2015 marks the 100th anniversary of what a number of international organizations, countries, and even some U.S. states formally recognize…
The Seychelles – Gangsta’s Paradise
A country of white sand beaches and palm trees, the Seychelles is an exotic tourist destination. It also happens to…
The Ivory Coast’s Félix Houphouët-Boigny – “A Master Manipulator and Destabilizer”
The late President Félix Houphouët-Boigny of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) did not look like a “strong man.” He was small…
The Iran-Contra Scandal
One of the biggest foreign policy scandals of the last half-century was the Iran-Contra affair, in which the Reagan Administration,…
The Irrepressible Prudence Bushnell
As a teenage daughter of a Foreign Service Officer who moved his family from country to country every so often,…
The Tumultuous Economy of 1990s Japan
The Lost Decade marked a tumultuous time in Japan’s economic history, as corporations and banking systems played fast and loose…
“We are as Firm as a Monkey Tail” – Baby Doc Duvalier Leaves Haiti
For much of the 20th century, Haiti was under the control of the Duvalier family, headed by Francois “Papa Doc”…
The U.S. Ambassador to Panama Reflects on the Fall of Manuel Noriega
For most of the 1980s, Panama was controlled by one man — General Manuel Noriega, who had been trained by…
The End of an Era — Handholding Ferdinand Marcos in Exile
Just minutes after returning from his three-year exile, former Philippine Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated at the Manila airport…
Lebanon and the Rise of Hezbollah
For more than 30 years, it has been a political force in Lebanon and beyond, at times praised for its…