Author: Liz Dee

While U.S. State Department employees regularly serve in the midst of pivotal international agreements and turmoil, the events going on surrounding their personal lives are often equally fascinating. Social change, and in some cases rebellion, characterized the formative years of many senior U.S. diplomats. From the 1963 March on Washington to the Bureau of Indian… Read More "“The Times They Are a-Changin”—Working in the Context of Social Revolution"

In a one-on-one meeting in 1989, the future president of South Africa, F.W. de Klerk, gave Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Herman J. “Hank” Cohen a preview of a plan that potentially would redefine the nation’s identity and help start it down the path of reconciliation. De Klerk promised that if elected he… Read More "Ending South African Apartheid: Guiding U.S. Policy Towards South Africa with Secret Knowledge"

As the hearings of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange continue, the question of whether he will be extradited to the United States remains uncertain. New scandals continue to pop up as Assange contends that former Congressman Dana Rohrabacher said that President Trump would give him a pardon in exchange for disclosing the source of the Hillary… Read More "Wikileaks: The Revelation That Shook U.S. Diplomacy"

Managing personal security is an important part of a Foreign Service Officer’s training. Weapons of mass destruction, sexual assault, cyberattacks, hostage situations, and especially bomb threats are just some of the terrible threats they face. Although awareness and training for diplomatic personnel has improved over the years, the menace has not necessarily decreased. Serving abroad… Read More "“I Heard Something Ticking Away”—Diplomats Dealing With Explosives"

Creating a country ex nihilo is never an easy feat. How does one construct functional government institutions from scratch in a land that has been in conflict for decades? Ethnic tensions and former colonial administrations make this uphill battle even steeper. South Sudan faced this very situation after signing the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).… Read More "Building a Country from Scratch—The South Sudanese Transition to Independence (2005-2011)"

Women have come a long way in fighting for equality within the workforce. This has inevitably shaped relationships for women throughout all careers. Within the Foreign Service, a woman’s career, both formal and informal, has not only been vital to promoting American diplomacy, but also has seen a dramatic change when it comes to women’s… Read More "“Till Death Do Us Part”—Relationships for Women in the Foreign Service"

Forty million total cases. Three million deaths. One year. This was not the casualty of a bloody global conflict, but the state of the HIV/AIDS Crisis in 2003 when President George W. Bush launched the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR). Since the beginning of this program it has provided over $80 billion dollars… Read More "George W. Bush and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief"

From the words of President Reagan to the fears of people all over the world, unease over world-ending technology being at the fingertips of two belligerent powers defined the latter half of the twentieth century. Even today, with the potential for nuclear arms to fall into terrorist hands and resurgent tensions between Russia and the… Read More "Wars that “Must Never be Fought”—Nuclear Disarmament in the Wake of the Cold War"

Several devastating pandemics have plagued human civilization throughout history. From the Black Death (1350) to the deadly Coronavirus, each outbreak has its own unique challenges and many human casualties. This was true for the virus that “shook” the beginning of the twenty-first century: the Avian Influenza. Nicknamed the Bird Flu, the Avian Influenza had its… Read More "Pandemic Pandemonium: International Cooperation in the Face of Crisis"