My perspective on various topics...
But mostly on global policy, diplomacy, leadership, management, and Africa
Greetings from rural central Texas.
I am a retired American diplomat (3-time Ambassador), former Peace Corps volunteer and staff, and former USAID contractor. I have spent most of my adult life working outside the United States, mostly in Africa. Since August 2023, I have taught global policy grad students as a professor of practice at the University Of Texas at Austin’s Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs. My wife Ouroukou and I also have a consulting firm that gets me back to Africa roughly every six months.
As a Foreign Service Officer, I was a professional writer for 33 years. That is part of what we do: draft policy memoranda and diplomatic reporting cables. Since my opus was USG work product, I could not take any of it with me when I retired, not even unclassified documents. I got the writing bug. Unbidden, my mind generates articles on topics that interest me. Until today, those “articles” have stayed mostly between my ears. Hopefully, by publishing them here I will exorcise these articles and free up some head space. I hope some of my musings will be of interest to my readers.
I will keep all content relevant to my courses free and publicly available. I will inform my students of this content. At some point, I may develop paid content, but not for course relevant topics. My UT/LBJ School colleague Jeremi Suri inspired me to venture down this road. I recommend his excellent Substack newsletter Democracy of Hope and podcast This is Democracy both co-produced with Zachary Suri.
I plan to engage with readers who respond to my offerings. I am genuinely interested in the perpectives of others. I believe in remaining open to new ideas while remaining committed to core principles. Understanding the views of others does not necessarily mean adopting those views. Respectful sharing of opinions based on varying life experiences can produce useful insights. That is what I am aiming for.