American Diplomat

Oh, the stress of the election!  We're feeling the strain!  So we thought we could all use a little break.  Here's one of our earliest, most fun episodes.  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.  

David Scheffer, our country's foremost diplomat on war crimes, reveals the unstoppable forces seeking justice.  The bad get badder and the good get better.  

An inspirational story of personal redlines and resilience that has stuck with us:  Ambassador John Feeley left a beloved job as US Ambassador to Panama, at the pinnacle of his career. Why?  He could in good conscience act as the personal representative of a particular US President.  John Feeley shares candidly the painful but surmountable experience of depression and recovery upon departure from...

Soviet occupation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ended 30 years ago but to many, it could have been yesterday.  How secure are these states, and what will happen to them if Ukraine falls?  Is there any change in security policy, in case of a Trump victory in the US? 

Out with the old, in with the new?  Will Claudia Sheinbaum, new (and first female) President of Mexico, allow the departing leader AMLO to control her presidency, as designated successors of autocrats often do, or will she govern on her own terms?  What will happen with all of those door-to-door check giveaways?  Sheinbaum does not tip her hand.  Amb. (Ret.) John Feeley guides us through Mexico's...

And what does Behghazi have to do with our withdrawal from Afghanistan, and why are people investigating our exit from that country on the third anniversary of the withdrawal, not, say, on the first or second anniversary?  Ambassador Dennis Jett has a thing or two to say about this. 

Prominent Brazilian journalist Cecilia Tornaghi shares the major struggle between Elon Musk and Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, after the judge shut down X.  The episode begs the question: Since these platforms have become a public service, do they bear responsibility for who uses them?  Who decides what is truth, disinformation, or that which is likely to incite?

Janessa Goldbeck, ex-Marine, CEO of Vet Voice Foundation and producer of the new film War Game, explains what a war game is and how it became the basis for this unusual and highly effective film.  What will happen if we experience another insurrection at the coming inauguration?  Why are vets and servicemembers special targets of foreign disinformation campaigns?  Join us and learn in depth what t...

FSO Chad Houghton takes us back to 2020 when John Kerry, the first Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, brought the US back into the Paris agreement. Quiz: Which is worse, methane or CO2? Also, what argument won people over diplomatically (hint – not the moral or scientific angle)? And how do we work with adversaries like China to cool things down? And why would a petrostate like the UAE host a...

David Thomas, Executive Director of ASU's Milo Space Science Institute, describes the global stability benefits of providing countries of the world access to space through education (what's it like to mine ice water on the shadow region of the moon?) and ridesharing (yes, ridesharing) to space. Prada is making space suits and Hilton is designing crew quarters. Milo fosters global opportunity to jo...

Steve Herman, author of Behind the White House Curtain , is back to tell the tale of the time the Trump administration tried to seize editorial control of the Voice of America and turn it into a propaganda agency.  Why is it in our interests as Americans for VOA to remain an independent, credible source worldwide, even covering negative events in the US?  What are the risks to those, like Steve, w...

The Maduro regime told breathtaking lies about voting tallies, but the opposition has proof.  What are diplomats doing to promote a democratic outcome?  Keith Mines, Vice President of the Latin America Program at the US Institute for Peace, explores the options and shares first-hand tales of similar instances in the region.  Over seven million Venezuelans have fled poverty and mass misery already....

Journalist and FSO (you read that correctly!) Steve Herman's new book Behind the White House Curtain delves into the balance between, as Pete says, being the pitcher and the umpire at the same time.  Especially during the Trump White House, what was it like to be "the enemy of the people"?  Trump's priority was to feed his base red meat, was he really out of control?  Join us to hear Steve talk ab...

General Brook Leonard is back to focus on China as our competitor in space.    What is rivalry in space – economic, military, both?  And what can we learn from China's holistic approach to space?  The technological environment is rapidly changing and the stakes are very high.  We are not the leader.  How does diplomacy address this?   

Major General Brook Leonard joins us to parse "coopetition" in the 3 rd space age.  With vital interests ranging from movement of money to food security, space technology is moving faster than rules and norms.  What are the red lines? There is no geographic separation in space as on earth, and no way to be sure what a communications satellite in space is actually doing.  Will global powers follow...

NATO celebrated its 75th year anniversary last week. It doubled down on Ukraine support and the Alliance now sees Itself as the bulwark against growing anti-democratic regimes. Ambassador Kurt Volker, a Trump appointee, provides insight into what his former boss might do if re-elected.

Tricks, tricks, tricks.  General Robert Schmidle, expert in cognitive warfare, helps us understand that although this has gone on for centuries, what's different today is the scope and scale.  How do you fight it?  Bonus question:  What famous statesman said, "a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on"?

Recently the indigenous of the Amazon have been gifted with Starlink, but to what effect? Years ago, Pete visited a similar community, botched up a boar hunt, drank the mystery drink chicha, and received upon his departure a marriage proposal, ambiguously addressed either to himself one of the other (finer?) young gringos.  Which is worse, Pete or the Internet?  Give us your thoughts on whether St...

Years ago, Pete visited the Amazon and made friends with some very remotely located people.  His visit raised questions: Did he do the right thing? Now others, far more remote, have been visited by Elon Musk's Starlink – by their own request!  With an updated perspective, we repost this gem from our early days recording American Diplomat. First of two in a series. Give us your thoughts on whether...

What does expertise look like in diplomacy with recent rapid changes in technology?  Will AI replace diplomats?  What is AI good at, and where is it dangerous?  Large language models are great for brainstorming but can they replace relationships and judgment?  Tune into Dan Spokojny, former diplomat, now Ph. D. and CEO of the nonprofit FP21 , while he breaks it down for us.

Finally, a home at State for what we have learned about global conflicts.  Will it make us smarter?  Will we demand deeper buy in from Allies and friends?  Or do we continue to treat each conflict as a "one-off"? Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Mark Iozzi joins us from State's Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations to share his story from concept to implementation of the innovative Gl...

We talk about cultural diplomacy, but what about diplomacy in culture?  Laura (MFA, Film and Television, NYU) loves movies and TV, and best of all, Laura loves movies and TV about geopolitics.  What do the last fifty years of diplomacy in media tell us about diplomacy in society?  About society more broadly?  And why do so many movies about diplomats turn into spy movies before the second act?  Fu...

State Department lawyer Mike Peay traces how, during a time of deep racial conflict,  black American jazz artists went overseas to promote the American experiment, winning the hearts of millions with their music and personas, but would it improve race relations at home?

"Hugs, not bullets", that is AMLO's mantra for the cartels. This, while homicides have risen to historic highs. Our man in Mexico, retired Ambassador Tony Wayne, is back to discuss the good fight. Will democracy or autocracy win in the June 2 elections?

Lieutenant General (Ret.) Fred Rudesheim unpacks the complexities of Gaza. Much is said of the very real moral outrages committed by Israel and Hamas. But what now? In the near term, how viable is a two-state solution? First let's look at what is and how we got here. Hint: what exactly does Biden mean when he speaks of a "revitalized Palestinian Authority"?