Fifty billion dollars. That is the most recent figure for U.S. yearly spending on foreign aid. However, even though this…
Origins of the Carter Center’s Election Observation Work
The Carter Center was founded in 1982 just after President Jimmy Carter was defeated in the 1980 U.S. presidential elections.…
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…
Diamonds, Coal, and the Dutch Queen—NBC’s First Female Broadcaster Escapes The Netherlands in 1940
Reporting live from a shortwave radio station near the German border at the beginning of World War II, NBC’s first…
Fake Eyeglasses and an Elaborate Ruse: Escaping Iran During the 1979 Hostage Crisis
With forged passport in hand, Kathleen Stafford donned fake eyeglasses and pulled her long hair back. If this plan worked,…
Fundraising for Presidential Campaigns — and Serving as U.S. Ambassador to Spain
Approximately a third of U.S. ambassadors have been politically appointees over the last 50 years, including some of our very…
Pakistan, Population, and Development in the Early 1960s
You might never guess that the work of a USAID Program Economist could result in a trip to the Vatican…
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…
A “Very Japanese” Arrangement to Dismantle a Soviet MIG-25
On September 6, 1976 a MIG-25 (foxbat), the most advanced Soviet fighter jet at the time, landed at Hokadote Airport…
Getting Mexico to the NAFTA Negotiating Table
U.S. diplomats who helped lay the groundwork for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) first had to overcome entrenched…