Origins and Recollections II
by Walter Roberts

The Case of the US Cultural Center in Belgrade
by John H. Brown

by Yale Richmond The writer continues his occasional series of vignettes from a long career dealing with Russia and her neighbors. –Ed. Much has been made of Richard M. Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, a visit that ended 20 years … Read more

by Richard S. Dawson, Jr.

by Vladimir Kokorev This journal has published many Foreign Service Life contributions by American diplomats and we are pleased to be able to present the reminiscences of a Soviet diplomat who served his country for many years mainly in Africa. –Ed. … Read more

by Yale Richmond This short vignette is from the author’s recollections of a Moscow assignment in the late 1960s.  –Ed. During the Cold War, whenever there was some big event in U.S.-Soviet relations, the Voice of America (VOA) would send … Read more

by Bart Moon

by Henry Precht How much of this reminiscence is fact and how much is imagination is left to the reader, but the story gives us the flavor of an earlier, less complicated and more adventurous posting in romantic Italy.–Ed. Skinny … Read more

by Edward Marks

by Edward Marks

by Yale Richmond A retired public diplomacy professional describes a unique form of public-private collaboration in Eastern Europe during the Cold War.  –Ed. The visit of Warren H. Phillips, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, to Poland, in 1960 … Read more

Sometimes Foreign Service Life begins even before an individual takes the oath and officially enters on duty. In this short vignette the author looks back on the period between passing the exams and his first assignment.  While he does not … Read more

by Michael Cotter

Baltazar, Kovacs and Radnoti
by William Sommers

by Larry Lesser In a departure from our usual practice, the following story is wholly a work of fiction but based on a real Foreign Service situation known to the author. We include it not only because it is an … Read more

by J. Edgar Williams

by Larry Lesser

While some may be nostalgic for the relative simplicity of the Cold War, we should not forget what the stakes were then and how close the world was to catastrophe.–Ed. by J. Edgar Williams For six years, 1955-60 inclusive, I … Read more

by J. Edgar Williams

by Bart Moon The Foreign Service usually provides for an interesting and rewarding career, the opportunity to live and work in diverse environments, experience different cultures and ways of life, and meet a variety of fascinating people.  On occasion it … Read more