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American Diplomat

370 episodes - English - Latest episode: 13 days ago - ★★★★★ - 234 ratings

American 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

Robert Blake - Terror in Sri Lanka

February 28, 2018 22:24 - 28 minutes - 38.8 MB

Who are the Tamil Tigers?  Hint: This is no baseball team and they aren't playing ball.

Pete Romero - Plan Colombia, Part 2

February 23, 2018 11:03 - 36 minutes - 33.4 MB

Crisis averted:  Where there might have been massive flight, and/or a narco state, Colombia instead enjoys stability and prosperity amid a new peace agreement.

Pete Romero - Plan Colombia, Part 1

February 15, 2018 16:36 - 26 minutes - 36.4 MB

Cocaleros, paramilitaries, a dirty war and a failing state in Colombia.

Wendy Sherman - Iran Deal

February 07, 2018 18:41 - 21 minutes - 19.4 MB

She wasn't Wendy Sherman or a woman or a Jewish American. She was the United States of America.

Wendy Sherman - Baltimore to Pyongyang

February 01, 2018 02:35 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MB

An unwavering belief in public service propels Wendy Sherman from local activist to international negotiator.  

Charles Ray - Golf with a Dictator

January 25, 2018 08:35 - 33 minutes - 45.7 MB

Putting pedophiles in prison with the help of one of the world's most loathed autocrats.

Charles Ray - Zimbabwe's Authoritarian

January 18, 2018 12:25 - 29 minutes - 40.5 MB

Zimbabwe's elected authoritarian, Robert Mugabe, seen from a human perspective.

Charles English - Murder-Suicide in Guyana

January 11, 2018 02:18 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MB

Charles English, 26 and new to the Foreign Service, is among the first American officials on the scene of the Jonestown massacre in 1978.  

Mike Senko - Grenades and Guns

January 04, 2018 04:05 - 21 minutes - 29.6 MB

Mike Senko describes rocket-propelled grenades exploding outside his office, driving a car at gunpoint, and the reason Foreign Service Officers volunteer to take these risks.  

Tom Miller - Soldiers Without Weapons

December 27, 2017 19:59 - 23 minutes - 32.5 MB

Tom Miller discusses the decapitation of Greece's November 17 terrorist group, and reminds us that life in the Foreign Service can be very dangerous.

Tom Miller - Drugs and Thugs

December 21, 2017 06:16 - 27 minutes - 37.8 MB

Tom Miller assists refugees and reports on the opium and heroin trade in Asia's golden triangle.  A close friend is murdered in retaliation for DEA success.

Dennis Jett on Lori Berenson and Why He Joined the Foreign Service

December 13, 2017 22:10 - 23 minutes - 32.7 MB

Jett explains that many Americans are not aware that other countries' laws apply to them, and shares the personal rewards of a Foreign Service career.  

Dennis Jett and Liberia's Civil War

December 06, 2017 06:20 - 28 minutes - 38.9 MB

Dennis Jett describes three warring factions in Liberia, evacuations and a flotilla of Marines off the African coast.

Ron Neumann - Vietnam to Afghanistan

November 28, 2017 15:20 - 28 minutes - 38.7 MB

From Vietnam to Afghanistan, from infantry to embassy - how were these two wars the same, and how were they different?  How does a military background inform an ambassador's work?

Lino Gutierrez - Part 2

November 22, 2017 02:24 - 24 minutes - 33 MB

Service in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Nicaragua, all leading up to plans for US immigration reform that are stopped short by 9/11.

Lino Gutierrez - Part 1

November 14, 2017 14:28 - 23 minutes - 32.9 MB

Lino Gutierrez experiences the Cuban revolution, Columbian "Violencia", and the American struggle for civil rights first hand, all before he is nine years old.

Tim Carney - Part 2

November 07, 2017 23:28 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MB

Says Tim: "Nobody foresaw ISIS.  Nobody foresaw the failure to deal with the chasm between the Sunnis and the Shia.  The personal foreboding was that this can't end well."

Gina Winstanley - Part 2

October 31, 2017 17:41 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MB

Religious police stop Gina and terrorists attack the consulate general in Jeddah.  

Gina Winstanley - Part 1

October 26, 2017 11:19 - 26 minutes - 36 MB

Do you know where to find a hooker in Oman?  Go to the hospital!  And what happens when your boss nixes your husband's job choice in Saudi Arabia, and you are intent on preserving your marriage?  Let's ask Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley.   And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast!

Tim Carney - Part 1

October 26, 2017 11:18 - 24 minutes - 33.7 MB

Vietnam, Cambodia, Haiti, South Africa - Tim was part of each country's inflection point; some got better, and some got much worse. Why?  And what happens when Washington muzzles reports from the officers in the field?