American Statecraft: The Story of the U.S. Foreign Service

J. Robert Moskin, Thomas Dunne Books, 2013, $40/hardcover; $19.99/Kindle, 944 pages.

American Statecraft is the first comprehensive history of the U.S. Foreign Service, one of the oldest, but least understood, institutions in the United States.

The product of 15 years of research by J. Robert Moskin, the award-winning historian and journalist, this weighty tome traces American diplomacy from the country’s founding. The reader not only sees the development of the Foreign Service in the context of the issues of the times, but comes to appreciate its vital role in bringing about the nation as we know it today.

An editor with Look magazine for 19 years, five of them as its foreign editor, J. Robert Moskin was also an editor for Collier’s and The Saturday Review, and the editorial director of the Aspen Institute and the Commonwealth Fund. He lives in New York City and western Massachusetts.

Buried in the Sands of the Ogaden: The United States, the Horn of Africa, and the Demise of Détente

Louise P. Woodroofe, Kent State University Press, 2013, $49.50, hardcover, 176 pages.

The 1970s détente era, marked by the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty negotiations, was strained by ongoing disagreements between the superpowers regarding conflicts occurring in Third World nations. In this work, Louise Woodroofe focuses on one of them—that between Ethiopia and Somalia—which, according to the author, may have marked the failure of détente.

Woodroofe tells the history of that conflict and its impact on the détente process, also explaining how the Horn of Africa has been altered politically and socially by the Cold War.

Louise P. Woodroofe is a historian with the Department of State’s Office of the Historian, focusing on U.S. foreign policy in postcolonial Africa.

Conflict Analysis: Understanding Causes, Unlocking Solutions

Matthew Levinger, United States Institute of Peace, 2013, $24.95/paperback; $21.34/Kindle, 280 pages.

Here is a timely and practical handbook. Instead of simply theorizing about the causes and natures of conflicts, Conflict Analysis aims to provide practitioners with the knowledge needed to translate understanding into effective action and, ultimately, solutions. The book is supplemented with useful case studies, appendices and analytical tools.

The author focuses on averting future conflicts and ending current ones; he also tackles the study of conflict alongside the study of peace, and investigates what causes each scenario. He also stresses the social aspect of conflict analysis. For those working to prevent global crises or solve ongoing ones, Conflict Analysis will provide the necessary knowledge and understanding essential to successful action.

Matthew Levinger is a visiting professor at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and director of the school’s National Security Studies Program.

Congo, the Miserable Expeditions and Dreadful Death of Lt. Emory Taunt, USN

Andrew C.A. Jampoler, Naval Institute Press, 2013, $44.95/hardcover; $26.99/Kindle, 256 pages.

Andrew C.A. Jampoler, a U.S. Navy aviator for 24 years, recently retraced the 1885 solo mission of Lt. Emory Taunt, an American naval officer assigned to explore the reaches of the Congo River and investigate possible trade opportunities. Congo is the result of that experience, and also draws on a great deal of research on Lt. Taunt and his mission.

Besides telling the gripping and, ultimately, tragic story of Lt. Taunt, Congo describes the U.S. involvement in late 19th-century Africa and its role in the formation of the Congo nation.

Andrew Jampoler was named Author of the Year by the Naval Press Institute in 2003 and by Naval History magazine in 2006. His previous works include Adak (Naval Institute Press, 2011), Horrible Shipwreck (Naval Institute Press, 2010) and The Last Lincoln Conspirator (Naval Institute Press, 2009). He resides in Loudoun County, Va.

The Dragon Extends its Reach: Chinese Military Power Goes Global

Larry M. Wortzel, Potomac Books, 2013, $29.95, hardcover, 224 pages,

The Dragon Extends Its Reach is meant to counter what the author contends is a romanticized image of U.S. relations with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army held by a majority of American policymakers.

Larry Wortzel relies on research and his own experience during a 32-year military career spent largely in the Asia-Pacific region, including two tours as a military attaché in China, to analyze each branch of the Chinese military. He also examines cybersecurity, space technologies and ballistic missile capabilities in an effort to provide a more realistic assessment of the U.S.-China relationship.

The author or editor of 10 books about China, Mr. Wortzel was director of the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College, Asian studies director and vice president at the Heritage Foundation, and a commissioner on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He lives in Williamsburg, Va.

Rendezvous with Destiny: How Franklin D. Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took America into the War and into the World

Michael Fullilove, Penguin, 2013, $29.95/hardcover; $11.99/Kindle, 480 pages.

