Download or read book The Craft of Political Analysis for Diplomats written by Raymond F. Smith and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2011 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Until the recent unauthorized release of thousands of classified State Department cables, public attention was rarely drawn to the frequently outstanding political analysis done by American diplomats abroad. The existing literature on diplomacy has heretofore been limited to memoirs of former diplomats and analyses of international affairs by diplomats, academics, and think tanks. The Craft of Political Analysis offers a fresh approach, one that provides a context for interpreting this embassy reporting and a guide to understanding the work that went on behind the scenes to produce it. Author Raymond F. Smith combines a practitioner's personal view of what is required to do good diplomatic political analysis with his understanding of the social conflict and change that informed his work for the State Department. Smith clearly explains everything the Foreign Service candidate or professional, as well as the interested layman, needs to know about crafting political analysis, including how to write for the analyst's intended audience, how to make best use of the intellectual and analytical tools of the trade, what happens when the analyst's views differ from government policy, and why political analysis risks becoming irrelevant, even though it is still urgently needed. In addition, The Craft of Political Analysis for Diplomats features two case studies using legally declassified cables not included in the Wikileaks release. The first is built around four highly restricted Embassy Moscow cables on the collapse of the Soviet Union; the second includes two cables on the Arab-Israeli conflict that received the State Department's highest award for political analysis. Selected for the Diplomats and Diplomacy Series of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) and DACOR, an organization of foreign affairs professionals.

Download or read book Losing the Golden Hour written by James Stephenson and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2007-10-31 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In emergency medicine, ôthe golden hourö is the first hour after injury during which treatment greatly increases survivability. In post-conflict transition terminology, it is the first year after hostilities end. Without steadily improving conditions then, popular support declines and chances for economic, political, and social transformation begin to evaporate. James Stephenson believes we have lost Iraq's golden hour. A veteran of postconflict reconstruction on three continents, he ran the Iraq mission of the Agency for International Development in 2004û05 with more than a thousand employees and expatriate contractors. The Coalition Provisional Authority, which oversaw the largest reconstruction and nation-building exercise ever, was a dysfunctional organization the Department of Defense cobbled together with temporary employees and a few experienced professionals from the State Department and other agencies. Iraqis soon became disillusioned, and the insurgency grew. Losing the Golden Hour tells of hubris, incompetence, courage, fear, and duty. It is about foreign assistance professionals trying to overcome the mistakes of an ill-conceived occupation and help Iraqis create a nation after decades of despair. Neither criticizing nor defending U.S. foreign policy, Stephenson offers an informed assessment of Iraq's future. Selected for the Diplomats and Diplomacy Book Series of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training and Diplomatic and Consular Officers, Retired.

Download or read book The Other War written by Ronald E. Neumann and published by Potomac Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2011 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What went wrong and what went right in Afghanistan.

Download or read book The Architecture of Diplomacy written by Jane C. Loeffler and published by Princeton Architectural Press. This book was released on 1998-07 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Architecture of Diplomacy reveals the complex interplay of architecture, politics, and power in the history of America's embassy-building program. Through colorful personalities, bizarre episodes, and high drama this compelling story takes readers from scandalous "inspection" junkets by members of Congress to bugged offices at the Moscow embassy to the daring rescue of American personnel in Somalia by Marines and Navy Seals. Rigorously researched and lucidly written, The Architecture of Diplomacy focuses on the embassy-building program during the Cold War years, when the United States initiated a massive construction campaign that would demonstrate its commitment to its allies and assert its presence as a superpower.

Download or read book Distinguished Service written by Roger Kirk and published by Syracuse University Press. This book was released on 2007-11-09 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When her husband is offered the assignment of U.S. Naval attaché in London in 1939, Lydia Chapin Kirk packs up her family and embarks on a lifelong journey, one in which she becomes a firsthand witness to the extraordinary world events of her time. Kirk's historical memoir offers a fascinating portrait of a remarkable life, told first from the perspective of a young girl in Erie, Pennsylvania, Paris, and Washington before World War I, and then from her husband's postings as U.S. naval attaché and then as U.S. ambassador to Belgium, the Soviet Union, and Taiwan during the cold war. She brings alive the unique challenges and complex managerial and social responsibilities of a diplomat's spouse, especially when facing the perils of looming war, the challenges of Stalin's Moscow, and lengthy separations from her husband and children. An accomplished author of four books published in the 1950s and 1970s, Lydia Kirk captures the places and times in which she lived, the youthful adventures and wartime disruptions. With colorful prose and vivid detail, she offers recollections of such prominent people as President Theodore Roosevelt, Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko, and Madame Chiang Kai-shek. Kirk has an artist's eye for her surroundings, revealing candid perceptions of human nature. Here is the story of a woman of consequence living through a transitional time when wives' roles were different than they are now. Her memoir gives voice to the many strong women of her generation whose untold contributions will inspire readers of all backgrounds.

