Ambassador Brzezinski, Governor Dayton, Foreign Minister Bildt and Mrs. Natalia Brzezinski

Building Bridges for Multiculturalism and Commerce: A Terrific Visit to Sweden by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton

On June 17, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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This week we had the privilege of welcoming Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and a trade delegation of Minnesota business, universities and scientific and medical institutions to Stockholm, Sweden.  Among the fifty states, Minnesota boasts the highest number of Swedish Americans (almost 500,000).  The family ties, business relationships, scientific and university exchanges, and cultural linkages between Minnesota and Sweden combine to create a strong and growing connection.  The Governor’s visit gave us the chance to frame some of the key opportunities Minnesota and Sweden have to work together to advance common interests.  The values shared between Sweden and Minnesota are so many:  a commitment to cultivating the next generation through great education; the endless possibilities provided by scientific innovation, R&D and global commerce; a love for the great outdoors and a shared Northern topography; and even Ice Hockey – Governor Dayton is a former Division I Hockey player (a goalie), and Sweden just won the Ice Hockey World Championships!!

 

The very first event we held for the Governor was a Diversity Dialogue with the Somali community in Sweden, and we had a mix of people around the table from a variety of fields.  The U.S. Embassy has started a new initiative we call “Diversity Dialogues,” which are an opportunity for us to gather Americans and Swedes to discuss issues related to diversity in both our countries.  Last October, when I travelled with the Swedish King and Queen to Minnesota, I broke off from the delegation to meet with representatives from the American Refugee Committee and the “I am a star” program – a Minnesota-based community project that highlights Somali-American contributions.  This time the Somali community in Sweden, as well as NGO’s and government officials interested in their welfare, had the opportunity to hear from the Governor of the U.S. state with the most Somali-Americans and to hear about Minnesota’s experience with assimilation of the Somali community.  The Governor’s incredibly thoughtful perspective on what has worked and what still needs work in Minnesota was really embraced by the participants in our Diversity Dialogue, and he was able to place his perspective in a context of Minnesota’s 150-year plus tradition of welcoming immigrants.  The Diversity Dialogue was followed by a large reception, where many representatives of Swedish government, business, NGO’s, and academia met the Governor and the Minnesota delegation.  We were deeply honored that Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, Swedish State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Frank Belfrage, and the next Swedish Ambassador to Washington Bjorn Lyrvall attended, demonstrating the significance they place on the Minnesota – Sweden relationship.

 
The following day included a seminar on investing in Minnesota, hosted by the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, during which the Governor and Minnesota Commissioner of Economic Development Katie Clark  presented the benefits of investing and manufacturing in Minnesota to an audience of prospective Swedish investors.  This event was followed by a remarkable presentation at the Karolinska Institute (KI) by KI’s President, Professor Anders Hamsten, on innovation collaboration with Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota Medical School.  The visit included a tour of KI’s incredibly impressive new facilities at their campus in Stockholm.  The terrific Swedish businessmen Jacob Wallenberg and Peter Wallenberg Jr. then hosted a CEO lunch for Governor Dayton, who discussed the business climate and opportunities in Minnesota with a group of CEOs from leading Swedish companies with investments in Minnesota and elsewhere the U.S..  A key topic of  conversation was the potential global impact of the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and Governor Dayton, a former US Senator, was able to offer a prescient set of perspectives on the benefits to both the US and Europe, if such an agreement is consummated.

 
Very importantly, the lunch was followed by the signing of a Sweden-Minnesota Memorandum of Understanding on Bioenergy by Governor Dayton and State Secretary Daniel Johansson.  The MOU follows a series of discussions on ways in which to advance bioenergy projects among government, academia, and business, including a roundtable that coincided with the King and Queen of Sweden’s visit to Minneapolis in October 2012.   Collaboration in bioenergy holds such great possibilities, and the U.S. Embassy is so pleased to support the public-private cooperation represented by this MOU.

 
Governor Dayton’s visit to Stockholm advanced key American values, celebrating multiculturalism; the US and Sweden as immigrant-rich countries; and the endless opportunities to create jobs and share prosperity through global commerce and business connections.

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Terrific Visit to Sweden by Secretary of State Kerry

On May 17, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Ambassador and Mrs. Brzezinski greet Secretary of State Kerry upon his arrival to Sweden.

This week, US Embassy Stockholm was honored to support a remarkable and highly productive visit to Sweden by Secretary of State John Kerry, his first visit as Secretary. Two goals were paramount for the visit:  (i) to meaningfully and constructively engage on the future of the Arctic through the Arctic Council, which Sweden chairs and of which the US is a member (ii) to engage Swedish government officials on the challenges we face together around the world.

