Known as “El Jefe,” or “The Chief,” Rafael Trujillo ruled as dictator of the Dominican Republic for more than 30…
The Show Trial of U-2 Pilot Francis Gary Powers
On May 1, 1960, an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union and its pilot, Francis…
The Assassination of Ambassador Spike Dubs — Kabul, 1979
Adolph “Spike” Dubs was a career diplomat who served in Germany, Liberia, and the Soviet Union. He became a noted Soviet expert, and in…
Ignoring Washington for the Sake of Argentina
While human rights in foreign policy has generally enjoyed broad bipartisan support for several years now, it was not always…
Being Black in a “Lily White” State Department
Terence Todman is one of the few people to attain the rank of career ambassador – the equivalent of a…
The USS Pueblo Incident — Assassins in Seoul, A Spy Ship Captured
January of 1968 saw two of the most serious incidents to occur on the Korean peninsula since the end of…
Early American Diplomacy in the Near and Far East
Back to Diplomats and Diplomacy Early American Diplomacy in the Near and Far East: The Diplomatic and Personal History…
A Real Life “Thunderball”: The Day the U.S. Lost Hydrogen Bombs in Spain
The March 2009 edition of Time magazine called it one of the world’s “worst nuclear disasters.” On January 17, 1966, a B-52…
Desert Storm: “The War Never Really Ended” — Part II
Chas Freeman was U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm and consulted frequently with General Norman Schwarzkopf and others…
Desert Storm “The War Never Really Ended” — Part I
It was the first major foreign policy crisis for the U.S. since the end of the Cold War. Iraq, which…