When disaster strikes, foreign service officers are called upon to support the U.S. government’s response. This was the case in…
Combating Illicit Trade in Ancient Art to Protect the Cultural Heritage of Mankind
The study of ancient art in museum collections has long been a stimulus to the human spirit and an important…
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…
Communist Containment in the Middle East: Emergence of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)
The 1950s can be described as a decade filled with some uncertainties, but many prosperities. The Cold War had just…
Colin Powell—Kuwait and the Gulf War
In early August 1990, the president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, ordered the invasion of Kuwait. Some of Hussein’s contentious justifications…
Commemorating Colin Powell
On October 18, 2021 America lost a remarkable leader and public servant. Colin Powell served as the highest ranking soldier,…
A Look Back—First Director of the Population, Refugees, and Migrations Bureau
The Biden administration nominated Ambassador Julieta Valls Noyes to serve as assistant secretary of state for the department’s Bureau of…
Modern American Diplomacy
The Modern American Diplomacy Podcast, produced by ADST and supported by the Una Chapman Cox Foundation, provides in-depth stories and…
Yellow Rain in Southeast Asia: Bee Pollen or Deadly Weapon?
The 1925 Geneva Protocol put in place a worldwide ban on chemical weapons, but the necessity and handling of such…
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…