It sounds like something out of a novel: a group of rebels, helped by an American, seize an embassy in…
An Iran-Contra War Story with Oliver North
Oliver North is a former United States Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel who served as a National Security Council staff member during the Iran–Contra affair, a political scandal involving…
444 Days — The End Game
The 444-day-long Iran Hostage Crisis ranks as one of the most traumatic diplomatic events in U.S. history and even thirty…
444 Days: Memoirs of an Iran Hostage
More than thirty years later, the Iran Hostage crisis still ranks as one of the most traumatic diplomatic events in…
The More Things Change – A Look Back at Syria’s Hafez al-Assad
“You know I have my ups and downs, but I have a pact with God. The pact is that no…
Qaddafi – The Man and His Rise to Power
On September 1st, 1969 Muammar Qaddafi along with a group of officers part of the Free Officers Movement staged a…
The Suez Crisis — And A Different Side of Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser was one of the most influential modern-day leaders in the Middle East. As part of the Free…
Jimmy Carter’s “Malaise” Speech
In the late 1970’s, in the wake of the Iranian Revolution and the ongoing hostage crisis, a massive oil shortage…
Independence and “Catastrophe”: The Deadly Founding of Israel, May 14, 1948
On May 15, 1948, the UK withdrew from Palestine. (It had been given a mandate over the territories after it defeated the Ottomans…
“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…