American diplomats and their families abroad become accustomed to living through exciting or harrowing events; but occasionally their lives provide…
An Honest Broker: Remembering Brent Scowcroft
Brent Scowcroft was an Air Force lieutenant turned two-time United States National Security Advisor who served under Presidents Gerald Ford…
Setting the Record Straight: Accountability in Reporting on the Guatemalan Economy
For policymakers to make the right decisions, it is crucial that they first have the right information. With this in…
George W. Bush and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
Forty million total cases. Three million deaths. One year. This was not the casualty of a bloody global conflict, but…
Death, Love and Conspiracy: The Nepalese Royal Massacre of 2001 (Durbar Hatyakanda)
Facing domestic unrest, including a Maoist insurgency, the Nepalese royal family never suspected that the greatest threat to the monarchy…
Cooperating with the Taliban to Fight Opium Production in Afghanistan Before 9/11
Fighting opium production in Afghanistan before 9/11 meant working with the Taliban. Veteran foreign service officer James P. Callahan found…
The State Department’s Air Wing and Counternarcotics Programs in South America
In the early 1990s, at the height of the “War on Drugs,” David Lyon took a break from consular work…
North Yemen: Ambassador to a Divided Land
Yemen has experienced violence and poverty in recent decades, but for centuries was a pivotal crossroads for trade and travel.…
The Technology of Terror – South America in the 70s and 80s
Terrorism the world over poses a threat to the lives of Foreign Service Officers. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s terrorist…
Drogas y Derechos Humanos: Changing U.S. Policy towards Guatemala
In June 1954 the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, concerned about the threat of communism in Guatemala, assisted in the overthrow…