Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training
Arlington, Virginia, United States | |
Coordinates | 38°52′04″N 77°06′06″W / 38.867647°N 77.101536°W |
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Products | World's largest collection of U.S. diplomatic oral history, two book series, and “Moments in U.S. Diplomatic History” short articles series |
Fields | International Relations (IR), American History, World History, Intelligence Studies, Diplomatic Studies |
President | Susan Rockwell Johnson[1] |
Executive-Director | Dan Tikvart [1] |
Website | adst |
The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) is a
Mission
ADST's stated mission is to promote the importance of U.S. diplomacy by
capturing, preserving, and sharing the experiences of America's diplomats and other foreign affairs professionals to enrich diplomatic practitioners' professional knowledge and strengthen public appreciation of diplomacy's contribution to the national interest. ADST programs include:
- Recording the oral histories of diplomats, family members, and others;
- Facilitating the preparation and publication of books on diplomacy;
- Contributing to diplomatic case studies and educational materials;
- Supporting professional education at the Foreign Service Institute.[4]
History
Retired U.S. Foreign Service officer Charles "Stu" Kennedy started the oral history project after listening to several eulogies given at ambassador Charles Burke Elbrick's 1983 funeral, as he became concerned that the historically valuable personal recollections of U.S. diplomats might be lost forever if not recorded.[5][6][7] Along with Victor Wolf Jr., who also worked on the early stages of the project, Kennedy recognized the need for outside help to produce the oral histories, along with volunteers and interviewers. In February 1985, the pair began the project with $10,000 at George Washington University. After Victor Wolf's death in 1986, Kennedy interviewed the nephew of Douglas Macarthur, Douglas MacArthur II.[7]
In 1986, Stephen Low and Richard Parker founded the ADS (Association for Diplomatic Studies) to aid education at the Foreign Service Institute. This was separate from Kennedy's efforts, though Kennedy soon met with Richard Parker. In 1988, ADS contracted Kennedy to complete 18 oral histories. Parker then aided Kennedy in moving the project within the auspices of Georgetown University's Lauinger Library. In 1993, the oral history project joined ADST at FSI's new campus at Arlington Hall.[7][8][9]
Programs
Oral histories
ADST's major initiative is the Foreign Affairs Oral History Project. ADST interviews American diplomats after departure from government service about their career experiences and professional insights and assessments of leaders, successful and unsuccessful policies, and foreign conflicts.[10] The oral history collection is referenced by scholars, authors, and media, including The Washington Post, The Atlantic, C-SPAN, RealClearPolitics, and others.[11][12][13]
Since 1986, ADST's Foreign Affairs Oral History Program has recorded more than 2,600 interviews with U.S. foreign affairs practitioners. These include ambassadors, attachés, consuls, USIA and USAID officers, Foreign Service Nationals, spouses, and workers at the Departments of Agriculture, Treasury, and Commerce. Interviews are often conducted by former foreign service officers. The founder of the program, retired foreign service officer Charles Kennedy, has conducted the majority of the interviews.[9][7]
Collectively, these oral histories span over 80 years and provide first-person accounts of many dramatic incidents in U.S. diplomacy, such as the
The oral history collection has become one of the largest in the country on any subject and the most significant archive on foreign affairs. Oral histories have been used as source material for several books, such as John Pomfret's The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present, Derek Leebaert's Grand Improvisation: America Confronts the British Superpower, 1945–1957, Timothy Weiner's Legacy of Ashes, and Margaret MacMillan's Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World. The Oral History Collection is a part of the Library of Congress American Memory collection. It is unclassified, available to the public, and can be found at the Library's Frontline Diplomacy website. It is also available on ADST's site under Oral History Interviews. As result of the oral history program, in 2022, ADST received a Special Award for Service to the History Profession from the Society for History in the Federal Government.[7]
Publications
In 1995 ADST's publication program began in 1995. ADST worked with DACOR in publishing the illustrated booklet A Brief History of United States Diplomacy. Afterwards, ADST collaborated with DACOR to create the Diplomats and Diplomacy Book Series. The first book published as a part of that series, Emperor Dead and Other Historic American Diplomatic Dispatches, exhibits foreign dispatches to the State Department between the years 1776 and 1965.[17][18]
ADST has facilitated the publication of over 100 books pertaining to diplomacy, international history, and the Foreign Service. Books published in its Diplomats and Diplomacy Series include
Other
Other ADST resources include the video series "Tales of American Diplomacy", podcasts, and over 1,000 articles highlighting "Moments in U.S. Diplomatic History". Several resources have overlapping content in different formats to increase accessibility. ADST's podcasts include In Their Own Voices, the Cold War Series, Partners in Diplomacy, and Modern American Diplomacy. ADST's education landing page features six model high school lesson plans on diplomacy, based on oral history primary source material for educators. Examples include plans on the Cold War, WWII Female Codebreakers, Black Diplomats, and the Suez Canal. Country readers and subject readers comprising excerpts from oral histories compiled by country or topic facilitate research and enhance background knowledge.[3][7][9][15]
ADST activities over the past three decades have also included organization of policy roundtables; a diplomatic history scholar in residence program; and a
See also
- Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired (DACOR)
References
- ^ a b "ADST Staff". ADST. Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
- ^ "SCC efile". ASSOCIATION FOR DIPLOMATIC STUDIES AND TRAINING. Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
- ^ a b c "About ADST—The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training". American Diplomacy. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
- ^ "What is ADST? – Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training". adst.org. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
- ^ "It happened to me: Diplomats recount stories of crisis and survival". WFED. September 19, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
- ^ .
- ^ a b c d e f g h Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Oral History Program Lecture & Award Presentation, 2022-11-03, retrieved 2023-01-30
- ^ "History". Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. Georgetown University. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Ashe, Heather. "The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection: A National Treasure". American Diplomacy. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
- ^ "Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training". loc.gov. Library of Congress. Retrieved February 21, 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Torry, Jack (August 9, 2015). "Don't Blame Nixon for Scuttled Peace Overture". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
- ^ Langer, Emily (December 25, 2016). "Christian Chapman, U.S. diplomat who survived assassination attempt, dies at 95". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
- ^ "The Diplomatic Life: It's Not All Striped Trousers and Sips of Tea". The Atlantic. December 18, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
- ^ "ADST's Oral History Collection – Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training". adst.org. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
- ^ ISSN 0099-0086.
- ^ "Oral Histories of U.S. Diplomacy in Afghanistan, 2001–2021". adst.org. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
- JSTOR 23732091.
- ^ "Teaching Diplomacy | American Foreign Service Association". afsa.org. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
- ^ "Publications". ADST. Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. Retrieved February 22, 2017.