In 2003, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) allocated up to $650 million worth of food aid to…
Back to Back—U.S. and Honduran Election Highlights
While U.S. politics can be contentious, American elections themselves tend to run smoothly. Usually, voters cast their ballots, numbers are…
60 Minutes in Central America: The Politicization of Development During the Cold War
Complex geopolitical realities, poor leadership, and economic dysfunction characterized the Cold War in Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador. USAID (United…
Conflict, Cooperation, and Corruption: USAID in Kenya in the 1990s
U.S. policy toward Kenya during the long presidency of Daniel arap Moi (1978-2002) fluctuated between a close Cold War embrace,…
Fundraising for Presidential Campaigns — and Serving as U.S. Ambassador to Spain
Approximately a third of U.S. ambassadors have been politically appointees over the last 50 years, including some of our very…
Freezing in the Dark: the First Years of the USAID Mission in Ukraine
Using candles for light, huddling into the warmest room, tapping into government telephone lines to make calls—these were the conditions…
USAID and American “Whole-of-Government” Efforts in Afghanistan, 2004-2005
USAID had to cooperate closely with the U.S. military and others in a “whole-of-government” effort to stabilize and develop Afghanistan…
A Foe in Need: Famine in North Korea
A disastrous famine struck the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 1997. Dubbed “The March of Suffering” by the North…
The Politics of Water in the Middle East: U.S. “Good Offices” Mediation Between Jordan and Israel
For countries in the Jordan River Basin, water is a life-or-death matter. Disagreements and even armed skirmishes over water issues…
Frank Carlucci and the Last Days of Patrice Lumumba in the Congo
Long before he was President Reagan’s Secretary of Defense, Frank Carlucci was a young State Department political officer in Kinshasa,…