32 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2025 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Ramón Ramirez’s Dog: Reflections on Then and Now David Dunford, independently published, 2024, $8.95/paperback, e-book available, 277 pages. Ramón Ramirez’s Dog is a collection of essays written over the years about the adventures and misadventures that happen mostly outside but occasionally inside the diplomatic career of a U.S. ambassador. Common threads weaving the stories together are desiring a life well lived, balancing career with family and friends, keeping physically fit, and appreciating the natural world around us. David Dunford is a retired FSO who served in Quito, Helsinki, Cairo, Riyadh, and as ambassador in Muscat. He has written about policy issues, including as an essayist for one of last year’s featured books, American Global Leadership: Ailing US Diplomacy and Solutions for the Twenty-First Century. PCMO: Memoir of a Peace Corps Medical Officer Ty W.K. Flewelling, independently published, 2025, $24.00/paperback, e-book available, 203 pages. This book details the life of a Peace Corps medical officer, Dr. Ty Flewelling, who served in Turkmenistan from 1995 to 1998. The memoir covers Flewelling’s experiences beginning with the orientation process and continuing through three years of service with the Peace Corps, where he worked with the State Department to create a joint medical unit. He also describes his work at the International Medical Clinic in Ashgabat caring for people from other diplomatic missions. Ty W.K. Flewelling, DMSc, PA-C, is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service class of Minister Counselor and a retired senior medical attaché at the State Department. He is a physician associate, board-certified in primary care and surgery, and holds a doctorate in medical science–global health. He was last posted in Bangui. He retired on June 30, 2025, after a 30-year Foreign Service career. Middle East Crises: Expeditionary Diplomacy with the Bush, Obama, and Trump Teams James Franklin Jeffrey, The Book Publishing Pros, 2025, $16.99/ paperback, e-book available, 285 pages. Part memoir and part analysis, Middle East Crises reveals the realities of diplomacy, war, and American power in one of the world’s most complex regions. Ambassador James Jeffrey offers a firsthand account of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East from 2004 to 2020. He describes the behind-the-scenes action in critical hot spots including Iraq, Türkiye, and Syria. He examines the early challenges of the Iraq War, the emergence of ISIS, and the complexities of dealing with leaders like Turkish President Erdogan and Russia’s Putin while reflecting on the broader principles guiding U.S. foreign policy, the challenges of maintaining alliances, and the personal sacrifices of those on the ground. James Franklin Jeffrey spent 35 years in the Foreign Service, retiring in 2012 with the rank of Career Ambassador. He served as ambassador to Iraq, Albania, and Türkiye; deputy national security adviser; and deputy chief of mission in Baghdad, Ankara, and Kuwait City. In 2018 Jeffrey was recalled from retirement to serve as chief of mission in Syria and special envoy to the Defeat ISIS Coalition. Uncommon Company: Dissidents and Diplomats, Enemies and Artists William H. Luers, Rodin Books, 2024, $35.00/hardcover, e-book available, 472 pages. In Uncommon Company, William “Bill” Luers shares stories of his career as a U.S. diplomat in Europe and Latin America, where he introduced art and culture to forge common ground and community, improving the lives of citizens in many countries closed to Western ideas. From touring the Soviet Union with playwright Edward Albee in the 1960s to bringing such famous writers and artists as John Updike, Arthur Miller, Francine du Plessix Gray, and Frank Stella to Caracas and Prague during his ambassadorships in Venezuela and Czechoslovakia, Bill Luers practiced cultural
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