Monday, June 16, 2008
More than a Frozen Bear ...
A bit late but still of interest.
Last week, the Russian Embassy held its annual reception for Russia Day (when Russia declared its "sovereignty" from the USSR back in 1990). The Washington Post style section covered the "vodka at noon" angle, including the giant ice sculpture of a bear holding vodka bottles.
Some of the things I saw that perhaps were a little less glib ...
--A large Venezuelan delegation attended, including a number of military officers, an admiral among them I believe.
--The Brazilian ambassador who had a circle of people around him as he made his way through the room. By the way, "sovereign democracy" does have an appeal down south (as this example demonstrates).
--Idle chit-chat between the Chinese and Kazakh military officers? Perhaps just the standard DC diplomatic chatter.
A reception can sometimes just be a reception--but sometimes what happens does mirror what happens on the world stage too.
Last week, the Russian Embassy held its annual reception for Russia Day (when Russia declared its "sovereignty" from the USSR back in 1990). The Washington Post style section covered the "vodka at noon" angle, including the giant ice sculpture of a bear holding vodka bottles.
Some of the things I saw that perhaps were a little less glib ...
--A large Venezuelan delegation attended, including a number of military officers, an admiral among them I believe.
--The Brazilian ambassador who had a circle of people around him as he made his way through the room. By the way, "sovereign democracy" does have an appeal down south (as this example demonstrates).
--Idle chit-chat between the Chinese and Kazakh military officers? Perhaps just the standard DC diplomatic chatter.
A reception can sometimes just be a reception--but sometimes what happens does mirror what happens on the world stage too.