From 1939 to 1941, the United States was an avid supporter, yet reluctant partner, of the Allies in Europe. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was compelled to walk the fine line between pleasing the American people and defeating what he saw was an existential threat. Garnering support for U.S. involvement in the war was aided by Roosevelt’s vast personal network—in particular, five men who would act courageously to alter the course of history and the place of America within it.

Drawing from a prodigious range of primary and secondary sources, including hundreds of letters and telegrams, Fullilove sets the stage for each trip, describes how the envoy carried out his various tasks, and then assesses the trip’s effectiveness. (See Steve Honley’s review in the October FSJ.)

Michael Fullilove is executive director of the Lowy Institute of Sydney, Australia. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Rhodes Scholar and a former adviser to the Australian prime minister.

Qatar: Small State, Big Politics

Mehran Kamrava, Cornell University Press, 2013, $35, hardcover, 232 pages.

A small geographic area, lack of water and relatively recent statehood are all attributes that would seem to contrast with Qatar’s rapidly growing global recognition. Headquarters of the worldwide news network, Al-Jazeera, and host country for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar remains an oil-funds dependent state.

In this work, Mehran Kamrava explores how Qatar managed to get where it is today and what its prospects are for the future. It is a case study in how small states can exert influence on others through use of what the author terms “subtle power,” which includes among other things vigorous diplomatic outreach.

Mehran Kamrava teaches at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar. He holds a doctorate degree from the University of Cambridge and has published numerous works on the Middle East.

A Conversation with Ambassador Richard T. McCormack

Richard T. McCormack, Xlibris, 2013, $19.99, paperback, 181 pages.

This book, a volume in the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training’s Diplomatic Oral History Series, tells the story of a life and career focused on geopolitics and the global economy.

Among many other positions, Richard T. McCormack served as ambassador to the Organization of American States from 1985 to 1989 and under secretary of State for economic affairs from 1989 to 1991. For his service in the latter capacity, Ambassador McCormack received the State Department’s highest award from Secretary of State James A. Baker III.

Richard T. McCormack is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Economic Club of New York. He is also the author of Asians in Kenya: Conflicts and Politics (T. Gaus Sons, 1971).

Gender and Foreign Policy in the Clinton Administration

Karen Garner, First Forum Press, 2013, $69.95, hardcover, 333 pages.

The U.S. government’s increased attention to global women’s rights and empowerment (the focus of the April 2011 issue of The Foreign Service Journal) is often touted as a new phenomenon, with former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton receiving a good deal of credit. However, Karen Garner argues in this book that it was actually Sec. Clinton’s husband, President Bill Clinton, who broke many barriers to challenge women’s unequal status vis-à-vis men around the world, and to incorporate their needs into U.S. foreign policy and aid programs.

Garner draws on a wide range of primary sources, including interviews with government officials and feminist activists who worked with the Clinton administration, to present a persuasive account of the emergence, evolution and legacy of U.S. global gender policy during the 1990s.

Karen Garner is an associate professor of history and women’s studies at SUNY Empire State College. She is the author of Shaping a Global Women’s Agenda: Women’s NGOs and Global Governance, 1925-1985 (Manchester University Press, 2010) and Precious Fire: Maud Russell and the Chinese Revolution (University of Massachusetts Press, 2003).

The Thomas Carroll Affair: A Journey through the Cottage Industry of Illegal Immigration

David Casavis, Deeper Look Books, 2013, $14.95, paperback, 288 pages.

On June 13, 2002, former FSO Thomas Patrick Carroll was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison for selling non-immigrant visas at Embassy Guyana and hiring “death squads” there to intimidate witnesses. Between 1998 and 2000, Carroll sold as many as 800 visas for between $10,000 and $15,000 apiece.

Prosecutors believe Carroll shared some of the proceeds with his accomplices, but he may still have pocketed up to $4 million himself. Even more disturbing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn McNiven noted at the trial, at least 26 people who got into our country on fraudulent visas sold by Carroll committed crimes here, ranging from disorderly conduct to gang rape.

Not long before Carroll was released from federal prison this summer, after serving roughly half his sentence, David Casavis published this account of Carroll’s activities. A New York-based writer and an adjunct professor in the SUNY and CUNY systems, as well as a former contributing editor to International Business Magazine, Casavis has also published material in The Foreign Service Journal, Area Development and SIOR Professional Reports.

The Emotionally Resilient Expat: Engage, Adapt and Thrive Across Cultures

Linda A. Janssen, Summertime Publishing, 2013, $18.99/paperback; $9.99/Kindle, 392 pages.