Secretary Kerry landed in Stockholm early Tuesday morning and got underway immediately with consultations with the Swedish Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. Whether it’s the conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan or the nuclear issue in North Korea (where Sweden acts as the protective power of the US), these are not just American challenges but international challenges and we are pleased that Sweden is a key partner in trying to solve them. An enormous shared opportunity is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; we both look forward for negotiations over this agreement to get underway soon. Prime Minister Reinfeldt and Foreign Minister Bildt are incredibly gracious hosts, and the conversation reflected how genuinely close and results oriented our bilateral relationship is.

Secretary Kerry then went to the US Ambassadorial residence, where he bore witness to the US Embassy’s salute to Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who chose not to be indifferent and saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. The US Embassy planted last year in front of the US Ambassadorial residence a horse chestnut tree (the same kind Anne Frank looked out over from her window in Amsterdam) in honor of Wallenberg.

Secretary Kerry then took a photo with our awesome US Marines, spending time to ask them about their service and where each came from.

Then the Secretary met with US Embassy staff members and families at the US Ambassadorial residence.  It was truly a warm, genuine and inspiring event.  Secretary Kerry immediately invited all the children on the stage with him, providing a poignant moment for the Secretary to reflect on life in the Foreign Service and speak of the great sacrifice, courage and patriotism of their parents. The Secretary took photos with all the kids, and went around the room and shook every hand. It was a wonderful and touching US embassy family moment.

After a casual lunch, in which we had the honor of being joined by US Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who had conducted an important wildlife program in the morning, we left for the High North of Sweden, to Kiruna for the Arctic Council.

The Arctic Council was launched in 1996 to promote cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, in particular on issues pertaining to sustainability and environmental protection.  The United States, together with Sweden, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Russia are members.

The first meeting I took part in was with the Secretary, Senator Murkowski and Alaskan Permanent Participants (including several Native American tribal leaders). The Secretary discussed the Obama Administration’s new National Strategy for the Arctic and then dove right in to discussions about social challenges and biodiversity depletion. It was an incredibly real and honest conversation about the challenges we face together in the Arctic, and what it is we can do together to solve them.

The following morning the Ministerial began, with Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt opening the conference and Minister of Environment Lena Ek reviewing the solid record of Sweden’s chairmanship. Then national statements were presented, and Secretary spoke on behalf of the United States in the most visionary and poignant way. Here are some key passages from the Secretary’s remarks:

·         “It’s an honor to be here in Kiruna, and I begin by saying that there are many areas where the eight Arctic states’ interests overlap significantly. And despite our different sizes and our different cultures, and many of the varied interests that we’ve heard today from permanent participants, we share many values and priorities. But there is nothing that should unite us quite like our concern for both the promise and the challenges of the northern-most reaches of the earth.

·         “Temperatures we know in the Arctic are increasing more than twice as fast as global averages, and they are endangering habitats and they are endangering ways of life.  Last September, the extent of sea ice covering the Arctic reached a record low, threatening marine mammal life and the indigenous and local communities that depend on them.”

·         “So we’re proud to join you today in the important work of protecting and preserving our shared Arctic, not just for the nations that touch it, but for the way that what happens here, for the stewardship that we have responsibility to execute, for the way that it touches every single person around the world and our way of life.”
The Ministerial was followed by lunch in the LKAB mine, the largest of its kind in Europe. Kiruna was founded in 1900 primarily around the extraction of iron. The mining industry remains so important to Kiruna that the town is currently in the midst of moving several large neighborhoods to a new location in order to enable further extraction.  With the local economy booming and with low unemployment numbers, Kiruna is thriving.

Secretary Kerry then returned to Washington. He returned having advanced the US interest bilaterally and multilaterally and the Embassy was honored to have had him here. We live in an ever smaller world, where problems have local roots but global reach. By engaging with our superb partners the Swedes, Secretary Kerry got us that much closer to addressing the challenges of our times.

I will end by saying that to me Secretary Kerry is a particularly inspiring leader. He speaks from the heart; has incredible military service and public service to draw from; and he shares President Obama’s great strategic perspective and vision. It was a deep honor to support his visit to Sweden.

For more pictures from Secretary Kerry’s visit to Sweden, check out the State Department’s Stockholm Flickr page and the Kiruna Flickr page of the trip!

