American Diplomat
360 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago - ★★★★★ - 231 ratingsAmerican Diplomat goes behind the scenes to hear real stories from diplomats who lived newsworthy events overseas. Experience the Cuban revolution, Central American insurgencies, the end of apartheid and more through the eyes of those who were there. A project of Arizona State University.
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Episodes
Data Saves Lives
April 19, 2024 13:31 - 38 minutes - 35.7 MBWhat does it mean when open-source data show that huge populations have moved? Natural disaster? An attack? Relocation of children, forced passportization? Non-classified satellite imagery, cell phone photos, video, GPS and other puiblicly available information is critical to modern diplomacy and democracy. Susan Wolfinbarger, geographer, data scientist and the vision behind the Conflict Observatory at State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, walks us through her dream: b...
Professional Peacemaker
April 11, 2024 06:00 - 29 minutes - 27.4 MBMeghan Stewart, head of the Negotiations Support Unit in State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, knows the peace process – its structures, its history, the perspectives of combatants. Her team uses its specialized knowledge to help diplomats get peace agreements over the line, saving thousands and thousands of lives each time. Who knew you could devote your legal career exclusively to ending global conflict?
Will Biden Listen to His Base?
April 04, 2024 06:00 - 39 minutes - 36.6 MBMany diplomats urge what the vast majority of voters, including American Jews, want – a restrained Israel and a place for Palestinians. Former Assistant Secretary Eric Schwartz discusses the letter that he and 67 senior foreign policy professionals recently sent to the White House. Now in the aftermath of the killing of the World Central Kitchen volunteers, will Biden get tough or will the tail continue to wag the dog?
The Next Thousand Years
March 28, 2024 10:30 - 37 minutes - 34.5 MBOur climate: What we do during this decade will determine our climate for a millennium to come. Diplomats not only negotiate multilateral agreements that protect the earth but, even more so, work with nations to follow through on their commitments. But what is the surprising dynamic of domestic politics and global climate policy? And by what mechanisms do market forces impact global action? How does human justice figure in? Ambassador Bob Blake shares the insider view as a climate diplomat.
Inked
March 21, 2024 06:00 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MBPete unpacks the antecedents of modern-day gangsterism, going back to his days as Assistant Secretary. What were the unintended consequences of sending Central American gangsters back “home” to a country they did not know, where their best chance of fitting in was with ex-guerillas? Boom. Not even the tattoo removal machines can save this combustible mix.
The Fire Was Even Hotter
March 14, 2024 12:28 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MBGeneral and Ambassador Doug Lute puts Sweden’s recent NATO membership in context: Has Putin accomplished his goals, or has it all backfired? What is the diplomatic solution to this war? And what should we expect at this year’s 75th NATO anniversary in the US?
Never in My Parents’ Wildest Dreams
March 07, 2024 07:00 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBFor Women’s History Month, young diplomat Mary Vargas joins us to share her story as the daughter of an immigrant family of farm workers in Fontana, CA, to life as an American diplomat. How did she achieve her lifelong dream, and why does she seek assignments working with refugees, the incarcerated, and Gazans?
One Million!!!
March 04, 2024 15:58 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBWe just cleared our millionth download! Or, you did! Pete and Laura reflect on early days and share their favorite episodes of the 350 that they have broadcast over the years – the tomfoolery of cybercriminals, the economic party at the border, the astonishing takeover of an African nation by bunch of Wagner guys in flip flops, and the redemption of a family blackballed by McCarthyism, plus a little bonus insight on the continued life after death of Roy Cohn. Enjoy and THANK YOU!
Out To Get Us
February 29, 2024 07:00 - 51 minutes - 47.4 MBTribalism: Who is "other"? Ambassador Bob Beecroft recalls the atrocities in the Balkans of the late ‘90s, after which DNA tests revealed that the victims and the perpetrators of “ethnic cleansing” were no different from one another genetically. The question then becomes, who do we see as “other”, and why do we see them as threats? Does any of this apply to the US?
Crowing about President Crow
February 22, 2024 07:00 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBA Million Downloads! Yes, you did it for us. Here to celebrate with us is ASU President Michael Crow. Think vision meets design meets global reach. The goal? Access and energize the full level of human potential.
"You're Calling Us Global Terrorists? Oooh, Scare Me."
