Clinton honors young diplomat Brian Adkins (1983-2009)
Brian Adkins A reader of this blog brought to my attention Secretary Clinton’s moving remarks about Brian Adkins, a young Foreign Service officer who was tragically killed in Ethiopia earlier this year. Adkins was only 25. A 2007 graduate of George Washington University, Adkins (pictured at left) was on his first assignment as a ...
A reader of this blog brought to my attention Secretary Clinton's moving remarks about Brian Adkins, a young Foreign Service officer who was tragically killed in Ethiopia earlier this year. Adkins was only 25. A 2007 graduate of George Washington University, Adkins (pictured at left) was on his first assignment as a Foreign Service officer.
Clinton delivered her remarks May 1 at the American Foreign Service Association's memorial plaque ceremony. Herself the mother of a young adult, she was audibly choking up at one point (starting at about three minutes into the video above). Clinton said:
Clinton delivered her remarks May 1 at the American Foreign Service Association’s memorial plaque ceremony. Herself the mother of a young adult, she was audibly choking up at one point (starting at about three minutes into the video above). Clinton said:
Brian Adkins was a smart, talented, and generous young man — everything that his country looks for in a Foreign Service officer. Wherever he went, he made an impression and he made a difference. As an undergraduate at George Washington University, he was a leader in Catholic service groups on campus. He was so industrious that when he left for Ethiopia, one of his friends said, “It took three of us just to fill his shoes.”
Adkins’s father, Dan Adkins, told ABC News, “He loved his country, he loved his job, he loved his family.”
Video: U.S. State Dept.; Photo: thumbnail from GW Hatchet
More from Foreign Policy


Is Cold War Inevitable?
A new biography of George Kennan, the father of containment, raises questions about whether the old Cold War—and the emerging one with China—could have been avoided.


So You Want to Buy an Ambassadorship
The United States is the only Western government that routinely rewards mega-donors with top diplomatic posts.


Can China Pull Off Its Charm Offensive?
Why Beijing’s foreign-policy reset will—or won’t—work out.


Turkey’s Problem Isn’t Sweden. It’s the United States.
Erdogan has focused on Stockholm’s stance toward Kurdish exile groups, but Ankara’s real demand is the end of U.S. support for Kurds in Syria.