Archive - October 1, 2021

from THE HILL BY REED HASTINGS AND GLENN BLUMHORST, Opinion Contributors 09/30/21 Americans just spent the past two decades trying to rebuild Afghanistan from the top down. Our military led the way, with huge sacrifice, and the American people spent more than $2 trillion dollars on this effort. While hopes were raised, particularly for women, progress was fleeting. Our mission was not achieved. One could be forgiven then, for believing that American engagement overseas is a pointless task. And one could even be forgiven for thinking that Americans should choose to stop engaging the world because of what we’ve just gone through, and that instead, we should just retreat, self-isolate, and give up. Yet that would be a grievous mistake. Not only because it would undermine America’s security and prosperity, but because it just isn’t true. We’re writing this piece because we, as former Peace Corps volunteers, have seen the other side . . .

  By Daniel Schoolenberg (China 2013-15) SupChina Weekly September 30, 2021   When the Peace Corps pulled out of China early last year, it marked the end of a 27-year program that existed only thanks to the efforts of high-level American and Chinese diplomats. Could the program — with its ideals of U.S.-China cooperation — ever be restored?     On August 31, 1988, a small group of American officials arrived in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials. They were treated like high-level diplomats: received with the utmost formality, treated to endless banquets, given the same villa that had hosted Nixon and Kissinger years before to conduct meetings. Led by Jon Keeton, the regional director for the Peace Corps’s Asia programs, the small delegation was tasked with negotiating the details of a Peace Corps program in China. Keeton remembers the high ceilings, ornate pillars, the beautiful potted plants, and the . . .