American Diplomat Podcast

Real U.S. diplomats share the untold truths behind world events—what went right, what went wrong, and what you’ll never see in the news.

Want to know what it’s really like on the frontlines of international diplomacy?  Each week, Amb. (Ret.) Pete Romero and co-host Laura Bennett sit down with active and retired US diplomats to pull back the curtain on the gritty, human side of international affairs.  From dealing with foreign leaders to navigating the chaos of war zones, these diplomats share the stories that drive the headlines.  

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Latest Podcast Episodes

A foreign policy grandmaster strategist? Or is our president guided simply by whim and spite, without a cohesive plan? Pete and Laura break it down. You be the judge.
Tony Wayne, former Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs and US Ambassador to Mexico, pulls apart the strands.  First, what is an import?  How many times would you guess a raw material or auto part crosses a Canadian or Mexican border in the process of making and assembling a car?  4?  5? Each crossing carries a 25% tariff.  That’s a lot of crossings!  And a whole lot of tariffs!  And the point?  To make our neighbors tougher on smuggling into the US things we don’t want such as fentanyl.  But the drug trade runs two ways,…
Diplomat and Author Edward Fishman reveals how globalization is giving way to zero-sum self-interest. Can we win the emerging economic warfare?  Listen, and read his new book Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare.  
The Arctic is a serious US national security issue. NATO, particularly Denmark, agree and have offered significant resources to better secure the area from China and Russia.  Will Trump accept these or hold out for Mar-a-Greenland?  Can we divide the policy rhetoric from the policy outcomes?  Luke Coffey, former adviser to the British defense minister and prior to that a US service member, now a fellow at the Hudson Institute, knows his brief!  Bonus: Who was Eric the Red?
Was Trump’s big showdown with President Petro of Colombia a show of might and power, or was there another reality behind the smoke and mirrors?  Pete has a thing or two to say about optics, policy and human lives, from the standpoint of the practice of diplomacy.
Ambassador (and ASU professor) Ed O’Donnell offers a close look at the economic impacts of Trump’s foreign policies including "Tariff is a beautiful word”, “The Chinese are going to take over the Panama Canal!” and "Drill, baby, drill."  None of these approaches is new.  What’s the reality beneath the bombast?
Welcome to 2025 from AmDip!  Amb. Patrick Theros unpacks Syria for us, from the Halcyon 1970s of mini-skirts and old cars on the streets, to the chaos of the present day.  What was the West’s role in Syria’s changes, and what should the US do now? 
Ambassador Dick Hoagland, having served many years in Russia and former Soviet republics, has had ample opportunity to consider the high-stakes drinking game of vodka diplomacy. Bottoms up and happy New Year!  

The Podcast Team

Ambassador and Co-Host

Amb. Pete Romero had a twenty-five year career as a diplomat in the US Foreign Service. In his last three postings, he was head of our embassy in El Salvador, US Ambassador in Quito, Ecuador and Assistant Secretary of the Western Hemisphere Bureau at the US Department of State.

Producer and Co-Host

Laura Bennett has written, directed, produced and edited short films that have won 11 awards and screened at 35 festivals throughout the United States. Laura speaks Spanish, French and English and has traveled in five continents, often solo and working as a volunteer.

Sound Engineer

Lorenzo Wilkins heads SD33/Art Direction and Design, focusing on identity, publication and marketing design.  His client list includes the former UPN television, Fox television, PBS, Spike Lee's 40 Acres & a Mule, the NAACP, the National Society of Black Engineers, Jane Firor & Associates, City First Bank of DC, the Education Trust and several political campaigns.

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