Download or read book American Diplomats written by William D. Morgan and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2004 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What do the men and women of America's diplomatic corps do? William D. Morgan and Charles Stuart Kennedy, themselves career diplomats, culled over 1400 oral interviews with their Foreign Service peers to present forty excerpts covering events from the 1920s to the 1990s. Insiders recount what happens when a consul spies on Nazi Germany, Mao Tse-Tung drops by for a chat, the Cold War begins with the Berlin blockade, the Marshall Plan rescues Europe, Sukarno moves Indonesia into the communist camp, Khrushchev calls President Kennedy an SOB, and our ambassador is murdered in Kabul. "You are there" accounts deepen readers' understanding, as diplomatic and consular officers talk about the beginnings of Kremlinology, predicting a coup in Ecuador, Hemingway and the embassy in Havana, the secret formulation of the NATO treaty, Jerusalem after the British and the US recognition of Israel, fighting in the Congo over Katangan secession, dealing with an alcoholic foreign president, human rights work in Paraguay, the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran, the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, helping families of the Pan Am 103 victims, Greece and Turkey at odds over a tiny island, embassy roles in Riyadh and Tel Aviv during Desert Storm, and many more.

Download or read book A Conversation with Ambassador Keith C Smith written by Keith C. Smith and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2010-04-12 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than 230 years, extraordinary men and women have represented the United States abroad with courage and dedication. Yet their accomplishments in promoting and protecting American interests remain little known to their compatriots. The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) created the Diplomatic Oral History Series to help fill this void by publishing in book form selected transcripts of interviews from its Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection. The text contained herein acquaints readers with the distinguished service of the Honorable Keith C. Smith as a career Foreign Service officer, special adviser to the Government of Estonia, and Ambassador to Lithuania. We are proud to make his interview available through the Diplomatic Oral History Series.

Download or read book Mission to Algiers written by Cameron R. Hume and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2006 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ambassador Cameron Hume's Mission to Algiers relates the dramatic account of the U.S. Algerian embassy's promotion of democracy, rule of law, and market economy in a region experiencing great change. Hume's first-hand account chronicles the Algerian government's near bankruptcy in the 1990s, the Islamist insurgency that killed 100,000 people and threatened the country's stability, and the slow push toward democracy in the face of one-party rule. Hume's account shows the strengths and weaknesses of American foreign engagement, and most importantly the theory and method behind using expanding bilateral relations to enable a massive reduction in terrorist violence, and bolstering positive economic and political change.

Download or read book Cold War Saga written by Kempton Jenkins and published by Nimble Books LLC. This book was released on 2010 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For years, historians have dug into the archives, exploring the nuances of how the cold war was fought. But there is no substitute for the first-person testimony of the man who was there--in the pit--in the head-to-head confrontations in Moscow and Berlin and the Third World, in the decades when East and West struggled for supremacy. Kempton Jenkins was there at every turn; his memoir is a unique personal story as well as a valuable document in diplomatic history."-Ernest B. Furgueson, former Bureau Chief of the Baltimore Sun Moscow, Saigon and Washington, DC offices "As a Foreign Service veteran, I know a good FSO when I see one. Kempton Jenkins was one of the best (as he notes, at one point I tried to hire him). "Jenks'" voyage through a varied and stimulating career takes us from Asia to Berlin to Moscow to South America and to three different agencies, State, Commerce and USIA. Each assignment has its special challenges, which come to life under Kempton's facile pen. He highlights the issues and introduces the reader to the players, some good some bad. Yet Kempton demonstrates that our diplomacy worked; we more than coped. We shaped events. Reading his book is the closest you can become to being an FSO during an exciting and crucial period in our diplomacy."-Frank Carlucci "Cold War Saga provides a fascinating insider's view, enriched by personal experience. Jenkins' portraits of key cold war personalities, with whom he worked-Ambassador Llewellyn Thompson, Henry Kissinger, and Soviet Ambassador Dobryin-are especially revealing. A great read - Helen Thomas To us veterans of the Cold War's diplomatic front lines, Kempton Jenkins tells it like it was. He names the key players, gives a keen insight into their character, and shows why some were heroes and some villains. Cold War Saga is an absorbing read. If you fought with Jenks in the political trenches it will stir fond memories. If you didn't, it will take you there, and you won't forget where you've been or what was at stake. -Jack F. Matlock, Jr., U.S. Ambassador to the USSR, 1987-1991.

