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1. Pan Am 103 and the Birth of “No Double Standard”

Author:
Richard Gilbert
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
On December 12, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest and detention of Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi (Mas’ud), 71, of Tunisia and Libya, the suspected maker of the bomb that destroyed Pan American Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, 34 years earlier. In addition to being a sharp reminder of the tragic deaths of 270 innocent persons in 1988, the announcement of Mas’ud’s arrest also brought home for me decades-old questions about what was “known in advance” and the birth of the U.S. government’s No Double Standard policy. The news about Mas’ud sent my mind swirling back 34 years to the discussion at our weekly section heads meeting in Moscow in mid-December 1988; I participated in these Country Team meetings as embassy Press Attaché. That day, Administrative Counselor Bill Kelly reported receiving an unclassified Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “Threat to Civil Aviation” warning, sent to several embassies. By citing Pan American specifically, the warning had special resonance for the official Moscow community. At the time, our usual route to the U.S. under required “Fly America” rules put us on Pan American’s daily flight to Frankfurt or London, then onward to the U.S.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Terrorism, and Memoir
Political Geography:
Europe and Scotland

2. A Master Class in Diplomacy

Author:
Jonathan B. Rickert
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Nicu Ceausescu, the wastrel younger son of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena, was widely believed in the 1980s to be the heir apparent to his father. Unlike his older siblings, Valentin and Zoia, he had been an indifferent student and was more interested in drinking, gambling, and carousing than in any more serious pursuits. Nevertheless, by the 1980s he held high positions in the Romanian Communist Party and government while still in his early thirties —he was First Secretary of the Union of Communist Youth and a member of the Party’s Central Committee, as well as deputy in the parliament and Minister of Youth Affairs. Higher-level positions awaited him. In mid-September 1983, during my assignment as Romania Desk Officer at the State Department, the Romanian Embassy approached me for help in setting up a meeting for Nicu at the highest possible level. Although he was considered a lightweight and his visit to the U.S. was little more than a junket, my Romanian Embassy colleagues obviously were terrified lest he be dissatisfied with his reception in Washington, with possibly unpleasant consequences for themselves and their careers. They were desperate to arrange something for Nicu that would give his Washington stay at least the appearance of substance. After some discussion within our office, we dutifully sent forward an appointment request for him to meet with Under Secretary for Political Affairs Lawrence Eagleburger, with little expectation that the third highest ranking official in the department would agree.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Memoir
Political Geography:
Europe and Romania

3. Reagan in China: Don’t Say Anything about the Turkeys

Author:
Beatrice Camp
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Twelve years after President Nixon’s historic opening to China, President Ronald Reagan visited the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in April 1984. The visit was a vast undertaking with an enormous entourage – Ambassador Arthur Hummel was reportedly stunned to hear that the president’s party would number over 800. For a politician like Reagan who had repeatedly criticized President Jimmy Carter for establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing, it was a huge move. For the Chinese, it was a very welcome symbol of acceptance. First lady Nancy Reagan accompanied her husband; some 600 journalists covered the trip. The Reagans toured historical and cultural sites in Beijing and attended a State Dinner at the Great Hall of the People before traveling on to Xian and Shanghai.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Memoir
Political Geography:
China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

4. Vladimir Putin’s Mistrust of the West Runs Deep

Author:
Andrew Goodman
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
While most Western analysts and commentators place responsibility for the war in Ukraine squarely on Vladimir Putin, a few contend that NATO’s enlargement provoked the Russian invasion. Based on my personal interactions with Putin while serving as a U.S. diplomat in St Petersburg in the 1990s, I would argue that a collision between the West and a revisionist Russia led by Putin was virtually inevitable.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, NATO, Diplomacy, Vladimir Putin, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Ukraine

5. Stepping Up Our Climate Diplomacy

Author:
Charles Ray
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
At the opening of the COP27 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on November 7, 2022, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the representatives of the countries attending that they faced a choice: work together to cut greenhouse gas emissions or condemn the planet to climate catastrophe. “Humanity has a choice,” Guterres said. “Cooperate or perish. We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.” Guterres called for the world’s richest and poorest countries to work together to speed up the transition from fossil fuels, and for the wealthy to help with funding to enable poor countries reduce emissions and deal with the negative impacts that they have already suffered due to climate change. “The two largest economies—the United States and China—have a particular responsibility to join efforts to make this pact a reality,” he went on to say. Left unsaid, but understood by most, is that China and the U.S. are also the world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gases. While the U.S. and much of the rest of the world are still preoccupied with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rampant inflation, energy shortages, and the fallout from the Covid pandemic, the existential problem of climate change cannot be ignored.
Topic:
Climate Change, Diplomacy, and Carbon Emissions
Political Geography:
China, Global Focus, and United States of America

6. Would You Say No to Shirley Temple on Thanksgiving?

Author:
Raymond F. Smith
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
During the Reagan presidency, “trust, but verify” became the operating principle for negotiations with the Soviet Union on strategic matters, particularly on arms control agreements. The administration’s guidance to those of us in the trenches remained as it had been for previous administrations of both parties. We were to continue to adhere to the principle of reciprocity. In the day-to-day business of managing relations with the Soviet Union, reciprocity essentially meant that if they cut us some slack, we would do the same. Generally, the Soviet Union did not cut us any slack, so we did our best not to cut them any. The top-down authoritarianism of the Soviet system gave them some inherent advantages on these matters, since they faced no pressures to relax the treatment accorded to our diplomats, whereas we frequently did. In the early 1980s, I oversaw the bilateral relations section of the State Department’s Soviet desk, responsible for managing the nitty-gritty of everyday relations. While serving in Moscow just a few years previously, I had been on the receiving end of Soviet “hospitality” toward American diplomats and was generally immovable on issues of reciprocity. Which brings us to Shirley Temple. Those of us of a certain age remember her as the irresistible tyke who tap-danced and sang her way into our hearts on the silver screen. Shirley Temple as a child, curtsey, right hand under chin, right foot forward As an adult, Shirley Temple Black developed an interest in international affairs and served as U.S. ambassador to Ghana, then later to Czechoslovakia. And now, on this chilly November day in Washington, my secretary informed me that she was on the phone and wanted to speak to me. She had, she told me, invited the Soviet consul general in San Francisco to her home in the hilly outskirts of the city for Thanksgiving. She believed that enabling him to experience this quintessential American holiday in a real American home would help him to develop a better understanding and appreciation of our way of life. He had replied that he would be delighted to come, but the State Department would not let him because her home was in an area that Soviet diplomats were not allowed to visit. (At this point, I quietly asked one of my staff to find out whether her home was in a closed area and learned shortly that, in fact, it was.) He had told her that unless she could persuade the State Department to grant him an exception to visit her home he would very regretfully have to decline her generous offer.
Topic:
Cold War, Diplomacy, International Affairs, and Memoir
Political Geography:
Soviet Union and United States of America

