April 30, 1975 will long be remembered as the day that Saigon fell and with it, the end of U.S.…
The Fall of South Korean Strongman Syngman Rhee — April 26,1960
Syngman Rhee, a staunch anticommunist and authoritarian, was the first president of South Korea. Backed by the United States, Rhee…
“The U.S. values amateurism over professionalism in diplomacy”
Chas W. Freeman, Jr. is one of those rare diplomats with brilliant language abilities who also was involved in an…
Operation Eagle Pull before the Fall of Phnom Penh
It took place in the shadow of the dramatic evacuation from Saigon, which signaled the close of an era and…
Japanese Fishermen and the Bikini Atoll H-bomb Blast
On March 1st, 1954, the U.S. conducted its largest hydrogen bomb test ever near the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall…
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…
The Red Scare Hits the Foreign Service Institute
The Foreign Service Institute plays a central role in the training of American diplomats and other professionals in the U.S.…
Nixon Goes to China
“There is no place on this small planet for a billion of its potentially most able people to live in…
The USS Pueblo Incident — Assassins in Seoul, A Spy Ship Captured
January of 1968 saw two of the most serious incidents to occur on the Korean peninsula since the end of…
Philip Habib — Cursed is the Peacemaker
Philip Habib (February 25, 1920 – May 25, 1992) was a career diplomat known for his work in Vietnam, South Korea and the Middle East.…