Next to Pearl Harbor and 9/11, the Iranian seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979 and…
Crisis Management: Occupation of USIS in South Korea, 1985
On May 25, 1985, seventy-three South Korean students barged into the United States Information Services (USIS) library in Seoul and…
Iran-Contra: Who Knew What When?
In the Iran-Contra Affair, Colonel Oliver North and others within the National Security Council and CIA used back channels and…
Pablo Escobar and the Siege of Colombia’s Palace of Justice
Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, the wealthiest criminal in history once responsible for 80 percent of the cocaine entering the…
The Canadian Caper, Argo, and Escape from Iran
The years leading up to the autumn of 1979 in Iran proved to be turbulent, resulting in a radical transformation…
The PFLP Hijacking of TWA Flight 840
Thomas Boyatt was on his way to Cyprus to resume his post as political officer on August 29, 1969 when…
A Quiet Coup in the Caribbean: The Takeover of T&T
On July 27, 1990, a Muslim organization called Jamaat al Muslimeen instigated a coup against the government of Trinidad &…
Jimmy Carter’s “Malaise” Speech
In the late 1970’s, in the wake of the Iranian Revolution and the ongoing hostage crisis, a massive oil shortage…
Desert Storm “The War Never Really Ended” — Part I
It was the first major foreign policy crisis for the U.S. since the end of the Cold War. Iraq, which…
Lessons Learned from a Former Hostage
In Captive in the Congo, Mike Hoyt describes his ordeal as one of 300 hostages taken by armed rebels. They…