Two decades of ethnic tension and a civil war in 1990 laid the groundwork for one of the most savage…
Guns and Ganja: Marijuana Usage in the Foreign Service
Like many countries, the U.S. has recently grappled with the issue of how to deal with marijuana usage: Should it…
“If Putin gets away with Crimea, eastern Ukraine will be next”
The following was written by Victor H. Ashe, Ambassador to Poland under the Bush Administration. He argues that President Obama’s past actions…
A Unified Diplomatic Service for the 21st Century, Part III
The unusually strong response to Stephanie Kinney’s piece on the lack of core values within the Foreign Service — by far…
When Ambassadors Were Rock Stars
It is difficult in this day and age to imagine any ambassador being on the cover of a major magazine…
Inside Foggy Bottom
Foggy Bottom, so called because its location alongside the Potomac made it susceptible to dense concentrations of fog and industrial smoke, refers not only…
Transnistria — Moldovan Land Under Russian Control
The Transnistria region in Moldova is a Cold War relic. Along with Nagorno-Karabakh in Armenian-controlled Azerbaijan and South Ossetia in Georgia, it is…
Poland’s Path to NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created by ten European countries, the U.S. and Canada in 1949 in the aftermath of…
Reviving the Foreign Service, Part II
This article first appeared in the May 2013 edition of the Foreign Service Journal. In it, Susan R. Johnson, the…
The Ever-changing Nature of the American Foreign Service
The Foreign Service has undergone major reforms and tinkering over the past century, so much so that people often joked…