7. Where the “Marshall Plan” Became the Organization for European Economic Cooperation

Author:
Renee M. Earle
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
In 2022, Europe and the U.S. marked the 75th anniversary of the Marshall Plan, and this year is the 20th anniversary of a permanent Paris exhibit that documents its achievements. When I was posted to Paris as the Public Affairs Officer from 2002 to 2006, the public affairs offices (except for the press section), along with the consular affairs services, were in the Hôtel de Talleyrand facing the Place de la Concorde, about a block from the main U.S. embassy building. The Talleyrand, as we called it, gave visitors easier access for these more public functions of the embassy. Running back and forth to meetings at the embassy was a small price to pay for offices overlooking the majestic Concorde. In 2003, the Talleyrand marked a new milestone. Following initial restorations of the Talleyrand’s State Apartment rooms, the embassy invited representatives of the Marshall Plan’s participating nations and restoration sponsors to celebrate the opening of the George C. Marshall Center and its permanent exhibit, “The Marshall Plan: The Vision of a Family of Nations,” created by French and American historians and curators to memorialize the project that revitalized Europe after the devastation of World War II. The Talleyrand has an illustrious history dating from the 18th century and a no-less- illustrious list of inhabitants that included the building’s namesake today, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, and the Rothschild family, who made the Talleyrand their home until the German occupation of Paris. The “hôtel particulier” (private urban mansion) lived through an evolving history of changes, including its own salvation when only quick action by the Allied forces saved the Place de la Concorde and surrounding buildings from Hitler’s order to destroy Paris.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Memoir, Economic Cooperation, and Marshall Plan
Political Geography:
Europe and United States of America

8. Glasnost – A Bulgarian View

Author:
Jonathan B. Rickert
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Hanging on the living room wall in our summer house in Sweden is a framed pen-and-ink cartoon from our time late in communist-era Bulgaria. As with most memorabilia, there is a story behind it. One Saturday in September 1987, our family went for a drive in the mountains outside of Sofia, as we often did on weekends. On the way home, we passed through Bankya, a famed mineral springs spa town that now is officially part of the capital city. We noticed a small outdoor craft fair in progress, so we stopped to look around. At one of the stands, we met a gentleman named Iovio Terziev, a cartoonist/caricaturist, who was hawking several of his pen-and-ink drawings. Some were humorous, some mildly “political.” In the former category, I recall one depicting a physician seated at a desk and peering down at a file. Before him stood a man bandaged from head to toe with only his eyes visible. Without looking up at the patient, the doctor is saying to him “please remove your clothes.” That, I guess, is what passes for Bulgarian humor. However, the drawing that particularly caught my eye was one entitled “Glasnost.”
Topic:
Diplomacy and Memoir
Political Geography:
Europe and Bulgaria

9. The Guinea Worm, President Carter and Me: A Journey Through Health Diplomacy

Author:
Lisa Rotondo
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
In September 2001, just days before 9/11, I arrived in Pissila, Burkina Faso for my Peace Corps assignment. I was eager to get to work helping my new home community do surveillance for a neglected tropical disease (NTD) called dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Burkina Faso, I biked from village to village, asking community members if they were aware of anyone with Guinea worm disease, an infection that has impacted both humans and animals since ancient times. Thanks, in part, to the work of volunteers before me, I never actually saw a person with Guinea worm disease during my two years as a volunteer. Burkina Faso was on the brink of eliminating the disease, and I remember thinking that the children in my community would never know the word for Guinea worm in their language, Moorè; it would not be in their vocabulary because they would never have to worry about it. I’ve reflected on that more than once during my career in public health. Knowing that we are truly making diseases history has been the drive underlying my efforts for the last two decades.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Health, Memoir, and Public Health
Political Geography:
Africa, United States of America, and Burkina Faso

10. Coming to Grips with Poverty in Africa

Author:
Mark Wentling
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Reducing poverty has been at the heart of U.S. foreign assistance in dozens of low-income countries for more than a half-century. Despite U.S. foreign policy objectives, much work, and hundreds of billions of assistance dollars expended, the poorest of the poor have not advanced. While some low-income countries have made some small progress, after decades of aid most are still in the bottom ranks of absolute poverty. All the countries in the Least Developed Country (LDC) category have more poor people than ever before. Thirty-seven of forty-seven of these LDC countries are in Africa. Although a handful of countries have graduated from LDC status, this disturbing ranking remains basically unchanged since the LDC list was established by the UN General Assembly in 1971. This unchanging list of extremely poor countries tells us that a better understanding of poverty is needed, especially in Africa, to make U.S assistance programs more effective. While Asian countries have made remarkable progress over the past 50 years in reducing the number of poor, the absolute number in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to grow. People in SSA are more than twice as likely to live in poverty than in South Asia, the next poorest region in the world. The World Bank reported there were 284 million Africans living in extreme poverty in 1990; this number had risen to 433 million in 2018 and continues to rise. The percentage of the population living in poverty in SSA is slowly decreasing, but this decline is overcome by population growth. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed tens of millions of people below the poverty line of $1.90 per day. Climate change, rising crime, inflation, and violent conflict are forcing many more millions below this line. Governments that are unable to provide basic services and struggle to cope with high levels of national debt compound the problem. The 2030 UN targets for eradicating poverty will not be met.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Poverty, Foreign Aid, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa

11. Honoring Diplomats Punished for Doing their Job Well

Author:
Ismini Lamb and Chris Lamb
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
The Department of State recently set a useful precedent by honoring Archer Blood, the U.S. consul general in Dhaka during Pakistan’s brutal suppression of free elections in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). He reported Pakistani atrocities and complained when the United States refused to denounce them. Henry Kissinger, then the National Security Advisor, viewed Pakistan as a strategic ally. He had Blood recalled to Washington, clobbered with a career-ending poor evaluation, and stuck in a dead-end job. Blood’s story is told in the award-winning book, The Blood Telegram. By celebrating Blood and naming a conference room after him, the Department corrected an injustice. It should now do the same for George Horton, another diplomat punished for telling the truth and promoting humanitarian values. The Horton and Blood cases are remarkably similar. Both men were consuls general who witnessed horrendous attacks on civilian populations. Both argued the United States should condemn these horrors, and both intervened to save lives and make the truth known. Both were punished by the Department of State for reporting the truth and challenging extant policy. Both later went public with their accounts, and both have been posthumously vindicated. The major difference is that Horton’s experience came half a century earlier and he was treated even worse.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and History
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

12. How Climate Diplomacy is a Pillar of Efforts to Address Climate Change

Author:
Robert Blake
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
People around the world are experiencing first-hand the growing impacts of climate change – more frequent and destructive hurricanes in Florida and the U.S. Gulf coast; devastating floods in Pakistan; accelerated melting of glaciers in the poles and mountain ranges around the world, to name just a few. The science confirms these trends, but the world is still not doing enough to combat climate change. In this article, I will describe where we are in global efforts to limit global warming; the important role of the private sector in those efforts; the vital role U.S. and other diplomats are playing to catalyze action; and how we might better institutionalize climate diplomacy at the State Department.
Topic:
Climate Change, Diplomacy, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:
Global Focus

