Behind the scenes at the nuclear summit
Here at the Washington Convention Center, where the 47-nation Nuclear Security Summit is taking place, there are definitely two classes of attendees. In the main hallways and the first floor briefing rooms, any credentialed attendee can wander around and interact with press and delegates from all over the world. But everywhere you go, massive blue ...
Here at the Washington Convention Center, where the 47-nation Nuclear Security Summit is taking place, there are definitely two classes of attendees.
Here at the Washington Convention Center, where the 47-nation Nuclear Security Summit is taking place, there are definitely two classes of attendees.
In the main hallways and the first floor briefing rooms, any credentialed attendee can wander around and interact with press and delegates from all over the world. But everywhere you go, massive blue curtains stop lower-level personnel (like your humble Cable guy) from getting to the areas where the really important people are.
Behind the blue walls, mostly on the second floor of the convention center, VIPs like presidents and their photographers hang out, kibbitz among themselves, and eat what we presume is a higher quality of food.
There are all sorts of interesting interactions happening in those secret areas. One of our sources with a high level of security clearance sends along this photo, which shows French President Nicolas Sarkozy making a point with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Doesn’t seem like he was pressing him to support Iran sanctions, but you never know…
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
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