Formation 1986 Executive-Director Judith Baroody | President Susan Rockwell Johnson Website adst.org | |
Location Arlington, Virginia, United States | ||
The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) is a United States non-profit organization established in 1986 which chronicles the history of American foreign policy and practice.
The ADST's major initiative is the Foreign Affairs Oral History Project. ADST interviews American diplomats as soon as possible after their departure from government service about their professional assessments of American and foreign leaders, successful and unsuccessful policies, and foreign conflicts. The oral history project was begun by U.S. foreign service officer Charles “Stu” Kennedy in the 1980s who, after listening to several eulogies given at an ambassador's funeral, became concerned that the historically valuable, personal recollections of U.S. diplomats might be lost forever if not recorded. Originally sponsored by Georgetown University's Lauinger Library, it was subsequently taken over by the ADST. The project's collection is regularly referenced by media, including the Washington Post, The Atlantic, RealClearPolitics, and others.
In addition to the Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, ADST also "assists in the publication of books pertaining to diplomacy and the foreign service". Its "Series on Diplomats and Diplomacy" has published African Wars: A Defense Intelligence Perspective (William G. Thom), American Ambassadors: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Diplomats (Dennis Jett), The American Consul (Charles Stuart Kennedy), The Architecture of Diplomacy: Building America’s Embassies (Jane C. Loeffler), and others.
The ADST is a 501(c)3 organization headquartered at the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center in Arlington, Virginia.