of Brunei, Gouri Mirpuri of Singapore, Khin Myint Kyi of Myanmar and Somdy Soukhathivong of Laos.

Singapore National Day

photos: Gail scott

From left, Ambassador of Singapore Ashok Mirpuri, Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-N.C.), Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel and Gen. Paul J. Selva, commander of the U.S. Transportation Command in Illinois, toast Singapore’s National Day.

Page 42

From left, Judy Valdez, Mayor of Carteret, N.J., Daniel J. Reiman, Ramon Fajin and Marilyn Fajin attend the 2014 Points of Light Tribute Awards at the Chinese Embassy.

4From left, Ambassador of Laos Seng Soukhathivong and his wife Somdy Soukhathivong join Gouri Mirpuri and her husband, Ambassador of Singapore Ashok Mirpuri, at Singapore’s annual National Day reception held at the embassy.

Shamim Jawad, founder of Ayenda Foundation, wife of the former Afghan ambassador and now an associate at TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, welcomes guests to the Italian Embassy for the Ayenda Foundation 2014 Benefit Dinner celebrating nine years of progress in educating Afghan children.

From left, Chairman of the Friends of the American University of Afghanistan Leslie M. Schweitzer, former Chief Operating Officer of the Air Traffic Organization David Grizzle and author and social worker Anne Grizzle attend the Ayenda Foundation Benefit Dinner at the Italian Embassy.

From left, Reem Shukri, Luma Hakki, Honorary President of International Hotels & Restaurants Association Ghassan Aidi, Salim Hamdan and Chief Executive Officer of Contrack International Construction Company Wahid Hakki attend the Ayenda Foundation Benefit Dinner.

Deborah Epstein, left, and Meryl Chertoff, executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Justice and Society Program, attend the annual benefit dinner for the Ayenda Foundation, founded in 2006 to support and protect Afghanistan’s most valuable and vulnerable natural resource: its children.

From left, Ambassador of El Salvador to the Organization of American States Francisco Lainez, Monica Lainez and Iman Jawad attend the annual benefit for the Ayenda Foundation, which supports schools, computer labs, health programs, sports facilities, scholarships, training and skills development programs in Afghanistan.

Director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Center Shuja Nawaz and his wife Seema Nawaz attend the Ayenda Foundation Benefit Dinner at the Italian Embassy.

The Washington Diplomat

December 2014

DC’s Dancing Stars

Photo: Joy Asico

Former Washington Redskins players and teammates Clinton Portis, left, and Chris Cooley emceed the DC’s Dancing Stars Gala, a dance competition that raised funds for charities such as the Washington Humane Society, Girls Health Ed, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Washington Redskins Alumni, among others.

Photo: Joy Asico

“House of Cards” actor Lamont Easter, left, dances with his partner at the first-ever DC’s Dancing Start Gala, a black-tie dancing challenge held at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner, Va., that brought together notable Washingtonian VIPs to help raise thousands of dollars in support of local charities.

From left, Jason Rushing; Katya Naiman, a dancer with the Fred Astaire Dance Studio; WUSA9 news anchor Andrea Roane; and Mike Hydeck, morning news anchor for WUSA9 attend the DC’s Dancing Stars Gala and blacktie dancing challenge.

Photo: Joy Asico

An all-star panel judged the DC’s Dancing Stars competition: from left, former Washington Redskin Gary Clark, Chris Bukowski of “The Bachelorette” and Jonathan Roberts of “Dancing with the Stars.”

Photo: Joy Asico

DC’s Dancing Stars Gala co-chairs Maria Coakley David and Jim David are the co-owners of the Fred Astaire Fairfax Studio in Fairfax, Va., whose dancers performed in the competition alongside the local celebrities.

From left, Bruce Anderson, Natalia Givas and Tim Thompson attend the DC’s Dancing Stars Gala at the Ritz-Carlton to support local charities.

Among the dancers who competed in the DC’s Dancing Stars Gala were, from left: “House of Cards” actor Lamont Easter; Tammy Darvish of Darcars Automotive Group; Charrisse Jackson-Jorden, one of the founding members of the Sacramento Kings Wives Organization; Ted Britt Automotive Group General Manager Evelyn Smallwood; and former NFL player John Booty; along with Susannah Moss, executive director of DC’s Dancing Stars.

From left, Brian and Julie Lee join Megan and Ben Britton at the DC’s Dancing Stars Gala at the Ritz-Carlton to support local charities.

