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Fascism: A Warning

September 2018

Review by Gilbert Donahue
Fascism: A Warning. Madeleine Albright with Bill Woodward, Harper Collins, 2018, 288 pages including index.

Venezuela: A Situation Report

December 2017

by Patrick Duddy Venezuela remains in crisis. Popular support for the so-called Bolivarian revolution and its socio-economic model known as twenty-first century socialism has eroded dramatically.  Polling suggests there is a near consensus among Venezuelans that conditions are bad and … Read more

The General & the Ambassador A Conversation

December 2017

    Our aim is to have Americans see how important it is that the United States be present on the global stage.  We hope the series encourages people to join public service to represent our great nation abroad in … Read more

An Atlantic Council Roadmap for State Department Reform

October 2017

by Rachel Ansley Reprinted with permission from The Atlantic Council. http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/publications/reports/state-department-reform-report A new Atlantic Council report (www.atlanticcouncil.org/ publications/reports/ state-department-reform-report) seeks to enhance the US State Department’s effectiveness recommends, among other things, a more results-oriented budget and streamlined foreign aid. A key recommendation is … Read more

Authoritarian Backlash: A Comparison of Turkey & Venezuela

October 2017

by Ambassador (ret.) Robert Pearson The Character of Democracy “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” This famous opening line from Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina is important also for democracies. While Turkey and … Read more

Why Diplomacy

October 2017

Why Diplomacy American Academy of Diplomacy by Ronald E. Neumann http://www.peoriamagazines.com/ibi/2017/jun/why-diplomacy Permission to reprint courtesy of Ms. Kristin McHugh, Executive Director and It’s essential to the successful pursuit of national security, foreign policy and economic goals. Why should Americans pay … Read more

Nuggets of Wisdom

October 2017

Review by Brenda Brown Schoonover A Review of Saved for a Purpose: A Journey from Private Virtues to Public Values, By  James A. Joseph. (Duke University Press, 235 pages ) The author, James A. Joseph defines his book,Saved for a Purpose: A Journey from Private Virtues … Read more

Tom Countryman’s Farewell

September 2017

Tom Countryman’s Farewell, Department of State, January 31, 2017 Thank You! When I entered the State Department, I never intended to rise high enough to merit a retirement ceremony. And when it occurred to me that I had, I pictured … Read more

Cuban Missiles and Operation Dragon Rouge

April 2017

by Robert Baker The 1962 Cuban missile crisis and 1964’s Belgian paratroop drop from U.S. C-130s in the Congo were the most interesting events in my five year intelligence career. Lowly intelligence analysts like me working for the U.S. Information … Read more

How the Presidential Transition Process Works

January 2017

And Why This One Will Be Like No Other by Michael W. Cotter The sub-title is not quite accurate, since each administration transfer happens a bit differently. But not this different. At least in living memory there has not been … Read more

In Defense of The “Obama Doctrine”

October 2016

In Defense of The “Obama Doctrine”: A Sober Reappraisal of the Limits of American Power by John R. Murnane In a series of interviews with Jefferey Goldberg in the April 2016 Atlantic, President Barack Obama provided a much-needed and sober … Read more