The design of U.S. embassies has swung through varying phases over the past several decades. Some embassies, such as the…
The Grisly Tradition of Beheading
The act of beheading has been used as a means for execution and retribution for millennia. The guillotine, which was…
Counterinsurgency in Eastern Afghanistan 2004–2008
Back to Memoirs and Occasional Papers Counterinsurgency in Eastern Afghanistan 2004–2008: A Civilian Perspective After the 2001 ouster of the…
From Nation-Building to Black Hawk Down: U.S. Peacekeeping in Somalia
Somalia has become synonymous with well-meaning but ill-fated humanitarian intervention. Live television footage of American soldiers being dragged in the…
“It wasn’t supposed to happen here” — 9/11, Before and After
September 11, 2001 left an indelible mark on American history when nineteen members of al Qaeda carried out the deadliest…
“A Recipe for Endless War” – The Rise of the Taliban
After conquering Kabul in April 1996, the Taliban established the ultra-conservative Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, enforcing a radical interpretation of…
The Iraqi Revolution — of 1958
In 1958, the 14 July Revolution ended the thirty-seven-year Hashemite monarchy of Iraq in a coup d’état and established the…
Moscow Gets Torched — The Boycott of the 1980 Summer Games
The Olympic Games, despite their lofty ideals, have since their inception in ancient Greece intertwined the best of athletic competition…
Oliver Platt — Actor and Foreign Service Brat
Oliver Platt is a talented character actor who has appeared in major blockbusters (X-Men: First Class), critically acclaimed TV series…
“Our government has evidenced moral bankruptcy”: The Blood Telegram and the 1971 Bengali Genocide
Pakistan after independence was a strange creation: the capital, Islamabad, and most of the power were located in the west…