The rapid ascent of ISIS in 2013-16 was fueled by a flow of “foreign fighters” from across the Middle East,…
Human Rights and USAID: Remembering the Turbulent 1990s in Indonesia
Political and economic crises abroad have a dramatic impact not only on American personnel at our embassies, but on locally-employed…
Thumbs Down on a Nelson Mandela Speech
Nelson Mandela is justifiably revered, but not every act or speech by the Nobel Peace laureate was universally acclaimed. American…
Senior Diplomat Marc Grossman Reflects on NATO’s Bombing in the Balkans
Marc Grossman’s distinguished Foreign Service career put him in the center of multiple crises, including NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign in…
Bill and Hillary Clinton’s Visit to France for the 50th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion
In 1994 Avis Bohlen, the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, was made Hillary Clinton’s Control…
Our Man in Banjul: Ambassador Recalls Gambia’s 1994 Coup and the Rise of Yahya Jammeh
Our Ambassador in Banjul, Gambia, was not expecting a coup on the morning of July 22, 1994 — but that…
John A. Burroughs – From Tackling with the Philadelphia Eagles to Tackling Equal Opportunity at the State Department
Growing up in segregated Washington DC inspired John A. Burroughs to a life-long commitment to equal opportunity. He went on…
Never the Twain Shall Meet? Bureaucratic Cultures at USAID and the State Department
The famously contrasting bureaucratic cultures of the State Department and USAID made a sharp impression on Donald Bliss, USAID’s executive…
An Espionage Caper in Ghana; Helping Americans Escape Rwanda — Scenes From a Diplomatic Life
Arlene Render’s career took her from a segregated neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, to three ambassadorships and a lifetime of diplomatic…
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