It has been quite awhile since I last posted to my blog. I very much regret the extended silence, but I assure you it wasn’t a result of inattention or lack of motivation.

Since 12:51pm on Tuesday, February 22nd, we at the Embassy have laser-focused our attention and efforts on responding to the Christchurch earthquake. As I will describe below, when a natural disaster or other crisis strikes, an Embassy has a wide range of critical functions to perform, and those activities necessarily push everything else off the table for awhile.

Christchurch Cathedral moments after the earthquake.

As those of you who follow me on Twitter know, about a dozen of my colleagues and I were in Christchurch February 20-22 for the US-NZ Partnership Forum at the AMI Stadium, along with almost 200 other attendees.  The Forum convenes every 18 months, alternating between Washington and New Zealand, to discuss bilateral and business topics.  There are usually 50 official delegates from each country, plus spouses and a variety of presenters and observers.

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