DOCSLIB.ORG

The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2021

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIAT JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021 U.S. DIPLOMACY FOR THE 2020s PLUS: ARAB SPRING LESSONS TAX GUIDE FOREIGN SERVICE January-February 2021 Volume 98, No. 1 Features 41 What the Tunisian Revolution Taught Me Reflections on the 10th anniversary of the Arab Spring from a career diplomat who was there. By Gordon Gray Focus on U.S. Diplomacy for the 2020s 19 28 The Future of the Diplomacy Foreign Service and Democracy: A discussion with Putting Values Ambassadors Nicholas Burns, into Practice Marc Grossman and Marcie Ries American diplomats can play an important role in addressing the global weakening of democracy. By Michael J. Abramowitz 31 Getting State Back into Nuclear Arms Control and Nonproliferation Nuclear arms control and 46 nonproliferation remain critical Believers: Love and national security challenges. How Death in Tehran 25 prepared is the State Department to An Excerpt deal with these issues? Diversity and Inclusion in On the 40th anniversary of the By Laura Kennedy release of the Iran hostages, a the U.S. Foreign Service— fictional FSO heroine stirs memories Recommendations 37 of the takeover of the U.S. embassy for Action in Tehran and its aftermath. On Boosting The Association of Black American By John Limbert and Ambassadors offers a set of measures U.S. Diplomacy and Marc Grossman to make diversity and inclusion real National Security: at State and USAID. Three New Reports THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021 5 FOREIGN SERVICE Perspectives Departments 7 97 10 Letters President’s Views Reflections A Moment of Hope A Crown and a Nation 13 Letters-Plus and Possibility By Beatrice Camp 15 Talking Points By Eric Rubin 98 85 In Memory 9 Local Lens Letter from the Editor Geneva, Switzerland 88 Books Picking Up the Pieces By Howard Solomon By Shawn Dorman Marketplace 91 Real Estate 94 Classifieds 96 Index to Advertisers AFSA NEWS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION 51 2021-2023 AFSA Governing Board: Call for Nominations 52 State VP Voice—Reforming the State Department 53 USAID VP Voice—Refine, But Don’t Re-define, Development 54 FCS VP Voice—The New Year: An Opportunity to Think Differently 54 AFSA Governing Board Meeting, Nov. 18, 2020 55 AFSA on the Hill—Advocacy in a New Administration 55 The Future of the Foreign Service 58 Reaching New Audiences: A New Year Challenge 59 2020 AFSA Tax Guide On the Cover—Illustration by Phil Foster. 6 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL PRESIDENT’S VIEWS A Moment of Hope and Possibility BY ERIC RUBIN et me start by offering my warmest ficult four years. The administration pro- denied themselves the advice and wis- congratulations to President-elect posed unprecedented cuts to our fund- dom of our most seasoned and experi- Joe Biden, Vice President–elect ing of up to 35 percent every year. AFSA enced career experts. We firmly believe LKamala Harris and the nominees pushed back. For four years in a row, a that it has been not just their loss, but our for senior positions announced to date. bipartisan majority in both houses of country’s loss as well. There is much to celebrate about our Congress resoundingly rejected the cuts At the same time, real progress has November elections: the largest numerical and passed strong funding to meet our been made in multiple areas in the past turnout in U.S. history, the first woman and country’s most critical challenges. four years. We deeply appreciate the prag- first woman of color elected vice president, Early in this administration, we saw matic, positive approach taken by senior and both domestic and foreign observers some of our best and most respected agency leaders on issues such as COVID- confirming a free and fair election. senior officers intentionally pushed 19 policy, children with special needs, AFSA is fundamentally nonpartisan out of the Service, leaving a vacuum paid parental leave, support for employ- and nonpolitical. We do not endorse can- at the top. We saw colleagues’ loyalty ees who are teleworking and financial didates or political parties. We are com- questioned because of their ethnicity or support for members of the Service sub- mitted to representing all our 16,700-plus national origin. We watched the presi- poenaed to testify in the impeachment members, as well as those in the FS com- dent refer to our nation’s oldest govern- process. There have been many other munity who are not AFSA members. We ment department as “The Deep State achievements, too many to name here. represent everyone in the entire Foreign Department” while the Secretary of State And so I end on a positive note. Service, regardless of political views. stood next to him, smiling. As we welcome the new president and As both the professional association We saw ground lost on the already administration later this month, we want and labor union for the Foreign Service, inadequate state of diversity in the Ser- them to know that the Foreign