Hessler (China 1996-98) and Packer (Togo 1982-84) In Current New Yorker

George Packer

Staff writer for The New Yorker George Packer (Togo 1982-84) who in May published The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America, which was reviewed recently on the site, has a comment on page 21 of the July 22, 2013, issue. Packer writes about the double standards of American foreign aid in the Middle East, given what is happening in Egypt. Meanwhile 0n the streets of Cairo is our own Peter Hessler (China 1996-98). Peter, who is also a staff writer for The New Yorker, also has a new book out this spring:  Strange Stones: Dispatches from East and West.

Peter’s Letter From Cairo in on page 26 of the current issue and is entitled, “The Showdown: winners and losers in Egypt’s ongoing revolution.” Peter and his family live now in Cairo, only blocks from Tahrir Square, and his view of the military ‘coup’ is an eye-witness account from street level.

Peter Hessler

So, two accounts of the aftermath of the Arab Spring from two RPCV writers. As Eunice Shriver said to Ambassador Shriver in 1969, meeting up by chance with two RPCVs at Midnight Mass in Sainte Chappelle Church in Paris, France, “Oh, Peace Corps Volunteers are everywhere.”

Well, these writers certainly are.