From left, Nikki Hooten, Heather Saftner, Clay Saftner of Simpson & McCrady LLC and Caroline Coakley attend the first-ever DC’s Dancing Stars Gala at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner.

Festival des Artistes Don and Ron

4From left, Ambassador of Israel Ron Dermer joins Lala Abdurahimova and her husband, Ambassador of Azerbaijan Elin Suleymanov, at the 44th Annual Joseph Wharton Award Dinner, which honored Dermer and Donald Trump.

4Ambassador of Israel Ron Dermer, left, who attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance, accepts an award from Alan Schlaifer, president of the Wharton Club of Washington, at the annual Wharton Award Dinner held in the Park Hyatt Hotel.

3From left, Ambassador of Costa Rica Román Macaya, Ambassador of the Philippines José Cuisia and Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago Neil Parsan attend the 44th Annual Joseph Wharton Award Dinner.

3Real estate mogul Donald Trump, who attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance, boasts about his many achievements at the 44th Annual Joseph Wharton Award Dinner held in the Park Hyatt.

Former U.S. Assistant Chief of Protocol Lawrence Dunham, chair of the THIS for Diplomats Advisory Board; Nan Coughlin, chair of the Festival des Artistes; and Joan Keston, a past president of THIS for Diplomats, attend the international art show at Marymount University.

photos: larry luxner

photos: gail scott

International Student House

Haitian artist Lola Poisson, wife of former Haitian Ambassador Raymond Joseph, shows her artwork at the Festival des Artistes VI, hosted by THIS for Diplomats (The Hospitality and Information Service) at Marymount University.

3From left, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, International Student House Board member Betty Ann Tanner and former Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.) attend a Tribute Dinner for the International Student House, a nonprofit in D.C. that provides a residential experience to international graduate students, interns and visiting scholars.

photos: gail scott

From left, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and his wife Lilibet Hagel join hosts Laura Denise Bisogniero and her husband, Ambassador of Italy Claudio Bisogniero, at their residence for a Tribute Dinner to celebrate the International Student House.

The Bisognieros are the diplomatic chairs of the 2014 Global Leadership Awards Program, and the Hagels are the honorary chairs.

December 2014

4From left, CEO and owner of the Sierra Nevada Corp. Fatih Ozmen and Eren Ozmen, chairwoman and president of Sierra Nevada Corp., join Marillyn Hewson, chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin, and her husband James Hewson at the International Student House Tribute Dinner.

Wendy Magoronga, an International Student House scholar from Zimbabwe, left, and ISH Executive Director Tom O’Coin attend a Tribute Dinner to celebrate the International Student House at the Italian ambassador’s residence.

Brazilian artist Marilia Bulhoes was one of many international artists who presented paintings, watercolors, sculpture and jewelry at the Festival des Artistes VI organized by THIS for Diplomats, created in 1961 to promote friendship between the diplomatic community and the volunteers who host them.

The Washington Diplomat Page 43

from page 9

Food Wheeler showed her GMU audience a photo of the glitzy new Dean & DeLuca gourmet food emporium in Kuwait City.

At 21,500 square feet, it’s the largest Dean & Deluca fran­ chise in the Middle East.

Another image was of the new Cheesecake Factory outlet at a Photo: Larry Luxner Kuwait City mall.

“We’ve sent all our worst habits to the Qatar and other Gulf Arab states have imported Gulf, and they are very happy to have them,” some of America’s worst eating habits, along she said. “The Gulf countries are a perfect with high rates obesity; the inhabitants of the lab for studying non-communicable diseas­ Persian Gulf wolf down an average of 3,700 es. Diabetes is growing faster here than calories a day. anywhere else on the planet, yet they’re in a water-scarce region — and it’s oil wealth food wasters in the world as well, produc­ ing 150 million tons of municipal garbage that allows them to mask this problem.”

Wheeler, a political scientist who lived a year. In addition, they release more car­ in Kuwait, said that in the country of 3.3 bon into the atmosphere on a per-capita million, 70 percent of the adult population, basis than anyone else. Yet they don’t pro­ and 48 percent of all adolescents, are either duce anything, which is why the Gulf Cooperation Council’s food import bill has overweight or obese.

“These people lead highly consumptive jumped by 105 percent since 2010; experts lifestyles that are ultimately dangerous to estimate that the six GCC nations will spend a combined $53 billion a year on public health,”Wheeler said.

“As we know, as GDP goes up, consump­ food by 2020.