Service is AFSA is committed to working con- vice, particularly at the senior levels. In determined to help our country succeed structively with the president Americans some respects, the Foreign Service is now and to carry out the policies of the admin- have chosen, as well as with his political less diverse than it was 30 years ago. We istration to the best of our abilities. appointees. I personally have worked for saw respected FS leaders like Ambas- We hope that our most senior col- six presidents in the past 35 years and have sador Masha Yovanovitch abandoned by leagues will be entrusted with the posi- given all of them my utmost dedication their superiors in the face of hyper-polar- tions they have prepared for decades to and loyalty. I know that my colleagues in ization and politicization of U.S. foreign assume. A healthy mix of political and the Foreign Service have done the same. policy. We saw a shortage of overseas career appointees is a critical element in This is who we are, and that is what we do. positions that has led to painfully slow making our system work. This is a moment of hope and pos- promotions, and in some cases early Finally, we hope the new administra- sibility for our retirements, for some of our best people. tion will accept AFSA’s offer to partner Service and for our We saw the highest percentage of with them, and with Congress, to review country’s conduct political appointee ambassadorships needed changes to the Foreign Service, of diplomacy and in modern times, as well as the unprec- with a view toward modernization and development. The edented absence of a single career officer reform wherever it is required. There Service has been serving as a Senate-confirmed assistant is much work to be done, and AFSA is through a very dif- secretary of State. Our country’s leaders ready to do its part. n Ambassador Eric Rubin is the president of the American Foreign Service Association. THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021 7 FOREIGN SERVICE Editor-in-Chief, Director of Publications Shawn Dorman: [email protected] www.afsa.org Senior Editor Susan Brady Maitra: [email protected] Managing Editor CONTACTS Kathryn Owens: [email protected] AFSA Headquarters: FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION Associate Editor (202) 338-4045; Fax (202) 338-6820 Director of Finance and Facilities Cameron Woodworth: [email protected] State Department AFSA Office: Femi Oshobukola: [email protected] (202) 647-8160; Fax (202) 647-0265 Publications Coordinator Manager, HR and Operations USAID AFSA Office: Dmitry Filipoff: [email protected] Cory Nishi: [email protected] (202) 712-1941; Fax (202) 216-3710 Controller Business Development Manager— FCS AFSA Office: Kalpna Srimal: [email protected] Advertising and Circulation (202) 482-9088; Fax (202) 482-9087 Member Accounts Specialist Molly Long: [email protected] Ana Lopez: [email protected] GOVERNING BOARD IT and Infrastructure Coordinator Art Director President Aleksandar “Pav” Pavlovich: Caryn Suko Smith Hon. Eric S. Rubin: [email protected] [email protected] Editorial Board Secretary Alexis Ludwig, Chair Ken Kero-Mentz: [email protected] COMMUNICATIONS Hon. Robert M. Beecroft Treasurer Director of Communications Daniel Crocker Virginia L. Bennett: [email protected] Ásgeir Sigfússon: [email protected] Joel Ehrendreich State Vice President Manager of Outreach and Internal Harry Kopp Thomas Yazdgerdi: [email protected] Communications Jess McTigue USAID Vice President Christopher Teal Allan Saunders: [email protected] Jason Singer: [email protected] Joe Tordella Online Communications Manager FCS Vice President Vivian Walker Jeff Lau: [email protected] Jay Carreiro: [email protected] Hon. Laurence Wohlers Awards and Scholarships Manager FAS Vice President Dinah Zeltser-Winant Theo Horn: [email protected] Michael Riedel: [email protected] Retiree Vice President MEMBERSHIP AND OUTREACH THE MAGAZINE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS John K. Naland: [email protected] Director, Programs and Member Engagement PROFESSIONALS State Representatives Christine Miele: [email protected] The Foreign Service Journal (ISSN 0146-3543), Joshua C. Archibald 2101 E Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20037-2990 is Member Operations Coordinator Maria Hart published monthly, with combined January-February Tomoko Morinaga: [email protected] and July-August issues, by the American Foreign Service Kristin Michelle Roberts Manager, Outreach and Association (AFSA), a private, nonprofit organization. Carson Relitz Rocker Material appearing herein represents the opinions of the Strategic Communications Jason Snyder writers and does not necessarily represent the views of Nadja Ruzica: [email protected] the Journal, the Editorial Board or AFSA. Writer queries Tamir Waser Coordinator of Member Recruitment and submissions are invited, preferably by email. The USAID Representative and Benefits Journal is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, Trevor Hublin photos or illustrations.
Recommended publications
  • US Policy Scan 2021

