The ever-whirling wheel of change which, in Edmund Spenser’s formulation, sways all mortal things, has touched your editor and American Diplomacy. Without doubt all circumstances, good and bad, come to an end sooner or later. Thus arrives the conclusion of this observer’s tenure as editorial head of our journal. It has been a good run and I have been privileged and honored to serve and to be associated with my American Diplomacy colleagues.
After eleven years at the helm—since the journal first appeared on the University of North Carolina net, that is—the time has come for someone new to take the editorial chair. I have submitted my resignation to the board of directors of our parent organization, American Diplomacy Publishers, effective July 14 of this year. Eyesight problems dictate the move, but very likely the time for a change for the sake of change has come in any event. The complex problems now facing the United States and the world call for new ideas, fresh approaches, and revised policies. American diplomacy, as reported and commented on by American Diplomacy, equally—if on a far lesser scale of importance—may well benefit from a fresh outlook by a new editorial director, supported, of course, by the journal’s experienced people. (See ‘Directors and Staff‘ on the Masthead page for a listing.)
This electronic Internet publication, with its staff composed almost completely of volunteers, along with its many readers around the world, will, we hope, be well served as a result of this change. Ambassador (ret.) James R. Bullington, a member of the board of directors of the American Diplomacy Publishers, has agreed to take on the position of the journal’s editor.
Jim Bullington had a long, distinguished career in the U. S. Foreign Service, a career that included an ambassadorship in Africa and senior positions at the U.S. Armed Forces Staff College and State’s Foreign Service Institute. After retirement he put in an outstanding tour as a Peace Corps country director in Africa for the unusually long period of six years. He is a graduate of Auburn and Harvard universities and the U. S. Army War College.
Jim had considerable experience in journalism before entering government service and more recently has written extensively for American Diplomacy, including numerous fascinating “Letters from Niger” describing the life in that country for his Peace Corps volunteers.
So it is with a full measure of confidence that I hand over, figuratively speaking, to Editor Bullington my green eyeshade and red pencil. Further, I wish him all good things and the journal—which I will not be leaving completely, but will stay on in a supporting role—every continued success.
Henry E. Mattox
July 2007