February 15, 2024 15:48 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBThe Houthis: Who actually are these people? And Yemen: What is this place? Is it really a country? Yemen is engaged in a two-fronted, 10-year civil war, and this began long before the war in Gaza. Does Iran control the Houthis? (Hint: far from it.) And why this business with the shipping lanes? Join us as Ambassador Jerry Feierstein brings us up to speed on this deceptively simple maelstrom of forces at play affecting our diplomacy in a region where the stakes are higher now than they have...
A Rangel Fellow’s Journey to Service - BHM
February 08, 2024 07:00 - 46 minutes - 42.9 MBYoung foreign service officer Hermanoschy Bernard joins us in honor of Black History Month to share his story of flight from his native Haiti as a child to life in the US as a political asylee, where he turned obstacles into opportunities and achieved his dream of becoming a public servant, inspired originally by the consular officer who listened to his case with empathy and helped him and his family emigrate to safety.
Don't Poke the Panda - Taiwan's Election
February 01, 2024 18:13 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MBAmbassador Richard Boucher joins us to contextualize Taiwan's recent election in its deliberately ambiguous relationship with mainland China. No big news is good news as Taiwan preserves its integrity by not declaring its overt independence, a lesson learned in Hong Kong. The wild card? Xi Jinping.
No More Funny Business in Guatemala (For Now)
January 25, 2024 07:00 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MBFrank Mora, US Ambassador to the Organization of American States, helps us understand a diplomatic win: the (barely) peaceful transfer of power following Guatemala’s election of an outsider who is a threat to the corrupt establishment. Expectations are high, that the new president will both confront those who resist change - who have done much to thwart the transfer of power - and promote inclusive governance. Que viva la democracia!
The Border, Part 2: This is North America’s Moment
January 18, 2024 07:00 - 29 minutes - 26.7 MBAmb. Tony Wayne is back to go into depth on the US-Mexico border’s two greatest challenges. How did drug trafficking become even more sinister than it was before? And can we improve the immigration crisis ahead of the upcoming US election? What is at stake and what will it take, diplomatically and otherwise, to solve these issues?
Zone of Opportunity: Trust at the Border
January 11, 2024 07:00 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBDid you know that $1.5M dollars in trade cross the US/Mexico border every single minute? Did you know that 5 million US jobs depend on the trade that takes place there? Ambassador Tony Wayne explains that the border is a living membrane and trust is the crux of managing conflicting interests and mutual challenges. Lethal synthetic drugs are very small! How do you intercept them on their way north? And how do you stop the transfer of deadly weapons to the south? And human lives – people...
Cybercrime: Everybody’s a Target
January 04, 2024 12:47 - 48 minutes - 44.2 MBCybercrime has many names but what, actually, is it? Jim Lewis, former Foreign Service Officer, now Senior Vice President and Director of the Technology and Public Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, gives us a candid description of cybercrime's mechanics: who does it, why, how, and what is the impact of these activities on global democracy and security? What is the role of diplomacy in managing these unprecedented military, intelligence, economic and poli...
It Wasn't All Bad, Was It?
December 28, 2023 13:20 - 10 minutes - 9.44 MBPete and Laura close the year with reflections on the diplomatic successes in 2023 that helped create a more peaceful and sustainable world. Global events have offered up a lot to fear recently, but it wasn't all bad! Happy New Year from American Diplomat.
You Are Stuck and Trapped
December 20, 2023 14:51 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBPsychiatrists David Charney and Ken Dekleva are back to discuss in depth what makes a person into a traitor. Start with an intolerable sense of personal failure. Then think of parties in Santiago with music, liquor, cigarettes, beautiful women and dancing (a happy hunting ground for spy recruiters). Then, one mistake and you are in for life. There is no escape. Staying alive is now more important than anything else.
Betrayal and Treason - Why?
December 14, 2023 16:35 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBPete's old friend Manuel Rocha is in the news - but in jail as a spy for the Cubans! Imagine the shock. You trust someone, and wow. Psychiatrists David Charney and Ken Dekleva help us understand the mind of the turncoat: the greatest threat of them all is the male ego. We are gobsmacked.
How Corruption Destroys Democracy
December 07, 2023 16:50 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MBAmbassador Mark Schneider, former director of the Peace Corps and an expert on corruption in the Western Hemisphere unpacks the August election in Guatemala. Juan José Arévalo was elected on an anti-corruption platform in a 61-39 percent win – bad news for the ruling elites who now seek to overturn the election results before inauguration in January. Why do we in the US care? Corruption in Guatemala drives Guatemalans to flee extreme poverty and emigrate to the US and also allows cartels ...
