Stephen T. Thuransky was arrested for calling the president of Hungary an obscene name. Communist Hungary in 1947 was a…
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956
The early 1950s witnessed a thaw in the Communist monolith. Stalin’s death in 1953 led to Khrushchev’s “secret speech” in…
After Dayton: Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Bosnia
The Dayton Accords peace agreement represents one of the most pivotal of its time. Signed on November 21, 1995 at…
The Road to Reunification: Remembering the Reintegration of East and West Germany
The road to German reunification was long, turbulent, and beset with political obstacles. Despite the challenges, German reunification represents a…
The Velvet Divorce: A Peaceful Breakup in Post-Communist Czechoslovakia
Most divorces do not end well, and those between countries tend to be the messiest of all. The dissolution of…
Basketball: the Fifth Basket of the Helsinki Final Act
The Helsinki Final Act, an agreement signed by 35 nations at the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE)…
Establishing an Escape Network in Post-War Hungary
Throughout most of World War II, Hungary operated in conjunction with the Axis Powers and actively contributed to the Nazi…
Towering Infernos – The Kuwait Oil Fires
A 2010 Time Magazine article rated it as the third worst environmental catastrophe in history, right behind Chernobyl and Bhopal. As Operation…
The 1989 Romanian Revolution and the Fall of Ceausescu
1989 was the year of remarkable popular uprisings throughout the world, most notably Tiananmen Square, the fall of the Berlin…
Who May Enter? Issuing Visas to Jewish Refugees
Nazi policies designed to persecute Jewish populations prompted a wave of emigration from Europe beginning in 1933. Many sought to…