Budget constraints and the plummeting tion is transformed.These are rich countries and they eat like rich countries. The prob­ price of oil are why some Gulf countries lem is, they don’t produce anything they are broaching the sacrosanct but costly eat,” she warned.“In spite of having all that subject of fuel and food subsidies that gov­ oil wealth, which allows them to live way ernments dole out to keep their citizens beyond their ecological footprints, we’re happy. But any talk of cutting the artificially cheap oil and gas that Gulf resi­ starting to see cracks. How did dents have come to expect pro­ the Tunisian revolution start? A vokes instant outrage. vegetable seller set himself on “People are aware of the fact fire.That led to a transition.” the cost of living is increasing Wheeler added:“These coun­ rapidly. And what are their gov­ tries are so fragile. As soon as ernments doing? They’re cutting they collapse, we’re going to subsidies. This leads to public see massive Islamization.” protests in places where we In fact, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi don’t expect it,” Wheeler said, Arabia and the United Arab Deborah Wheeler arguing that this is why Emirates rank in the bottom 10 percent of the world’s sustainable nations. Washington needs to be concerned. “Last All of these countries have seen population summer while I was in Kuwait, there were growth exceeding three times the global public demonstrations in support of the average, yet during the same time there’s Islamic State. They’re upset with their gov­ been a rapid decline in the amount of avail­ ernment, and any movement that looks like able fresh water. They also have the world’s it might sweep that existing government highest per-capita water consumption, even out of the way will get their support.” though their countries are among the driest on the planet.

Larry Luxner is news editor of The These countries are among the biggest Washington Diplomat.

from page 13

Ebola Widespread mistrust and misinformation have also contributed to the problem: Conspir­ acies that the West manufactured and spread Ebola emerged early in the crisis, and fear kept many people from sending sick family members to the hospital — and even led to attacks against health-care workers. Some have also stubbornly clung to traditional customs that have exacer­ bated the disease, which is spread via contact with the bodily fluids of infected people.

Yet throughout West Africa, the Ebola epi­ demic is abruptly changing social customs such as shaking hands, hugging and affection­ ately kissing the bodies of the newly departed.

“One of the problems we’re having is burying the dead. That was the main area of infection,” Stevens said, noting that “nobody in Sierra Leone shakes hands anymore.”

But one precaution he thinks goes too far: The ambassador harshly criticized mandatory quarantines being imposed by states such as

Page 44

Photo: U.S. DoD, Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall, Jr.

Naval Medical Research Bio Defense Chief of Clinical Research James Lawler, right, leads a group of students in removing their personal protective equipment during a training session at the San Antonio Military Medical Center in Texas. The students are part of a 30-person team designated to “prepare to deploy” in the event of an Ebola crisis in the U.S.

New York and New Jersey on health workers coming back from West Africa.

“I think President Obama has stuck his neck out. It’s not by being scared of what has

Map: U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization

happened that we can solve the problem. We have to solve the problem at its source, in West Africa, and stop stigmatizing those who are leaving America to work there and then come back. It’s not good for those who might want to volunteer,” he said.

“Quarantines affect even our own people,” Stevens complained. “They dampen the spirit of those who might want to go, when they hear they’ll be kept for 21 days and that when they come back, they might lose their jobs.”

British Airways and Air France stopped serv­ ing Sierra Leone as soon as the Ebola outbreak began. Now only Brussels Airlines and Royal Air Maroc fly to Freetown.“We are glad at least we have those two serving us,” said Stevens.

“The economic consequences of this scourge have already started affecting us,” he added. “Revenue has dropped by a third, and most of the big industries that were actually employing people are closing, so it will have a huge impact on the economy. That’s why we need a lot of understanding and collaboration from financial institutions.”

Stevens predicted that Sierra Leone will

The Washington Diplomat

“have Ebola under some control” by the end of December, though outright eradication will take much longer.

Sulunteh said Liberia will need at least $300 million in foreign aid to jumpstart its ravaged economy. For now, Sulunteh has cancelled all fundraising events and isn’t even sure if his embassy will host its traditional annual out­ door barbecue and music festival next July to celebrate the 1847 signing of Liberia’s declara­ tion of independence.

“As long as Ebola is raging in Liberia, we are very cautious about gatherings, even though we feel the Ebola situation will be over before then,” Sulunteh said with a dose of skepticism.

“After some time, we’ll go back to our regular diplomatic routine, pushing foreign policy and discussing bilateral issues.”

But the ambassador warned: “This isn’t like a conventional war. Ebola does not talk, and it does not know borders.The more we wait, the more it gets out of hand.”

