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International Relations Somalia’s Stability Depends Heavily on Complex Web of Global Players by Michael Coleman With all of its competing interests, loyalties and history, Somalia has become one of the most compelling international political puzzles on the planet. Investment Controversial Chad Pipeline Project Highlights Issue of Oil Transparency by Sanjay Talwani Three years after the opening of the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline—the greatest single foreign investment project in sub-Saharan Africa—many fear that without major changes, the oil riches will do little to help the area’s impoverished people or stem corruption. International Affairs Dean of Latin American Diplomats Fights For Salvadorans to Stay in U.S. by Larry Luxner Having successfully sealed a trade pact with the United States, Salvadoran Ambassador René León’s priority now is ensuring that El Salvador’s enormous expatriate community will be allowed to stay in the United States. Medical Verdict Still Out on Human Growth Hormone for Short Children by Gina Shaw The availability of human growth hormone to treat short stature has made headlines over the past decade, but many parents still wonder if this relatively new treatment is right for their child.

Cover Profile: Lebanon Lebanese Envoy Expresses Anger Over Israel’s ‘Collective Punishment’ by Larry Luxner As Lebanon clears the rubble from this summer’s fierce 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah, the country’s top diplomat in Washington cannot hold back her anger over what she calls Israel’s “collective punishment” of her shattered nation. Also See: Consul General Arye Mekel Defends Israel’s War on Hezbollah in Lebanon People of World Influence Fresh Face of Meridian Center Says Direct Diplomacy Shatters Stereotypes by John Shaw Ambassador Stuart W. Holliday was recently selected to head the Meridian International Center, one of the world’s premier institutions specializing in face-to-face diplomacy and global exchange. Diplomacy Albanian Envoy Aims for Transparency to Overcome Country’s Corrupt Past by Larry Luxner By 2008, Albania could be in NATO and by 2016, the European Union—an astonishing development for a country that was once among the harshest Stalinist regimes on Earth. International Affairs With European Union Presidency, Finland Assumes Larger-Than-Life Role by Larry Luxner With its rotating presidency of the European Union, Finland has taken over the helm of the world’s largest and most vital trading bloc at a time of rising global economic and political tensions. Diplomacy China, Other Nations Enjoy Embassy Building Boom by Gail Scott Nationally the housing market may be cooling off, but here in Washington, the building boom continues for new embassies and ambassadorial residences, which are cropping up all over town. Special ambassador contribution Former Ambassador Uses Poetry to Reflect on Middle East Strife by Dr. J. Edsel Edmunds, O.B.E. Hotels Special Section Four times a year, The Washington Diplomat publishes a special section focusing on Hotels in the Washington D.C. area.

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