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Ambassador Brzezinski and Abisko Station Manager Christer Jonasson at the Abisko Scientific Research Station.

Visit to Abisko: Bearing Witness to Climate Change Effects in the Arctic

On April 10, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Interest for Arctic issues has increased in the last couple of years as scientists explore, in greater depth, the effects that man-made global warming have on this pristine region.  Sweden is currently the chairman of the Arctic Council and has done a tremendous job in highlighting the challenges that the Arctic is facing.  For example, Sweden has used its chairmanship to institutionalize the work of the Arctic Council by establishing a secretariat in Tromsø, Norway.

My Embassy team and I have put particular emphasis on the Arctic in the last couple of years and collaborated closely with Sweden during its chairmanship. It is hard, however, to comprehend the magnitude of climate change without experiencing it first-hand.

Earlier this week I visited Abisko in the northernmost part of Sweden. The Abisko Scientific Research Station is located above the Arctic Circle, 96 kilometers (60 miles) north of Kiruna.  It is a center located in an ecologically sensitive part of the sub-Arctic, and gathers scientists from throughout the world.

Abisko is a member of SCANNET, a network of thirty-three bases in northern Europe and the United States that seeks to build capacity for research and monitoring in the Arctic. Abisko has gained an international reputation and is attracting scientists from a number of U.S. institutions including the University of New Hampshire, the University of Vermont and Alaskan research stations Toolik Lake and Barrow.

The station is unique in that it has one of the world’s most extensive records dating back to the early 1900s when it was founded. In the form of both data and photos, the research shows how the landscape has changed in the last 100 years.

Our host in Abisko, Station Manager Christer Jonasson, brought us to the adjacent Stordals mire where much of the research is being conducted. A mire is a wetland terrain dominated by peat-forming plants. All over the frozen Stordals mire, scientists have set up equipment — some of the instruments look like props from the Star Wars trilogy — that measure changes in the local environment. They measure variables such as climate, snow depth, ice thickness and ice duration. They monitor hydrology, water chemistry, geomagnetism and atmospheric carbon isotope composition. The research clearly indicates that there have been drastic changes pertaining to both flora and fauna over the years.

Christer explained that scientists have discovered cases where higher temperatures have created ice caps on top of the snow which is making it harder for reindeer herds to access food. Since some of the members of the indigenous Sami are heavily dependent on reindeer, these kinds of findings are extremely important. Christer and his team are working with the Sami to adapt to the changes induced by climate change.  Another recent phenomenon is that the birch forests around Abisko often experience invasions of caterpillars in the spring as it is no longer cold enough to kill off the eggs of those pests.

I would like to extend my great appreciation to Christer Jonasson and the researchers at Abisko who were generous with their time and gave us first-hand experience of how climate change is impacting the Arctic – and also gave us life time memories.

 

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IKEA1

Visiting IKEA headquarters

On March 20, 2013, in Sweden, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Ten years ago while a first-year student at university, IKEA represented freedom, independence and a breadth of new opportunities to me. At that time in America, it had become a near requirement to purchase all of your university furnishings at the gleaming super-store.  Each piece of lightweight, streamlined furniture purchased represented one step closer to a new, exciting life!

Today the iconic brand symbolizes much more than just possibilities and potential for a fuller life. It symbolizes a core set of values— egalitarianism, sustainability and protection of the world’s resources, gender equality, social justice, philanthropy, diversity and inclusion, fiscal conservatism, a sense of community— which inform everything from its products’ “democratic design” to its style of informal, consensus-building leadership within the corporation’s management structure.

The short one-hour flight from Stockholm to Växjö, in the province of Småland, transported us to a serene, stony landscape dotted with leafless birch trees and known for its moose, and perhaps most of all, for IKEA and its founder Ingvar Kamprad who grew up there on a farm.

The land was notoriously hard to farm, thus instilling its people with a flinty hard work ethic and an aversion to waste. Kamprad brought the lessons he learned coming-of-age in a challenging setting to his vision for IKEA. A laser focus on efficiency is one of the reasons IKEA is able to provide its products at such low prices, explained CEO Mikael Ohlsson. Ensuring efficiency and strong partnerships with shared values along the entire supply chain is critical to IKEA’s success. The company has a “People & Planet Positive” goal for 2020 to make its stores, products and suppliers as sustainable as possible.

The focus on sustainable forestry is deeply impressive at a time when large timber tracts around the world are under intense pressure.  Great emphasis is placed on developing content alternatives other than just straight wood.

