In June of 2012, Elizabeth Jones found herself being transferred to the Near East Bureau in the Department of State.…
National Elections Under Protest
As the United States watches its 2020 election season drag on longer than most presidential elections, the highly charged partisan…
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,…
South Korea’s 1987 “Tear Gas Festival:” The Path to Democratic Elections
South Korea was in a haze in 1987—both literally and figuratively. After years of de facto military dictatorship, the populace…
Tracking the Politics of Burma (Myanmar) After the Flawed 1990 Elections
While democratic elections were held in Burma (Myanmar) by the military-led government in 1990, the elected parliament was never allowed…
The First Diplomatic Visit in Forty Years to the “Land of the Eternal Blue Sky”—Donald C. Johnson’s 1984 Visit to Mongolia
Mongolia—sparsely populated, largely nomadic, and surrounded by nuclear superpowers. The end of the Cold War could not have been the…
Trying to Negotiate with the Iranians
Elizabeth Jones became the U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan in 1995. On July 3, 1988 an Iran Air flight was making…
The Sandinistas Return: Navigating the 2006 Nicaraguan Election
Few events illustrate the challenges of American diplomacy like a foreign election. Diplomats walk a fine line between promoting American…
Deserted in the Panama Canal, Exploring the Rose City, and Travelling the Globe in Forty Days: Firsthand Accounts from George Hermann in the Foreign Service
Foreign Service Officers are posted to positions abroad for terms of one, two, or three years depending on locality, demand,…
Ousted from Office for 47 Hours: the Failed 2002 Venezuelan Coup
Coups often do not go exactly as planned. While some result in military despotism and others in democratic reforms, some…