In 1969, Colonel Gaafar Muhammad Nimeiry (seen right), who three years earlier had graduated from the United States Army Command…
The Inspector General — Rooting Out Fraud and Abuse in the State Department
With thousands of employees from dozens of countries spread across the globe, the U.S. Department of State sometimes falls victim…
Two Shades of Red: the Sino-Soviet Split
After the 1949 defeat of the Chinese Nationalists at the hands of Mao Zedong’s People’s Liberation Army, the newly-proclaimed People’s…
Winning the Peace – USAID and the Demobilization of the Nicaraguan Contras
In the 1980s, one of the focal points of U.S. foreign policy was the rise of leftist militants throughout the…
Creating Yaounde’s First Consulate
The first official U.S. diplomatic post in Cameroon was founded in 1957 during its waning days as a United Nations…
Burundi: With Independence Came Genocide
Coordinated attacks in Burundi in recent years left hundreds dead and forced thousands to flee the country. The State Department advised…
Warriors without Weapons – Recruiting FSOs to Rebuild Iraq
In the lead-up to the 2003 American invasion of Iraq, State Department officials realized they would need to deploy scores…
Windshield Tour of a Military Coup in Benin
The small Western African country of Benin (formerly Dahomey) has had a turbulent post-colonial history. Since gaining independence from the…
Economics and Diplomacy
Back to Memoirs and Occasional Papers Economics and Diplomacy: A Life in the Foreign Service of the United States Deane…
Congo in Crisis: The Rise and Fall of Katangan Secession
When the Republic of the Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) became independent from Belgium in June 1960,…