American Diplomat

Eric Rubin, President of the Foreign Service Officers' "union", compares the treatment of Foreign Service Officers during the McCarthy era and support that is available today, during "the biggest political battle of a generation."

And why is it a bad word? How could Thailand kill 40 million chickens without a state? Former Foreign Service Officer Keith Mines, now with the U.S. Institute of Peace, explains all of this and why we care, drawing on his vast political, military, economic, and humanitarian nation-building experience.

Laura's Foreign Service Test, finally. Did she pass? Did she live? Were the questions fair? Were the examiners fair? Pete and Dave Rabadan are tough. Was Laura tough enough?

Pete sends Phil Chicola to guerrilla country to investigate the deaths of American linguist missionaries, and both Pete and Phil are accused of negotiating with the FARC. All of this concurrent with the Clinton impeachment, and as Pete explains, it got ugly. Especially with Baby Huey.

It is the 1950s. Senator Joseph McCarthy and his henchman Roy Cohn target and humiliate our diplomats for accurately reporting an eventual Mao victory in China. Jack Service and his family are at the center of the storm. How are things different today?

Shari Villarosa, Chargé in Myanmar, helps us understand why the leader of Myanmar, Aung Sun Suu Kyi, who was once awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, did not stop the genocide of the resident minority group Rohingya.

Pete quickly parses recent events in Iran for Laura. (Please note that we recorded this the day before the Ukrainian jet went down). As international news gets weirder and weirder, Pete and Laura will offer brief breakdowns of events in our new bonus series called The Sidebar, in addition to our usual weekly discussions with diplomats. Cheers!

Why is public diplomacy especially important in Mexico? Mi casa es su casa, or put another way, we have 35 million US citizens of Mexican heritage, a 2000 mile border, 1 million people going in both directions over the border every day, and billions of dollars in trade annually. So you'd better get it right. And what about all those tweets? Tony Wayne illuminates, and offers the best music Laura thinks we've ever had on the show!

How do trade agreements affect regular people? Tony Wayne, former Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs and US Ambassador to Mexico, breaks down both the recent US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the preceding North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and explains why everything that happens between the US and Mexico is "intermestic," or both international and domestic.

What's so important about devoting your life to service? What are the rewards? How have the changing times impacted the work of diplomacy, and how have they not? One thing never changes: You have the opportunity to promote and protect and defend the interests of the United States of America.

Why was a stash of Nazi spy payoff money stuffed up Pete's chimney? Why was the Iran hostage crisis of the 70s such a huge aberration of norms? And why can it be difficult to tell the difference between diplomatic reporting and espionage? David Stewart is back with more stories.

Is immunity the same as impunity? Sadly for some, there are always consequences for a bad act. David Stewart, former State Department attorney, explains the reality.

Sondland, the Ukraine affair, and what this episode in history teaches us about the risks of appointing ambassadors who donate heavily to presidential campaigns. With Ambassador Dennis Jett, author of the new book titled, American Ambassadors: The Past, Present and Future of America's Diplomats.

We love Thanksgiving, and our diplomats especially love the holiday when celebrated overseas. What better way to celebrate an American tradition of thanks than to share it with our friends abroad? Plus, what's the best way to slaughter a turkey? Better ask the Uzbeks because the Americans really don't know. Cheers!

They left to join the recruiter-imams' war. Now they're back home in Kosovo. How to make these young men peace-loving Kosovars once more? Greg Delawie explains.

Jim Dobbins, National Security Advisor to Bill Clinton, riffs on what it's like to work for Bill under the cloud of impeachment more than 20 years ago.

Mike Polt, who previously shared his experience in Serbia, shares a contrasting tale of successful adaptation to new circumstances in Estonia. What can we learn from these two tales?

Michael Polt shares his perspective on the honored tradition of the State Department dissent channel, and discusses his experience in the former Yugoslavia when he arrived as Ambassador to Serbia in 2003, just after the bombings in Kosovo. What actually was Yugoslavia, anyway? How did its dictator Tito's death give rise to Milosevic's era of bloodletting in Serbia? And how did the United States lead diplomatically to restore stability in the region?

Brand new to the job, Lizzie Slater arrives at Embassy Dar es Salaam ready to begin work on embassy communications of every kind. Then the bomb falls. She is buried and seriously injured. But once pulled from the rubble, does she stop working? Many of us would, but Lizzie climbs trees to place satellites and does every task needed to ensure communications between the embassy and the US.

Ambassador Prudence Bushnell puts Marie Yovanovitch's recent testimony on Capitol Hill in the context of the Certificate of Commission for all Foreign Service Officers, emphasizing the integrity, prudence and ability that are the guiding principle from which all American diplomats work. The message from Pete and Pru to current FSOs: We've got your back.

The Sequoia: A presidential yacht? A floating icon of American and diplomatic history? A loan gone south? Pete schools Laura on the proper pronoun for a thing of such great beauty (a "she", not an "it") and Mike Cantor does his best to answer our nosey questions about what really went on onboard. https://youtu.be/S1NcM6BW2Jo

We're in LA right now promoting a TV script we've written, inspired by many of AmDip's greatest stories including this one from an interview with Kate Canavan on the many things that can go wrong in Tijuana. Two air traffic controllers, fired for going on strike, go into (very) private industry. Pete's words: "Breaking Bad, in the skies."

