On May 7, 1999, U.S. warplanes accidentally dropped laser-guided bombs on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during NATO’s intervention in…
The Terrorist Attack on the Saudi Embassy — Khartoum, 1973
Less than a year after its members murdered 11 Israeli athletes and one German police guard during the 1972 Summer…
Four Days in September — The Kidnapping of the U.S. Ambassador to Brazil
It sounds like something out of Hollywood. Indeed, it was made into a Brazilian movie in 1997 with Alan Arkin…
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…
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…
Hard Rock Hotel Panama — Noriega and the U.S. Invasion, Part I
Beginning in the middle of the 1980s, relations between General Manuel Noriega, Panama’s de facto leader, and the United States…
Captive in the Congo
Michael Hoyt was Commercial Officer in Leopoldville from 1962 until 1965 and was serving as interim Principal Officer in Stanleyville…
Operation Dragon Rouge
William E. Schaufele, Jr. was the Congo Desk Officer at State from 1964 to 1965, when 330 people, including the…
Fascinating Figures
Diplomacy and foreign policy attract some of the smartest, most dedicated, and most interesting figures in every generation. In this…
Uncle Sam in Barbary
Back to Diplomats and Diplomacy Uncle Sam in Barbary: A Diplomatic History “Finally! Every American student of history, every American…