In Highlight you will find the text of a talk given by Amina Ali, the ambassador of the African Union in Washington, at Hood College this April. The ambassador talks about the steps that led to the creation of the AU, and its potential to tackle Africa's most trenchant problems. In our Opinion piece, Sam Vaknin argues that the Cyrillic alphabet used by several Slavic states is an obstacle to development. In Debate, Robert Cutler looks at Europe's growing interest in Central Asia's energy resources, Svante E. Cornell writes about Russia's de facto annexation of two breakaway states in Georgia, and Erica Marat examines the impact of the 'Tulip Revolution' in Kyrgyzstan.

We welcome your opinions and commentary pieces on global affairs. Please send any contributions to info@diplomatictraffic.com.

In our Diplomatic Missions listings you will find the contact details for all the embassies in Washington, DC. Embassies are encouraged to email us with updates on personnel changes.

If you wish to advertise on DiplomaticTraffic.com, pease contact us at info@diplomatictraffic.com for further details.

Thomas Cromwell
Managing Editor