Through 50 years of Soviet occupation, Latvia was effectively erased from the political map. He explained that he never aspired to become a diplomat, but following the collapse of the Soviet Union, he had the opportunity to try diplomatic work because all of the communists had been barred from political and military offices. Much like in Estonia, only young people were left to run the country. Razāns, 23 years old at the time, imagined he would find some other work after a year, at most. Now he is the Ambassador to the United States.

The room was already filled, but more people were still squeezing into a standing-room-only crowd for “NATO, Russia & 21st Century Atlanticism,” but Deputy Chief of Mission Tanel Sepp said that he is getting used to such receptions. “Before Crimea, I was knocking on different doors on the Hill, maybe they would have 10 or 15 minutes to talk. Now people from the Hill come to me.”

By Julianne Maila February 6 marked the first official visit of Zygimantas Pavilionis, Lithuanian Ambassador to the US and Mexico, to the city of Seattle. With a packed agenda, in three short days, Ambassador Pavilionis participated in a variety of events at UW and within the Seattle community. As one of the most distant American

Guntis Šmidchens, the head of the Baltic Studies program at UW, will launch his just-published book, The Power of Song, at the Nordic Heritage Museum Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. The Power of Song shows how the people of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania confronted a military superpower and achieved independence in the Baltic “singing revolution.”