In 2003, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) allocated up to $650 million worth of food aid to…
The U.S. Response to the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia
The Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami of 2004 killed over 275,000 people in 14 different countries. In Aceh, Indonesia alone,…
On Loan to the U.S. Senate—A Change in Perspective
Among the American general public, the United States Congress is commonly found to have a poor reputation, stereotyped as inefficient…
“A Special Place in My Heart:” Memories of USAID in Vietnam
Images of the U.S. military in Vietnam are part of the American consciousness. But these images are only part of…
USAID: Working With State and DOD on Counter Terrorism – and with Oliver North in Honduras
Elizabeth Kvitashvili’s USAID career took her from Afghanistan to Honduras to Russia. She led efforts to provide humanitarian assistance amidst crisis…
Fleeing Rwanda to Survive, then Returning to Rebuild, 1994
On April 6, 1994, the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were assassinated when their plane was shot down near Kigali…
Brass Tacks and Kashmir: India-Pakistan Military Crises in the 1980s
A crisis between India and Pakistan erupted between November 1986 and March 1987 after India launched the largest-ever military exercise…
Seek and Destroy – The Mine Ban Treaty
Signed in Ottawa, Canada on December 3, 1997, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer…
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…
The Incidental Oriental Secretary and Other Tales of Foreign Service
Back to Diplomats and Diplomacy Dick Jackson captures the humor and sheer incongruity of working across cultures in an international…