News
By Anna Gawel
The Washington Diplomat

	Emotions Run High on Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Tempers flared at what started out as a normal think tank discussion but that quickly dissolved into a heated debate that reflected the intensity of emotions surrounding the question of Nagorno-Karabakh…Read More
	‘Watchdogs’ Asleep on the Job Diplomats, journalists, government officials and other prominent Washingtonians turned out at the Lebanese ambassador’s residence to toast an iconic reporter who’s sounding the alarm on what she sees as the decline of her own profession…Read More
	Serving Morocco’s Rural Communities The High Atlas Foundation and Moroccan Ambassador Aziz Mekouar hosted a reception at the ambassador’s residence to honor two people whose contributions have directly improved the livelihoods of hundreds of Moroccans…Read More
	Foreign Policy Experts Urge Congress To Keep International Affairs Budget Intact Hundreds of people turned out for a roundtable discussion at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that featured an impressive lineup of foreign policy all-stars as they touted the importance of U.S. global engagement…Read More
	Showcasing Sisterly Love If your summer travels happen to take you through Union Station, be sure to get a glimpse of a new exhibit featuring 83 original works of art by youth from around the world that runs through July 15…Read More

	Sweden’s Diplomatic Superstar Sweden’s Jan Eliasson—former Swedish ambassador to the United States who is now president of the U.N. General Assembly and his country’s foreign minister—came back to Meridian International Center on June 26 to join author John Shaw in celebration of Shaw’s latest book, “The Ambassador: Inside the Life of a Working Diplomat.”…Read More
	Colombia Opens Residence to Charities and Opera Colombian Ambassador Andrès Pastrana and his fashionable wife Nohra have hit this town with a bang. And why not? After all, he is a recent president of Colombia, and the couple clearly has the “know how” to get attention for what’s important to them…Read More
	Japan’s Good Neighbor Policy No one’s quite sure when it started, but every June the Japanese ambassador and wife welcome their neighbors, members of the media, and congressional contacts and their families to Japan’s annual barbeque party in their big backyard at Japan’s Nebraska Avenue residence…Read More
	One Ambassador’s Hero: Thomas Jefferson “Thomas Jefferson was a genius. He was so thoughtful,” said departing Lithuanian Ambassador Vygaudas Usackas at the musical and culinary feast that Bulgarian Ambassador Elena Poptodorova arranged for her NATO brother…Read More