The Manhattan Project is one of the largest scientific research programs the United States has ever seen — and certainly…
Recant and Released — Smoking Gun Shoots Blanks
In 1982, Cold War tensions led to growing concerns about Soviet and Cuban influence in Central America. Following the overthrow…
The Marshall Plan — “The Europeans did the job themselves”
After World War II, Europe was recovering from the devastation of conflict and suffered from high unemployment and food shortages;…
Normalizing Ties with Franco: “I don’t have to like the son of a bitch, do I?”
For many people, Spain in the 1930s and 40s was a country of despair, where the dreams of democracy and…
Get Your Cameras Ready: Celebrities in the Embassies
While the work at embassies can often put Foreign Service officers in harm’s way, on occasion they have the chance…
Books, Defectors, and Song — The Cuban Missile Crisis, as Seen from Moscow
The Soviet Union, in Churchill’s famous words, was a “riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”; as such it made…
Poison as a Weapon in Putin’s Russia
Russia’s tumultuous history is replete with backstabbing — sometimes literal — where the powerful would seek their vengeance with a…
Boots on the Ground: Discovering Oliver North’s Secret Plan for Nicaragua
Central America in the 1980’s became a focal point for foreign policy during the Reagan administration, as concern over gains…
Resigning Over the Conflict in El Salvador
Central America in the 1980s became a proxy battleground as the United States supported right-wing leaders against leftist socialist guerrillas…
Returning the Crown of Saint Stephen to post-Cold War Hungary
For centuries, it was the national symbol of a nation. For decades, it was kept in Fort Knox for safekeeping.…