13. “La Grande Bouffe” or, Now and Then Diplomatic Life Does Include a Swanky Dinner Party

Author:
Jonathan Rickert
Publication Date:
08-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
In Esprit de Corps, Lawrence Durrell’s classic satirical riff on diplomatic life in Belgrade during the 1950s, he writes that “it was a slack period diplomatically and as always happened during slack periods the Corps busied itself trying to see which Mission could give the most original parties.” Life in general and diplomatic life in particular in the Bucharest of the 1970s and in 1950s Belgrade, of course, were not identical. Nevertheless, there were certain similarities, both being the capitals of “Balkan” communist states and hosting a capable but sometimes underemployed resident diplomatic corps. Aside from the diplomatic club, a relic from pre-communist times that featured a golf course, six tennis courts, an outdoor swimming pool, and a clubhouse restaurant, Bucharest provided relatively few social outlets for local diplomats. Contacts with Romanians for most embassies in the early 1970s were perforce limited, and tended to be stiff and formal when they did occur. In order to accept an invitation from a foreign (non-communist) mission or diplomat, most Romanians first had to obtain permission from the appropriate authorities. Such permission often was delayed or denied, except to the favored, and reliable, few. Consequently, frequent, and at times imaginative, parties and other social events characterized diplomatic life among the embassies in Bucharest. The younger staff members of the Western missions, and those of a few other friendly countries such as Japan, Israel, Turkey, and Brazil, were in many cases lively, intelligent, and creative. They were not content to sit quietly at home when they could arrange or attend a good party or other diversion. Far from it!
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Memoir
Political Geography:
Europe and Romania

14. A Mongoose Walked into a Narcotics Den…

Author:
Ed Marks
Publication Date:
08-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
The American embassy in Sri Lanka, like its counterparts worldwide, has the task of liaison and coordination with local authorities on the subject of narcotics. When I served there from 1986 to 1989, narcotics’ use was not a major problem, nor was the country an exporter or a major transit point. Nevertheless, these are relative terms, and the Sri Lankan government was worried that narcotics activity in the country was growing. Both governments were concerned about the increasing evidence that at least one of the Tamil separatist groups was funding its activities by drug smuggling from South Asia to Europe. Soon after my arrival in Colombo, a young colleague who held the narcotics portfolio (among his other duties) arranged a luncheon with four of his most important contacts in the narcotics area: police, customs, etc. We discussed various aspects of the problem and of our bilateral cooperation in the field. At one point, we discussed inspection and control mechanisms at airports and ports, and especially the virtues of specially trained sniffer dogs. The subject interested me as I had some knowledge of the subject from my days in counterterrorism. We all realized that, useful as they are, dogs have disadvantages: scarcity, cost of procurement and maintenance, difficulty of adaptation to tropical climates, and a negative cultural reaction to them among many Moslems. I cannot remember exactly who first broached the thought (although I would like to take credit), but suddenly we were discussing the possibility of replacing sniffer dogs in Sri Lanka and elsewhere in Asia with an indigenous animal, to wit, the mongoose. The more we talked, the more the idea seemed worth pursuing. The senior police officer present claimed experience with local mongooses as pets and insisted that they were clever and trainable, and notable for their ability to smell.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Memoir, and Drugs
Political Geography:
South Asia, Sri Lanka, and United States of America

15. Secret Baseball in China

Author:
W. Robert Pearson
Publication Date:
08-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
My wife Maggie, our two-year-old son Matthew, and I arrived in China in 1981 as part of a rapidly expanding cohort of American diplomats surging into the country following the formal establishment of diplomatic relations in 1979. We were excited to be in the early wave of American diplomats going back to China after 30 years of separation and enmity. We also were prepared for some difficult times, but could only anticipate what would be facing a young American diplomatic family in Beijing. China was just beginning its ascent from the disaster of the Cultural Revolution, and the reality of the past was all around us. The average annual income in China in 1981 was $100. The Beijing air was thick with coal dust, and our hotel room attracted rats while we waited months for permanent housing. One main dish at a Peoples’ Restaurant we visited was dumplings with coffee grounds. Our Chinese counterparts were both curious and cautious, delighted to be able to engage with us and also making excellent use of the impenetrable bureaucracy as necessary. Washington was eager to make headway, and we, as did many Americans, saw a genuine opportunity to open new doors for shared benefit. The sounds and sights, the scenes and senses were fascinating, and for us every day was challenging. We considered it the most important gamble for American diplomacy in the 20th century.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Sports, and Memoir
Political Geography:
China, Asia, and United States of America

16. Doing More with Less, or a Stunt?

Author:
William Scott Harrop
Publication Date:
08-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Faced with inadequate funding, US embassies in the developing world regularly hear the refrain “Do More with Less.” In the late 1970’s, as ambassador to Guinea, I worked with the socialist/communist President Sekou Touré. He had banned commerce of any sort. As a result, Guinea must have been the only country in Africa without markets, without women seated behind mounds of nuts, vegetables and grains, without the bustle of trading activity. The countryside and villages of what had been a relativity prosperous French colony were dirt poor and unhappy. Sekou Touré blamed that on the Guinean people. He complained to me on one occasion: “I am fed up with my Guinean people. I tell them to work and produce for the good of everyone, not just their own families, and they won’t do it”! I refrained from replying that national collectivism might not be the best way to encourage productivity. This was at the height of the Cold War, and, partly as a consequence of his policies, Guinea hosted a Soviet mission of 1200 (sic!), which included engineers, mining and agricultural experts, medical advisors, railroad technicians and more. The Chinese mission, in competition with the Soviets, numbered 700, which included construction laborers engaged in erecting a splendid government center and theater. By contrast, my embassy had sixteen American staff members. How could our pint-size embassy possibly compete with the scale of presence of our Cold War adversaries? Well, in the 1970s USAID was providing a sum of $25,000 to every American ambassador to direct as he or she thought best to the development of their country of assignment. In traveling about Guinea, I had seen youth in every village playing the universal sport of soccer—but with a bag of rags, an old shoe, sometimes even a plastic bottle in place of a ball. So, I ordered $25,000 worth of soccer balls, each imprinted with the clasped hands of American aid. We were able to distribute one to each village and community in Guinea. Football field at dusk. Ball on the grass to lower right, players in silhouette against the sky.The distribution opened the door to a particularly African form of corruption. The minister of the interior was responsible for countrywide distribution. The minister could not resist the temptation to deliver a disproportionate number of soccer balls to his own tribal area. A national employee of the embassy, the member of a different tribe, learned of this misdemeanor and we were able (largely) to correct it. Some USAID officials in Washington complained that this was a “stunt”, not economic development. But no other expenditure of $25,000 could possibly have drawn more attention and gratitude to the United States.End.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Memoir
Political Geography:
Africa and Guinea

