American Diplomat

Poor Elian!  He's left Cuba with his mom, who has now drowned.  Possibly aided by dolphins, he arrives alone on the shores of Florida, to be made into perhaps the youngest pawn ever to be used in international and domestic policy wars.

Surveillance can be good - if you need a potato, just ask. But if you're a Marine, be careful! And what made Cuba's Special Period in Time of Peace so special? Deprivation, starvation and flight. Vicki Huddleston connects the dots and helps us understand our relationship with Cuba today.  

Vicki Huddleston spars with Castro, as one of the few women in senior roles in the State Department, and one of the only people who actually stood up to the dictator.  

Feeley visits FARC guerrillas and records the group's fantastical vision of world leadership, and upon his return is faced with politicized accusations of negotiating with terrorists.  

The Iran nuclear deal explained.  What was it, and how did our chief negotiator Wendy Sherman help make it happen?  

Feeley's ambassadorship begins with the leak of the Panama Papers, a trove of documents exposing massive international financial fraud.  When the US is accused of orchestrating the leak, what's an ambassador to do?  Video diplomacy is born.  

From an evangelical upbringing, Albertson studies in Kenya and then devotes his life to international development.  He survives three bombs in Afghanistan while working with USAID, and now leads the diplomacy advocacy organization Foreign Policy for America.

Do you know where to find a hooker in Oman?  Go to the hospital!  And what happens when your boss nixes your husband's job choice in Saudi Arabia, and you are intent on preserving your marriage?  Reposted from October 2017

Addleton shares his haunting experience as the only one left standing after a suicide bomber attacks his party while visiting a school in Afghanistan.  Was it worth it?  

In places like Pakistan where governments may not be friendly, cultural diplomacy, a form of "soft power", is power indeed.  And in Haiti, Husbands gains the nickname, "dread la ki te refize m '," or "the dread who refused me."

How does diplomacy help stem a public health crisis like Ebola?  And what can a diplomat do (and not do) to help Americans in Mexican prison?

Cormier, raised in part by her civil rights activist grandfather, identifies as African American, or, black.  So why does everyone in Pretoria tell her she's not black at all, but instead, "colored"?  And how does she persuade our government to stop considering Nelson Mandela a terrorist?  Also hear how she comes to dance to Pata Pata during Barack Obama's state visit.

Secrecy, executions, and human shields in Sri Lanka.  Our diplomats make a difference in thousands of people's lives.  

Who are the Tamil Tigers?  Hint: This is no baseball team and they aren't playing ball.

Crisis averted:  Where there might have been massive flight, and/or a narco state, Colombia instead enjoys stability and prosperity amid a new peace agreement.

Cocaleros, paramilitaries, a dirty war and a failing state in Colombia.

She wasn't Wendy Sherman or a woman or a Jewish American. She was the United States of America.

An unwavering belief in public service propels Wendy Sherman from local activist to international negotiator.  

Putting pedophiles in prison with the help of one of the world's most loathed autocrats.

Zimbabwe's elected authoritarian, Robert Mugabe, seen from a human perspective.

Charles English, 26 and new to the Foreign Service, is among the first American officials on the scene of the Jonestown massacre in 1978.  

Mike Senko describes rocket-propelled grenades exploding outside his office, driving a car at gunpoint, and the reason Foreign Service Officers volunteer to take these risks.  

Tom Miller discusses the decapitation of Greece's November 17 terrorist group, and reminds us that life in the Foreign Service can be very dangerous.

Tom Miller assists refugees and reports on the opium and heroin trade in Asia's golden triangle.  A close friend is murdered in retaliation for DEA success.

Jett explains that many Americans are not aware that other countries' laws apply to them, and shares the personal rewards of a Foreign Service career.