Peace Corps Returns to Syunik
When 30 American volunteers were sworn into the U.S. Peace Corps in Yerevan on May 21st, one detail stood out above the rest: for the first time in six years, some of them would be deployed to Syunik—Armenia's southernmost region, bordering both Azerbaijan and Iran, and long at the center of one of the post-Soviet world's most protracted territorial disputes. Before the ceremony ended, they sang the Armenian national anthem alongside the crowd; a small but telling sign of the months they'd already spent immersing themselves in a language and a culture, most Americans know little about. The last Peace...
The Domestic Dividend: Part II
It was more than altruism that motivated John F. Kennedy to start Peace Corps. By 1961, the Cold War had split the world into opposing camps: the communist East and capitalist West. On a late-night campaign stop in 1960, Kennedy informed a large group of University of Michigan students that the Soviet Union “had hundreds of men and women, scientists, physicists, teachers, engineers, doctors, and nurses . . . prepared to spend their lives abroad in the service of world communism.” In the spirit of Cold War competition, he challenged those young Americans into do the same—to give a few...
Conflicts to Watch in 2025
Every year, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) releases its Conflicts to Watch report, and the 2025 edition is an alarming look at where tensions could boil over. From Ukraine and Russia to rising instability in the Sahel and growing U.S.-China tensions over Taiwan, this year’s list warns of conflicts that could shape global security. We usually think of conflict prevention in terms of diplomacy, military strategy, or economic sanctions. But what about the work happening on the ground, long before tensions reach a crisis point? That’s where the Peace Corps comes in. Peace Corps volunteers don’t sit at negotiation...
Americans Need to Know
Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, his administration has slashed the work of many U.S. government agencies, including those focused on foreign policy. Now, there is concern that the Peace Corps could join the other foreign aid programs the administration is trying to dismantle. The United States Agency for International Development largely shut down in February and March 2025, with its workforce reduced from more than 10,000 to 15 people on staff. In early April 2025, members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency showed up at Peace Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C., signaling...
What Happens When Diplomats Fail to Understand the History of Nations Where They Serve — from the Perspective of the People in Those Nations?
History Shock When History Collides with Foreign Relations By John Dickson University of Kansas Press Reviewed by Nathalie Vadnais John Dickson gleans insights from 25 years as a foreign service officer, much of which included hard lessons that came from not having a deeper knowledge of a host country’s history. That leads time and again to what he terms “history shock,” wherein dramatically different interpretations of history have blocked diplomatic understanding and cooperation. Dickson served with the Peace Corps in Gabon 1976–79 before joining the U.S. Information Agency in 1984; he later served with the State Department when the two...
Three Pioneers
First Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the State Department. Chief Economist for U.S. Department of Labor. And Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the State Department. Photo: Janelle Jones “We are at a particular time in America, and the world is watching us,” Gina Abercrombie- Winstanley said after being appointed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to her new role. That would be the first-ever chief diversity and inclusion officer for the State Department. In January at State, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Jalina Porter also set precedent — when she became the first Black woman appointed as principal deputy spokesperson. Returned Volunteer...
We are the messengers of what Peace Corps is and can be
In a keynote address for the Franklin H. Williams Award ceremony, Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley recounts the opportunities she helped create — and the resistances she faced — as an African American woman serving in the Peace Corps and in the U.S. Foreign Service. By Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley On December 15, 2020, the Peace Corps recognized six leaders in the Peace Corps community — and a civic leader with a shared commitment to Peace Corps values — with the Franklin H. Williams Award. The keynote address was delivered by Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, whose pathbreaking career in the Foreign Service has created new opportunities and possibilities for women and minorities....
National Peace Corps Association Response to President’s Recent Immigration Comments
(On Friday, the National Peace Corps Association released the following statement in the aftermath of news reports pertaining to President Trump's Thursday comments on U.S. immigration policy) Last week, National Peace Corps Association praised President Trump for his excellent nomination for Peace Corps Director. Today, however, we are obliged to take exception to the disparaging remarks apparently made in reference to the countries - and therein the citizens - which our Peace Corps community has embraced and adopted as our second homes. Since 1961, nearly 90,000 Peace Corps Volunteers served – and continue to serve - nations in Africa....
Peace Corps Health Legislation Honors Nick Castle
On the day in which fallen Peace Corps volunteer Nick Castle would have celebrated his 28th birthday, legislation has been introduced in the United States Senate to address a series of issues related to the health and safety of Volunteers. The Nick Castle Peace Corps Reform Act of 2018 (S. 2286) was introduced Wednesday, January 10th by Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Other lead sponsors include Senators Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Chris Coons (D-DE). Nick Castle died while serving in China in 2013. A November 2014 report on the death by the Peace...