    US Policy Scan 2021

    US Policy Scan 2021 1 • US Policy Scan 2021 Introduction Welcome to Dentons 2021 Policy Scan, an in-depth look at policy a number of Members of Congress and Senators on both sides of at the Federal level and in each of the 50 states. This document the aisle and with a public exhausted by the anger and overheated is meant to be both a resource and a guide. A preview of the rhetoric that has characterized the last four years. key policy questions for the next year in the states, the House of Representatives, the Senate and the new Administration. A Nonetheless, with a Congress closely divided between the parties resource for tracking the people who will be driving change. and many millions of people who even now question the basic legitimacy of the process that led to Biden’s election, it remains to In addition to a dive into more than 15 policy areas, you will find be determined whether the President-elect’s goals are achievable brief profiles of Biden cabinet nominees and senior White House or whether, going forward, the Trump years have fundamentally staff appointees, the Congressional calendar, as well as the and permanently altered the manner in which political discourse Session dates and policy previews in State Houses across the will be conducted. What we can say with total confidence is that, in country. We discuss redistricting, preview the 2022 US Senate such a politically charged environment, it will take tremendous skill races and provide an overview of key decided and pending cases and determination on the part of the President-elect, along with a before the Supreme Court of the United States.
  • DIRECTING the Disorder the CFR Is the Deep State Powerhouse Undoing and Remaking Our World

    DIRECTING the Disorder the CFR Is the Deep State Powerhouse Undoing and Remaking Our World

    DEEP STATE DIRECTING THE Disorder The CFR is the Deep State powerhouse undoing and remaking our world. 2 by William F. Jasper The nationalist vs. globalist conflict is not merely an he whole world has gone insane ideological struggle between shadowy, unidentifiable and the lunatics are in charge of T the asylum. At least it looks that forces; it is a struggle with organized globalists who have way to any rational person surveying the very real, identifiable, powerful organizations and networks escalating revolutions that have engulfed the planet in the year 2020. The revolu- operating incessantly to undermine and subvert our tions to which we refer are the COVID- constitutional Republic and our Christian-style civilization. 19 revolution and the Black Lives Matter revolution, which, combined, are wreak- ing unprecedented havoc and destruction — political, social, economic, moral, and spiritual — worldwide. As we will show, these two seemingly unrelated upheavals are very closely tied together, and are but the latest and most profound manifesta- tions of a global revolutionary transfor- mation that has been under way for many years. Both of these revolutions are being stoked and orchestrated by elitist forces that intend to unmake the United States of America and extinguish liberty as we know it everywhere. In his famous “Lectures on the French Revolution,” delivered at Cambridge University between 1895 and 1899, the distinguished British historian and states- man John Emerich Dalberg, more com- monly known as Lord Acton, noted: “The appalling thing in the French Revolution is not the tumult, but the design. Through all the fire and smoke we perceive the evidence of calculating organization.
  • American Diplomacy Project: a US Diplomatic Service for the 21St

