March 2026
William Harrop Award
Best Student Writing in American Diplomacy
To honor the late Ambassador William C. Harrop, long-time board member and benefactor of American Diplomacy Publications, ADP will award an annual $500 prize to the undergraduate or graduate student who writes an outstanding article, published in American Diplomacy. The board will consider the piece’s contribution to understanding and advancing American diplomacy, its clarity of writing and thought, and its relevance to current world issues. The author must be a student at a U.S. college or university. Submissions, of approximately 1500-2000 words, may be made on a rolling basis as American Diplomacy publishes quarterly editions. Submissions should be emailed to editor@americandiplomacy.org. Submission guidelines can be found here.
About American Diplomacy
It is a non-partisan online quarterly journal founded in 1996 by retired diplomats. It informs readers about international issues and diplomacy, promotes greater understanding of the Foreign Service and the role of diplomats, and encourage readers to consider a Foreign Service career. American Diplomacy contributors include U.S. and foreign diplomacy practitioners as well as independent observers and scholars. Although the journal is unique in its concentration of articles by foreign affairs practitioners, it also encourages submissions from academics, and its Student Corner provides a rare outlet for rising authors. The journal reaches an international and domestic audience of well over 200,000 readers each year. Articles are peer reviewed. Journal content is carried by ProQuest, Cengage, and EBSCO, and the journal’s value as an educational resource has been recognized by links on the websites of Harvard, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Duke, and the University of North Carolina as well as the research collection of the Library of Congress.
About William Harrop
Ambassador William (“Bill”) Harrop, who died in June 2025, was a Baltimore native and Harvard graduate and served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War. In a career of 39 years as a Foreign Service Officer, Harrop became Inspector General at the Department of State and Ambassador to five countries: Guinea, Kenya, Seychelles, Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1997), and Israel. In retirement, he played a crucial role in establishing the National Museum of American Diplomacy. Among other honors, Harrop received the Foreign Service Cup, the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, the State Department Distinguished Honor Award, and the American Foreign Service Association’s award for Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy.
February 2026
The Editor’s Page
Commentary
The Invasion of Venezuela: A Serious Mistake and a Rupture of Traditional US Policies by Thomas E. McNamara
Performative Realism: The Dangerous Turn in US Foreign and Defense Policy by Matthew Frederick
Public Diplomacy in Single-Party States: The Case of China by Donald M. Bishop
Under Trump, America Violates Its Own Principles by Dick Virden
Eyewitness
“Sneaking and Peeking” in Bulgaria with the Future Director of the NSA and the CIA by Jonathan Rickert
Under Fire in Bonn by Donald Kursch
Remembering Cambodia Through USIA Films by Bea Camp
Links
Alexander Motyl and Thomas Graham have debated in The National Interest the merits of containment versus competitive coexistence as policies for dealing with Russia. Below are Motyl’s critique of competitive coexistence and Graham’s response.
https://nationalinterest.org/feature/russia-doesnt-want-competitive-coexistence
https://nationalinterest.org/feature/competitive-coexistence-with-russia-isnt-appeasement
Below are the results of the American Foreign Service Association’s survey in August-September 2025 on the state of the Foreign Service. Some 2100 American diplomats responded, and the results are grim.
https://afsa.org/at-the-breaking-point
From Our Archives
To mark this year’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we have selected three articles that examine US foreign policy since the beginning of this century.
Militarism and the Malpractice of Diplomacy by Chas Freeman, May 2016
Does History Take Sides, by Michael W. Santos, June 2011
https://americandiplomacy.web.unc.edu/2011/06/does-history-take-sides/
America after the Meltdown, by Chas Freeman, October 2008
https://americandiplomacy.web.unc.edu/2008/10/america-after-the-meltdown/