17. The Role of US Diplomacy in a Changing World

Author:
David Satterfield
Publication Date:
08-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
In the 1933 movie Dinner at Eight, Jean Harlow’s character notes to her society grande dame hostess that she had read an author who asserted technology would soon take the place of every profession. The hostess eyes her platinum blonde guest and responds with the classic line “My dear, that’s something you need never worry about.” And neither do we in our line of work. There is an enduring critical role for diplomacy—personal and institutional—in a world that is always changing. Today’s diplomacy is facilitated by technology in terms of access to information and communication within Washington, from Washington agencies, between DC and overseas posts, and among our missions to an extent unimaginable when I entered the Foreign Service in 1980. The days of the airgram are long past, of waiting for encrypted teletype messages to be deciphered and printed, of mastering Wang computers and the art of producing documents on daisy wheel printers—and good riddance to all!
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Public Service
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

18. The Battles of Bangui

Author:
June Carter Perry
Publication Date:
08-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Sitting at my desk in March 1996, with a large picture window behind me, in my role as deputy chief of mission in Bangui—the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR)—it seemed a normal lunch hour. Several people had left the chancery, including the ambassador and the consular officer. The silence of the moment was suddenly broken when the country’s then president, Ange-Felix Patasse, called. In French, he asked first for the ambassador, but since she was away, he spoke to me and uttered one line: “Madame, the soldiers are on the move,” and hung up. Seconds later I heard the crack of gunshots and fell to the floor, far from the picture window. I knew the shots were close. Grabbing my cellphone, I called the State Department’s operations center to give a quick brief. The officer who answered was a woman who had been in my entering Foreign Service class. “Vonda,” I said, “I’m calling you from the floor of my office. The military here is beginning to attack the government and we have shots in the embassy area.” She responded that she’d write up a brief for the secretary of state immediately and told me to call back as soon as safe to do so. My first reaction was not one of fright, but to go into reporting mode: “start a log if there’s a crisis.” I did so on yellow legal paper, aiming to capture every shot or movement. About five minutes later, the consular office ran into my office, hair askew, his normally placid, serious demeanor mutated into one of fear. He couldn’t get home to his wife and children. Manned barricades of soldiers with AK-47’s barred access to the diplomatic residential section located along the winding Bangui River Road separating the CAR from the Congo. I instructed him to grab the list of all American citizens registered with the embassy so they could be told of the dangerous situation and advised to stay in place until further notified. All this happened like clockwork; I don’t remember feeling anything except the need to get the job done. That is, I must notify Washington (check), start the log (check), and find the ambassador (check). Fortunately, she too came running into the secured area. Her chauffeur caught wind of the fighting as soon as they had begun traveling. All of this transpired within 15-20 minutes of the president’s call. I knew that I next had to draft a reporting cable and call our country desk officer at the State Department. All of this was automatic. Just like our colleagues in the military, we diplomats undergo stringent training for the unexpected, the sudden coups, natural disasters or civil wars that might occur anywhere in the world. Knowing this methodology intellectually is one thing; having it occur on your watch, another. But my mind, body, fingers, and voice flew into action without a second thought. On automatic, brain and body doing the necessary. Since my secretary’s residence was located before the barricaded road, she had been able to rush back as well. I began dictating the log to her, referencing my legal pad, and then adding the analysis for Washington, in this case for the National Security Council, the Defense Department, intelligence agencies, our United Nations mission, as well as for our allies in Europe, Africa and Asia. All would want to know, as they had vested interests on the continent, and the potential of any conflict bleeding over into a threatening environment for their citizens was always a fear.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Memoir
Political Geography:
Africa and Central African Republic

19. The Tarnished Gold of the Amazon Women: Anita Ekberg on Trinidad

Author:
Jonathan Rickert
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Visits to Trinidad by international celebrities, even relatively minor ones, were few and far between during our years at Embassy Port of Spain (1977-1980). We did not get to host even a single Congressional delegation. Though we never saw him, we heard that Mick Jagger came there at least a couple of times to take part in the annual Carnival festivities and that famed British portrait and fashion photographer Norman Parkinson liked to visit. If there were others of note, I didn’t know about them or no longer recall them. So, it was a pleasant surprise when we heard toward the end of our tour that on-location portions of an American film were to be shot on the island. Titled “Gold of the Amazon Women,” the made-for-TV opus featured Swedish actress Anita Ekberg, Donald Pleasence, Bo Svenson, and a bevy of starlets, models, and others to play the Amazon women. The presence of the actors and film crew caused quite a stir among the local diplomatic corps and expat community. Although our ambassador had the opportunity to meet with the movie folks, the rest of the embassy staff, much to their disappointment, had no such possibility. We were, therefore, particularly pleased to learn that we would be allowed to watch some of the filming taking place at Chaguaramas, a disused and by then somewhat overgrown former US naval facility near Port of Spain that had been turned over to the Trinidadians in 1963. The tropical vegetation there apparently made it a suitable location for the movie’s “jungle” scenes.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Memoir
Political Geography:
Caribbean and Trinidad and Tobago

20. I Didn’t Join the French Foreign Legion, but It Helped Rescue Me in Chad

Author:
James R. Bullington
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
In talks on the Foreign Service, I’ve often told this story about the reaction back home to my new career: After several months of training in Washington, I visited Chattanooga over the July 4, 1963, holiday. At a barbeque hosted by my parents, people were curious about what I was doing since I had graduated from college. “Why, I’ve joined the Foreign Service,” I proudly announced to the first couple that asked. Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped in consternation. “Now why in HAIL would yew go and do a thaing like that?” asked the husband. Further conversation revealed that they mistook the Foreign Service for the Foreign Legion (about which they had recently seen some old Hollywood movies on TV), and they couldn’t imagine why I would want to go and fight for the French army in the Sahara Desert. Among my parents’ friends and neighbors, the American Foreign Service was totally unknown, but most Americans were familiar with the French Foreign Legion because of numerous movies about it from the 1920s through the 1960s. The most notable was Beau Geste, released in 1939.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Civil War, Diplomacy, and Memoir
Political Geography:
Africa and Chad

21. Reconciling with a Former Enemy: Post-War Diplomacy between the US and Vietnam

Author:
Justin Ahn
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, US–Vietnam relations were marked by continuing hostility. Deaths during the war have been estimated as 58,220 American soldiers and, on the Vietnamese side, a staggering two million civilians and one million soldiers.[1] The US had no diplomatic ties with Vietnam and imposed a full trade embargo on the country.[1] Less than fifty years later, the two countries are close economic and strategic partners thanks to their successful diplomatic efforts.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Reconciliation, and Vietnam War
Political Geography:
Vietnam, North America, Southeast Asia, and United States of America

