Jamaica loves its honorary consuls
By Cami Hofstadter |
Jamaican honorary consuls are much appreciated by some of their government officials, who recognize that these consuls will “serve its economic and political interests globally.” As a particular example from the publication I read, Dr. Richard Bernal, Jamaica’s Ambassador to the ...
Read More Digital diplomacy
By Cami Hofstadter |
Diplomatic terms come in many shapes and in many contexts. I love it when I run into something new and unusual, like the recent digital diplomacy. And how about the “ambassador ladies” I just encountered on name-tags of people greeting me at ...
Read More Governor wants new consulate in his state
By Cami Hofstadter |
What motivates a foreign country to open a consulate in a particular U.S. city and state? This is a question often asked by business people and others who want to know why there isn’t a consul in their area to ...
Read More Head of Mission is not a Consul
By Cami Hofstadter |
A consul can be a head of post, but not head of a diplomatic mission (= embassy). The Miami Herald should have referred to the local Haitian consul-general as head of the (consular) post, but instead used the wrong term. You sometimes even hear ...
Read More A consular corpse is dead
By Cami Hofstadter |
In a recent public announcement to more than 1,500 cruise ship passengers (I was one of them) the captain spoke of the Army Corpse of Engineers so my mind immediately went to many a consular corps that’s also been called a “corpse” ...
Read More President brings a corpse to life
By Cami Hofstadter |
When President Obama referred to the “Corpsmen” (very much alive and kicking) he used the pronunciation for a dead body: “corpse” with the hard p and s (notice the e in the end). What a great teaching moment this is for all of us ...
Read More Consul wife, consulin
By Cami Hofstadter |
Consulin? Imagine being the wife of a consul and getting your own title, feminized from your husband’s position. Thomas Mann, Nobel-prize winning author of Buddenbrooks, writes about how in 19th century Luebeck, Germany, the surviving wife of a consul was still called ...
Read More Consular Board
By Cami Hofstadter |
It’s a safe bet that not many people recall a consular board from the McCarthy hearings in the 50s. But when William Shirer mentions this in one of his memoirs I got curious. What could this possibly have had to do ...
Read More Armenia first honorary consul
By Cami Hofstadter |
Armenia has its first honorary consul in the U.S., but the location may surprise you: Fresno, CA. Up till this point the sizable Armenian community has had to travel to the (career) consulate in Los Angeles for the usual citizen services like ...
Read More Governor Scott Walker and Lithuania
By Cami Hofstadter |
Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin recently attended the opening of Lithuania’s first honorary consulate in his state, clearly pleased with the official presence of yet another country in his state. The goal is for each side to develop closer economic and ...
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