Larry Luxner is news editor of The Washington Diplomat.

December 2014

AROUNDTHEWORLD HOLIDAYS ALBANIA Dec. 25: Christmas Day ANDORRA Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: St. Stephen’s Day ANGOLA Dec. 25: Christmas Day ANTIGUA and BARBUDA Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day ARGENTINA Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 31: Bank Holiday

THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT

Send Us Your Holidays and Appointments Dec. 26: St. Stephen’s Day AZERBAIJAN Dec. 31: Solidarity Day of Azeri People BAHAMAS Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day

BOTSWANA Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day BRAZIL Dec. 25: Christmas Day BRUNEI Dec. 25: Christmas Day

Fax to: The Washington Diplomat at: (301) 949-0065 E-mail to: news@washdiplomat.com Mail to: P.O. Box 1345, Silver Spring, MD 20915-1345

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC Dec. 1: Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic Dec. 25: Christmas Day

CÔTE D’IVOIRE Dec. 7: Independence Day Dec. 25: Christmas Day

EAST TIMOR Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception Dec. 25: Christmas Day

CHAD Dec. 25: Christmas Day

CROATIA Dec. 25-26: Christmas

ECUADOR Dec. 25: Christmas Day

CYPRUS Dec. 24: Christmas Eve Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day

EL SALVADOR Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 31: Bank Holiday

BAHRAIN Dec. 16: National Day

BULGARIA Dec. 25-26: Christmas

BANGLADESH Dec. 16: Victory Day Dec. 25: Christmas Day

BURKINA FASO Dec. 11: National Day Dec. 25: Christmas Day

BARBADOS Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day

BURMA (MYANMAR) Dec. 25: Christmas Day

CHILE Dec. 25: Christmas Day

BURUNDI Dec. 25: Christmas Day

COLOMBIA Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception Dec. 25: Christmas Day

BELARUS Dec. 25: Christmas Day

CAMBODIA Dec. 10: International Human Rights Day

ARMENIA Dec. 31: New Year’s Eve

BELGIUM Dec. 25: Christmas Day

AUSTRALIA Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day

BELIZE Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day

AUSTRIA Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception Dec. 25: Christmas Day

BENIN Dec. 25: Christmas Day

CANADA Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day

BOLIVIA Dec. 25: Christmas Day

CAPE VERDE Dec. 25: Christmas Day

CAMEROON Dec. 25: Christmas Day

CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF Dec. 25: Christmas Day

CZECH REPUBLIC Dec. 24: Christmas Eve Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day DENMARK Dec. 24-26: Christmas

CONGO, REPUBLIC OF Dec. 25: Christmas Day

DOMINICA Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day

COSTA RICA Dec. 25: Christmas Day

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Dec. 25: Christmas Day

EQUATORIAL GUINEA Dec. 10: International Human Rights Day Dec. 25: Christmas Day ESTONIA Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day FIJI Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day FINLAND Dec. 6: Independence Day Dec. 24: Christmas Eve

David O’Sullivan became ambassador of the European Union to the United States on Nov. 18. Prior to arriving in the United States, Ambassador O’Sullivan served as the chief operating officer of the European External Action Service (EEAS). Ambassador Ambassador O’Sullivan was also director David O’Sullivan general for trade from 2005 to 2010. Previously, he was secretary-general of the European Commission from 2000 to 2005, head of cabinet for Commission President Romano Prodi and director general for education and training. He started his career in the Irish Foreign Ministry and spent four years in the Commission Delegation in Tokyo. He also has extensive experience in EU social and employment policy.

Ambassador O’Sullivan has a background in economics, graduating from Trinity College in Dublin and having completed post-graduate studies at the College of Europe in Bruges. He holds an honorary doctorate from the Dublin Institute of Technology and is also a member of the Consultative Board of the Institute for International Integration Studies at Trinity College. He is a visiting professor at the European College of Parma and was awarded Alumnus of the Year 2013 by the College of Europe, as well as the EU Transatlantic Business Award by the American Chamber of Commerce in 2014. He is married with two children.

