American Diplomat

We all know the importance of Nelson Mandela, but great as he was, he did not work alone. Each of these figures brought their motives and personalities to shape South Africa's transition from apartheid to the present. John Campbell, political counselor in Johannesburg during the collapse of apartheid, shares the human perspective on these powerful world events. Everyone in the country wanted a change to democracy, from right-wing Afrikaners to Marxist liberationists. Why?

It all began with a call from the police. Andrew Byrley, a young officer and former robotics expert, shares tales of a harrowing month assisting Americans in crisis in Belize. What can, what cannot, and what must the American consulate do for you in a foreign country?

The Arab Spring - Tunisia, Egypt - we know about these places. But Bahrain is almost never in the news. What is its geopolitical significance, and strategic importance to the US? And why was Ambassador Tom Krajeski in a tight spot when the Arab Spring came to Bahrain? Can we walk and chew gum at the same time?

"But we're Americans. We don't lose wars." False! Ambassador and former National Security Advisor Tony Lake takes a hard look at American leadership in the world from Kennedy until the present time, when like so many countries, our democracy needs shoring up as well. For more about Tony Lake, see this article in the Foreign Service Journal.

Like Chicago mobsters, hard line parties grab to divvy up the riches after the genocide in Bosnia has stopped. Ambassador Tom Miller, together with the British ambassador, organizes "secret dinners" that lead to a peaceable coalition of factions that brings stability and to great surprise wins the election 2000. But after the noxious blue smoke clears, then what?

Or a traitor, anyway. In an eerily quiet region during the Vietnam war, from a banana grove in the middle of the night, Lionel Rosenblatt discovers that a US military official is guilty of supplying the enemy with life-saving medicine from the United States. Lionel is saved from a murderous reprisal through the assistance of his friends, the Vietnamese mountain people.

Again in honor both of Black History Month and Linda Thomas-Greenfield's recent appointment as US ambassador to the United Nations, we repost our second chat with Linda from last summer: April 7, 1994, Rwanda. Not a good day to be mistaken for the acting Prime Minister. Linda Thomas-Greenfield shares the tale of her escape from the anti-government militia, while millions of others perished in the country's genocide.

Mohammed Bouazizi, an underemployed fruit seller, sets himself on fire, launching what we later began calling the Arab Spring. Ambassador Gordon Gray walks us through life on the ground in Tunisia, when things in the Arab world began to change. Plus, read Gray's article in the Foreign Service journal for greater insight, at this link: https://www.afsa.org/sites/default/files/flipping_book/010221/41/

In honor of upcoming Black History Month, and in honor of the new administration, we repost our first episode with Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Biden's new Ambassador to the UN. Go, Linda! Here's the episode: "I respect your culture, but I do not believe it is your culture to allow women to die," says Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield to the Taliban. And do you know what the Taliban did after that? And why? Listen to find out.

Dan Kurtzer, Ambassador to both Egypt and Israel, parses this complex part of the world from his experience on the ground. Why was Anwar Sadat killed? What social forces produced the revolution of February 2011? And how is the average Egyptian living now? Better or worse than before?