A Win for Democracy in Poland!
November 30, 2023 13:36 - 46 minutes - 42.3 MBThe authoritarian government of Poland has just been voted out through free and fair elections. Dan Fried, former US Ambassador to Poland and Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, has met with the highest officials of both incoming and outgoing governments and helps us understand how it is that Poles view democracy and nationalism as two parts of their fundamental identity. The separate factions of politics work together, because after all, "politics is not a love affair."
Thanksgiving with Thievery Corporation: Unity, Love, Positivity
November 23, 2023 10:00 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBJeffrey Franca, the drummer for DC's own world music icon Thievery Corporation - the band that generously allows us to use its music to open our show each week - shares with us the value of unity, love and positivity in his work, which is influenced by musical styles found worldwide. Franca also discusses his work outside of Thievery, in the band Congo Sanchez and in his independent project Ethno. This is one of our favorite episodes, originally posted in 2020, and it sets the tone for a won...
Dissent and Its Consequences
November 15, 2023 17:49 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MBWhat do you do if you have a severe crisis of conscience over a policy that you cannot support? Do you speak up? Or do you keep your head down and do your job? If you use State's established Dissent Channel, are you bound by its rules to keep your views in that channel? Do you go public? What is the patriotic thing to do? What is the morally right thing to do? Our very own Pete Romero is our guest today, on the topic as recently brought to the fore over the war in Gaza.
Barbados Agreement - Venezuela and the US
November 09, 2023 12:06 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MBAmbassador Larry Gambiner joins us to discuss a new deal in which President Maduro of Venezuela agreed to democratic reforms, including free and fair elections, in exchange for a reduction in US sanctions. But when opposition party candidate Maria Corina Machado won 93% of the primary vote, she was immediately barred from running for public office for 15 years. So now what will the US do? And will the people of Venezuela rebel? Unfortunately, if you’re hungry enough, it’s hard to overturn ...
What's Your Exit Strategy?
November 02, 2023 14:49 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBAdmiral Mike LeFever and Roderick Jones's new book End Game First talks about collaborating with diplomats to rebuild Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake. Effective strategy means having a vision for a successful end result, no matter the crisis. What, for example, is Israel's exit plan in Gaza? We are in a geopolitical moment where global security, militarily and economically, depends on diplomacy. Says Roderick, “If you start defunding diplomacy, well, be careful.”
Problems Without Passports
October 27, 2023 09:51 - 46 minutes - 42.5 MBSays Richard Verma, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, his job is to help create "the most effective, capable, inclusive, diverse department so that we can deliver for the American people," and so that we can, together with the rest of the world, solve borderless, urgent problems such as climate and cybersecurity. Verma, also former US Ambassador to India, explores our ties with the world's largest democracy. Did you know that India's constitution, like ours, begins: "W...
Permanent Rage: Palestine and Israel
October 19, 2023 13:23 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBThe atrocities are breathtaking. But once Israel starts picking up the bodies in the smoking rubble of whatever is left of Gaza, then what? Will Gaza return to Israeli occupation? Will there be some form of UN occupation? The Arab League? So much of diplomacy is one bad choice or another bad choice. Ambassador Ron Neumann weighs in with a rich and penetrating understanding of the intractable conflict in Gaza and in the region more broadly.
Señor Menendez Goes to Washington
October 12, 2023 19:06 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBHow did Robert Menendez fall so hard? A suspected foreign agent? Hiding gold bullion? Pete and John Feeley knew a different man decades ago. A champion of Latinos in government at the start, a nasty, vindictive, corrupt politician by the end. Did he change or could you see the germ of his demise from the beginning? John's view: Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Pete's? An evolution of personality he has never seen anywhere else.
Putin, North Korea, and Why Democracies Last 250 Years
October 05, 2023 14:07 - 31 minutes - 28.4 MBMajor General Spider Marks, formerly head of military intelligence for Korea, opines on Putin's recent meeting with Kim Jong Un of North Korea. A game changer? No! But what would be? And while you're here, learn why most democracies last about 250 years and how they usually implode.
