Wagner's Ascent to Control in Central Africa
The 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 b...
21 Jul 202341min
The Stars Over the Red Sea
Alan 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.
13 Jul 202343min
Party on John's Gunboat! Happy Fourth!
Why 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...
5 Jul 202325min
Impeached and Arrested and In Good Company
Pedro 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...
29 Jun 202341min
Hot Dog Man Gone Bad
Yevgeny 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 contracto...
22 Jun 202345min
"Wolf Warrior Diplomacy" in China?
Who 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 Universit...
15 Jun 202347min
A Diplomat's Gender Transition
All 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. F...
8 Jun 202339min
Sex Up This Cable!
24 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 v...
1 Jun 202351min
