Foreign Service Test? Quiz Show? You Decide.
Laura's Foreign Service Test, finally. Did she pass? Did she live? Were the questions fair? Were the examiners fair? Pete and Dave Rabadan are tough. Was Laura tough enough?
Feb 06, 2020•40 min
American Diplomat
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.
Last refreshed: ⓘ
Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.
Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
Episodes
Pedro Pan and the Guerrillas
Pete sends Phil Chicola to guerrilla country to investigate the deaths of American linguist missionaries, and both Pete and Phil are accused of negotiating with the FARC. All of this concurrent with the Clinton impeachment, and as Pete explains, it got ugly. Especially with Baby Huey.
Jan 28, 2020•32 min
Who Lost China?
It is the 1950s. Senator Joseph McCarthy and his henchman Roy Cohn target and humiliate our diplomats for accurately reporting an eventual Mao victory in China. Jack Service and his family are at the center of the storm. How are things different today?
Jan 23, 2020•31 min
Rohingya Genocide in Myanmar
Shari Villarosa, Chargé in Myanmar, helps us understand why the leader of Myanmar, Aung Sun Suu Kyi, who was once awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, did not stop the genocide of the resident minority group Rohingya.
Jan 15, 2020•36 min
Sidebar - Parsing Iran Brinksmanship
Pete quickly parses recent events in Iran for Laura. (Please note that we recorded this the day before the Ukrainian jet went down). As international news gets weirder and weirder, Pete and Laura will offer brief breakdowns of events in our new bonus series called The Sidebar, in addition to our usual weekly discussions with diplomats. Cheers!
Jan 14, 2020•15 min
Perils of the Press, in Mexico-US Relations
Why is public diplomacy especially important in Mexico? Mi casa es su casa, or put another way, we have 35 million US citizens of Mexican heritage, a 2000 mile border, 1 million people going in both directions over the border every day, and billions of dollars in trade annually. So you'd better get it right. And what about all those tweets? Tony Wayne illuminates, and offers the best music Laura thinks we've ever had on the show!
Jan 08, 2020•26 min
War and Peace in Trade
How do trade agreements affect regular people? Tony Wayne, former Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs and US Ambassador to Mexico, breaks down both the recent US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the preceding North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and explains why everything that happens between the US and Mexico is "intermestic," or both international and domestic.
Jan 01, 2020•33 min
A Life of Significance
What's so important about devoting your life to service? What are the rewards? How have the changing times impacted the work of diplomacy, and how have they not? One thing never changes: You have the opportunity to promote and protect and defend the interests of the United States of America.
Dec 26, 2019•32 min
Immunity, Reciprocity, Espionage
Why was a stash of Nazi spy payoff money stuffed up Pete's chimney? Why was the Iran hostage crisis of the 70s such a huge aberration of norms? And why can it be difficult to tell the difference between diplomatic reporting and espionage? David Stewart is back with more stories.
Dec 18, 2019•31 min
Diplomatic Immunity?
Is immunity the same as impunity? Sadly for some, there are always consequences for a bad act. David Stewart, former State Department attorney, explains the reality.
Dec 12, 2019•38 min
When Ambassadorships Are for Sale
Sondland, the Ukraine affair, and what this episode in history teaches us about the risks of appointing ambassadors who donate heavily to presidential campaigns. With Ambassador Dennis Jett, author of the new book titled, American Ambassadors: The Past, Present and Future of America's Diplomats .
Dec 05, 2019•28 min
Thanksgiving with AmDip!
We love Thanksgiving, and our diplomats especially love the holiday when celebrated overseas. What better way to celebrate an American tradition of thanks than to share it with our friends abroad? Plus, what's the best way to slaughter a turkey? Better ask the Uzbeks because the Americans really don't know. Cheers!
Nov 27, 2019•40 min
When ISIS Comes Home
They left to join the recruiter-imams' war. Now they're back home in Kosovo. How to make these young men peace-loving Kosovars once more? Greg Delawie explains.
Nov 21, 2019•42 min
Remember the Last Impeachment?
Jim Dobbins, National Security Advisor to Bill Clinton, riffs on what it's like to work for Bill under the cloud of impeachment more than 20 years ago.
Nov 14, 2019•24 min
Estonia's Success Story
Mike Polt, who previously shared his experience in Serbia, shares a contrasting tale of successful adaptation to new circumstances in Estonia. What can we learn from these two tales?
Nov 07, 2019•22 min
Diplomacy After the Bombs Have Fallen
Michael Polt shares his perspective on the honored tradition of the State Department dissent channel, and discusses his experience in the former Yugoslavia when he arrived as Ambassador to Serbia in 2003, just after the bombings in Kosovo. What actually was Yugoslavia, anyway? How did its dictator Tito's death give rise to Milosevic's era of bloodletting in Serbia? And how did the United States lead diplomatically to restore stability in the region?...