A "More Perfect" Union
September 28, 2023 16:59 - 48 minutes - 44.7 MBNo union is perfect, but it helps to try. Authoritarians worldwide exploit their citizens' need for public safety to gain and hold power. If you can't walk out of the house at night, bring the guy who makes the streets safe! But then what happens when your loved ones start to disappear? Pete and John Feeley discuss recent examples in the Western Hemisphere, but the phenomenon threatens democracies and human rights worldwide.
Lawfare and the International Criminal Court
September 21, 2023 10:21 - 27 minutes - 25 MBThe basis of the International Criminal Court is a treaty, written in part by the United States and signed by 123 countries worldwide. Why is the US not a signatory? Is this for some abstruse legal reason, or did the US actively undermine the treaty? David Scheffer is back to help us understand the machinery of the ICC.
Putin: Indicted War Criminal
September 14, 2023 14:09 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBBRICS, the economic alliance of nonwestern powers, just met in Johannesburg, with Putin conspicuously disinvited. Why? Putin is a war criminal indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), and South Africa, a member of BRICS but also a signatory of the ICC, is obligated to arrest Putin upon his arrival there. A complex situation! Which commitment to serve? Are war criminals today at greater risk of accountability than once upon a time? Amb. David Scheffer, a creator of the ICC, is opti...
A Dictator, An Election, and US Interests
September 07, 2023 13:24 - 36 minutes - 33.2 MBCambodia just "elected" another term for the ruling party, allowing the 38-year dictator Hun Sen to maintain dynastic rule for many years to come. The West does not like this. But what really are our economic, security and even humanitarian interests in the region? How might we reframe our thinking to best promote them? Amb. Charlie Ray is back to discuss. And here's our previous episode with him, Golf with a Dictator, which gives a real-life story of a time he was right.
China, National Security and Our Economy
August 31, 2023 11:38 - 39 minutes - 36.1 MBFollowing the unprecedented executive order by the Biden administration limiting US investment in Chinese tech companies, Cathy Novelli, veteran US diplomat and Apple executive, highlights the balance between protecting our national security and preventing unintended economic consequences. Some people may promote a solution of simply decoupling our economy from China’s, but good policy is in the nuance even if it doesn’t make juicy sound bites. As a closer, we have The Winner Takes it All f...
From Deportee to AID
August 24, 2023 14:28 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBJesse Gutierrez, USAID officer at Mission Somalia, says it best himself: "I had slept on the floor, been homeless, used subpar health facilities, and been separated from my family as a kid. I empathize with and relate to refugees and USAID’s beneficiaries because I have been in their shoes." Hear his moving tale of humble but unwavering perseverance and positivity. And here's his article in the Foreign Service Journal. Enjoy!
Selective Hypocrisy
August 17, 2023 10:00 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBHungary, a self-described illiberal democracy. Neighboring Slovakia, with a snap election coming in September. Will Slovakia elect the next Orban? What does that mean for the Western alliance? What if Hungarians don't believe what we believe? Can we export American principles (what are they anyway?), should we resort to transactional diplomacy, or is there another route built on empathy and respect for culture and the history that forms it? Ambassador Tibor Nagy, born in Hungary, offers his...
Israel "Reforms"
August 11, 2023 15:52 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBThe news fist broke weeks ago but now the human stakes have reached the front pages, with thousands of Israelis taken to the streets. Are Israel's judicial "reforms" simply a way for Netanyahu to skirt the law and consolidate power? Some had felt that the Israeli court had abused its power, but is it a coincidence that Netanyahu faced charges of corruption and abuse of public trust, against which these new reforms would protect him? The Israeli government has few checks. Neuter the courts, ...
Now's the Time in Ukraine - Gen. Spider Marks
August 03, 2023 17:25 - 35 minutes - 32.1 MBUkraine: a nation fighting for its life. Russia's military: leaderless, feckless, inept, but well armed and with lots of conscripts willing to die. With Putin weakened (think, attempted Wagner coup), could Ukraine negotiate a peace? If not, will the war simply become a spectator sport? What are each side's options? General Spider Marks shares his analysis and opinion.
Go For It!
