An unfortunate, but not uncommon, part of a consul’s job is to help American citizens who are in distress —…
“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…
Delivering the Mail and Avoiding Martial Law in South Korea, 1987
Chun Doo-hwan, president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988, seized power in 1979 and crushed many democratization movements during…
“Mr. Gorbachev, Tear down this wall!”
On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan made one of his most famous Cold War speeches at the Berlin Wall.…
A Completely Lawless Place – Beirut and the Assassination of Ambassador Meloy and Robert Waring
The Lebanese Civil War was a 15-year conflict that took the lives of more than 130,000 people. Throughout the early…
An Encounter with Hitler
So it’s 1935, you’re blonde and Jewish and have a bit of Wanderlust. And where do you go? Why, Nazi…
The East Berlin Uprising, June 16-17, 1953
It began as a strike by East Berlin construction workers but quickly escalated into waves of protests throughout the German…
Israel’s Attack on the USS Liberty
On June 8, 1967, a Navy intelligence ship, the USS Liberty, was mistaken for an Egyptian warship and attacked by…
The Art of Protocol
Understanding the rules of protocol is essential to conducting diplomacy, as any diplomat would attest. Everything from knowing how to…