Diplomacy Archives

News in Brief

The Diplomat and the Killer

In December of 1980, Salvadoran soldiers brutally raped and murdered four American churchwomen. A young U.S. diplomat singlehandedly cracked the case, cultivating an improbable source who risked everything to gather the key evidence.

Raymond Bonner

Social Justice

The State of the Dinner: Commensality as a Political Instrument

We are almost never reluctant to share a drink with strangers, but sharing meals tends to be reserved for those to whom we wish to signal intimacy.

Teja Pristavec

Social Justice

The 30 Top Thinkers Under 30: The First-Generation American Who Wants to Improve Asian-American Relations

For the month of April we're profiling the individuals who made our inaugural list of the 30 top thinkers under 30, the young men and women we predict will have a serious impact on the social, political, and economic issues we cover every day here at Pacific Standard.

Avital Andrews

News in Brief

ZunZuneo: Do Former Users Even Care That It Was Secretly Built by USAID?

Our criticism of the U.S. government's covert or "discreet" funding of communication channels like ZunZuneo or Radio Free Europe presumes that they try to seed something non-native.

Yuliya Komska

Environment

The 30 Top Thinkers Under 30: The Twitter Diplomat Who Wants to Connect the World

Avital Andrews

Social Justice

Next Steps in U.S.-Iran Diplomacy: Vaccines

Two vaccine scientists—one American, one Iranian—offer a unique way to give the nascent relationship between their two countries a shot in the arm.

Peter Hotez and Mohammad Rokni

Social Justice

Benedict Cumberbatch Goes to War: Celebrity and Diplomacy

The actor's recent stunt in Cardiff, in which he admonished celebrity photographers for not capturing "something important," suggests a misplaced faith in photography.

Casey N. Cep

Economics

Clearer Vision on the ‘Eyeball-to-Eyeball’ Cuban Missile Crisis

How close the U.S. and USSR came to mutually assured destruction (a term not then in vogue) during…

Michael Todd

News in Brief

Burma’s Redemption More Domestic Than Imported

Burma's gradual return to international good grace is probably more a case of homegrown changes than a result of economic sanctions, argues one influential analyst.

Marc Herman