AMLO, or Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President of Mexico, takes the long view, and so does the Mexican populace, in the face of insults and other perhaps spontaneous diplomatic communiques conveyed by tweet. As the 13th largest economy in the world, expected soon to be the eighth, they have big enough plans not to take the bait.

This one went to work in the Lyndon Johnson White House at the tender age of 25, became Johnson's Appointments Secretary (a role now called the Chief of Staff) at 28, and later became a congressman and US Ambassador to Mexico. Do you know how much time Lyndon Johnson spent in his pajamas? And what do Mexicans really think about their neighbor to the north? Find out both, in the first of two episodes with Jim Jones.

Communism drives immigration decisions, 1956. Hank Cohen is in love. It's his first tour, and he's in Paris. The Soviets invade Hungary and Hank helps thousands of refugees flee Communist aggression and make new lives in the US. But what about heartthrob megastar Yves Montand, who is an avowed Communist? How can Hank get him a visa? And about that girl...

We're refreshing one of our earlier (and best!) episodes from the early days, before anyone had heard of us. But now you have! And so we offer you the joy you may have missed, of learning what it is to be black, creole or colored, all words that have been used to describe Desiree Cormier, both here in the US and during her posting in South Africa. Enjoy!

We love music. We love it almost as much as we love listening to our friends tell stories about life overseas. So here's our end-of-summer look back on some of our favorite music in the series. Enjoy! Your pals, Pete and Laura

Larry Dinger regales us with tales of tires on fire, pollution, trekking, and one of the most bizarre episodes in monarchy in the world. Now Laura wants to join the Foreign Service and all of us want to go to Kathmandu.

It's 1991 in Ethiopia. President Mengistu and the rebels are at war. Drought and famine are killing thousands. As Charge d'Affaires in Addis Ababa, Bob Houdek oversees the evacuation of 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel, and why? Because, as Bob explains, "Immigration is one of the fundamental human rights under the UN convention."

Bill Burns says it best: "This is exactly the moment when you need to attract the best in our society to lives in public service, whether it's in the State Department, the US military or elsewhere. I am a passionate believer in that." We are, too! Uncle Sam needs you.

Burns shares stories from his engaging new book, The Back Channel.

Plus, a few good works. Vicki Huddleston gets around in the Sahara, and even gets the women a place inside the tent. So where did all these terrorists come from?

Vicki Huddleston, our ambassador in Mali (not to be confused with Bali), helps us understand the Sahel, the Sahara, and their vast range of inhabitants. Everyone got along so well, so how did this land become what the UN now calls the most dangerous mission on earth?

Now that Ortega is back, how is the revolution going? Nicaraguans are being shot, hauled off and denied medical services, while the president's coffers swell. A how-to kit, on how to steal democracy.

We have Independence Day, and for Nicaraguans Liberation Day is just as important. Celebrated July 19, this is the day the Sandinistas overthrew the Somoza dynasty in 1979. But what really is a Sandinista, and what's up with their leader Daniel Ortega now? Most importantly, how is life today for Nicaraguans?

Grass to tree roots: Ajani helps us understand how the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott in 1955 impacts lives today in Eritrea and the area that is now South Sudan.

Jimmy Kolker is back to tell us how, as Ambassador to Uganda, he helped stem the spread of this deadly disease and save scores of human lives.

How did Tom Shannon end up Secretary of State for 12 days? How do transitions work, when one president leaves and another takes office?

We revisit Pete's stories about Naples, with a couple of bonuses at the front. Happy summer!

Social Democracy in Northern Europe, not to be confused with socialism of any stripe. And what is socialism, anyway? With Ambassador Jimmy Kolker. Plus knowledge test: What fabulous 70s band brought us the name of this episode?

Peas in a pod? Or something much more complex? As it happens, each country is different, even if each would-be strong man looks much the same. Join Tom Shannon and Melvin Levitsky for an expert look at a fascinating polity. Part of our "Is It Happening Here?" series.

Will Cops-in-a-Box keep Fulanita home? What else do these guys have for us?

You think of your loved ones first: Honoring the lives of those who sacrificed theirs in the line of service. With remarks from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the story of Ambassador Jonathan Addleton.

What happens when Fulanita arrives? And what is this wall, really? And what do drugs have to do with all of this? Bill Brownfield and John Feeley, together with Pete, unpack the deets in our second of three episodes on the border. Plus, a barnyard narco song you do not want to miss.

Episode One, in which John Feeley, Bill Brownfield and Pete lay it all out: How and why does Fulanita, our Guatamalan every-gal, end up at the US border with young son Javier, delivered by the cartels' fancy coach service?

Remember the movie The Graduate? Fifty-two years on, here's where we are with plastics. It ain't pretty, but Bob Blake is on the job.

Miss us? Here's a midweek extra: Ashley Inman, a master's student at Georgetown who will become a US diplomat upon completion of her studies, shares her passion for service and her reasons for joining. Go, Ashley!

The life and (near) death of Indonesia's Palm Oil Pledge, a guy named Anderson and an air pollution monitor in Jakarta. Bob Blake works with private industry and government to foster lasting change in Indonesia.

Me, neither. Chris Teal, filmmaker, author and diplomat, shares the little-known tale of integrity and courage of the first African American diplomat, appointed 1869, preceding longtime friend Frederick Douglass by 20 years.

Michele Bond parses immigration and solves the whole conundrum. So what's the problem? (Hint: Pete thinks it's us.)