American Diplomat

Ambassador Dick Hoagland, having served many years in Russia and former Soviet republics, has had ample opportunity to consider the high-stakes drinking game of vodka diplomacy. Bottoms up and happy New Year!  

Jeffrey Franca, drummer for DC's world music icon Thievery Corporation - the band that generously allows us to use its music to open our show each week - brings us on the journey he took to become a musician. He shares with us the value of unity, love and positivity in his work, which is influenced by musical styles found worldwide. We'll be back next week with an original show on vodka diplomacy....

General Ben Freakley, in charge of the eastern region of Afghanistan during the war, urges us to remain focused and do the right thing for those who remain in danger in Afghanistan. He calls for a whole of government approach and implores the American people: It's our time to serve.

Ambassador Dan Foote departed the State Department over a crisis of conscience relating to recent events in Haiti.  Why, and what actually happened from his perspective?  

The Zambian government has no love for its country's LGBTQ community. When repressions go simply too far to ignore any longer Ambassador Dan Foote speaks up, and for political reasons on both continents is forced to return home.  Any regrets?  Of course not. LGBTQ rights are human rights and everyone on earth deserves those.

We're back with some of Pete's jokes (Laura laughed, we promise) and our annual show featuring stories of Thanksgiving overseas.  Enjoy!  Stay well!  ~Pete & Laura

An eye for an eye and pretty soon everyone is blind, said Mahatma Gandhi, now quoted by Ambassador Tibor Nagy who is as expert as he is compassionate in his discussion of the current conflict in Ethiopia. Are we witnessing a genocide, presided over by Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy? Does it matter? Why did Abiy receive the Nobel Prize?  

Dave Harden, formerly of USAID, compares service within AID to the mainstream Foreign Service (where is most of the money and the leadership opportunity, for example?), and connects the economic dimension of international development to American domestic politics.  Harden is running for Congress, using his development experience and lifelong knowledge of rural voters' needs.  

Inclusive, powerful leadership.  Colin Powell not only engaged Americans of every level on his team, but also eased the worries of potential adversaries.  Powell led with insight into human needs for respect and belonging.

Humility, respect, sense of humor, honor, but above all, empathy.  Colin Powell is remembered by many who loved him.  Tune in for stories of the man he was.

Ted Osius retired from his post as US Ambassador to Vietnam when asked to implement covertly-devised deportation policies he found morally repugnant and un-American.  Hear about his crisis of conscience and also of the heroic service of senators John McCain and John Kerry, Vietnam vets who did the right thing at great political cost.  And read Ted's new book " Nothing is Impossible: America's Reco...

It's 1990, and Ian Brownlee, out walking his dog, meets a man whose visa application he had refused just that very morning. The man is about to swim across the river to his probable death, so Ian advises him of a much safer spot to cross, about 200 yards thataway. These are the old days of immigration. When and how did immigration become a multibillion dollar business and a hot-button in domestic...

But what of the rest of her countrywomen?  Here's a quick midweek update with our Afghan friend Toobah, in her words.  Enjoy!

"Never, ever allow free and fair elections" is Fidel's advice to Daniel Ortega, today's strongman leader of Nicaragua. Bob Callahan describes today's authoritarian regime in this Central American nation.

Pardis Mahdavi relays her experience of the Iranian sexual revolution and similar movements in the Middle East, including Afghanistan. Why was the summer of the cockroaches her favorite? There weren't enough cockroaches for everybody! And this is to say nothing of the orgies.  Listen and find out what all of this could possibly mean.

Nancy Ostrowski experienced the events of 9/11 first-hand, which inspired her to embark on a journey to a more satisfying, new career with USAID.  See also her article in the Sept 2021 Foreign Service Journal, " Getting Off the X ", and her book,  Unplugged , published under the name Nancy Whitner-Reiter.

Consular officer Alan Eaton helped scores of Afghans at risk evacuate from Kabul, working from inside the Abbey Gate at the airport at exactly the moment when our friend Toobah was on the other side of the gate, trying to get through.  As Alan explains, "This is Jews in Germany, 1940: These people have to get out."  Some did get out, some didn't.  Alan shares these human moments.

Eric Rubin sums it up with one word.  If we want to be successful in our diplomacy, we need to adopt a position of humility with respect to the rest of the world.

Our friend is still there, fearing for her life.  What is going on in Afghanistan right now?  Laura shares Toobah's most recent experience as evacuations stall and no one really knows why. Pete helps us understand what it all means.  

For Pride Month (belatedly posted due to events in Afghanistan and our coverage of those), Austin Richey-Allen recounts his story of gender transition in the Foreign Service.  A trans kid, he discovered in adulthood that there is a term for his experience: gender dysphoria.  From transition to leadership of GLIFA, Austin shares his story for the benefit not only of the LGBT, transgender and non-bi...

Our disastrous departure from Afghanistan. Hugo Llorens shares his knowledge of the Taliban's subgroups (hint: none abide by the Geneva Convention), his perspective on US domestic politics and its impact on the human tragedy in Afghanistan, and his view on what we might have done to exit the country with a conditions-based agreement focused on preserving human lives and dignity, instead of a whole...

Wouldn't we all like to know.  She's alive, at least.  Bad luck becomes good luck as she is turned away on her way to the airport just before the bombs go off. 

People's lives are at stake in the most urgent way.  Policy is a macro-level thing, and utterly necessary.  But what about the people themselves?  What about Toobah?  What should Biden have done?  People are hanging from the fuselage. Afghanistan, August 2021.

Or a traitor, anyway.  In an eerily quiet region during the Vietnam war, from a banana grove in the middle of the night, Lionel Rosenblatt discovers that a US military official is guilty of supplying the enemy with life-saving medicine from the United States.  Lionel is saved from a murderous reprisal through the assistance of his friends, the Vietnamese mountain people.

The Arab Spring – Tunisia, Egypt – we know about these places. But Bahrain is almost never in the news.  What is its geopolitical significance, and strategic importance to the US?  And why was Ambassador Tom Krajeski in a tight spot when the Arab Spring came to Bahrain?  Can we walk and chew gum at the same time?