    American Diplomacy Project: a US Diplomatic Service for the 21St

    AMERICAN DIPLOMACY PROJECT A U.S. Diplomatic Service for the 21st Century Ambassador Nicholas Burns Ambassador Marc Grossman Ambassador Marcie Ries REPORT NOVEMBER 2020 American Diplomacy Project: A U.S. Diplomatic Service for the 21st Century Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Harvard Kennedy School 79 JFK Street Cambridge, MA 02138 www.belfercenter.org Statements and views expressed in this report are solely those of the authors and do not imply endorsement by Harvard University, Harvard Kennedy School, or the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Design and layout by Auge+Gray+Drake Collective Works Copyright 2020, President and Fellows of Harvard College Printed in the United States of America FULL PROJECT NAME American Diplomacy Project A U.S. Diplomatic Service for the 21st Century Ambassador Nicholas Burns Ambassador Marc Grossman Ambassador Marcie Ries REPORT NOVEMBER 2020 Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs | Harvard Kennedy School i ii American Diplomacy Project: A U.S. Diplomatic Service for the 21st Century Table of Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................3 10 Actions to Reimagine American Diplomacy and Reinvent the Foreign Service ........................................................5 Action 1 Redefine the Mission and Mandate of the U.S. Foreign Service ...................................................10 Action 2 Revise the Foreign Service Act ................................. 16 Action 3 Change the Culture ..................................................
  • Open Hearing: Nomination of Gina Haspel to Be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

    Open Hearing: Nomination of Gina Haspel to Be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

    S. HRG. 115–302 OPEN HEARING: NOMINATION OF GINA HASPEL TO BE THE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY HEARING BEFORE THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2018 Printed for the use of the Select Committee on Intelligence ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 30–119 PDF WASHINGTON : 2018 VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:25 Aug 20, 2018 Jkt 030925 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 C:\DOCS\30119.TXT SHAUN LAP51NQ082 with DISTILLER SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE [Established by S. Res. 400, 94th Cong., 2d Sess.] RICHARD BURR, North Carolina, Chairman MARK R. WARNER, Virginia, Vice Chairman JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California MARCO RUBIO, Florida RON WYDEN, Oregon SUSAN COLLINS, Maine MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico ROY BLUNT, Missouri ANGUS KING, Maine JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia TOM COTTON, Arkansas KAMALA HARRIS, California JOHN CORNYN, Texas MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky, Ex Officio CHUCK SCHUMER, New York, Ex Officio JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona, Ex Officio JACK REED, Rhode Island, Ex Officio CHRIS JOYNER, Staff Director MICHAEL CASEY, Minority Staff Director KELSEY STROUD BAILEY, Chief Clerk (II) VerDate Sep 11 2014 14:25 Aug 20, 2018 Jkt 030925 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 C:\DOCS\30119.TXT SHAUN LAP51NQ082 with DISTILLER CONTENTS MAY 9, 2018 OPENING STATEMENTS Burr, Hon. Richard, Chairman, a U.S. Senator from North Carolina ................ 1 Warner, Mark R., Vice Chairman, a U.S. Senator from Virginia ........................ 3 WITNESSES Chambliss, Saxby, former U.S.
  • The Elizabethan Diplomatic Service

