When did the US first warm to India and why? Why did Pakistan nominate Trump for a Nobel? And what does the Y2K bug have to do with US-India relations today? Former ambassador Don Lu shares stories and insight on person-to person diplomacy and his personal connection to Disney's Splash Mountain.

Why can't we just bomb our way to victory in Iran? Listen to Lt. General Karen Gibson, former Director of Intelligence for U.S. Central Command, tell tales of the three-legged stool of military, intel and diplomacy in Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq – when things go well and when they do not.

Former Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Todd Robinson spent much of his career under fire, of one kind or another. Listen to his candid views on corruption in Guatemala, blowing up ships without due process, and how to stop fentanyl from killing Americans.

Is it Burma, or is it Myanmar? Did its former leader Aung San Suu Kyi bring democratic reform or did she commit genocide? Both? Chris Milligan, former Agency Counselor for USAID, highlights breathtaking human resilience and the strategic value of foreign assistance.

What was USAID? How did DOGE destroy it, and with what impacts to global health and stability? Nick Enrich's book "Into the Wood Chipper" details the demolition of the agency that for less than 1% of the US budget saved 92 million lives globally. Listen to him tell the tale.

What is "dumping"? How does it hurt us? Who comes to the rescue? The Foreign Commercial Service! Judy Reinke, after leading the FCS, became Ambassador to Montenegro. Listen to her tales of service near and far.

How to get bomb-ready uranium out of the wrong hands? It's the mid-90s. The Soviet Union just fell. Andrew Weber, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Defense Programs, tells of moose hunts, wild turkey, black ice and convoys under cover of night. How does past diplomacy help us understand the nuclear situation in Iran today?

Can the US get out of its own way and turn this into a win? Ambassador Gary Grappo tells us how to do that, in a conversation with Pete and ASU Barrett Honors students. And yes, the solution involves diplomacy with a touch of humility. The Diplomat Lounge is a spinoff project of American Diplomat. This is its third of its three pilot episodes.

By what dirty tricks exactly did Orban seize control of his country? And how then did his rival Magyar beat him? And between those bookends, we offer a look at what it was like to run the embassy in Budapest under Trump I. Could it be any more different than Trump now? Dave Kostelancik, former Chargé d'Affaires, regales us.

AMB Kurt Volker, who has known Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban for 30 years, helps us understand the man, his early vision for Hungary, how his quest to "never lose another election" led him to become the model for would-be authoritarians everywhere — and also led to his downfall in last Sunday's election. Things are never quite as simple as they may appear!