July 27, 2023 15:24 - 23 minutes - 22 MBMargaret Riccardelli, an airline employee in her 40s, stumbled into the foreign service thinking it would be great to serve in Italy. But where did she end up? Bangladesh, where nothing ever happens. What? Instead, she was met with revolution, poverty, an 8,000 person attack on the embassy, tornadoes, a cyclone that washed 100,000 people out into the bay of Bengal, and the fun didn’t stop there. It’s scary and it’s lonely, Margaret explains, but you step up. So what about Rome? For the whole...
Wagner's Ascent to Control in Central Africa
July 21, 2023 20:17 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MBThe Central African Republic: a vulnerable democracy with a weak president, failed by the West. Wagner mercenaries arrive in flip flops offering military support and quickly set up lucrative mineral businesses that depend on control of public information, intimidation and sustained conflict, resulting in the highest mortality rate of any country in the world. Why do we care? This is a model for operations anywhere that democracies and the West falter. Ambassador Larry Wohlers tells the stor...
The Stars Over the Red Sea
July 13, 2023 10:00 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MBAlan Eaton helps us appreciate exactly where high level policy meets the work of diplomats on the ground as he works from a Saudi military vessel to evacuate Americans from the war in Sudan.
Party on John’s Gunboat! Happy Fourth!
July 05, 2023 15:56 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBWhy don’t the Panamanians hate us? We sliced their country in two to build the Panama Canal, owned and controlled the Canal Zone, disallowed Panamanians from visiting the Canal Zone, and even attacked Panama in 1989, drawing condemnation from the UN and the Organization of American States. So how is it a good thing to throw our July 4th party on a gunboat right smack in the Canal? We ask Amb. John Feeley, who did exactly that.
Impeached and Arrested and In Good Company
June 29, 2023 12:55 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBPedro Castillo, recently ousted in Peru, is the latest of a succession of Peruvian presidents to be jailed or disgraced. Could this apparent chaos be in fact a sign that the judicial system is working? The devil's in the details.
Hot Dog Man Gone Bad
June 22, 2023 15:17 - 45 minutes - 41.3 MBYevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, opened hot dog stands upon his release from Russian prison as a young man. Now he leads the rapidly growing Kremlin-affiliated private military contractor, the Wagner Group. Mercenaries? Yes. Lethal? Yes. Incredibly rich and working for dictators and unstable regimes on (so far) three continents? Also, yes. Dealing in gold, diamonds, troll farms, shocking brutality, as well as political influence, Wagner's rise has been as fast as it has been un...
"Wolf Warrior Diplomacy" in China?
June 15, 2023 13:13 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBWho coined that term anyway? It's true, there have been insults and lots of them. Why? Secretary of State Tony Blinken will visit China this weekend and Susan Thornton, Senior Fellow at Yale University Law School's Paul Tsai China Center and former US diplomat, joins us with her perspective on the complexities of China's diplomacy today.
A Diplomat's Gender Transition
June 08, 2023 14:48 - 39 minutes - 54.8 MBAll of us belong, even at State. In honor of Pride Month, we again offer the generously told story of Austin Richey-Allen, who recounts his story of gender transition while serving as a US diplomat. From his gender transition to his leadership of GLIFA, Austin shares his experience for the benefit not only of the LGBTQ community, but for all of us who value a more inclusive world.
Sex Up This Cable!
June 01, 2023 15:02 - 51 minutes - 47.1 MB24 hours news TV totally changed the State Department comms staple, the cable. Pete hopped on the “wireless” to save a democracy and Amb. John Feeley connected with Panamanians using ridiculous (but very sweet) Facebook videos. Disruptive technologies including AI will never replace human trust, but they create opportunity for better diplomacy.
The Diplomat - You Asked!
May 25, 2023 15:08 - 38 minutes - 34.9 MBBy listener request, Pete and Laura have binged the Netflix show The Diplomat. Pete answers: How real is it? Laura answers (even though no one actually asked): How good is it? But importantly, how easy is it to make a story that mirrors real-life complexity and still moves and rolls and satisfies purely from the standpoint of story craft?
Turkey’s Election - Why a Runoff?
May 18, 2023 13:45 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MBIn last Sunday’s election, President Erdogan received almost half of the vote, but not enough to be the winner - yet. How does he hold onto power? Turkey’s economy is in great peril and journalists are in prison while Erdogan dismantles democratic institutions. Is Erdogan, like many other autocratic leaders, a narcissist? Or is there more to understand about him? And if he does prevail in the May 28 runoff, what will be the impacts on Turkish lives and global geopolitics?