The July 2016 attempted coup d’état in Turkey was the latest in a series of military interventions in the nation’s…
Should I Stay or Should I Go? Evacuating Liberia, 1990
Being caught up in violent political upheaval and forced to evacuate is among the risks of diplomatic service, as at…
“The World Was Tired of Haiti”: The 1994 U.S. Intervention
The United States found itself embroiled in several interventions in the 1990s that focused on upholding basic human rights standards…
Spain’s Post-Franco Emergence from Dictatorship to Democracy
Spanish leader Francisco Franco died November 20, 1975 at the age of 82 after 36 years in power, first as…
The Chile Burn Victims Case: Containment vs. Human Rights under Pinochet
During a 1986 protest in Santiago, Chile against the human rights abuses of Augusto Pinochet’s regime, teenagers setting up barricades…
Patt Derian, A Straight Shooter on Human Rights
Patricia “Patt” M. Derian was one of the key proponents of integrating human rights in U.S. foreign policy at a…
Roaring through the Riots of Libreville
Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, one the longest-serving rulers in history, opened his newly-independent country’s political system to multiple party…
Trouble in Chiapas: The Zapatista Revolt
Economic development in Mexico has been uneven for generations, as some blamed the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)…
“Austria is Free!” Post-War Vienna Escapes the Soviet Bloc
May 15th, 1955, was a momentous occasion for a war-battered Europe, and for the national history of Austria as the…
Paul Nitze and A Walk in the Woods — A Failed Attempt at Arms Control
In 1976, the USSR deployed hundreds of intermediate-range SS-20s (pictured), which were an upgrade of the older SS-3 and SS-4…