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American Diplomat

Sep 30, 2020

What's the difference between a political appointee ambassador and a career ambassador? Increasingly, these ambassadorships are offered as rewards for large political campaign contributions. How can these appointments go awry? Harry Geisel helps us count the ways. 


Sep 23, 2020

9/11/2012, Benghazi, Libya, an attack on our diplomatic mission, killing four, including our ambassador. The legendary Tom Pickering led the first investigation (of ten), and it was not a pleasant report to write. But, as a consequence of these events, is the world's strongest power now the world's blindest power?


Sep 17, 2020

And neither is worldwide democracy, thanks in part to the very fine-tipped pen and tiny notebook of Ambassador William Taylor, a key source in the Congressional investigations into the Ukraine corruption affair of the last year.  Democracy lives another day!


Sep 10, 2020

Need a mood lifter?  We do!  Laura likes our music selects so much that she's listening to this one twice!  Go back to simpler times (say, 2019) with AmDip, then sing along to our Covid-era theme song.  Love, Pete and Laura


Sep 3, 2020

Ambassador Whitaker tells the story of how the Colombian government fooled the guerrillas into releasing long-held hostages... an operation that would make Hollywood proud.