    The Elizabethan Diplomatic Service

    Quidditas Volume 9 Article 9 1988 The Elizabethan Diplomatic Service F. Jeffrey Platt Northern Arizona University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/rmmra Part of the Comparative Literature Commons, History Commons, Philosophy Commons, and the Renaissance Studies Commons Recommended Citation Platt, F. Jeffrey (1988) "The Elizabethan Diplomatic Service," Quidditas: Vol. 9 , Article 9. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/rmmra/vol9/iss1/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Quidditas by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. JRMMRA 9 (1988) The Elizabethan Diplomatic Service by F. Jeffrey Platt Northern Arizona University The critical early years of Elizabeth's reign witnessed a watershed in European history. The 1559 Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, which ended the long Hapsburg-Valois conflict, resulted in a sudden shift in the focus of international politics from Italy to the uncomfortable proximity of the Low Countries. The arrival there, 30 miles from England's coast, in 1567, of thousands of seasoned Spanish troops presented a military and commer­ cial threat the English queen could not ignore. Moreover, French control of Calais and their growing interest in supplanting the Spanish presence in the Netherlands represented an even greater menace to England's security. Combined with these ominous developments, the Queen's excommunica­ tion in May 1570 further strengthened the growing anti-English and anti­ Protestant sentiment of Counter-Reformation Europe. These circumstances, plus the significantly greater resources of France and Spain, defined England, at best, as a middleweight in a world dominated by two heavyweights.
  • Medal of Freedom - Selection of Recipients” of the John Marsh Files at the Gerald R

    Medal of Freedom - Selection of Recipients” of the John Marsh Files at the Gerald R

    The original documents are located in Box 21, folder “Medal of Freedom - Selection of Recipients” of the John Marsh Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Copyright Notice The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald R. Ford donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Digitized from Box 21 of The John Marsh Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential ~----Library . , 1 : • I .. I • ( t • dl cc• 0 ve Gerg n 1 THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON November 15, 1976 Dear Bruce: Many thanks for your recent letter together with the copy of the Resolu­ tion concerning General Brucker. We are all very disappointed with the results of the election. However, as you noted, the Old Dominion did come through for the President. I will make sure your resolution is forwarded to the appropriate individuals here at the White House for their review. I am sure careful consideration will be given to this recommendation. With kindest personal regards, I am Sincerely, • Marsh, Jr. llor to the President General Bruce (Ret.) Route Two Box 323 Palmyra, Virginia 22963 -- .· , I --- ;J.c..~ -:3"" a c 1:.
  • U.S.-Turkish Relations: a Review at the Beginning of the Third Decade of the Post-Cold War

    U.S.-Turkish Relations: a Review at the Beginning of the Third Decade of the Post-Cold War

    U.S.-Turkish Relations a review at the beginning of the third decade of the post–cold war era 1800 K Street, NW | Washington, DC 20006 Tel: (202) 887-0200 | Fax: (202) 775-3199 E-mail: [email protected] | Web: www.csis.org Report Coordinators Bulent Aliriza Bulent Aras November 2012 ISBN 978-0-89206-759-6 Ë|xHSKITCy067596zv*:+:!:+:! Blank U.S.-Turkish Relations a review at the beginning of the third decade of the post–cold war era Report Coordinators Bulent Aliriza Bulent Aras November 2012 About CSIS—50th Anniversary Year For 50 years, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has developed practical solutions to the world’s greatest challenges. As we celebrate this milestone, CSIS scholars continue to provide strategic insights and bipartisan policy solutions to help decisionmakers chart a course toward a better world. CSIS is a bipartisan, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Center’s 220 full-time staff and large network of affiliated scholars conduct research and analysis and de- velop policy initiatives that look into the future and anticipate change. Since 1962, CSIS has been dedicated to finding ways to sustain American prominence and prosperity as a force for good in the world. After 50 years, CSIS has become one of the world’s pre- eminent international policy institutions focused on defense and security; regional stability; and transnational challenges ranging from energy and climate to global development and economic integration. Former U.S. senator Sam Nunn has chaired the CSIS Board of Trustees since 1999. John J. Hamre became the Center’s president and chief executive officer in 2000.
  • Cultural Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution

