Life can sometimes be unpredictable in the Foreign Service. Serving as a development officer may perhaps be even more unpredictable,…
Art as the Universal Language: Cultural Expression Serves as the Bridge for the Separated People of Cyprus
A sense of misunderstanding is what undoubtedly lies at the heart of conflict, especially between nations who apparently strive for…
Tex Harris: Representing at Home the Officers who Serve Abroad
A lack of due process, serious disorganization, and inadequate representation. This was the state of affairs of Foreign Service labor…
Operation Sapphire: Nuclear Diplomacy in Kazakhstan
Working with nuclear materials is, by its very nature, volatile. Carrying out diplomacy over nuclear materials is even more so.…
After Dayton: Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Bosnia
The Dayton Accords peace agreement represents one of the most pivotal of its time. Signed on November 21, 1995 at…
Money for Secrets: Making a Deal with a KGB Agent
Benedict Arnold. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Mir Jafar. All of these individuals have something in common: they all betrayed their…
Living Through History with a Historian—Witnessing Monumental Societal Change in the Soviet Union from the 60s to the 90s
American diplomats and their families abroad become accustomed to living through exciting or harrowing events; but occasionally their lives provide…
Fighting Where the “Wango-Wango Bird Couldn’t Get”—U.S. Diplomats and the Ecuador-Peru Boundary Dispute
In 1895, the United States intervened in a long-standing border dispute between Great Britain and Venezuela, forcing its resolution—and forcing…
Kidnapped by Guerillas—The Guatemalan Civil War
Although a career in the Foreign Service is rewarding, it is not without risk. Many career assignments are not a…
Family First: On the Struggles of Familial Medical Clearances
The barriers to entry to the Foreign Service start off high and do not taper off. Individuals pass through written…