Oct 30, 2019•27 min
Heroes of US Diplomacy - Lizzie Slater
Brand new to the job, Lizzie Slater arrives at Embassy Dar es Salaam ready to begin work on embassy communications of every kind. Then the bomb falls. She is buried and seriously injured. But once pulled from the rubble, does she stop working? Many of us would, but Lizzie climbs trees to place satellites and does every task needed to ensure communications between the embassy and the US.
Oct 24, 2019•36 min
Corruption vs. the Ambassador
Ambassador Prudence Bushnell puts Marie Yovanovitch's recent testimony on Capitol Hill in the context of the Certificate of Commission for all Foreign Service Officers, emphasizing the integrity, prudence and ability that are the guiding principle from which all American diplomats work. The message from Pete and Pru to current FSOs: We've got your back.
Oct 17, 2019•31 min
Sequoia is a She
The Sequoia: A presidential yacht? A floating icon of American and diplomatic history? A loan gone south? Pete schools Laura on the proper pronoun for a thing of such great beauty (a "she", not an "it") and Mike Cantor does his best to answer our nosey questions about what really went on onboard. https://youtu.be/S1NcM6BW2Jo
Oct 10, 2019•21 min
Send Lawyers, Guns and Money
We're in LA right now promoting a TV script we've written, inspired by many of AmDip's greatest stories including this one from an interview with Kate Canavan on the many things that can go wrong in Tijuana. Two air traffic controllers, fired for going on strike, go into (very) private industry. Pete's words: "Breaking Bad, in the skies."
Oct 01, 2019•23 min
Love in the Time of Tweet Diplomacy
AMLO, or Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President of Mexico, takes the long view, and so does the Mexican populace, in the face of insults and other perhaps spontaneous diplomatic communiques conveyed by tweet. As the 13th largest economy in the world, expected soon to be the eighth, they have big enough plans not to take the bait.
Sep 25, 2019•24 min
Jim Jones (Not the One You're Thinking Of)
This one went to work in the Lyndon Johnson White House at the tender age of 25, became Johnson's Appointments Secretary (a role now called the Chief of Staff) at 28, and later became a congressman and US Ambassador to Mexico. Do you know how much time Lyndon Johnson spent in his pajamas? And what do Mexicans really think about their neighbor to the north? Find out both, in the first of two episodes with Jim Jones.
Sep 19, 2019•19 min
We'll Always Have Paris
Communism drives immigration decisions, 1956. Hank Cohen is in love. It's his first tour, and he's in Paris. The Soviets invade Hungary and Hank helps thousands of refugees flee Communist aggression and make new lives in the US. But what about heartthrob megastar Yves Montand, who is an avowed Communist? How can Hank get him a visa? And about that girl...
Sep 12, 2019•22 min
Desiree, Encore!
We're refreshing one of our earlier (and best!) episodes from the early days, before anyone had heard of us. But now you have! And so we offer you the joy you may have missed, of learning what it is to be black, creole or colored, all words that have been used to describe Desiree Cormier, both here in the US and during her posting in South Africa. Enjoy!
Sep 04, 2019•37 min
Rock On, AmDip!
We love music. We love it almost as much as we love listening to our friends tell stories about life overseas. So here's our end-of-summer look back on some of our favorite music in the series. Enjoy! Your pals, Pete and Laura
Aug 29, 2019•32 min
I'm Goin' to Kathmandu
Larry Dinger regales us with tales of tires on fire, pollution, trekking, and one of the most bizarre episodes in monarchy in the world. Now Laura wants to join the Foreign Service and all of us want to go to Kathmandu.
Aug 21, 2019•29 min
Freedom for Ethiopian Jews
It's 1991 in Ethiopia. President Mengistu and the rebels are at war. Drought and famine are killing thousands. As Charge d'Affaires in Addis Ababa, Bob Houdek oversees the evacuation of 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel, and why? Because, as Bob explains, "Immigration is one of the fundamental human rights under the UN convention."
Aug 12, 2019•30 min
Think About a Career in Public Service
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, the US military or elsewhere. I am a passionate believer in that." We are, too! Uncle Sam needs you.
Aug 05, 2019•31 min
Bill Burns - The Back Channel
Burns shares stories from his engaging new book, The Back Channel.
Aug 01, 2019•34 min
Glamping with the Masters of the Desert
Plus, a few good works. Vicki Huddleston gets around in the Sahara, and even gets the women a place inside the tent. So where did all these terrorists come from?
Jul 23, 2019•29 min
Hosted on Libsyn
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android