Mongolia—sparsely populated, largely nomadic, and surrounded by nuclear superpowers. The end of the Cold War could not have been the…
October 14, 1960—JFK’s Call to Service and Diplomacy
John F. Kennedy inspired generations of Americans toward a life of service starting with a few impromptu lines not many…
George Hermann “Christmas Time”
“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.” This part of a song would describe the Christmases spent by George…
Lessons from Haiti: Why Security-Only Interventions Fail
Haiti has been plagued with instability for much of its existence, despite being the second country in the Americas to…
The Rocky Beginnings of the U.S.-ASEAN Relationship
What does the beginning of a diplomatic partnership look like? Though the image that comes to mind is elegant diplomacy,…
First Assignment—Thailand During the Vietnam War
Harlan Lee first became a foreign service officer in 1968 during the Vietnam War, and he was immediately dispatched to…
Documentaries for Diplomacy: African Cinema in the 1960s
When it comes to determining the world’s greatest films, we may focus on Italian giants of neorealism like Bicycle Thieves…
Restoring Trust and Preserving the U.S.-Japan Alliance: The 1995 Okinawa Rape Incident
It’s hard to imagine U.S. foreign policy in East Asia without its closest partner and ally in the region: Japan.…
Life as a Diplomatic Courier: Connecting China to the World
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to jet off across the world continent-to-continent at a moment’s notice?…
The Variety of a Foreign Service Career: Bananas, Beaches, and a Plane
Robert Reis, a longtime State Department official, is a perfect example of how far one can come from the American…