Category: Uncategorized

According to Just Security, US diplomats warned of possible trouble in the country of Georgia in light of the recent election turmoil. They said: Former U.S. national security officials and Georgia experts have been alarmed by the recently escalating repression of freedom of speech and assembly in Georgia and the…

The Wall Street Journal reports that Brazil and China used the G-20 meeting in Rio de Janiero to move closer together. The article said: As Xi Jinping prepares for a thorny trade relationship with President-elect Donald Trump, he is cultivating a rapport with someone he calls a like-minded good friend, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio…

Wall Street Journal columnist Mary O’Grady says the G-20 meeting in Rio de Janiero illustrates Brazil’s problems. She says: Brazil has long yearned to replace the U.S. as the regional hegemon on the South American continent. But seizing that role requires moral authority and economic heft. Lula is squandering both.…

The Carneige Institute interviewed Brazilian President Lula’s long-time foreign policy adviser< Celso Amorim, who served as Lula’s foreign minister in his first term. When I was science officer at the American embassy in Brazil, Amorim was the foreign ministry’s adviser to the science ministry. Amorim was not a fan of…

Secretary of State Blinken has appointed Amb. Steve Mull to lead the transition activities preparing for the Trump administration, according to Reuters. Steve and I served together in Warsaw, Poland, where he was the political counselor and I was the Science Counselor.

John Limbert was one of the American diplomats held hostage by the Iranians during the Carter administration. The Associastion for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) has his interview about his experience. Amb. Limbert and I joined the Foreign Service at the same time and began our careers at the same…

According to the Washington Post, Trump plans to destroy much of the State Department’s organization and bureaucracy. Trump associates echo “Trump’s insistence on the need to ‘drain the swamp’ of national security officials who are not prepared to forcefully and enthusiastically implement whatever his priorities may be.” Under a Trump rewriting…

According to CNBC, an article in Foreign Policy by Jared Cohen calls for the US to compete with China for cooperating with other countries in building data centers. Data centers are a key piece of artificial intelligence infrastructure. Where they pop up around the globe could have lasting geopolitical impacts…

Government Executive magazine reports that since 2021 the State Department has expanded it civil service employees by 22% and its Foreign Service employees by 6%. he State Department’s workforce growth and reforms to bring in new types of employees are at the core of the Biden administration’s diplomatic accomplishments, its…

According to Politico: This year, a little-known center within the State Department exposed a major Russian disinformation campaign in Africa, scoring a rare but decisive victory as America’s adversaries seek to sow chaos and confusion around the world. Now, the Global Engagement Center, which acts as America’s nerve center in combating…