22. Ending Wars: When Does Diplomacy Have a Role?

Author:
Raymond F. Smith
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
When, whether and under what conditions to enter into negotiations to end the war in Ukraine is one of the thorniest international issues of the moment. My objective in this article is to look briefly at the role diplomacy has played, or not played, in ending several of the most destructive wars in European history and then to explore what role it might play in ending the war in Ukraine.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, NATO, Diplomacy, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Ukraine

23. HIV, the Legacy of America’s Response, and Lessons for Future Outbreaks

Author:
Alisha Smith-Arthur
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
As I stood in line (safety distanced) to receive a COVID test before returning home to the US after a trip to Cote d’Ivoire in 2022, I was able to see and reflect upon the enduring legacy of the American public health diplomacy effort to fight the global pandemic of HIV. The testing site had the unmistakable dual-flag PEPFAR (The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, announced by George W. Bush in 2003) logo outside, indicating that the testing equipment (and likely the training for the personnel inside) came via a PEPFAR project. I’ve seen similar stamps on rural labs and remote health posts across the countries I’ve worked in (as well as on the airport welcome signs of many a friendly health worker who has readily included me in their work), and it always serves to remind me of the common goals we are working towards in these health diplomacy projects.
Topic:
HIV/AIDS, Diplomacy, Public Health, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Africa, North America, and United States of America

24. Where in the World Is Barbados?

Author:
Jonathan B. Rickert
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
It long has been a practice in the United States for presidents to name supporters, friends, and others from outside the diplomatic service as chiefs of mission abroad. In an effort to ensure the professional qualifications of those filling such posts, the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (Section 304) stipulated that those receiving such positions be professionally qualified, knowledgeable about all major aspects of their countries of assignment, and, to the extent practicable, have some competence in the local language. Campaign contributions should not be a factor in such appointments, which “should normally be accorded to career members of the Service.” Over the years, however, presidents of both parties have largely observed the law in the breach. And while the percentage of “political” ambassadorial appointments usually has hovered around 30 percent in recent years (except under Donald Trump, 44 percent of whose appointees were political), those postings overwhelmingly have been in Europe and other places that were relatively developed, comfortable, and safe, leaving career diplomats to head missions elsewhere, including most in the Third World.
Topic:
Diplomacy, History, Memoir, and Ronald Reagan
Political Geography:
Barbados

25. Books for the Baltics

Author:
Bob Baker
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
In 1991, I caught the ferry boat from Helsinki, Finland to Tallinn, Estonia. As Director of the Regional Program Office in Vienna, I took to Helsinki and then to Estonia, two Austrian staffers and three big, sealed, diplomatic canvas mailbags. They each contained computers for the newly established U.S. Information Service (USIS) posts in Tallinn, Vilnius and Riga. Equipment and furniture for all the new U.S. embassies in Eastern Europe after the fall of communism was shipped through a State Department warehouse in Helsinki.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Memoir, and Translation
Political Geography:
Baltic States

26. Considering a Career with the State Department

Author:
George Sibley
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
The editors of the American Diplomacy Journal have asked me to answer two questions about careers with the U.S. Department of State that resulted from their October 2021 webinar entitled “How Does U.S. Diplomacy Benefit Americans?”  Before doing so, let me introduce myself. My name is George Sibley, and I am a senior Foreign Service Officer currently serving as the Diplomat in Residence (DIR) for the Mid-Atlantic Region, covering North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. In this position, I provide information and assistance to persons interested in student and career opportunities with the Department. We offer a variety of student programs, including internships, fellowships, and study programs. For careers, we offer a plethora of options. You can choose to work in the Civil Service, which would have you based in the U.S.; or in the Foreign Service, which would have you working abroad, rotating among our more than 270 different U.S. embassies and consulates.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Career, and Civil Services
Political Geography:
United States of America

27. Rebuilding Diplomacy: DACOR Conference Summary

Author:
John Harbeson and Keith McCormick
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
With debate over proposals to restructure U.S. foreign policy becoming ever more urgent, DACOR’s annual conference in 2021 focused on “Rebuilding Diplomacy.” The Washington-based organization of foreign affairs professionals convened experts from the State Department, academia, and Congress to discuss how U.S. foreign policy could be rebuilt after the drastic budget cuts and disregard for international cooperation of the previous administration. Three panels at the one-day conference centered on: strengthening the Foreign Service; the State Department’s role in the foreign affairs community; and strengthening the actual practice of diplomacy in the field – the critical “last three feet.”
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Conference, and Civil Services
Political Geography:
United States of America

28. Captive Nations Once, NATO Allies Now

Author:
Beatrice Camp
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
When General Vernon Walters, our famously outspoken ambassador in Germany, visited Stockholm in the fall of 1989, we arranged a press briefing at the ambassador’s residence. His prediction that Germany would be reunited within five years made headlines and drew a rebuke from Washington, which was not yet talking publicly about such possibilities. Of course, things moved much faster than even Vernon Walters could predict. During four years at the U.S. embassy in Stockholm, 1989-1993, we saw the Berlin Wall come down, the Soviet Union dissolve, and the Baltic states regain their independence.
Topic:
NATO, Cold War, Diplomacy, and History
Political Geography:
Europe and Baltic States

29. From Soviet State to Independent Estonia

Author:
Patricia H. Kushlis
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Well before the Soviet Union collapsed, it was clear that the trajectory of the Baltic states differed greatly from that of the Central Asian Soviet republics. In contrast to the Baltic states clamoring to leave the Soviet Union, Central Asian ones had been pretty satisfied with their lot. Removal of the support they had received from Moscow hurled them spiraling into a vast and unpredictable future. For decades, Moscow had been shifting funds from the “wealthier” European parts of the huge country to its poorer and less industrialized provinces East of the Urals, This helped keep Russian rule in place but it also alienated the European population of the USSR – including those in the Russian Republic – who had a better sense of the country’s profound deterioration and their own personal poverty in comparison with far wealthier neighbors to the West and even those in Eastern Europe.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Politics, Soviet Union, and Post-Soviet Space
Political Geography:
Estonia and Baltic States

30. Launching USAID Programs in the New Independent States

Author:
Desaix Myers
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
We were in the dark. Launching an aid program as the Soviet Union collapsed, covering 12 countries across 11 time zones from Kiev to Vladivostok, took the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) into totally new territory. Most of us had spent careers in the tropics. Almost no one in USAID knew anything about Russia or the former Soviet Union. No one spoke Russian. In June 1992, I joined USAID’s recently formed New Independent States (NIS) Taskforce as Russia Desk Officer. My knowledge of Russia consisted of what I had learned from “Russian Lit in Translation” sophomore year and a one-week trip with the University of California to see about a possible partnership with the university in Puschino, a small town dedicated to microbiology 90 kilometers south of Moscow. Concerned that Puschino, formerly a closed city, might be a center for research on biological warfare, we went to the CIA for reassurance—they said it wasn’t.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Memoir, USAID, and Post-Soviet Space
Political Geography:
Europe and Post-Soviet Europe