During our visit, we were able to see the production centers, scientific testing laboratories, design, the first-ever IKEA store and speak to designers in Älmhult. We even experienced a taste of home when we encountered an American supplier from Toledo, Ohio who was at IKEA headquarters with his wife for training and meet-and-greets, something IKEA does regularly to enhance partnerships and strengthened values transmission. When I asked Steve what he liked best about IKEA, he pointed to the strong focus on relationships.

One of the most personally exciting elements for me was their commitment to gender equality in the workplace. Many of the higher-level managers in the company started on the shop floor, and investing in employees’ productivity and development is paramount.

Today, IKEA has 42% female managers and has a short-term goal of 50%. One way they are attacking this challenge is through an initiative called “Battle of the Numbers” co-founded by Swedish media maven Eva Swartz Grimaldi  and Sofia Falk, that has received a one-year commitment from many of Sweden’s top companies (Ericsson, SEB Bank, H & M) to engage its top females in several seminars to discuss problems in gender equality within their corporation and find solutions. The solutions will later be presented to the CEO’s of all the companies to hopefully institute. IKEA’s assistant to the CEO, Fredrika Inger, an amazingly bright woman who helped guide and inform us through the visit, is directly involved in the initiative.

We ended this enlightening day in a very fitting place for Mark and me— the children’s section. Children, their development and their freedom to be and grow in every part of the home is a central value and driver for IKEA. The designers work with renowned children’s research centers to develop products that are first and foremost completely safe, even edible (as their markers are) but also lend to a child’s openness and creativity. Healthy eating and lifestyle are a key part of this message, and to underscore that we scanned reading books discussing gardening and squeezed plush toys shaped like carrots! Giving kids a healthy start is a passion and priority for our First Lady Michelle Obama and her path-breaking “Let’s Move” initiative, and many of IKEA’s values lined up perfectly with those of our President and many Americans.

Thank you Mikael Ohlsson and the IKEA family for an incredible visit! One that opened our eyes not only to IKEA, but allowed us to better understand the Swedish culture and what is important to Swedes.  Our visit places our shared values in an even stronger light!

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U.S. Green Cities Delegation Confirms “All Politics is Local”

On April 20, 2012, in Mark, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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In the late 1970s/early 1980s, then-U.S. Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill, coined the now-famous saying “all politics is local”. This holds particularly true in the United States where the federal system reserves to states and cities most authorities and decision-making powers, making America a “ground-up” society were local action and grass-roots enthusiasm leads the way.

Earlier this week Natalia and I hosted a breakfast for a group of mayors and city representatives from the U.S. National League of Cities to get a flavor of how they are developing and implementing environmentally sustainable solutions. The delegation – representing Baltimore, Maryland; Cleveland, Ohio; Dubuque, Iowa; and St Paul, Minnesota – also met with Swedish counterparts under the auspices of the Swedish American Green Alliance (SAGA) to exchange best practices on urban sustainability to make sure that local politics does not stay local, but that these great solutions spread internationally.

Each of these elected officials displayed an impressive breadth of knowledge and determination to implement effective sustainability programs in their respective cities, each with very distinct and individual challenges and opportunities. Natalia and I were so inspired by the level of commitment and imagination in the room.  Whether it was tackling issues of transportation in Baltimore, spreading knowledge through early education on sustainability in Cleveland, or high-speed rail and an emphasis on public-private partnerships in St. Paul,  each of these city representatives were finding creative solutions to make improve the quality of life for their citizens. By utilizing his years of experience at John Deere Co.  and a dedication to improving the lives of his nine grandchildren, Mayor Boul of Dubuque, Iowa has helped make Dubuque one of the best small cities to raise a family, according to Forbes.

The delegation visited Hammarby Sjöstad together with Natalia. Hammarby has gone from being a former industrial site in the late 1980s to a sustainable neighborhood with cutting-edge holistic solutions that help its nearly 26,000 residents make significant energy savings while also saving money. The goal of the “Hammarby Model” is to integrate energy, water and waste to make the most efficient system possible.  What was once a polluted area populated by squatters, has now become a coveted residential areas for young families and professionals due to its vast and family-friendly “green areas”, efficient garbage sorting system, district heating and goal of making it the first completely electric car area by 2020. Hammarby Sjostad has become a global example of sustainability, and has over 13,000 visitors per year. Our city representatives, along with Natalia, were able to place a peg on a map of the world for all visitors. The map depicted visitors from Canada to China, Norway to Saudi Arabia.

