Anti-Jewish hate and violence—long a scourge of Europe—is once again on the increase, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to take a bruising toll on economies from Belgium to Bulgaria. Yet in the wake of neo-Nazi conspiracy theories and online Holocaust denial, Germany has a special responsibility to stem this rising tide of hatred, argues Emily Haber, the country’s ambassador to the United States.
Larry Luxner
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which took effect Jan. 1, involves more countries than any other trade bloc on Earth. Of the 55 member states of the African Union, 54—all but Eritrea—have signed on to the treaty, which aims to create a single market through the elimination of tariffs on 90% of all goods by 2022.
March 26, 2018, is a day Marko Đurić, Serbia’s new ambassador to the United States, will never forget. On that Monday, Đurić—at the time chief negotiator for Serbia’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija—was meeting with local Serbs in the town of North Mitrovica when he was violently detained for having crossed into Kosovar territory illegally.
The Kremlin’s increasing military activities in the Arctic worry many countries, but especially Norway—the only NATO member state that borders Russia north of the Arctic Circle—and Denmark, whose kingdom includes the world’s largest island, Greenland.
“The world has faced two ‘once-in-a-century’ crises in the past 12 years,” says economist Mohamed Aly El-Erian. “To avoid making the same mistake of a muted recovery, leaders must restore counter-party trust and invest in the recovery through measures enhancing high, inclusive and sustainable growth.”
René León Rodríguez’s tenure in Washington spanned the administration of three U.S. presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama — as well as three presidents of El Salvador.
10 outstanding Spanish- and Portuguese-language films will be shown online this month, courtesy of the DC-based Ibero-American Cultural Attachés Association (AACIA).
Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Yergin headlined the first of a series of “Thought Leaders” webinars hosted by the Washington-based National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC). More than 400 business leaders, D.C.-based diplomats and senior government officials tuned into the event.
Veteran diplomats Yousef Al Otaiba of the United Arab Emirates and Jeremy Issacharoff of Israel discuss the Abraham Accords and the prospects for Middle East peace.
The Polish and Lithuanian embasses in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 6 jointly hosted an evening of solidarity with protesters opposed to the Lukashenko dictatorship in Belarus.
The Embassy of Uzbekistan in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 9 hosted a webinar to honor poet Alisher Navoiy, who was born 580 years ago.
For Cuba-watchers waiting on President Joe Biden to end the embargo and throw open the gates of US trade with Havana, Robert Muse has some advice: Don’t hold your breath.
As many as seven million Venezuelans will have fled their country by the end of this year if borders with neighboring countries reopen and President Nicolás Maduro remains in power.
Washington, D.C., is home to more think tanks—and better ones—than any other city on Earth. In fact, six of the world’s 20 best such organizations are headquartered in the nation’s capital, according to the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Strategies Program.
On Jan. 29, Domingos Fezas Vital, Portugal’s ambassador to the United States, hosted a webinar with top representatives of the Greek, Irish, Italian, Polish and Portuguese diaspora communities.
“Virtual diplomacy” just took on a whole new meaning. On Feb. 1, for the first time in history, two countries — in this case Israel and Kosovo — established official ties remotely, during a 28-minute ceremony broadcast via Zoom from two capital cities nearly 1,100 miles apart.
