Here at the Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training, we recognize the importance of documenting and distributing oral records of…
Lessons Learned: USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and the 1985 Mexico City Earthquake
USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) is perhaps the world’s premier international disaster assistance agency. It was not always…
Getting Mexico to the NAFTA Negotiating Table
U.S. diplomats who helped lay the groundwork for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) first had to overcome entrenched…
The 1985 Mexico City Earthquake
On the morning of September 19, 1985, an 8.1-magnitude earthquake hit the western states of Mexico and including Mexico City. …
The Bi-national Center and Upward Mobility Within the Foreign Service
Many career paths have people who are driven by a singular focus to get promoted above all else, and the…
Afghanistan Project-Earl Anthony Wayne
Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne Excerpts from the Foreign Affairs Oral History Project Interviewed by: Robin Matthewman Initial interview date: August…
Afghanistan Project-Elizabeth Jones
Ambassador Elizabeth Jones Oral Histories of U.S. Diplomacy in Afghanistan, 2001–2021 Interviewed by: Robin Matthewman Initial interview date: October 4,…
How Recognizing the Early Alternative Development Failures in “Plan Colombia” Led to its Ultimate Success
Colombia was in chaos when Andrés Pastrana was inaugurated as president of Colombia in 1998. Drug lords and the widespread…
Afghanistan Project – Hilda “Bambi” Arellano
Hilda “Bambi” Arellano Oral Histories of U.S. Diplomacy in Afghanistan, 2001–2021 Interviewed by: Bill Hammink Initial interview date: October 27,…
Edward Mark’s A Professional Foreigner Life in Diplomacy
In A Professional Foreigner (Potomac Books/U of Nebraska Press), volume #74 in the Diplomats and Diplomacy Series, Ambassador Edward Marks…