As Foreign Service employees and their families appreciate, living abroad offers enriching experiences: personal growth, broadened perspective and enhanced cultural understanding. Yet the inherently uncertain, change-driven, cross-cultural nature of overseas life can place considerable demands on expatriates, leaving them stressed and disconnected, and causing them to question their identities.

Building on existing literature and drawing on recent research into psychology and brain-body connections, The Emotionally Resilient Expat offers a path to successful transitions that lies in cultivating strategies to adapt, adjust or simply accept changes. Janssen combines candid personal stories from experienced expatriates, including members of the U.S. Foreign Service, and cross-cultural experts with a wealth of practical tools and best practices.

Linda A. Janssen, a writer, speaker, consultant, global adventurer and cultural enthusiast, has spent three decades working in and around the international arena. Her website, www.AdventuresinExpatLand.com, offers resources, information and a blog.

The Global Vatican: An Inside Look at the Catholic Church, World Politics, and the Extraordinary Relationship between the United States and the Holy See

Francis Rooney, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2013, $27.95, hardcover, 275 pages.

Francis Rooney served as President George W. Bush’s ambassador to the Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church, from 2005 to 2008. As the subtitle of his book indicates, The Global Vatican gives readers “an inside look at the Catholic Church, world politics and the extraordinary relationship between the United States and the Holy See.”

Ambassador Rooney draws on his experience there to argue persuasively that U.S. foreign policy has much to gain from its relationship with the Vatican, and vice versa. No institution on earth has both the international stature and the global reach of the Holy See—the “soft power” of moral influence and authority to promote religious freedom, human liberties and related values that Americans and our allies uphold worldwide.

In addition to serving as chief executive officer of Rooney Holdings, Inc., Francis Rooney is a member of the Council of American Ambassadors and the Advisory Board of the Panama Canal Authority. He is also a trustee of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress.

Education Never Ends: A Conversation with Ambassador Robert E. Hunter

Robert E. Hunter, Xlibris, 2012, $19.99, paperback, 293 pages.

This book, a volume in the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training’s Diplomatic Oral History Series, offers a rare glimpse into the workings of the American political and foreign policy machinery from someone who has seen a lot up close.

From the Great Society and eight presidential campaigns to Arab-Israeli peacemaking and the rebuilding of NATO, Ambassador Robert Hunter has had a lasting impact on the domestic and foreign affairs of the United States. And along the way, as he recounts in these conversations with ADST’s master interviewer, Charles Stuart Kennedy, Amb. Hunter has had the good fortune to work with several notable statesmen.

From July 1993 to January 1998, Robert Hunter was U.S. ambassador to NATO, and also represented the United States to the Western European Union during that period. Since 1998 he has been a senior adviser at the RAND Corporation, specializing in Europe and the Middle East.

He has also written for The Foreign Service Journal, among other publications.

An Unlikely Journey - Make A Difference - Do Good - Have Fun

Mark Erwin, Goosepen Studio & Press, 2013, $24.95, hardcover, 222 pages.

From 1999 to 2001, Mark Erwin served as President Bill Clinton’s ambassador to the Republic of Mauritius, the Republic of the Seychelles, and the Federal Republic of the Comoros. This autobiography, a volume in the ADST-DACOR Memoirs and Occasional Papers Series, not only tells that story, but traces Ambassador Erwin’s remarkable path to success in many fields. It truly has been “an unlikely journey” for a self-made man who began life with no financial resources, little education and few prospects.

The book also explains how the author developed and applies the personal credo found in his book’s subtitle: “Make a difference, do good, have fun.”

An investor, sportsman, philanthropist and ordained lay minister, Mark Erwin is also the author of The Practical Ambassador: A Common Sense Guide for United States Ambassadors (Avenir Press, 2012).

The United States and the Challenge of Public Diplomacy

James Thomas Snyder, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, $100, hardcover, 224 pages.

The 9/11 attacks ushered in a new era of U.S. foreign policy, one marked by a profound focus on public diplomacy. The wisdom of pouring tremendous resources into efforts to curry favor with foreign audiences has sparked debate ever since, but public diplomats themselves have largely been missing from the discussion.

Drawing on lessons learned during his employment in NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, James Thomas Snyder helps fill this gap. He examines the difficulty of communicating in adversarial environments, military public diplomacy, presidential rhetoric, new communications technologies such as social media and virtual worlds, and the role of nongovernmental organizations, among other topics.

An author and translator, James Thomas Snyder has served on the NATO international staff and as a congressional speechwriter. His work has appeared in Internationale Politik, the Small Wars Journal, Dissent, Joint Force Quarterly, and the International Herald Tribune, among other publications.