Dien Bien Phu was a major battle of the first Indochina war in which the French fought against the Viet Minh communists. The French objective had been to support the soldiers at Dien Bien Phu, deep in the hills of northwestern Vietnam to cut off Viet Minh supply lines into neighboring Laos. The Viet Minh, however, were able… Read More "The Fall of Dien Bien Phu and the Rise of U.S. Involvement in Vietnam"
Remembering Pope John Paul II
John Paul II was one of the most charismatic popes in recent history, a rock star who attracted millions during his frequent trips abroad and who was considered a beacon of hope for people in his native Poland. Born Karol Joseph Wojtyła on May 18, 1920 in Wadowice in southern Poland, he was elected pope… Read More "Remembering Pope John Paul II"
Constant Companions: KGB Stalking of FSOs
Revanchist policies from the Kremlin, crackdowns on protesters – lately with Russia it seems like everything old is new again. So perhaps it’s time to look back at the very embodiment of Cold War tensions – the infamous KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, or Committee of State Security). Rarely violent but often threatening, the constant presence of… Read More "Constant Companions: KGB Stalking of FSOs"
Making the World a Safer Place — Nuclear Arsenals and the Fall of the USSR
Imagine what Europe would be like today if Belarusian strongman Aleksandr Lukashenka were able to threaten his neighbors with nuclear weapons. Or how much tenser the situation in Ukraine would be if Kyiv had access to the bomb — Would Putin grab just Crimea or would he be tempted to take all of Ukraine to… Read More "Making the World a Safer Place — Nuclear Arsenals and the Fall of the USSR"
The Downing of KAL Flight 007
On August 30, 1983, a Boeing 747, Korean Airlines 007 took off for Seoul from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. With 246 passengers and 23 crew on board, the routine yet ill-fated flight would never complete the second leg of its journey from Anchorage to Gimpo Airport. Significantly off course, Captain Chun Byung-In… Read More "The Downing of KAL Flight 007"
“With Ukraine, Russia is an empire. Without it, Russia is just another country.” The history between these two is long and often fraught with conflict. Before the current protests in Ukraine over relations with Russia, Ukraine had to fight to free itself from the Soviet Union. Official independence was declared August 24, 1991 and with… Read More "Ukraine’s Push for Independence"
Transnistria — Moldovan Land Under Russian Control
The Transnistria region in Moldova is a Cold War relic. Along with Nagorno-Karabakh in Armenian-controlled Azerbaijan and South Ossetia in Georgia, it is a post-Soviet “frozen conflict” zone where a situation of “no war, no peace” still persists. It did not want to separate from the USSR when the latter was dissolved; the brief military conflict that started in March 1992… Read More "Transnistria — Moldovan Land Under Russian Control"
Poland’s Path to NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created by ten European countries, the U.S. and Canada in 1949 in the aftermath of World War II in order to provide mutual protection in case of an attack against any member. For decades it stood as the bulwark against a possible invasion from the Soviet Union and its allies.… Read More "Poland’s Path to NATO"
John S. Service – The Man Who “Lost China,” Part I
During the 1950’s hundreds of government employees, entertainers, educators, and union activists were accused of being communists by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Careers were ruined, reputations smeared as people found themselves on black lists and the victims of unjust persecution. In 1950, Senator Millard Tydings (D-MD) headed the Tydings Committee to investigate McCarthy’s claims of Communist penetration of the federal… Read More "John S. Service – The Man Who “Lost China,” Part I"
The Olympic Games, despite their lofty ideals, have since their inception in ancient Greece intertwined the best of athletic competition with the world of politics. Case in point: The 1980 Summer Games in Moscow, which took place less than a year after the USSR invaded Afghanistan. While there was no way to undo the invasion,… Read More "Moscow Gets Torched — The Boycott of the 1980 Summer Games"