    Cultural Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution

    Cultural Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution Introduction In his poem, The Second Coming (1919), William Butler Yeats captured the moment we are now experiencing: Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. As we see the deterioration of the institutions created and fostered after the Second World War to create a climate in which peace and prosperity could flourish in Europe and beyond, it is important to understand the role played by diplomacy in securing the stability and strengthening the shared values of freedom and democracy that have marked this era for the nations of the world. It is most instructive to read the Inaugural Address of President John F. Kennedy, in which he encouraged Americans not only to do good things for their own country, but to do good things in the world. The creation of the Peace Corps is an example of the kind of spirit that put young American volunteers into some of the poorest nations in an effort to improve the standard of living for people around the globe. We knew we were leaders; we knew that we had many political and economic and social advantages. There was an impetus to share this wealth. Generosity, not greed, was the motivation of that generation. Of course, this did not begin with Kennedy. It was preceded by the Marshall Plan, one of the only times in history that the conqueror decided to rebuild the country of the vanquished foe.
  • Revolution Lighting Engages the Cohen Group to Advise on Potential New Business Development with the U.S. Navy

    Revolution Lighting Engages the Cohen Group to Advise on Potential New Business Development with the U.S. Navy

    February 3, 2016 Revolution Lighting Engages The Cohen Group to Advise on Potential New Business Development With the U.S. Navy Highly Credentialed Advisory Team to Deliver Expert Knowledge and Industry Experience for Revolution Lighting to Pursue LED Retrofit Contract Opportunities Among Navy Ships and Shore Facilities STAMFORD, CT -- (Marketwired) -- 02/03/16 -- Revolution Lighting Technologies (NASDAQ: RVLT), a leader in advanced LED lighting technology solutions, today announced it has retained The Cohen Group as a specialty advisor to assist the company in its continued penetration of military branches, such as the U.S. Navy. The Cohen Group, managed by a highly credentialed team of former senior military officials, including a Secretary of Defense, Vice-Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and U.S. Coast Guard Admiral, will provide strategic advisement and industry guidance to position Revolution Lighting for the participation in future LED retrofit contract bid opportunities. This decision marks a critical next step by Revolution Lighting, building on previous successes including the installation of 17,000 of its LED tubes within dry cargo/ammunition ships of the Military Sealift Command. In August 2015, the U.S. Navy announced that it will begin allowing the installation of LED tube lighting throughout global shore facilities including administrative buildings, athletic facilities, street lights, and parking garages facilities in addition to its fleet. Revolution Lighting has continued to be well positioned, pursuing increased regulatory certification requirements including the gaining of a Washington Laboratories Certification for its G3 12 watt LED tube for product utilized on navy ships and facilities. "Revolution Lighting has a great history of delivering market leading LED lighting solutions across all industries, including for military and federal installations," said Admiral Jim Loy.
  • HARVARD UKRAINIAN STUDIES EDITOR Lubomyr Hajda, Harvard University

    HARVARD UKRAINIAN STUDIES EDITOR Lubomyr Hajda, Harvard University

    HARVARD UKRAINIAN STUDIES EDITOR Lubomyr Hajda, Harvard University EDITORIAL BOARD Michael S. Flier, George G. Grabowicz, Edward L. Keenan, and Roman Szporluk, Harvard University; Frank E. Sysyn, University of Alberta FOUNDING EDITORS Omeljan Pritsak and Ihor Sevcenko, Harvard University BOOK REVIEW EDITOR Larry Wolff EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Daría Yurchuk DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS Robert A. DeLossa ADVISORY BOARD Zvi Ankori, Tel Aviv University—John A. Armstrong, University of Wisconsin—Yaroslav Bilinsky, University of Delaware—Bohdan R. Bociurkiw, Carleton University, Ottawa—Axinia Djurova, University of Sofia—Olexa Horbatsch, University of Frankfurt—Halil inalcık, University of Chi- cago—Jaroslav D. Isajevych, Institute of Ukrainian Studies, Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, L'viv— Edward Kasinec, New York Public Library—Magdalena László-Kujiuk, University of Bucharest— Walter Leitsch, University of Vienna—L. R. Lewitter, Cambridge University—G. Luciani, University of Bordeaux—George S. N. Luckyj, University of Toronto—M. Łesiów, Marie Curie-Sktodowska University, Lublin—Paul R. Magocsi, University of Toronto—Dimitri Obolensky, Oxford Univer- sity—RiccardoPicchio, Yale University—MarcRaeff, Columbia University—HansRothe, University of Bonn—Bohdan Rubchak, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle—Władysław A. Serczyk, University of Warsaw at Białystok—George Y. Shevelov, Columbia University—Günther Stökl, University of Cologne—A. de Vincenz, University of Göttingen—Vaclav Żidlicky, Charles Univer- sity, Prague. COMMITTEE ON UKRAINIAN STUDIES, Harvard University Stanisław Barańczak Patricia Chaput Timothy Colton Michael S. Flier George G. Grabowicz Edward L. Keenan Jeffrey D. Sachs Roman Szporluk (Chairman) Subscription rates per volume (two double issues) are $28.00 U.S. in the United States and Canada, $32.00 in other countries. The price of one double issue is $ 18.00 ($20.00 overseas).
  • Günter Bischof on the Last Empire: the Final Days of the Soviet Union

