The 1993 Oslo Accords were a historic point in Arab-Israeli relations. Hammered out in complete secrecy in Oslo, Norway, by Israeli and Palestinian negotiators acting without intermediaries, the Oslo Accords forced both sides to come to terms with each other’s existence. The Accords at the time were viewed as an extraordinary breakthrough. Many analysts now… Read More "Implementing the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords"
Admiral William Leahy, Ambassador to Vichy
When Admiral William Leahy retired as Chief of Naval Operations in August 1939, President Roosevelt personally awarded him the Distinguished Service Medal. “Bill,” he said, “if we have a war, you’re going to be right back here helping me to run it.”[1] Leahy was then sixty-four. Balding, with a narrow, firm mouth under a…
The Murder of Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s Warrior for Peace
The assassination of 73-year old Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin came at the end of a peace rally in Tel Aviv in favor of the Oslo Accords. Rabin had served two terms as Prime Minister, from 1974-1977 and again from 1992 until his death. He was a soldier with extensive experience combatting Arab states, serving… Read More "The Murder of Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s Warrior for Peace"
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 Wall, and the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. December saw the fall of one of Eastern Europe’s most brutal dictators, Nicolae Ceaușescu and it did not come peacefully. The Romanian Revolution started in the city of… Read More "The 1989 Romanian Revolution and the Fall of Ceausescu"
The 1991 Iraq War — A Messy End
An international coalition launched Operation Desert Storm, authorized by UN Resolution 678, on January 17, 1991, to force Saddam Hussein’s army out of Kuwait. Iraq responded by launching missile and artillery strikes on targets in Israel and Saudi Arabia and invading Khafji, a small Saudi Arabian city. In some brilliant military maneuvering by General “Stormin’ Norman” Schwarzkopf, Coalition… Read More "The 1991 Iraq War — A Messy End"
The 1991 Iraq War – The Battle at the UN: The Gathering Storm
Although several resolutions were passed by the UN Security Council imposing sanctions on Iraq, they did not have the desired effect of forcing Saddam Hussein to order his military to stand down and withdraw from Iraq. Saddam, in an effort to rally Arab support for his position, said he would only withdraw from Kuwait if… Read More "The 1991 Iraq War – The Battle at the UN: The Gathering Storm"
The 1991 Iraq War — The Battle at the UN
As an after-effect of the Iraq-Iran War which raged from 1980 to 1988, Baghdad found itself crippled by debts to neighboring countries, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and felt its debts should be forgiven. It pressured both countries to let it off the hook; the Saudis and Kuwaitis were not interested, however. Iraq, which considered Kuwait… Read More "The 1991 Iraq War — The Battle at the UN"
The U-2 Spy Plane Incident
On May 1, 1960, an America U-2 spy plane was shot down in Soviet airspace, causing great embarrassment to the United States, which had tried to conceal its surveillance efforts from the USSR. In 1957, the U.S. had established a secret intelligence facility in Pakistan in order to send U-2 spy planes into Soviet airspace… Read More "The U-2 Spy Plane Incident"
The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 14-28, 1962
The early years of the Kennedy Administration proved to be a tense time in relations with the Soviet Union. Kennedy had decided to go ahead with the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion (which had initially been authorized by his predecessor, Dwight Eisenhower) and then was severely tested during the 1961 Berlin Crisis, when Soviet leader… Read More "The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 14-28, 1962"
French Colony to Sovereign State: Moroccan Independence
Moroccans celebrate November 18 as Independence Day in commemoration of their Sultan’s return from exile in 1955 and Morocco’s transition from French protectorate to autonomous nation the following year. France claimed Morocco as a protectorate in 1912. Moroccan nationalists would eventually base arguments for independence on declarations such as the Atlantic Charter, a U.S.-British statement that… Read More "French Colony to Sovereign State: Moroccan Independence"