Download or read book Ellsworth Bunker written by Howard B. Schaffer and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2004-07-21 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this first biography of Ellsworth Bunker (1894-1984), Howard Schaffer traces the life of one of postwar America's foremost diplomats from his formative years as a successful businessman and lobbyist through a long career in international affairs. Named ambassador to Argentina by Harry Truman in 1951, Bunker went on to serve six more presidents as ambassador to Italy, India, Nepal, and Vietnam and on special negotiating missions. A widely recognized "hawk," Bunker helped shape U.S. policy in Vietnam during his six-year Saigon posting. Using letters Bunker wrote to his wife as well as recently declassified messages he exchanged with Henry Kissinger, Schaffer examines how Bunker promoted the war effort and how he regarded his mission. After leaving Saigon on his seventy-ninth birthday, Bunker next became a key figure in the treaty negotiations, spanning three presidencies, that radically changed the operation and defense of the Panama Canal. Highlighting Bunker's views on the craft of diplomacy, Schaffer paints a complex picture of a man who devoted three decades to international affairs and sheds new light on post-World War II American diplomacy. This book is part of the ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy Series, co-sponsored by the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training in Arlington, Virginia, and Diplomatic & Consular Officers, Retired, Inc., of Washington, D.C.

Download or read book A Conversation with Ambassador Walter Curley written by Walter J.P. Curley and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2009-08-27 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Conversation with Ambassador Walter Curley recounts the ambassador's early years and education, his roles in business and two presidential campaigns, and his service to the United States as a Marine Corps officer during World War II and in two appointments as ambassador. From dealing with the Soviets during the Cold War to coaxing cooperation from reluctant French officials and conducting relations with such historic figures as Chiang Kai-Shek, Francois Mitterrand, and Valery Giscard d Estaing, Ambassador Curley provides first-hand insights into the challenges that confront our nation's representatives abroad.

Download or read book The Limits of Influence written by Howard B. Schaffer and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2009-09-01 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first systematic history of U.S. efforts to help forge a settlement between India and Pakistan on the "Kashmir question." Former ambassador Howard B. Schaffer draws on interviews with senior American officials, historical research, and his decades of experience in South Asia to explain and evaluate three generations of U.S. activities and policies toward the volatile region. The Limits of Influence chronicles America's views on—and involvement in—the long-standing struggle waged between India and Pakistan over Kashmir since their independence in 1947. He brings the discussion up to the current day, concluding with recommendations on the role Washington might usefully play in resolving the long-simmering dispute, thus reducing the dangerous tensions between two nuclear-armed archrivals in a region of great importance. His book is a fascinating piece of diplomatic history as well as an instructive look at the present and future of the Kashmir dilemma and its impact on vital U.S. concerns. "Indian and Pakistani positions on the terms of a settlement have grown closer over the past few years. A quiet shove by Washington may be more likely than before to help push the two governments over the elusive finish line they have never been able to cross on their own. And the critical part Pakistan plays in the war on terrorism has added to the importance of a Kashmir settlement to major American interests in South Asia and beyond...." —From the Introduction

Download or read book A Full Life written by Ambassador Alfred H. Moses and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2010-06-07 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The text contained herein acquaints readers with the distinguished service of the Honorable Alfred H. Moses as special advisor and special counsel to the president of the United States, American ambassador to Romania, special presidential envoy for the Cyprus conflict, national president of the American Jewish Committee, and partner at Covington & Burling, LLP, Washington. We are proud to make his interview available through the Diplomatic Oral History Series.

