FROM THE PUBLISHER ~ Frank Crigler is publisher of “American Diplomacy” and president of newly-formed non-profit corporation American Diplomacy Publishers. He lives in Durham, North Carolina. His biographic sketch was published in Vol. I, No. 3 of this journal. We … Read more

  Jack Nixon’s long career as a USAID officer included several years in Haiti during the 1970’s. Retired, he now lives in France with his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and several pets. His most recent previous article, a tongue–in–cheek piece entitled … Read more

  Following upon American Diplomacy’s presentation in a previous issue of an account of Rwanda’s decline into chaos by a former U.S. ambassador to that troubled nation, we have the distinct pleasure to present a thoughtful discussion by a noted … Read more

Stuart Kennedy, a retired Foreign Service officer, is director of the Foreign Affairs Oral History Program, based at the Foreign Service Institute outside Washington, D.C. In a previous issue of American Diplomacy (Vol. I, No. 2), Mr. Kennedy, described the … Read more

In Search of Foreign Monsters. . . . Italy’s Meddling Should Remind Us of Our  Own  by J. R. Bullington In the spring and summer of 1997, all of Italy somehow became outraged by the death sentence imposed on Joseph … Read more

   “Witness to History”    PRESENT AT THE FOOTNOTE The very nature of their calling — long stretches of service abroad — makes it likely that members of the U.S. Foreign Service sooner or later witness history being made, and over … Read more

Theory on usefulness of war gets shot down Brassed Off by Francis T. Underhill  On the day I was sworn in as ambassador to Malaysia, I also signed a letter that read: “Dear Mr. President, I hereby submit my resignation … Read more

“Remembering Vietnam” Ambassador Marks entered the U.S. Foreign Service in 1956 and promptly was drafted into the army. Upon return two years later, he embarked on a career that took him to eight posts abroad (including Guinea-Bissau, where he was … Read more

The Army Specialized Training Program: Gateway to the Foreign Service by Curtis F. Jones America’s unreadiness for World War II was systemic. At Bowdoin College, student attitudes mirrored the national pattern. As late as the fall of 1941, a number … Read more

We make available the following commentary, previously presented on the People-Centered Development Forum’s web page, with the permission of the author. Dr. Korten, a specialist in international business and development, received his MBA and PhD degrees at Stanford University after … Read more

The Editor has adapted this historical comment from his “The Typewriter: ‘One of the Greatest Benefits to Humanity’?,” originally published in the Foreign Service Journal, Feb. 1990, 40-43. Typewriter c. 1873 Technology and Foreign Affairs: The Case of the Typewriter … Read more

Retired Foreign Service officer Ed Williams, a member of this journal’s Editorial Advisory Board, resides between escort interpreting trips at Fearrington Village, NC. Depends on How You Interpret It By J. Edgar Williams For the past several years, since I … Read more

The Purple Captain’s Final Voyage by Gene Schmiel Harbor at Mombasa, Kenya Dealing with deceased Americans overseas was the one part of consular work which I, always more comfortable writing political analyses or trying to obtain information from a source … Read more

We present herewith a paper adapted from a talk delivered by Professor Davis at a seminar of the Triangle Institute for Security Studies held at the National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, NC, on September 10, 1997. The author, who … Read more

Dr. Friedman received his Ph.D. in the History of International Relations at Michigan State University. He teaches at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, Michigan, and conducts a graduate historiography seminar for Central Michigan University. Portions of this article appeared … Read more

By Charles S. Gordon During my early USAID assignments in Asia and Africa, I was frequently exposed to European diplomatic colleagues, who, it struck me, spent an unseemly amount of time thinking about, discussing, and planning for their future retirement. … Read more

  American “Diplomacy”: Ambassadors, Senators, and the System   Once upon a time, the United States appointed its chief diplomatic representatives abroad — its ministers in the old days and its ambassadors in the twentieth century — from among its … Read more

Jim Roush, retired from the U.S. Agency for International Development, serves as a senior associate with the consulting firm Development Associates of Arlington, Virginia. He participated in the evaluation of two USAID/El Salvador projects designed to further the 1992 Peace … Read more

A Bit of Boasting . . .  Signs of Intelligent Life Out There! by Frank Crigler J o d i e   F o s t e r, the single-minded, highly unconventional astronomer in the film “Contact,” relies more heavily … Read more

Dr. McIntyre, retired from the Foreign Service after more than twenty-three years abroad, lives with his wife Jessie in Chapel Hill, NC. During the Second World War, he was awarded a Bronze Star for his service as an infantry battalion … Read more