The James W Foley Legacy Foundation has launched its second annual review of US Government handling of hostages cases. Bringing Americans Home 2020 is based on interviews with 25 people with direct experience of hostage taking or wrongful detention, both those who were held as well as their family members.

I was honored to join the launch event hosted by New America Foundation alongside Diane Foley, Lisa Monaco, and report author Cynthia Loertscher.

I would urge anyone interested in hostages and hostage policy to read the report in full, but here are the main findings.

  1. The US Government’s 2015 hostage policy reforms have largely been durable, but there is always room for improvement
  2. The families of Americans wrongly detained by a foreign government have not benefited from the changes stemming from the 2015 review and report poor satisfaction regarding their interaction with the US government
  3. While the current Administration has prioritized bringing Americans home, more focus and further prioritization is needed

The report is rich with quotes from families and former hostages and detainees and contains a long list of concrete recommendations for the USG government, nonprofit organizations, and others. Excellent work – and well worth your time to read it in full.