The Washington Diplomat

Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza and
Assistant Secretary-General Albert Ramdin
OAS Gets Two New Leaders at Top
by Larry Luxner
José Miguel Insulza and Albert Ramdin, two men of vastly different backgrounds and countries, have been chosen to head the Organization of American States in the midst of political and economic crisis throughout the hemisphere. Insulza, Chile’s former minister of the interior, is the organization’s new secretary-general, while Ramdin, a Surinamese diplomat, has been elected assistant secretary-general. Both men were interviewed July 18 at the OAS headquarters in Washington, nearly two months after Insulza’s swearing-in ceremony and a day before Ramdin’s inauguration. They assume the leadership of an organization that, like the United Nations, has in recent years been plagued by bloated bureaucracy, money shortages and political squabbles. more...

U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Richard A. Posner
Respected Federal Judge Plunges
Into Controversial Debate Over 9/11
by John Shaw

In the current contentious U.S. political climate, many federal judges go to great lengths to avoid controversies. They are careful not to leave a lengthy paper trail. Not Richard A. Posner, a judge on the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago. more....

Defected Chinese Diplomat
Says ‘Whole System Is Rotten’
by Michael Coleman
Chen Yonglin, a former senior Chinese diplomat who turned into a blistering critic of the Communist Party, walked off his job at the Chinese Consulate in Sydney 10 weeks ago and made a very public request for asylum. more....

Ambassador Reflects on Norway’s Role
As Most Generous Country in the World
by Michael Coleman
Countries around the world commonly urge the United States to dig deeper into its vast treasury and find more money for international development aid. None of these countries can make that request with more moral authority than Norway, an oil-rich European nation that consistently ranks at or near the top of the list of the most generous nations in the world. more....

South Africa Airways Launches
Direct Flight From Washington
by Larry Luxner
On July 2, South African Airways (SAA) began offering four direct flights a week from Washington Dulles International Airport to Johannesburg, making the nation’s capital SAA’s third U.S. gateway after New York and Atlanta. more....


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See August 2005
Medical Insert

News Brief: Saudi Ambassador Resigns After 22 Years

New Ambassador Hails Birth of Democracy in Kyrgyzstan
by Larry Luxner
It’s been a busy month for Zamira Sydykova. On July 10, the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan held free and fair elections for the first time since independence in 1990. The next day at a White House ceremony, the 44-year-old Sydykova presented her credentials to President Bush as Kyrgyzstan’s ambassador to the United States. The very next day, the new ambassador granted her first interview to a U.S. publication, The Washington Diplomat. more....

Director of Northern Ireland Bureau Promotes Region by Changing People’s Perceptions
by Sean O'Driscoll
I interviewed Tim Losty, director of the Northern Ireland Bureau in Washington, D.C., the day after violence flashed on the streets of Belfast. Highly controversial marches by the Protestant fraternity Orange Order led to violence between police and Catholics who were protesting the march. Some protestors threw homemade explosives at the marchers, while others occupied the road. The police and army moved in with water cannons as cars were set on fire. more....

Blow-by-Blow ‘Collision’
Book Recounts in Detail Diplomacy Surrounding Kosovo War
by David Tobenkin
“Collision Course: NATO, Russia, and Kosovo” is a new book that examines the complex multilateral diplomacy surrounding the Kosovo war. more....