When Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Accords along with President…
Burma’s 8888 Demonstrations and the Rise of Aung San Suu Kyi
Political activist. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Political prisoner and inspiration to millions of people around the world. Aung San Suu…
A Cold End to the Prague Spring
In 1968, growing opposition to the failing sociopolitical and economic policies of hard-line Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, led by Antonín…
Prague Spring as Seen from the Outside – The Utter Impotence of U.S. Policy
Newspapers that had long been the Party mouthpiece were allowed to criticism the government, labor unions were given more rights…
Zimbabwe — The Death of a Nation
On April 18th, 1980, Southern Rhodesia, the richest nation in Africa, officially gained independence from the United Kingdom and established…
Combating Blatant Racism during an Evacuation from Liberia
The process of evacuating a country is filled with unexpected challenges. Many of these are logistical, while others include safety…
A Secret Betrayal — Kurdish Refugees in Iran
Between 1961 and 1975, the relationship between the Kurds and the Iraqi government was especially tumultuous. In 1961, the First…
Being Gay in the Foreign Service
Public perception of gay rights, including the right to marry and to serve in the military, has undergone a sea…
“It was something out of a B movie” — The 1980 Coup in Bolivia
Social unrest, political fragmentation, drug trafficking, and violence all characterized the late 70’s in Bolivia. All of the major parties…
A Short History of Demarching Orders
A demarche is the term of art for formal instructions sent from a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (or the State…