Category: Eyewitness
The American Withdrawal from Iraq’s Cities
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
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
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
A U.S. Foreign Service National in Hué during the Tet Offensive
by J.R. Bullington Foreign Service National employees, the locally hired staff at U.S. diplomatic and consular posts, share many of the same challenges and dangers as their American colleagues. Particularly in wartime situations, their service to the United States can … Read more
Joining the Foreign Service: Then, Now, and In-Between
by Renee Earle A senior active-duty Foreign Service Officer examines the process of entering the Foreign Service, from the Rogers Act of 1924 to the present. She looks at how the changing needs of the Foreign Service have affected the … Read more
Sixty Years of Studying Malaya/Malaysia
by Ronald D. Palmer At a ceremony at the Malaysian Embassy in Washington marking the fiftieth anniversary of Malaysian independence on November 17, 2007, Ambassador Ron Palmer, who was ambassador to Malaysia in 1981-82 and served as president of the … Read more
A Democracy-Building Success Story
U.S. Assistance to the Philippines after Marcos
by Al La Porta