Diplomacy is the practice of building relationships between people and countries in order to achieve mutual goals. Diplomacy, however, requires…
George Shultz: “Your Country is the United States”
George P. Shultz was Secretary of State for President Reagan from 1982 to 1989, the longest such tenure since Dean…
Yellow Rain in Southeast Asia: Bee Pollen or Deadly Weapon?
The 1925 Geneva Protocol put in place a worldwide ban on chemical weapons, but the necessity and handling of such…
Diplomatic View of Vice President Joe Biden on Kosovo and Israel
When Vice President Biden sat next to then Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping at a dinner in 2012, Xi asked…
Nettling the New Guard—PNGed out of Singapore
Singapore’s story of economic success under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew has catapulted the nation to the status of…
“Am I Going to Watch a U.S. Senator Get Shot?”—Observing the Fall of the Marcos Regime in the Philippines
Senator John Kerry bravely pushed aside armed hostile Philippine military personnel and policemen, rushing into the barricaded church in front…
Remembering Bob Hawke, Australia’s Colorful Prime Minister
Bob Hawke was an Australian original. One of the country’s most powerful political figures, he was observed by generations of…
Thanksgiving: How U.S. Diplomats Celebrate an American Tradition Around the World
Gobble, gobble! Thanksgiving is a unique American holiday — one that U.S. embassies, foreign service families, and American expats of…
A Reluctant Welcome From Notorious Warlords in Afghanistan
A USAID officer secured a meeting with two senior and notorious Afghan warlords in the late 1980s when he appeared…
Richard Solomon, Ping-Pong Diplomat to China
China scholar Richard Solomon, who was an essential component of the “ping-pong diplomacy” that led to the thaw in relations…