There’s never a dull moment in the life of a USAID social anthropologist! The foreign service can indeed present a…
American People’s Foreign Policy: USAID’s Role in Apartheid South Africa
In 1986 Congress overrode a presidential veto on major foreign policy. During the 1980s, the American public increasingly resented the…
Combating Malaria in Ethiopia: The Early Public Health Initiatives of USAID
After thirteen months of combating the novel coronavirus pandemic through periods of quarantine, mask mandates, and social distancing, all adults…
Raising the Standard of Living in Foreign Countries: USAID’s Housing Guarantee Program
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is a crucial player in delivering assistance and aid to foreign countries.…
The Consequences of Serendipity: From Peace Corps to USAID
Is anything ever truly up to chance? Or are these moments of chance instead a culmination of one’s hard work?…
From the Ground Up: USAID in Post-Soviet Russia
Six months after the fall of the Soviet Union, James (Jim) Norris became the USAID mission director in Russia. Not…
Fighting the War on Drugs with Bus Stops and Law Books: USAID in Bolivia
As the Cold War died down, U.S. assistance to Latin America shifted focus to a new war: the war on…
Was King Abdullah II’s Ascension to the Throne Key to the Success of USAID in Jordan?
The 1990s were a decade marked with intensive peace negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Although many efforts stalled,…
FLOTUS For a Night—USAID Employee Stands in at First Ladies Conference
When USAID employee Judith Gilmore was asked to play First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS), it wasn’t because a…
“A Special Place in My Heart:” Memories of USAID in Vietnam
Images of the U.S. military in Vietnam are part of the American consciousness. But these images are only part of…