31. Public Diplomacy in Newly Independent Kazakhstan

Author:
Renee M. Earle
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
The U.S. raised its flag in Alma-Ata in February 1992, the first country to do so after the Republic of Kazakhstan succeeded the Kazakh SSR with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Following two years at Embassy Moscow supporting broadcast media throughout the USSR with satellite dishes and new programming as glasnost relaxed control over media, I arrived in Alma-Ata in late summer of 1992 for a new adventure as the first permanent Public Affairs Officer in newly independent Kazakhstan. Under the leadership of Ambassador Bill Courtney and DCM Jackson McDonald, the American diplomatic team pioneering our efforts there was energetic, inventive, and full of can-do spirit. Everything was possible, and a lot was difficult. And, I fell in love with this beautiful country and people.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Memoir, and Post-Soviet Space
Political Geography:
Central Asia, Kazakhstan, and United States of America

32. Dubai Expo Pavilions Put Public Diplomacy Front and Center

Author:
Kyla Denwood and Spencer Cox
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Often described as the Olympics of culture, technology, and world economies, world expositions offer visitors the opportunity to meet people from around the world, learn about countries and cultures, and discover new technologies. The just-concluded Expo 2020 Dubai spearheaded six months of face-to-face interactions and connections as one of the first mega-events since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. [Originally scheduled to be held in 2020, the expo retained its original name despite the delayed opening in 2021.] With 192 participating nations and more than 20 million visitors, Expo 2020 Dubai was the first world’s fair held in the Middle East. As a result, the expo attracted one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse audiences in the more than 150-year history of such international expositions. As Youth Ambassadors for the USA Pavilion, we were able to experience the World Expo firsthand. Youth Ambassadors are young American leaders who serve as cultural representatives at the pavilion. Recruited through a competitive nationwide application process, we illustrated the diversity and dynamism of the United States, hailing from 37 states, studying at 78 U.S. colleges, and speaking 24 languages. We actively engaged international visitors about American values, innovation, and history to build mutual understanding, a key component of public diplomacy. To explain the ways in which countries and businesses engaged visitors, here are some of the areas of communication and connection that defined our time at Expo 2020 Dubai.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Science and Technology, Architecture, Innovation, and Commerce
Political Geography:
United Arab Emirates and Dubai

33. The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection: A National Treasure

Author:
Heather Ashe
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
The diplomatic oral histories collected by the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) comprise a unique reservoir of over 2,500 primary source accounts detailing the experiences of American diplomats and how they have conducted business with other nations—how they “got things done.” The stories capture a wealth of insights and reflections not available from official documents alone and contain a treasure trove of raw material for journalists, historians, researchers, and future diplomats. These oral histories provide usable “lessons learned” spanning decades on what worked and what did not. Since its founding in 1986 as a nongovernmental, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization by retired foreign service officers, the late Charles Stuart Kennedy, the late Victor Wolf Jr., and the late Ambassador Richard B. Parker, ADST has built the world’s largest diplomatic oral history collection. With the support of its staff, membership, and the diplomats who have contributed their stories, ADST strives to achieve its mission of “capturing, preserving, and sharing the experiences of America’s Diplomats”. Charles Stuart Kennedy conducted over half of ADST’s interviews before his passing in January 2022 and was a true visionary in the development of the oral history program. The collection holds personal accounts from ambassadors such as Prudence Bushnell, John D. Negroponte, Harriet Elam-Thomas, Thomas Reeve Pickering, Shirley Temple Black, A. Elizabeth (Beth) Jones, and many other notable figures.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Memoir, Oral History, and Civil Services
Political Geography:
United States of America

34. Telling America’s Story in Communist Times

Author:
Jonathan B. Rickert
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
During my three tours of duty in communist Eastern Europe (USSR 1960s, Romania 1970s, and Bulgaria 1980s), U.S. diplomats were inhibited in their contacts with local citizens. Most of us spoke the local languages and longed to establish links with a broader range of people. Although that was not impossible, any relationship that was outside of accepted channels was likely either terminated by the local authorities or came to be controlled by them. Visits to post by American experts in the cultural, educational, scientific, and other fields were always welcome, since they helped open doors to people whom it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to meet otherwise. In the case of the USSR, the 1958 U.S.-Soviet Cultural Agreement was a great boon. The size and importance of the Soviet Union meant that relatively large numbers of prominent Americans, including politicians, passed through Moscow. Those visits gave at least some local citizens a window on our country that helped to contradict the pervasive anti-American propaganda that the government promoted. Traveling U.S. exhibitions during my time there, such as “Hand Tools U.S.A.”, exposed ordinary citizens in provincial cities to Russian-speaking American guides and to our culture and values.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Memoir
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Soviet Union, and United States of America

35. Democracy in Africa is Like a Flashlight without Batteries

Author:
Mark Wentling
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Promoting democracy has been a central pillar of U.S. foreign policy for decades. This has been true for the dozen U.S. missions in which I have served in Africa over the past half century. Unfortunately, my experiences have left me doubtful about the results achieved by the hundreds of millions of dollars the U.S. has invested to promote democracy in Africa. I arrived in 1970 as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer, West Africa. In my village, I learned that you obeyed the chief’s decisions no matter how illogical they might be. I also learned that it was considered impolite to criticize any of the chief’s decisions. Today it is still best to obey the chief, although he is now influenced by the central government. The overriding concern of the chief and his representative council of elders was to maintain a peaceful and stable environment, acknowledging that no progress could be achieved without stability. As central government influence increased, local leaders offered their support in return for new schools, water wells and health clinics. The goal of this tribute system of “patronage governance” was not democracy but justice, a concept embedded in the local culture while “democracy” was an imported notion.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Democracy, and Memoir
Political Geography:
Africa and United States of America

36. America, You Better Believe That Africa Matters

Author:
Charles Ray
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
In the minds of most Americans and Europeans, the continent of Africa has long been seen as peripheral to world affairs, looked at either as a source of natural resources ripe for extraction or a place of poverty and violence requiring massive amounts of aid. This is a shortsighted and distorted view of a diverse continent and is long overdue for a reset. The truth is that Africa is home to some of the planet’s most strategic minerals and other resources, and that natural and manmade disasters plague the continent. It is far more diverse and dynamic than popular culture, mainstream media, and even many foreign policy makers portray it. For a lot of reasons, some of them existential, it is far from peripheral; it matters.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:
Africa and United States of America