In a similar fashion, the U.S. cities we met have adopted a number of sustainable initiatives. Council member Kraft of Baltimore told us that a 2.25% tax increase on downtown parking has allowed the city to offer free public transport in the city center which has encouraged residents to leave their cars at home.  Mayor Coleman of St Paul informed us about his city’s district heating grid which is run on biomass. Considering St Paul was one of the main destinations for Swedish emigrants in the late 19th century, it is not too surprising that it was two Swedes who constructed the city’s district heating system a couple of decades back

Both Natalia and I were pleased to see how Swedish and U.S. cities are uniting to take the lead in urban sustainability. This goes for both large and small cities. Dubuque, a town of 60 000, and its mayor, Roy Buol, has shown how a small city can serve as a small scale test pilot for bigger cities. As an example, Dubuque recently teamed up with IBM to launch a brand new smart metering system that will allow the town’s residents to keep a close eye on their energy and water consumption as part of Dubuque being IBM’s test bed for its “Smarter Cities” initiative. The overall goal is for this system to be spread around the United States and around the world.

All politics truly is local – sustainability is no exception.

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Nobel Reflections

On December 12, 2011, in Natalia, by Ambassador Brzezinski
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Ready for the Nobel dinner!

The Nobel Prize Gala in Stockholm’s City Hall on Saturday evening was the single most magnificently-orchestrated, elegant event I have attended. Descending the gently angled, marble staircase on the arm of an escort, my breath caught at the warmly lit, brick-lined expanse of the hall which had ceilings that seemed to reach to the heavens. Between different courses of food, graceful ballerinas danced on pointe along our tables and masterful violinists pierced the air. The event itself was the perfect marriage of great science rewarded, and pure glamour.
But this fairy-tale scene was not the climax of the festivities — the most moving and climactic moments occurred during the awards ceremony when the laureates were presented their medals by the King.
Seated on the stage in front of members of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, and across from the Swedish King and royal family, the Nobel laureates (which included five Americans) reflected the pride of a lifetime’s arduous experimentation and hard work. Whether it was the twinkle in Professor Saul Perlmutter’s eye every time his child made eye contact with him, or the way Professor Brian Schmidt lovingly winked at his wife, there was pure joy in the air.
Two moments in particular lit up the crowd:
Professor Ralph M. Steinman was part of the team of Professor Bruce A. Beutler and Professor Jules A. Hoffman, who received the Nobel Prize for physiology. Sadly, three days before receiving the news, Professor Steinman passed away to pancreatic cancer. Nonetheless, the Nobel Committee decided to award him the prize.
Dressed in black, his wife sat pensively throughout the ceremony and accepted the award on behalf of her husband. After three ceremonial bows—one to the royal family, one to the academy and one to the audience—Mrs. Steinman spontaneously kissed her palm and threw her arms into the air, looking up passionately at the sky and delivering a bittersweet gesture in celebration with her husband.
The second moment that defined the evening was the presence of the famed Swedish poet and Nobel Prize winner in literature, Tomas Tranströmer. Mr. Tranströmer is a hauntingly evocative poet, whose metaphors capture the minds of Swedes and literature aficionados around the world for decades. He suffered a stroke in 1990 that left him unable to speak and partially paralyzed.  But he continued to write. Upon receiving the prize, Mr. Tranströmer was wheeled to the center of the stage to thunderous applause. Although his facial movements are restricted, he began to glow and the strength of his smile radiated throughout the orchestra hall. At one point he shifted himself with such poise in order to sit up just a little straighter and a little prouder in his wheelchair in order to soak in the moment.  A truly noble Nobel moment!

The fortitude and grace of both Mrs. Steinman and Mr. Tranströmer personify the spirit that Alfred Nobel set out to establish through his legacy. A final thread woven amongst the fabric of these special moments was an enduring and powerful emphasis on the young generation to continue scientific exploration. We are in a global period where the environment is suffering and climate change issues can be a sore and contentious topic. But an enormous source of optimism for me was the excitement and proactive engagement among both the Swedish youth, and youth from around the world, who were present at the ceremonies.
Everywhere I went, young high school and university students described how inspired they were by the cutting-edge leadership on promoting new sources of sustainable energy of U.S. Energy Secretary, and 1997 Nobel laureate in physics, Steven Chu who was visiting to help celebrate the Nobel Prizes of professors Perlmutter and Shechtman, who are associated with U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories.  These students told me how excited they were to be studying science. I am confident that these young people will lead our world into a new century of preservation, conservation and sustainable development.

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