Steven Browning was a third-tour Foreign Service Officer in Alexandria, Egypt when he found himself in the midst of the…
When a Newly-Elected President Putin Welcomed USAID’s Advice
President Putin once welcomed USAID’s assistance (at least for a time). Carol Peasley served as USAID’s mission director in Moscow…
Human Rights and USAID: Remembering the Turbulent 1990s in Indonesia
Political and economic crises abroad have a dramatic impact not only on American personnel at our embassies, but on locally-employed…
Thumbs Down on a Nelson Mandela Speech
Nelson Mandela is justifiably revered, but not every act or speech by the Nobel Peace laureate was universally acclaimed. American…
Senior Diplomat Marc Grossman Reflects on NATO’s Bombing in the Balkans
Marc Grossman’s distinguished Foreign Service career put him in the center of multiple crises, including NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign in…
USAID’s Work with an Unsung Hero of the Fight Against Apartheid in South Africa: Dullah Omar
USAID worked intensively with the new South African government after the fall of apartheid in 1994. William Stacy Rhodes was…
Bill and Hillary Clinton’s Visit to France for the 50th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion
In 1994 Avis Bohlen, the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, was made Hillary Clinton’s Control…
Our Man in Banjul: Ambassador Recalls Gambia’s 1994 Coup and the Rise of Yahya Jammeh
Our Ambassador in Banjul, Gambia, was not expecting a coup on the morning of July 22, 1994 — but that…
John A. Burroughs – From Tackling with the Philadelphia Eagles to Tackling Equal Opportunity at the State Department
Growing up in segregated Washington DC inspired John A. Burroughs to a life-long commitment to equal opportunity. He went on…
Never the Twain Shall Meet? Bureaucratic Cultures at USAID and the State Department
The famously contrasting bureaucratic cultures of the State Department and USAID made a sharp impression on Donald Bliss, USAID’s executive…