Imagine this: It is 1987, you are the president of the United States of America, your country is one of…
A Tale of Two Embassies—Microphones, Microwaves, and Bugs
In 1972, during the détente period in U.S.–Soviet relations, the United States handed the Soviets the key to its new…
“Like Sixteenth Century Switzerland”—An American in Bhutan
In the 1960s, Bhutan allowed visitors only by royal invitation. The last independent outpost of Tibetan culture after the Chinese…
The Development Process is Never Static: Reorienting and Expanding Family Planning in Yemen
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,…
A Jack of All Trades: Working Without Foreign Service Nationals in Moscow
Foreign service officers are often subject to circumstances beyond their control. Such was the case when a diplomatic quarrel occurred…
Working Together Against Separation—Life As A White Anti-Apartheid Activist in 1960s South Africa
Sometimes, politics involves standing for one’s values, even if it goes against the beliefs of the system in charge and…
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…
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…
The Iran Hostage Crisis: Diplomatic Drama and Legal Innovation
Next to Pearl Harbor and 9/11, the Iranian seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979 and…