    Günter Bischof on the Last Empire: the Final Days of the Soviet Union

    Serhii Plokhy. The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union. New York: Basic Books, 2014. 520 pp. $32.00, cloth, ISBN 978-0-465-05696-5. Reviewed by Günter J. Bischof Published on H-Diplo (May, 2014) Commissioned by Seth Offenbach (Bronx Community College, The City University of New York) The Soviet Union expired in a whimper with how the borders of the post-Soviet succession re‐ Mikhail Gorbachev’s resignation speech on De‐ publics were being determined in the fall of 1991, cember 25, 1991, after a dramatic year of political this fast-paced account of the breakup of the Sovi‐ infighting in the Kremlin and bold action in Kyiv. et Union in 1991 provides the answers. If anyone The Soviet Union lost its “outer empire” in East‐ is keen on understanding the death throes of the ern Europe in 1989-90. The dissolution of what Soviet Union and Moscow’s struggle with the Serhii Plokhy calls “the last” European empire did growing spirit of independence among con‐ not come as a dramatic implosion over a short pe‐ stituent republics, this is the book to read. riod of time like the Habsburg Empire in the fnal Ukraine’s drive to independence in 1991 days of World War I. The Soviet Union may have tipped the balance in the implosion of the Soviet had economic problems since the 1970s, but it Union. Plokhy’s main point is that electoral was not known as “the sick man” of Europe like democracy ended the Soviet Union after the Com‐ the Ottoman Empire had been in its fnal decades munist plotters tried to save it in a coup that of muddling through.
  • Talking to the Taliban 2011 – 2012: a Reflection

    Talking to the Taliban 2011 – 2012: a Reflection

    Talking to the Taliban 2011 – 2012: A Reflection BY MARC GROSSMAN hen then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked in early 2011 if I would become the United States’ Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) – after the W sudden death of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the first SRAP – she described the foundations Ambassador Holbrooke had laid to manage one of the most challenging tasks facing the nation. Secretary Clinton also said that she wanted to continue the experiment: having the SRAP organization prove that the “whole-of-government” philosophy – the idea that the United States must employ expertise and resources from all relevant parts of government to address the nation’s most important challenges – was the right model for 21st century diplomacy.2 The SRAP team brought together experts from across the U.S. Government (and included several diplomats from NATO countries) to develop and implement integrated strategies to address the complex challenges in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the region. Among the first things I learned when I arrived at my desk in February 2011, was that an allied government had put the United States in contact with someone who seemed to be an empowered representative of the Taliban, the Afghan insurgent group which the United States had removed from power in 2001, but which had ever since kept up a deadly war against Afghans, Americans and our allies, friends and partners.3 The contact was preliminary, but many in the White House and on the SRAP team hoped that this connection might open the door for the conversation everyone knew would be required if there were ever to be peace in Afghanistan: Afghans talking to other Afghans about the future of Afghanistan.