In a one-on-one meeting in 1989, the future president of South Africa, F.W. de Klerk, gave Assistant Secretary of State…
Reflections on a Career: Health and Population in East Africa
Victor Masbayi was born in Nairobi, Kenya in 1951; he lived there with his family throughout his undergraduate college education…
Food for Thought: A Woman in African Agricultural Development
In 2003, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) allocated up to $650 million worth of food aid to…
Building Trust and Supporting Human Rights in Apartheid South Africa
In 1988, a formidable coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans passed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act (CAA) over President Reagan’s veto.…
Persuading an Arms Dealer to Come Clean in a New South Africa
Yacht trips, golf junkets, and private receptions with Oprah. These are rare events even in elevated diplomatic careers. Yet William…
African-American Ambassadors
As challenging as it is for anyone to become and serve as Ambassador for the United States, the hurdles are…
The United States and South Africa: The Binational Commission in the Years Following Apartheid
Directly following the election of Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa in 1994, the U.S. government began to work…
USAID’s Work with an Unsung Hero of the Fight Against Apartheid in South Africa: Dullah Omar
USAID worked intensively with the new South African government after the fall of apartheid in 1994. William Stacy Rhodes was…
Anatomy of an Overthrow: How an African Leader was Toppled
A council of combined security forces known as the Derg staged a coup d’état on September 12, 1974 against Ethiopian…
African-American Ambassadors
(As of April 2016) A Adams, Samuel Clifford Jr. Aggrey, Rudolph Alexander, Leslie M. (pictured with Bill Richardson) B Barnes,…