Modern American Diplomacy The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST)

Amb. Bill Taylor -- our first political appointee as a guest -- discusses Ukraine, impeachment, "irregular channels," public diplomacy, the nature of conflict, Afghanistan, foreign assistance and being an interagency team player. *Brought to you as part of an Una Chapman Cox Foundation project on American diplomacy and the Foreign Service.

Amb. Roberta Jacobson talks about reestablishing U.S. ties with Cuba, becoming America’s first female and civil servant ambassador to Mexico, and dealing with populist leaders. 

Ambassador Jacobson also discusses reestablishing diplomatic ties with Cuba, lost opportunities in Havana, populism in the Western Hemisphere, and what she loved about Latin America.

Amb. Lino Gutierrez served as Ambassador to Argentina as well as to Nicaragua, and as Acting Assistant Secretary of the Western Hemisphere Affairs Bureau. In this episode, Amb. Gutierrez discusses his experience from Cuban immigrant to diplomat. He shares lessons on leadership, managing up, negotiating with Cubans in Grenada, navigating Washington politics, increasing diversity at State, dealing with the crisis of Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua and stark political change in Argentina.

Tim "Timmy" Davis is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service.  In this episode, Tim shares lessons learned on leadership, building strong teams, encouraging diversity, and increasing recruitment.  Mr. Davis also shares lessons learned closing of the U.S. Consulate in Basra, managing State Department principals, and navigating Secretary Clinton's e-mail controversy. 

Special thanks to the Una Chapman Cox Foundation, the American Academy of Diplomacy, and Harvard's Sama Kubba and Syed Ahmed.

Ambassador Chris Hill discusses growing up in the foreign service, working as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon, and formative experiences working with Secretary Eagleburger and Amb. Holbrooke.

Ambassador Hill also discusses leading Six-Party talks with N. Korea, his ambassadorship in Iraq, and the importance of diversity in today's Foreign Service.

Interview excerpted from the forthcoming book: Modern American Diplomacy: A Field Guide to Success in The Foreign Service.

Ambassador Beth Jones discusses attending local schools in Moscow and Berlin, her first tour in Afghanistan, and working as a control officer for Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Ambassador Jones also discusses rising to the top of the Foreign Service, lessons learned from Ambassadors Pickering and Platt, managing the European and Eurasian Affairs Bureau following 9/11, and Benghazi.