MOMENTS
National Elections Under Protest
As the United States watches its 2020 election season drag on longer than most presidential elections, the highly charged partisan domestic environment raises concerns over possible protest against the final results. It is an illustration that paints the twenty-first ... Read More
MOMENTS
Chad’s Presidential Elections in 2016—“My Husband has Disappeared”
During the 2016 presidential elections in Chad, a number of Chadian military personnel went missing. Chad’s current president, Idriss Déby, was re-elected for a fifth term, having been in power since December 1990 when he led a coup d’état against Chad’s forme... Read More
MOMENTS
“Dealing with Ships is a Different World”—Maritime Difficulties in the Azores
The work of a Foreign Service Officer is rarely quiet or uneventful, and often involves navigating tricky relationships between the laws of the country in which one is posted and the interests of the United States. Adding in the rules, both written and unwritten, of t... Read More
MOMENTS
Backchannels at Home: The Relationship Between Congress and the Foreign Service
In 1979 Congress did something both bold and unusual. That year, President Carter was attempting to build a stronger relationship with mainland China to create a united front in East Asia. To do this, he planned on ending America’s defense agreement with Taiwan. How... Read More
MOMENTS
Barranquilla Nights—Braving a Difficult Time in Colombia
Annie Pforzheimer entered the U.S. Foreign Service when she was twenty-four years old and was immediately whisked away to Barranquilla, Colombia, which at the time (1989) was a two-person post that was known for bearing witness to tremendous amounts of violence. Pforz... Read More