The lobby area leading to the sauna at the Finnish Embassy in Washington. Invitation to the sauna is now coveted in the Beltway, thanks to Finland’s growing influence in international affairs and the desire of busy professionals to live healthier lives. — ©2024 The New York Times Company
“WHEN you are half-naked or even sometimes completely naked, it allows for deeper discussion,” said Mikko Hautala, Finland’s ambassador to the United States. “You talk in a way that doesn’t happen when you are sitting around a table with a tie on or at some formal thing.”
Diplomacy takes shape in different ways: formal meetings in the Oval Office and state dinners in the White House’s grand East Room, casual receptions at embassies, and one-on-one meetings over martinis in the lobbies of five-star hotels.