Ghana Lt. Gen. Joseph Henry Smith became ambassador of Ghana to the United States on Nov. 18, becoming Ghana’s first ambassador to the U.S. who also previously served as the defense, military, naval and air attaché in Washington. Ambassador Smith held various posts throughout his military career, including: instructor with the Ghana Military Academy (1973-

Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day FRANCE Dec. 25: Christmas Day

74); company commander of the United Nations Emergency Force in Egypt (1976); assistant deputy secretary (military) with the Supreme Military Council at the Castle, Osu (1977-78); directing staff at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (Senior Division) in Teshie (1980-83); director of military training (1984-85) and director of military operations (1985-87) at Force Headquarters; and chief staff officer at the Army Headquarters (1987-88). Between 1988 and 1992, he served as the defense, military, naval and air attaché to the Pentagon and United States Armed Forces, with accreditation to the Canadian Defence Forces and Ghana’s Mission to the United Nations in New York (on peacekeeping matters).

Ambassador On his return from his diplomatic duty, Ambassador Lt. Gen. Joseph Smith was made commander Henry Smith of the 1st Infantry Brigade Group (now Southern Command) in 1992, subsequent to which he was appointed commandant of Military Academy and Training Schools (MATS) from 1992 to 1993. Afterward, he was appointed commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade Group (now Northern Command) from 1993 to 1996 and was commander of the Special Task Force formed to restore law and order to Northern Ghana during the ethnic conflict involving the Nanumba, Konkomba and Dagomba tribes from January to September 1994. Ambassador Smith also served as commander of the Professional Ghana Army from 1996 to 2001. After his retirement from the Armed Forces, Ambassador Smith served as chairman of the National Insurance Commission Board from 2001 to 2009, overseeing the establishment of the Ghana Insurance College in Accra. From 2009 to 2013, he was appointed the honourable minister for defense.

Ambassador Smith’s political career began after his retirement from the Ghana Armed Forces in 2002.

He is an active member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) Party. As the honourable minister for defense, he also served as member of various important bodies, including; the Cabinet of Ghana, the Armed Forces Council, the National Security Council, the Africa Union Security Council, the Presidential Transitional Committee of Ghana and the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Committee. He was chairman of the Board of Ministers tasked to establish the National Petroleum and Security Coordination Centre, chairman of the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre Board and also the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College Central Board. During this time, Ambassador Smith also saw to the modernization, restructuring and major retooling of the Ghana Armed Forces to adapt to the 21st century.

Ambassador Smith attended Achimota School from 1959 to 1963 and was commissioned into the Ghana Army Engineer Corps in 1965 after graduating from the Ghana Military Academy. He is also a graduate of the Pakistan Military Engineering College, the U.S. Army Engineer College, the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College and the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College. Ambassador Smith is married with five children.

Jordan Asal Al-Tal assumed the position of deputy chief of mission on Sept. 1, replacing Fawaz Belbeisi, who departed the post April 1. Al-Tal previously served as director of the Private Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates. Al-Tal, who joined the Foreign Service in 1999, has also served in Washington, D.C. (2001-04), Bern (2004-06) and Brussels (2008-12).

She holds a master’s of law degree in international law with international relations from the University of Kent and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Jordan.

Dec. 31: New Year’s Eve LEBANON Dec. 25: Christmas Day

GABON Dec. 25: Christmas Day

LESOTHO Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day

GAMBIA Dec. 25: Christmas Day

LIBERIA Dec. 25: Christmas Day

GERMANY Dec. 25-26: Christmas

LIECHTENSTEIN Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception Dec. 24: Holy Night Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day Dec. 31: New Year’s Eve

GHANA Dec. 1: Farmer’s Day Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day GREECE Dec. 25: Christmas Day GRENADA Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day GUATEMALA Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 31: New Year’s Eve GUINEA-BISSAU Dec. 25: Christmas Day GUYANA Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day HAITI Dec. 5: Discovery of Haiti Dec. 25: Christmas Day HONDURAS Dec. 24: Christmas Eve Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 31: New Year’s Eve HUNGARY Dec. 25-26: Christmas

APPOINTMENTS European Union

December 2014

ICELAND Dec. 24: Christmas Eve Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day Dec. 31: New Year’s Eve INDIA Dec. 25: Christmas Day INDONESIA Dec. 25: Christmas Day IRELAND Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: St. Stephen’s Day ISRAEL Dec. 16-24: Hanukkah ITALY Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: St. Stephen’s Day JAMAICA Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day JAPAN Dec. 23: Emperor’s Birthday Dec. 31: Bank Holiday JORDAN Dec. 25: Christmas Day KAZAKHSTAN Dec. 16: Independence Day KENYA Dec. 12: Jamhuri (Independence) Day Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day LAOS Dec. 2: National Day LATVIA Dec. 24-26: Christmas

