Ambassador Roberto Pinto Ferreira Abdenur Brazil Struggling to Define U.S. Relationship by Larry Luxner Entering the spacious office of Roberto Pinto Ferreira Abdenur, Brazilís new ambassador in Washington, the first thing you notice are the knick-knacksódozens of them. Off to a cornerówatching over the whole collectionóis a small bronze statue of JosÈ Maria da Silva Paranhos, the baron of Rio Branco and unofficial patron of Brazilian Foreign Service officers. ìI am a career diplomat with no political affiliation,î Abdenur proudly noted in an interview with The Washington Diplomat last month. ìOur foreign ministry was never politicized, even during the military dictatorship. I am not a member of any political party and never will be.î more... Steve Coll Washington Post Editor Says ëGhost Warsí of 1990s led to 9/11 by John Shaw Steve Coll, the managing editor of the Washington Post, has written a new book that is at once a somber history of modern Afghanistan, a riveting cloak-and-dagger tale of geopolitical intrigue, a valuable primer on South Asian politics, a compelling description of the shadowy world of intelligence, and a superb account of the machinations of the U.S. foreign policy bureaucracy. more.... Diplomats, Officials Remember Reagan As Man Who Helped End Soviet Empire by Michael Coleman The formal tributes are finished and President Ronald Reagan now rests in a California cemetery, but Washingtonís diplomatic community continued to discuss the 40th American presidentís legacy nearly a month after his death. more.... New International Security Measure Forcing Caribbean Ports to Be Shipshape by Larry Luxner Seaports across the Caribbean must shape up or ship outóliterally. Come July 1, the U.S. Coast Guard will have the authority to deny entry to any cruise ship, cargo ship or other vessel that has stopped at a port that isnít in compliance with a strict set of new post-9/11 security regulations. more.... See Also: Womenís Group Says Free Trade Will Hurt Caribbean Economies K Street Teams With Embassy Row To Improve International Lobbying Efforts by Alan B. Nichols The appointment of former Brazilian Ambassador Rubens Barbosa to Washington-based Stonebridge International is an example of the logical bridge between diplomats and K Street, the geographical center and symbol of Washingtonís power brokersólobbyists, lawyers and global business strategists. more.... Hope for Childrenís Cancer King Abdullah II of Jordan along with an array of ambassadors, members of Congress and other dignitaries helped to raise more than $700,000 to benefit the St. Jude Childrenís Research Hospital in Tennessee and the King Hussein Cancer Center in Jordan. more....

Culture Section Check out the arts section for the latest in museum exhibits, dance, theater and much more. Former Soviet Republic Kyrgyzstan Trying to Become Part of World Community by Larry Luxner If proper names were permitted in Scrabble, Kyrgyzstan would be one of the highest-scoring countries in the world. Aside from its unusual spelling, this landlocked, weirdly shaped nation is probably the least visited of the 15 former Soviet republics. Roughly the size of Minnesota and just as cold in the winter, mountainous Kyrgyzstan was intentionally isolated by Moscow for 70 yearsóa legacy that contributed to its remoteness, even by Central Asian standards. more.... See Also: Kyrgyzstan, Four Other Central Asian Countries Finalize Trade Pact With United States U.N. Official Says Most Nations Slow to Recognize Sudan Crisis by Sean OíDriscoll Jan Egeland looks tired. He is unshaven, his tie is loose, and he looks as if he has had little sleep these past few days. His interview was delayed while he went through another round of discussions on the humanitarian disaster in the Sudan. more.... Study Suggests Re-Evaluation Of Prostate Cancer Screening by Gina Shaw You canít blame a guy for being confused. Since the late 1980s, the standard screening for prostate cancer has been the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. But a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in late May showed that setting the biopsy cutoff point at 4.0 misses prostate cancers in about 15 percent of men over 60, including about 2 percent of cases that look highly aggressive under the microscope. more.... Slovak Ambassador Lobbies for Divided Village by Carolyn Chapman Slovak Ambassador Rastislav Kacer had never heard of the small village called Velke Slemence in Eastern Slovakia until a few months ago. A tall barbed wire fence has cut across the villageís main street for 60 years. This fence, and the guard tower that overlooks it, is the border between Slovakia and the Ukraineóand, since Slovakiaís accession into the European Union, this fence has also become the border between the EU and its poorer eastern neighbors. more....

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