37. Don’t Leave the Russian People Behind

Author:
Renee M. Earle
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
When McDonald’s opened its restaurant on Moscow’s Pushkinskaya Square in 1990, a line of thousands of Russians eager to have a taste of the West snaked around several blocks. The company’s recent decision to suspend its operations in Russia is a sad symbol of the rapid deterioration of Russia’s links to the West caused by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. As we watch the increasingly horrific spectacle of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians dying in a senseless war, it may be difficult to think also of the Russian people. Nevertheless, in our support for Ukraine’s fight against its aggressor, we should not overlook their plight. Putin undoubtedly has supporters at home even as he engages in a war proving disastrous for his own country, but even more Russians are victims of a ruthless and relentless dictatorship. In the short term, they are unavoidably suffering as the global community levies harsh sanctions against the Putin regime. In the longer term, that same community should be prepared to offer the Russian people a way back. As a public diplomacy officer at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow during the early 1990s, I saw how many Russians welcomed the prospect of living as people in much of the rest of the world. In those years, a diplomatic tit-for-tat barred Russian nationals from working inside the embassy. American officers consequently not only carried out normal diplomatic functions, but also cleaned offices and cars. One great benefit of the do-everything-yourself period was answering all the phones ourselves, as it put us in direct contact with scores of average Russians. In the public affairs offices, we fielded calls from artists, writers, broadcasters, and educators proposing joint ventures with American counterparts. These budding entrepreneurs had mastered the term “joint venture” but not always the modalities required for a successful business partnership. Sadly, many of these ventures never materialized, but the ideas and enthusiasm were everywhere.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Russia and United States of America

38. Was NATO Expansion Really the Cause of Putin’s Invasion?

Author:
Ken Moskowitz
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
In March, 1999, while serving as the press attache at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, I hosted a full-day international conference to mark the 50 years since NATO was established. Speakers included the Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security Council Volodymyr Horbulin, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer, U.S. Principal Deputy to the Ambassador at Large for the New Independent States Ross Wilson, the chairman of the British parliamentary committee on national security, and Sergei Karaganov, a leading Russian expert on foreign policy and now a close advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin. One could argue that the goal of such a conference sponsored by the American Embassy was to promote NATO expansion, particularly to urge Ukraine to join the Western alliance. But that is not how I remember it. Typically, U.S. government public diplomacy like this does not bluntly advocate, but rather presents information or views that would be new to our local audiences. A more forceful NATO appeal for membership for eastern European countries, including Ukraine, emerged from the NATO summit in Bucharest in April 2008.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, NATO, Diplomacy, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Ukraine, and United States of America

39. Portuguese Diplomacy in Newark, New Jersey

Author:
Jorge Marinho, Júlio Ventura, and Miguel Pinto Guimarães
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Newark, New Jersey is rarely thought of as a diplomatic center, but four countries operate consulates there: Columbia, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Portugal. Portugal opened its Consulate General in Newark in 1965 in an effort to connect with and serve the large Portuguese community in the area. (Newark is not the only U.S. city with such a presence; it is one of 19 Portuguese diplomatic missions in the United States.) As explained in a 1995 New York Times article, “the Portuguese have been fanning out across the globe since the days of Magellan. In the late 20th century, many have headed straight for Newark.” According to former Portuguese ambassador Júlio Vilela, Portugal cannot separate its diplomatic activity from immigrants, given that, historically, it is a country of outward migration that has forged relations with peoples on every continent since its founding in 1143.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Diaspora, Soft Power, and Community Engagement
Political Geography:
Portugal and United States of America

40. Playing the Kinship Card in Communist Bulgaria

Author:
Jonathan B. Rickert
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
In 1986, Secretary of State George Shultz tasked Deputy Secretary John Whitehead with responsibility for overseeing U.S. relations with Eastern Europe. Following the advent of Mikhail Gorbachev’s tenure as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985, there were some hints of a possible adjustment of Soviet policies toward the so-called “satellite” countries of Eastern Europe. The naming of Whitehead to oversee U.S. relations with the region demonstrated the importance the administration placed on it and the hope that we could promote, encourage, or induce some positive changes there. As Whitehead described it in his autobiography, A Life in Leadership, his initial plan for fulfilling his mandate was “to visit those countries, tell the governmental leaders our concerns about their undemocratic conduct and their human rights violations, listen to their concerns, and, of course, dutifully show them that we regarded them as ‘differentiated’ countries in accordance with official policy.” It was in this context that he arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria, where I was serving as Deputy Chief of Mission, at the end of an initial swing through the area that had taken him to Hungary, Poland, and Romania in November 1986.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Memoir, and Civil Services
Political Geography:
Bulgaria and Post-Soviet Europe

41. Spreading Americana in a Post-Soviet World

Author:
Robert Baker
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
My 1990 visit to Russia was revelatory. As Director of the U.S. Information Agency’s (USIA) Regional Program Office in Vienna, I traveled to all the post-communist European countries to determine how our printing, photographic, computer, management, exhibit and library services could assist our embassies there. Russia was a world of chaos, crooks, collapse, and courage in those years. I walked through downtown Moscow past dumpy, shabby women in bulging, thick coats. They carried string bags with one cabbage, a few potatoes, and rarely, a small, bloody paper packet of meat. They shoved through the crowds on broad sidewalks caught in swirling snow. People, mostly women, stood almost shoulder to shoulder on the sidewalk selling: a single dining room chair, a half dozen slips, a couple pairs of old shoes, an old bra. I had never seen such desperate, tiny commerce outside the world’s poorest countries. Seventy years of harsh, often cruel, Soviet rule followed communism’s early idealism. It fed corruption, and eventually brought economic collapse and the end for Soviet government by 1991. Central planning for a vast economy was too difficult to manage efficiently.
Topic:
Diplomacy, History, Memoir, and Post-Soviet Space
Political Geography:
United States of America and Post-Soviet Europe

42. Restarting Educational Exchanges with China after the Cultural Revolution

Author:
John C. Thomson
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
When I arrived in Beijing in June 1978, foreign diplomats were forbidden to visit any schools or universities and they had minimal contact with government organizations. Although both the U.S. and China were interested in resuming academic exchanges, the obstacles were daunting. I was assigned to the U.S. Liaison Office (USLO), an unofficial organization representing U.S interests in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the absence of an official embassy. After establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries in January 1979, I became part of the newly opened U.S. embassy in China, the successor to the Liaison Office. I am pleased to have worked directly on the restoration of U.S.-PRC educational exchanges after a hiatus of 30 years that followed the communist take-over in 1949.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Education, Foreign Exchange, and Cultural Revolution
Political Geography:
China, Asia, and United States of America

43. Our National Devaluation of Diplomacy

Author:
Thomas E. McNamara
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
A recent RAND Report on “The Foreign Service and American Public Opinion” (https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1845-1.html) reveals how little the American public knows about diplomacy and foreign affairs. For the report, which goes much deeper than most foreign policy polls, RAND surveyed representative samples of Americans over a two-year period (2020-2021). The results are not surprising, but they are worrisome for anyone interested in national security policy and prosperity. This report and conclusions highlight the deep ignorance of Americans about diplomacy, its policies, and its practice. The “no opinion” responses in some polls and the “I-never-knew-that” replies in some focus groups—even on basics—can range from 25% to 50%.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Public Opinion, and Civil Services
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

