We turn in this issue’s Commentary section from NATO and major power conflict to the Global South, an area of the world that is increasingly asserting a set of common interests that are often distinguishable from, and sometimes in opposition to, those of the great powers. Charles Ray presents examples from three Global South countries to demonstrate how establishing personal connections enables the diplomat to better represent his own country’s interests and to find mutually beneficial solutions to problems. Hank Cohen views China’s Belt and Road programs in Africa as an overall positive for African development but also sees Chinese activities undercutting domestic industry and limiting US access to critical minerals. Mark Wentling looks at how migration from the Global South impacts local economies and US assistance programs. With Africa likely to become the primary source of global population growth later this century, this will become an increasingly prominent issue. Finally, Luigi Einaudi looks to President Reagan’s Caribbean Basin Initiative for lessons in how the US might engage more constructively with the region in general and specifically with Venezuela when the Maduro regime is eventually replaced.
Our Eyewitness accounts include assisting a wayward American in Mexico, protecting a Soviet defector during the Cold War, the lighter side of the State Department’s personnel assignment process, and how the Moscow embassy country team made what later turned out to be a controversial decision.
This issue’s Moments in US Diplomatic History from the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training provides a view from the Lisbon embassy of the period leading up to the 1974 revolution that established democracy in the country. It’s a reminder of how embassies do their work in periods of turmoil and of the fact that democracy was not established in some parts of Europe until fairly recently.
The October issue of the Foreign Service Journal also focusses on the Global South from the perspective of US assistance programs. We’ve provided a Link to its article reviewing assistance programs in Afghanistan and proposing a paradigm shift to improve outcomes. The second link also proposes a series of reforms in both structure and outlook to improve US diplomatic practices and outlook.