American Diplomat

Energy is Life (and Death?)

Multiple choice: Energy is (1) how we heat our homes, (2) a tool of malign influence, (3) an instrument of statecraft? And what about all those increasingly necessary cri

Deep in the Hermit Kingdom

Former Assistant Secretary of State Susan Thornton joins us with tales of negotiations to disarm North Korea's nuclear arsenal – What could go wrong? Could anything go ri

Last Officer at Abbey Gate (Encore)

In our third of three episodes honoring the lives impacted by the US departure from Afghanistan in 2021, we repost one of our most moving episodes. Consular officer Alan

Civil Servant Dons Body Armor

In the second of our short series on Afghanistan five years after the US exit, Ken Handelman, former senior civil servant in the Department of Defense, reflects on the be

Bill Burns on Public Service (Encore)

Bill Burns says it best: "This is exactly the moment when you need to attract the best in our society to lives in public service, whether it's in the State Department, th

High School Reunion in Kabul

How did Soviet-era bureaucratic stamps and a personal relationship between highly placed Afghan frenemies impact the outcome of US involvement in Afghanistan? Amb. John B

AI Diplomacy: Dueling Banjos?

Its economic potential is huge, but AI also brings serious national security threats. How exactly do diplomats work to create global standards that promote innovation but

And in Other News…The Western Sahara

Ever wonder what it's really like to move policy along as a diplomat? Join Ed Gabriel and Bob Holley as they chronicle the progress of policy in the Western Sahara. Kings

My Romance With Romania

Why is Romania so important for US interests? Hint: The Black Sea, and a very long border with Ukraine. Amb. Kathy Kavalec shares insights on this often overlooked but st

Diplomacy is Empathy

How does empathy help create a more peaceful world, whether we are a first-year diplomat or Secretary of State? Amb. Kathy Kavalec (one of Dan's besties from way back) sh

Crisis Du Jour

Public Diplomacy – Journalists have tough questions. What if you just don't have the answers? How do you prepare? Get inside the machinery with former State Department sp

What They Don't Want You to Know

Gotcha, right? Or, "Click before it's too late!" Or even, "Hey, kid. You're pretty good at this. Want a real gun?" Career public diplomacy officer Karl Stoltz tells the t

Y2K to H1B?

When did the US first warm to India and why? Why did Pakistan nominate Trump for a Nobel? And what does the Y2K bug have to do with US-India relations today? Former ambas

Politics by Other Means?

Why can't we just bomb our way to victory in Iran? Listen to Lt. General Karen Gibson, former Director of Intelligence for U.S. Central Command, tell tales of the three-l

Persona No Deseada

Former Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Todd Robinson spent much of his career under fire, of one kind or another. Listen to h

"This Golden Land"

Is it Burma, or is it Myanmar? Did its former leader Aung San Suu Kyi bring democratic reform or did she commit genocide? Both? Chris Milligan, former Agency Counselor fo

USAID: Into The Wood Chipper

What was USAID? How did DOGE destroy it, and with what impacts to global health and stability? Nick Enrich's book "Into the Wood Chipper" details the demolition of the ag

The Case of the Powdered Orange Drink

What is "dumping"? How does it hurt us? Who comes to the rescue? The Foreign Commercial Service! Judy Reinke, after leading the FCS, became Ambassador to Montenegro. List

Loose Nukes

How to get bomb-ready uranium out of the wrong hands? It's the mid-90s. The Soviet Union just fell. Andrew Weber, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemi

Diplomat Lounge: Iran, A Way Out of the Mess

Can the US get out of its own way and turn this into a win? Ambassador Gary Grappo tells us how to do that, in a conversation with Pete and ASU Barrett Honors students. A