After a decade in Washington, D.C., Ambrose Bierce defined politics as “a strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.” Today, most people seem to hold either of two images of our capital: a fetid swamp that needs to be drained periodically because it keeps filling up with alligators, toads, water-snakes and Democrats – or a mad Republican three-ring circus run by a clown.
I will not commit to either of these visions of reality. But I would like to point out that there is more to Washington than politics. For if you should visit this fair city, you will find at least five other noteworthy facets of its life. There is, of course, a Ukrainian dimension to each of them.
First is diplomacy. Washington is not only the center of national politics, but of the United States’ relations with the rest of the world.