Cops, Soldiers, and Diplomats is an exceptionally clear exposition of bureaucratic behavior amongst various agencies as each responded to the challenges of the War on Drugs. Payan exposes the bureaucratic imperatives of the numerous agencies waging the drug war, uncovering some of the fundamental structural reasons why this war could not succeed within the United States.

Soldiers and Diplomacy addresses the key question of the ongoing role of the military in BurmaÍs foreign policy. The authors, a political scientist and a former top Asia editor for the BBC, provide a fresh perspective on BurmaÍs foreign and security policies, which have shifted between pro-active diplomacies of neutralism and non-alignment, and autarkical policies of isolation and xenophobic nationalism. They argue that important elements of continuity underlie BurmaÍs striking postcolonial policy changes and contrasting diplomatic practices. Among the defining factors here are the formidable dominance of the Burmese armed forces over state structure, the enduring domestic political conundrum and the peculiar geography of a country located at the crossroads of India, China and Southeast Asia. Egreteau and Jagan argue that the Burmese military still has the tools needed to retain their praetorian influence over the countryÍs foreign policy in the post-junta context of the 2010s. For international policymakers, potential foreign investors and BurmaÍs immediate neighbors, this will have strong implications in terms of the countryÍs foreign policy approach.

Although the role of the military advisor to senior foreign officials is honored in political history, it became almost a forgotten art when it was needed in Afghanistan and Iraq. American military services are now fully engaged in nation-building in the Iraqi and Afghan conflict zones, and the advisory responsibility seems certain to be needed elsewhere. Advisors have become an invaluable part of the nation-building process, and whether they are assigned to counsel and work with governors, generals, or Cabinet Ministers, their role has an impact on America's overall political and military strategy. This guidebook draws on the experiences of diplomats and military officers who have served in such roles, and whose work with senior foreign officials was carried out in conflict zones at critical times. Although examples are drawn from life in the Islamic world, the precepts have widespread application, and the examples will be an important part of any future advisor's preparation.

What do the men and women of America's diplomatic corps do? William D. Morgan and Charles Stuart Kennedy, themselves career diplomats, culled over 1400 oral interviews with their Foreign Service peers to present forty excerpts covering events from the 1920s to the 1990s. Insiders recount what happens when a consul spies on Nazi Germany, Mao Tse-Tung drops by for a chat, the Cold War begins with the Berlin blockade, the Marshall Plan rescues Europe, Sukarno moves Indonesia into the communist camp, Khrushchev calls President Kennedy an SOB, and our ambassador is murdered in Kabul. "You are there" accounts deepen readers' understanding, as diplomatic and consular officers talk about the beginnings of Kremlinology, predicting a coup in Ecuador, Hemingway and the embassy in Havana, the secret formulation of the NATO treaty, Jerusalem after the British and the US recognition of Israel, fighting in the Congo over Katangan secession, dealing with an alcoholic foreign president, human rights work in Paraguay, the U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran, the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, helping families of the Pan Am 103 victims, Greece and Turkey at odds over a tiny island, embassy roles in Riyadh and Tel Aviv during Desert Storm, and many more.