Life in the Foreign Service certainly has its advantages – working in often exotic locales, meeting fascinating people, being a…
Cleaning up America’s Backyard: The Overthrow of Guatemala’s Arbenz
The Central Intelligence Agency launched a covert operation on June 18, 1954 to overthrow the left-leaning government in Guatemala. The…
Politics, Pinatubo and the Pentagon: The Closure of Subic Bay
The closure of Naval Base Subic Bay, the U.S. Navy’s massive ship-repair, supply, and rest and recreation facility in the…
The Battle to Create the Foreign Service Institute
The art of diplomatic relations and negotiations is as old as civilization itself. However, the State Department did not have…
Trouble in Chiapas: The Zapatista Revolt
Economic development in Mexico has been uneven for generations, as some blamed the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)…
One Laptop Per Child — A Paradigm Shift in Education
According to a 2015 Brookings study, while the number of children attending primary school globally has grown dramatically over the…
A Front Row Seat to the 1975 Coup d’Etat in Chad
Throughout the 1970s, trouble was brewing in Chad. President François (N’Garta) Tombalbaye was the first president of Chad following its…
Joseph Nye — Is the American Century Over?
In April 2016, ADST gave its Cyrus R. Vance Award to Dr. Joseph Nye. Named in honor of one of…
A Few Words from Benjamin Franklin
Born in Boston in 1706, Benjamin Franklin helped to draft the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, and he…
Laying It Between the Lines: Music Diplomacy in Shanghai
“But if I really say it/ the radio won’t play it/ unless I lay it between the lines.” This song…