During the spring of 1994, Americans were gripped by an incident in Singapore which unexpectedly became a cause celebre: the…
Starting an Embassy from Scratch in Papua New Guinea
In the decades following World War II, as colonies across the globe gained independence, the United States worked to establish…
Which Witch?
When stationed abroad, Foreign Service Officers may face dangers such as carjackings, bombings, or even assassination attempts. However, for some,…
Through the Open Gate: The Communist Takeover of Nanking
On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong declared the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, starting an era of Communist…
Douglas MacArthur, America’s Emperor of Japan
He was a general’s general, tough, unrelenting, a man who embraced the role history thrust on him. He was also…
Wives Gone Wild
Every Foreign Service Officer can have a difficult job of navigating cultural differences, memorizing customs and sticking to protocol while…
Kissinger and Lord in China: A How-To Guide for Secret Negotiations
At the height of the Cold War, with the death toll mounting in Vietnam and the split between the USSR…
Sound and the Fury — The 1954 Geneva Conference on Vietnam and Korea
In April 1954, amidst growing tensions regarding the situation in the Korean Peninsula and Indochina, the international community convened a…
The Art of China Watching During the Great Leap Forward
From 1958 to 1961, following the anti-rightest crackdown of the Hundred Flowers Campaign, Mao Zedong and the Communist Party launched…
No Nukes for New Zealand — Breakdown of the ANZUS Treaty
In the mid 1980’s, U.S. bilateral relations with New Zealand, a long-time ally in a relatively peaceful corner of the…