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Secret Mission

March 2010

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

All Quiet on the Western Front

February 2010

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

Auyantepui

December 2009

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

Diplomatic DX

July 2009

A Foreign Service Officer’s Ham Radio Memoir
by J.R. Bullington

The American Withdrawal from Iraq’s Cities

July 2009

The View from St. George’s Church, Baghdad by Canon Andrew White As previously reported in American Diplomacy, Anglican Canon Andrew White, “The Vicar of Baghdad,” has long and successfully led the struggle for religious reconciliation in Iraq. On the eve … Read more

Living with Terrorism in Buenos Aires, 1970-75

April 2009

by J. Edgar Williams We tend to think of terrorism mostly in its contemporary Islamic extremist manifestation, but it has been a part of Foreign Service life for many years. In this memoir, a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer recalls … Read more

The Boy from Mizda

March 2009

by Kirsten Russell The daughter of an American technical expert sent to Libya to create an agricultural school in the early days of the U.S. foreign aid program, then known as Point Four, recalls the determined efforts of a poor … Read more