Download or read book Reconstruction and Peace Building in the Balkans written by Robert William Farrand and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2011-11-16 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tense aftermath of the 1992–1995 Bosnian War, U.S. diplomat Bill Farrand was assigned the daunting task of implementing the Dayton Peace Accords in the ethnically divided Balkan territory of Brcko in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serb, Muslim, and Croat political leaders alike had blocked agreement over Brcko’s political status, thus threatening first to derail U.S.-brokered peace talks and then to prevent peace from taking hold in the postconflict period. This compelling narrative pulls the reader intimately into the author’s world where, over three tumultuous years, he was given wide authority to restore travel across former ceasefire lines, return thousands to their destroyed and confiscated homes, conduct free and fair elections, and reestablish multiethnic government bodies—all in a climate of fear and obstruction. “If we can get it right in Brcko,” the U.S. State Department told him, “we have a chance of making the Dayton peace process work throughout Bosnia.” Indeed, the new Brcko District is a Balkan success story. Farrand highlights the complex challenges peace builders confront, especially the role of civilian leadership in a postconflict zone torn apart by ethnic cleansing. Analytic and prescriptive, the book explains in vivid detail the groundbreaking roles of arbitration and of civilian peace workers living among the people. His story is rich in lessons for all those studying or engaged in peace building abroad.

Download or read book The United States and Pakistan 1947 2000 written by Dennis Kux and published by Woodrow Wilson Center Press. This book was released on 2001-06-05 with total page 500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comprehensive account of this roller coaster relationship, this book is a companion volume to Kux's Estranged Democracies, recently called "the definitive history of Pakistani-American relationsin the New York Times.

Download or read book Plunging Into Haiti written by Ralph Pezzullo and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 2006 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For much of the early 1990s, Haiti held the world's attention. A fiery populist priest, Jean Bertrand Aristide, was elected president and deposed a year later in a military coup. Soon thousands of desperately poor Haitians started to arrive in makeshift boats on the shores of Florida. In early 1993, the newly elected Clinton administration pledged to make the restoration of President Aristide one of the cornerstones of its foreign policy. But that fall the U.S. let supporters of Haiti's ruling military junta intimidate America into ordering the USS Harlan County and its cargo of UN peacekeeping troops to scotch plans and return to port. Less than a year later, for the first time in U.S. history, a deposed president of another country prevailed on the United States to use its military might to return him to office. These extraordinary events provide the backdrop for Plunging into Haiti: Clinton, Aristide, and the Defeat of Diplomacy mdash;Ralph Pezzullo's detailed account of the international diplomatic effort to resolve the political crisis.

Download or read book Peter Strickland written by Stephen H. Grant and published by New Acdemia+ORM. This book was released on 2006-12-15 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first biography of this nineteenth-century sea captain, adventurer, and State Department official: “A vivid picture of [a] unique career.” —The Day (New London, CT) This is the first biography of Capt. Peter Strickland, a little-known Connecticut Yankee who crossed the Atlantic one hundred times in command of a sailing vessel, traded with French and Portuguese colonies during the period 1864-1905, and served as the first American consul to French West Africa for over twenty years. We know about Peter Strickland’s long life because he wrote a daily journal from the age of nineteen until the year he died. He broke away from a long line of farmers to adopt a seafaring life at age fifteen, and his merchant marine career led him from the east coast of the United States to the west coast of Africa. He introduced American tobacco and wood products into French and Portuguese colonies, and on the return trips carried animal hides and peanuts in his 100-ton schooners. Eventually, the U.S. State Department asked him to become the first consul in French West Africa, with residence in Senegal. The captain accepted the terms: He would receive no salary, but he could keep the port fees he collected and continue to practice his import-export business. This book tells his life story, from his accomplishments and adventures to coping with the epidemics of the day and a tragic personal loss—in the process capturing a unique era in American diplomatic history. “Grant’s careful blending of historical hindsight with Strickland’s own words brings enormous value to our understanding of U.S. diplomacy.” —Foreign Service Journal