Around one forty-five on Thursday afternoon, while concluding a consultation with a Slovakian economic analyst, I heard my desktop computer chime softly announcing an IM from Gretchen. It said that a “Mr. Kim” wished to speak with me immediately. Seeing that, I turned to my guest and made a polite excuse concerning a request for… Continue reading Kim Jong Un’s Secret North Korean Surprise
Tag: diplomacy
Argentina’s Falkland Tempest in a Tin Pot
Friday afternoon, I was visited by Dr. Pedro “Pete” Tontogrande Chupacerdo y Boludo del Alcantarilla, former Juan Perón Professor of International Peace, Tolerance and Diplomacy at the University of Buenos Aries and current Primary Counselor for Political and Economic Policy at the Embassy of Argentina here in Washington, DC. As regular readers of this Web… Continue reading Argentina’s Falkland Tempest in a Tin Pot
Welcome to the Hotel Ecuador, Mr. Assange
Julian Assange, charismatic leader of Wikileaks, desperate fugitive from Swedish justice and now the latest member of Interpol’s Most Wanted List, has been sleeping on an air mattress in an office at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since June 19. Today, he emerged onto a balcony (which is, technically, in Ecuador) above the street outside… Continue reading Welcome to the Hotel Ecuador, Mr. Assange
Pakistan President Zardari Yodels for Immunity
Last night, I stopped by the Round Robin Bar for a drink or two after work. There I found Shaughnessy, of the State Department Pakistan Desk, drinking – well, drinking like an Irishman trying to drown his sorrows, actually. “Things at Foggy Bottom getting to you?” I inquired as I took a seat on the… Continue reading Pakistan President Zardari Yodels for Immunity
Assange, Assad, Manning, Wikileaks, VEPCO, PEPCO – and Nuts
Friday of last week, two million people in the Washington DC metro area lost electrical power. As I write this, eight days later, half a million still have none. Oh, and by the way, the temperature every day in between has been around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s the ambient, dry-bulb, actual temperature, not including humidity.… Continue reading Assange, Assad, Manning, Wikileaks, VEPCO, PEPCO – and Nuts