Latest News
On Oct. 20, Stefanishyna recounted the horrors of her country’s ongoing conflict with Russia during our latest Ambassador Insider Series.
Mauritania, one of the least-known of the 22 members of the Arab League, got some long-awaited recognition this week when the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC) named Mauritania’s top envoy to the United States, Cissé Mint Cheikh Ould Boide, as its 2025 Ambassador of the Year.
Born in Syria and raised in Saudi Arabia, local musician Muath Edriss takes his oud seriously. Edriss is a singer, composer and performer. His professional career, in fact his whole life, revolves around the oud—an ancient instrument beloved throughout the Middle East.
British ambassador Peter Mendelson is fired the same week as 10 new ambassadors present their credentials in a White House ceremony.
Culture
The must-visit new National Museum of Women in the Arts exhibition. “Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750” reinvigorates our understanding of a well-known era, adding new names, artistic practices and stories to the conversation and ultimately upending the art history canon.
On Oct. 3, the Bulgarian Embassy hosted a dynamic showcase of youth talent by the Washington International Young Artists Music Series (WIYAMS). Partnering with the Bulgarian Music Society, ten musicians performed a variety of classical pieces on piano, violin, vocals and more.
Sunita Williams and three other NASA crew members of Expedition 72—known for their impromptu nine-month mission aboard the International Space Station—received a warm welcome Sept. 17 by the Embassy of Slovenia and the Space Foundation in Washington DC.
Thirty-four foreign embassies in the nation’s capital showcased their cuisines at EventsDC’s annual Embassy Chef Challenge on July 10. The Embassy of Egypt celebrated its national day on July 22.
Diplomat News
On Oct. 20, Stefanishyna recounted the horrors of her country’s ongoing conflict with Russia during our latest Ambassador Insider Series.
Mauritania, one of the least-known of the 22 members of the Arab League, got some long-awaited recognition this week when the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC) named Mauritania’s top envoy to the United States, Cissé Mint Cheikh Ould Boide, as its 2025 Ambassador of the Year.
Born in Syria and raised in Saudi Arabia, local musician Muath Edriss takes his oud seriously. Edriss is a singer, composer and performer. His professional career, in fact his whole life, revolves around the oud—an ancient instrument beloved throughout the Middle East.
British ambassador Peter Mendelson is fired the same week as 10 new ambassadors present their credentials in a White House ceremony.
Ambassador Serge Mombouli, the longest-serving African envoy to the United States, representing the Republic of Congo, died in Washington on Sept. 5.
On Sept. 9, Ethiopia will officially inaugurate its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). More than just a magnificent feat of engineering. concrete, turbines and flowing water, GERD represents a national ethos, as well as a vision of dignity, self-reliance and equitable utilization of a shared resource.
Two former Soviet republics—Armenia and Azerbaijan—that have been sworn enemies for decades could soon make peace, say their DC-based ambassadors.
Five newly appointed ambassadors have recently joined Washington’s diplomatic scene, representing Benin, Burkina Faso, Germany, Liberia and Malaysia.
Known mainly for Dracula, Romania’s mythical Transylvania region is also home to quaint villages now being promoted through the Haferland tourism festival.
The wives and husbands of ambassadors posted in the nation’s capital take center stage in cultural diplomacy, bringing the traditions of their countries to the United States while engaging in the international mosaic of DC’s diplomatic community.
Recently, several friends and colleagues messaged me about protests and international outrage over the famine in Gaza. “There’s been a huge push,” they said.
The latest crop of 14 new ambassadors in Washington includes diplomats from two former Soviet republics, two Caribbean nations, three African countries and three Arab ones.
Diplomats and the creative industries collided in Washington last month for Meridian International Center’s fifth edition of its signature cultural diplomacy event, Culturefix. The embassies of Djibouti and Burundi celebrated their independence days.
Whether you’re familiar with her story or just getting to know her for the first time, you’re in for a real treat with the museum’s “From Exile to Avant-Garde: The Life of Princess Natalie Paley.” This show delves deeply into the relationships, revolutions and fashions that shaped Paley, a woman who seemed to be at the nexus of the most intriguing people and events of the last century.
It’s not every day a politician becomes a diplomat, and then decides to switch careers entirely and reinvent herself as an artist. But that’s the path Moldova’s Cristina Balan has chosen, and she doesn’t regret it for a minute.
