Using candles for light, huddling into the warmest room, tapping into government telephone lines to make calls—these were the conditions…
Benazir Bhutto, USAID, and Girls’ Education in Pakistan
Nine days after David Sprague arrived in Pakistan to work for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), a plane…
Duty and Danger: An American Diplomat’s Service in Iraq on the Eve of 1991 Gulf War
American diplomat Stephen Thibeault watched as an airplane departed Iraq in 1990, carrying Rev. Jesse Jackson and American hostages liberated…
African-American Ambassadors
As challenging as it is for anyone to become and serve as Ambassador for the United States, the hurdles are…
Duty and Danger: A Diplomatic Spouse Recounts Narrow Escapes from Uganda and Cambodia
Louise Keeley waited and worried in neighboring countries when her husband, American diplomat Robert V. “Bob” Keeley, faced the encircling…
Washington Demands and Disaster Assistance: USAID and the 2010 Haiti Earthquake
Lewis Lucke was called out of retirement in 2010 to coordinate USAID’s response to the disastrous 7.0 magnitude Haitian earthquake,…
USAID’s role in helping rebuild Rwanda after the genocide of 1994
Philip-Michael Gary’s career with USAID put him face-to-face with then-Vice President and Minister of Defense of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, in…
Rebuilding Iraq after the Second Gulf War: Lewis Lucke
In January 2003, the U. S. Government established the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) to act as a…
Intelligence, Research, God and Country: a Tour in INR
Teresita Schaffer enjoyed an illustrious 30-year career in the Foreign Service, developing a reputation as a leading expert on South…
A Man for all Transitions: Thomas Reeve Pickering
Considered by many the most accomplished diplomat of his generation, Thomas Reeve Pickering served as U.S. Ambassador to Jordan, Nigeria,…