Feng shui seeks to promote prosperity, good health, and general well-being by examining how energy, qi, (pronounced “chee”), flows through…
Getting on the Seoul Train — The 1988 Summer Olympic Games
The Olympic Games represent the height of sporting diplomacy, with thousands of athletes transcending politics for two weeks as they…
The Day the Fountain Ran Dry: An Indian Duck Tale
As a Foreign Service Officer serving abroad, it is natural to become close friends with the colleagues with whom you…
Who Let the Dogs Out? – A Pet Evacuation from Kinshasa
Dear Fido, If you’re reading this, we’ve been evacuated (and you learned how to read!…). But don’t worry ol’ pal!…
The Battle to Create the Foreign Service Institute
The art of diplomatic relations and negotiations is as old as civilization itself. However, the State Department did not have…
The Inspector General — Rooting Out Fraud and Abuse in the State Department
With thousands of employees from dozens of countries spread across the globe, the U.S. Department of State sometimes falls victim…
What Goes on Behind the Scenes When POTUS Comes to Town
One of the most daunting and stressful tasks a Foreign Service Officer abroad can face is supporting a visit by POTUS,…
World Wide Wangs—When the State Department Met the Internet
One of the monumental technological advancements of the past century was the creation of the Internet. Commonly referred to as “the…
Taking the Chill off the Cold War: The First Reagan-Gorbachev Summit
The Geneva Summit of 1985 was the first meeting between President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev to talk about the arms…
The “Other” Embassy Attack of November 1979 — The Siege of Embassy Islamabad
The attack on the American embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979 and the subsequent 444-day imprisonment of American personnel…