44. Language and Cultural Immersion Build Effective Communication

Author:
Bruce K. Byers
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Foreign language competency and cultural understanding are acknowledged as important skills for diplomats. While many Foreign Service Officers receive such training in Washington before going to an overseas assignment, few have the opportunity for the deep cultural and language immersion that I enjoyed as part of my first assignment for the U.S. Information Agency (USIA). In early 1972, after completing seven months of Farsi language training at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), I was posted to USIS Tehran. My family and I arrived shortly before the Persian new year, Now Ruz, and took up residence in an embassy apartment. Dave Dubois, the Public Affairs Officer, with the concurrence of the embassy Deputy Chief of Mission and USIA’s Office of Near East and South Asian Affairs (NEA), had arranged for me to spend some time with a host family in Isfahan. It was a “deep immersion” experience in which I would continue learning Farsi and experience life with a local family for several weeks.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Culture, Language, and Memoir
Political Geography:
Iran, Middle East, and United States of America

45. Retail Politics in Trinidad and Tobago

Author:
Jonathan B. Rickert
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Trinidad and Tobago when I served at Embassy Port of Spain (1977-1980) was a pleasant Caribbean backwater. U.S. interests were minimal—major American companies there, Amoco and Texaco, were well able to look after their own interests. Forty years later, the economy remains heavily dependent on the energy sector. Map of Trinidad & TobagoThe Consular Section, with six officers, was by far the embassy’s largest and busiest. I handled the political reporting on the opposition parties and contacts with the local trade unions, while a colleague was responsible for economic/commercial matters. The Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission dealt with the higher levels of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago (GOTT), but in fact their interactions were fairly limited.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Economy, and Memoir
Political Geography:
Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago, and United States of America

46. Remembering Mikhail Gorbachev and the 1991 Coup

Author:
Renee M. Earle
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Monday, August 19, 1991. The morning started like most of my days as a press officer at Embassy Moscow. I rose early, made coffee, and turned on the TV to check the news. The similarity of routine quickly vanished. Instead of the news, Soviet state TV was broadcasting the Swan Lake ballet, often a sign in the Soviet Union that something was amiss. Through the open window, I heard a strange, rumbling noise coming from the direction of the Ostankino TV tower, located just a few minutes from my apartment complex. I thought they might be having technical difficulties. Thirty-one years ago, there were no home computers or cell phones to help me unravel what was going on. I went to my car in the outside parking lot and started the half-hour drive south to the embassy. It was only then that I saw the Soviet military tanks, which rolled alongside the busy morning traffic past the embassy in central Moscow to their nearby destinations, including the “White House,” the Russian Parliament building, not far from the back of the embassy.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Coup, Memoir, and Soviet Union
Political Geography:
Russia, Soviet Union, and United States of America

47. U.S. Relations With China: DACOR Conference Summary

Author:
Keith McCormick and Emma W. Sandifer
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
As relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) loom ever larger for the U.S., DACOR’s annual conference in 2022 focused on “Balancing Competing Interests in U.S. Relations With China.” The Washington-based organization of foreign affairs professionals brought together diplomats and academics to explore the idea that U.S. policy toward China needs to pursue cooperation in some areas and competition in others while simultaneously confronting Beijing and preparing to deter or win a conflict, if it comes to war. The hybrid conference, with some attendees present at the historic DACOR-Bacon house and others joining online, was conducted under Chatham House Rules. The keynote address, by Ambassador (ret.) J. Stapleton Roy, was live-streamed to a classroom of political science faculty and students at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Diplomacy, Human Rights, Bilateral Relations, Trade, and Conference
Political Geography:
China, Asia, North America, and United States of America

48. U.S.-China Agricultural Dialogue in Des Moines Shows Potential for Improving Relations During a Critical Period

Author:
Kenneth M. Quinn
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Iowa’s connections with China—highlighted by a 1985 visit by a young Xi Jinping, now 37 years later General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of the People’s Republic of China—make for an unusual and much-needed bright spot in today’s dismal U.S.–PRC relations. What better place than the leading agricultural state to look for collaboration in agricultural research and global development needed to face the global challenges of our time? In April 2022, Sino-American diplomatic relations took center stage in Iowa’s capital city, as three ambassadors—Nicholas Burns, the new Biden Administration envoy in Beijing, Qin Gang, the PRC ambassador to the U.S., and former U.S. ambassador to the PRC Terry Branstad—all participated in the U.S.-China Agricultural Dialogue that I co-organized and moderated.
Topic:
Agriculture, Diplomacy, and Dialogue
Political Geography:
China and United States of America

49. Fighting Corruption in the Arab World Should Be a U.S. Priority

Author:
Imad K. Harb
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
In June of 2021, the Biden administration announced that it would be establishing the fight against corruption as a core concept in US national security and a pillar of its foreign policy.1 The following December, it launched the “US Strategy on Countering Corruption” as a “whole-of- government” initiative to, among other objectives, curb illicit financing, hold corrupt actors accountable, and improve diplomatic engagement and leverage foreign assistance in the pursuit of its policy goals.2 With the United States the premier actor in international politics and influence, the administration set out to formulate strategies, lay down markers, and implement policies that can help at least make a dent in the scourge of corruption around the world. Today, the task of fighting international corruption must include the countries of the Arab world, most of which are close political, economic, and strategic partners of the United States. Corruption in the region is eroding what little is left of social and political stability. From bribery to influence peddling, and from the use of public and official power for private gain to interference with the judiciary, the region’s corruption requires diligent internal and international efforts to address it. Democracy and economic development depend first on the striving of the region’s populations to ensure and protect their human rights, but also on an active role played by the United States government and its many institutions.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Corruption, and Diplomacy
Political Geography:
Middle East, Arab Countries, North Africa, and United States of America

50. Ukrainians to Putin’s Empire: Hell No!

Author:
Dick Virden
Publication Date:
11-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
Watching Ukrainians bravely risk life and limb for their country, I’m reminded of what I saw during assignments as a diplomat in Poland and Romania. For more than four decades after World War II, those countries—and the others of Eastern Europe—were governed mainly by Soviet puppets. I recall friends tapping their shoulders to mock the epaulettes of collaborators playing for the other side. These were oppressed lands then. Political rights were scant, and stagnant economies made regime claims of a socialist paradise transparent nonsense. The government had long since lost the respect of the governed, what Chinese call the mandate of the people. U.S. policy in those days was to try to keep hope alive by quietly encouraging those opposed to the communist regime and using the leverage we had to help them gain greater space to operate. For example, our diplomats sought to identify independent-minded leaders to include in our Fulbright, International Visitor, and other exchange programs. We chipped away at the regime’s information monopoly through short-wave radio, personal contact, and distribution of uncensored material such as bootleg copies of Newsweek. And we appeared at events like the annual opening of the academic year at the Catholic University of Lublin, then the only independent institution of higher learning in Eastern Europe.
Topic:
Diplomacy, History, Memoir, Vladimir Putin, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Russia, Soviet Union, and United States of America