Every Foreign Service Officer can have a difficult job of navigating cultural differences, memorizing customs and sticking to protocol while…
“Do you know who I am?” – Diplomatic Immunity Gone Wrong
For the uninitiated, one of the apparent perks of being a diplomat is diplomatic immunity — You’ll never have to…
A First-Class Spy Flap: CIA Agents Compromised in Ghana
Relations between the United States and Ghana were strained in the early 1980s. Its leader, the enigmatic former Flight Lieutenant…
Marquita Maytag: The Shrew of Kathmandu
Nepal is a small mountainous country in South Asia, bordered by India and the Tibetan autonomous region of China, which…
“Never get into an elevator with a Polish blonde” — More Honeypots
During the Cold War and beyond, Western diplomats had to constantly keep their wits about them when serving in the…
The Berlin Crisis of 1961
In the early years of the Cold War, Berlin repeatedly became the focal point of tension between the U.S. and…
The Seychelles – Gangsta’s Paradise
A country of white sand beaches and palm trees, the Seychelles is an exotic tourist destination. It also happens to…
The Iran-Contra Scandal
One of the biggest foreign policy scandals of the last half-century was the Iran-Contra affair, in which the Reagan Administration,…
No Good Deed – Cattle, the French, and Getting PNG’ed from Madagascar
While U.S. diplomatic missions attempt to build relationships with the nations in which they maintain embassies, these relationships don’t always…
The Dominican Civil War of 1965
In the period immediately following the assassination of General Rafael Trujillo, known as “El Jefe,” the Dominican Republic was in…