The U.S. focus on terrorism began to intensify in the late 1970s and 80s. However, it was often difficult to…
Combining Forces to Counter Terrorism — The Birth of S/CT
U.S. inter-agency coordination on countering terrorism was limited, for bureaucratic and technical reasons, prior to the mid-1980s. As hijackings and…
Pain at the Pumps: The 1973 Oil Embargo and Its Effect on U.S. Foreign Policy
It may be a challenge for those who did not experience it to imagine a time when the supply of gas…
Strangers When We Met
Back to Diplomats and Diplomacy Strangers When We Met: A Century of American Community in Kuwait “We are now marking…
The Murder of Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s Warrior for Peace
The assassination of 73-year old Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin came at the end of a peace rally in Tel…
Kopeks and Big Macs – Russia’s Move to a Market Economy
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the winter of 1991, the newly-formed Russian Federation took on the challenge…
The 1991 Madrid Peace Conference
The Madrid Peace Conference, held from October 30 to November 1, 1991, marked the first time that Israeli leaders negotiated…
Putin, The Early Years
From his crackdown on domestic opposition to his decision to invade Crimea and bomb U.S.-backed rebels in Syria, Vladimir Putin…
Demystifying the Interagency Process: The Ambassador’s Role
“He’ll sit here, and he’ll say, ‘Do this! Do that!’ And nothing will happen. Poor Ike — it won’t be a…
Opening an Embassy in the Land of Genghis Khan
Getting a new embassy up and running is a tremendous task, especially when the host city has an annual average…