LITHUANIA Dec. 25-26: Christmas LUXEMBOURG Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: St. Stephen’s Day MADAGASCAR Dec. 25: Christmas Day MALAWI Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day MALAYSIA Dec. 25: Christmas Day MALTA Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception Dec. 13: Republic Day Dec. 25: Christmas Day MARSHALL ISLANDS Dec. 25: Christmas Day MEXICO Dec. 25: Christmas Day MICRONESIA Dec. 25: Christmas Day MOZAMBIQUE Dec. 25: Christmas Day NAMIBIA Dec. 10: International Human Rights Day Dec. 25-26: Christmas NETHERLANDS Dec. 25-26: Christmas NEW ZEALAND Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day NICARAGUA Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception Dec. 25: Christmas Day NIGER Dec. 18: Republic Day Dec. 25: Christmas Day NIGERIA Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day NORWAY Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day PAKISTAN Dec. 25: Birthday Anniversary of Quaid-eAzam PALAU Dec. 25: Christmas Day PANAMA Dec. 8: Mother’s Day Dec. 20: National Mourning Day Dec. 25: Christmas Day PAPUA NEW GUINEA Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day

See HOLIDAYS, page 47 December 2014

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December 2014

axed changes will be made at no cost to the advertiser, subsequent changes at a rate of $75 per faxed alteration. Signed ads are considered approved.

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ct sign and fax to: (301) 949-0065

Diplomat

needs changes

(301) 933-3552

REAL ESTATE

_____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

COMMERCIAL W NG NO PTI !

CE S AC B I D

EMBASSY OFFICE BUILDING WITH PARKING FOR SALE

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CLASSIFIED ADS

December 2014

To place an ad in the classified section, call (301) 933-3552 or email sales@washdiplomat.com

COMMERCIAL

COMMERCIAL

PROFESSIONAL

EmBaSSy row arEa —

commErcial oFFicE SalES/lEaSinG —

Embassy office Space – DC/ nYC Chancery Buildings / Residential Buildings and land Development Sites. leases and lease Renegotiation Services.

Embassy Row Area Mansions with parking. Ideal for embassies, law firms, foundations, etc. lease or Sale. SCR (202) 491-5300.

James Connelly – The Diplomats Agent

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placinG claSSiFiEDS aDS

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from page 45

holidays paraGuay Dec. 8: virgin of Caacupe, Immaculate Conception Dec. 25: Christmas Day pEru Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception Dec. 25: Christmas Day philippinES Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 30: Jose Rizal Day Dec. 31: last Day of the Year

December 2014

rwanDa Dec. 25: Christmas Day polanD Dec. 25-26: Christmas portuGal Dec. 1: Restoration of Independence Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception Dec. 25: Christmas Day romania Dec. 1: national Day Dec. 6: St. nicholas Day Dec. 8: Constitution Day Dec. 25: Christmas Day

St. kittS and nEViS Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day

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notE: Ad materials and full payment due by the 15th of the month prior to publication.

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St. lucia Dec. 13: national Day Dec. 25-26: Christmas St. VincEnt and thE GrEnaDinES Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day SEnEGal Dec. 25: Christmas Day

SEychEllES Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception Dec. 25: Christmas Day

Reconciliation Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Day of Goodwill

SinGaporE Dec. 25: Christmas Day

Spain Dec. 6: Constitution Day Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception Dec. 25-26: Christmas

SloVakia Dec. 24-26: Christmas SloVEnia Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Independence Day Solomon iSlanDS Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day South aFrica Dec. 16: Day of

Call (301) 933-3552 and ask for a sales representative.

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placing your ad

Sri lanka Dec. 25: Christmas Day SuDan Dec. 25: Christmas Day SwEDEn Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day

SwitZErlanD Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: St. Stephen’s Day Syria Dec. 25: Christmas Day tanZania Dec. 9: Independence Day Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day

Deadline

tonGa Dec. 25: Christmas Day triniDaD and toBaGo Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day turkmEniStan Dec. 12: Day of neutrality uGanDa Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day

thailanD Dec. 5: HM the King’s Birthday Dec. 10: Constitution Day

ukrainE Dec. 6: Armed Forces Day

toGo Dec. 25: Christmas Day

unitED kinGDom Dec. 25: Christmas Day

unitED araB EmiratES Dec. 2: national Day

Dec. 26: Boxing Day uruGuay Dec. 25: Christmas Day uZBEkiStan Dec. 8: Constitution Day VEnEZuEla Dec. 25: Christmas Day ZamBia Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 31: new Year’s Eve ZimBaBwE Dec. 22: national Unity Day Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dec. 26: Boxing Day

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The Washington Diplomat

December 2014