On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan made one of his most famous Cold War speeches at the Berlin Wall.…
An Encounter with Hitler
So it’s 1935, you’re blonde and Jewish and have a bit of Wanderlust. And where do you go? Why, Nazi…
The East Berlin Uprising, June 16-17, 1953
It began as a strike by East Berlin construction workers but quickly escalated into waves of protests throughout the German…
Another Crazy Day in the Consular Section
Consular officers need to be prepared for whatever American citizens traveling abroad can throw at them. The consular section can…
Back in the USSR — Life as a Student in Moscow in the 1960s
Grim. Tedious. Unrelentingly cold and dreary. Add in KGB surveillance and the fear that they truly were out to get…
Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady
One of the most prominent political figures in Cold War history, Margaret Thatcher, led Britain as the only female prime…
An American in Solzhenitsyn’s “Gulag Archipelago”
He was a victim of cruel fate, a young American living in the USSR forced to endure unimaginable torture and…
FSO Ends Up in an Irish Stew Over His Christmas Letter
We’ve all wanted to blow off steam about our boss, co-workers, or those troglodytes in Human Resources. Robin Berrington, who…
When Visa Officers Went Bad
Consular officers are often the face of the U.S. government overseas. They are the ones interviewing visa applicants, dealing with…
The Day Stalin’s Daughter Asked for Asylum in the U.S.
On March 9th, 1967, Svetlana Alliluyeva — Joseph Stalin’s only daughter — walked into the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi…