Even when the situation seems most dire, the development process is never static. Bottom-up, local efforts help make the process…
Deserted in the Panama Canal, Exploring the Rose City, and Travelling the Globe in Forty Days: Firsthand Accounts from George Hermann in the Foreign Service
Foreign Service Officers are posted to positions abroad for terms of one, two, or three years depending on locality, demand,…
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…
Construction of the Eastern Bloc Through a Woman’s Eyes
After the destruction and horrors of World War II, countries across the world banded together to offer support and assistance.…
George Herrmann’s Excellent Adventures in West Africa, South America, East Asia, and More
Have you ever seen a monkey in an airport? How about the Dalai Lama? Have you visited the world’s first…
Development in South Asia and Latin America: USAID in the ‘90s
There’s never a dull moment in the life of a USAID social anthropologist! The foreign service can indeed present a…
Making the Most of Adversity: Managing the Consular Section in Guangzhou, China
Adversity can often bring out the best in those who are willing to rise to the challenges it throws at…
Senegal’s Locust Plague in the late 1980s
The year is 1986. A Senegalese farmer walks out in his field a short while after the drought season has…
A Murder in the Straits Colony—Life in Colonial Singapore
In the case of most diplomats, the investigation of crimes is an activity that is neither envied nor sought out;…
Diplomacy as an Instrument of Statecraft: A Practicum
Diplomacy as an Instrument of Statecraft: A Practicum Remarks to the Washington International Diplomatic Academy Ambassador Chas W.…