The United States Intelligence Community was, infamously, heavily involved in the Cold War. The tensions between the United States and…
“A Special Place in My Heart:” Memories of USAID in Vietnam
Images of the U.S. military in Vietnam are part of the American consciousness. But these images are only part of…
The Diplomacy of Tragedy: Burmese Airways Crash Kills 14 Americans in 1987
In the early morning hours of October 11, 1987, a Burmese turboprop plane transporting 49 passengers, including 36 foreign nationals…
Remembering Thailand’s King and the Transition to Democracy
Bhumibol Adulyadej, also known as Rama IX, was the ninth monarch of Thailand and the longest-serving head of state in…
Act of Kindness: Chinese President Xi Jinping helped grant an American ambassador his final wish
Amb. John Leighton Stuart was a central figure in U.S.-China relations until his recall in 1949, when the United States…
Sound, Fury, Brilliance & Booze: Faulkner in Post-War Japan
William Faulkner, among the most decorated writers in American literature with the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature, the Pulitzer Prize…
Richard Solomon, Ping-Pong Diplomat to China
China scholar Richard Solomon, who was an essential component of the “ping-pong diplomacy” that led to the thaw in relations…
Unexploded Ordnance, Spam and Moonshine–Life as Ambassador to Micronesia
The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), sometimes known simply as Micronesia, consists of four states — Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae –…
The U.S. Incursion into Cambodia
When President Richard Nixon took office in 1969, he and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger vowed to find a way…
Revolutionizing Public Diplomacy: U.S. Embassy Tokyo in the 1970s
The goal of public diplomacy (PD) is defined as supporting the achievement of U.S. foreign policy goals and objectives, advancing…