Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the winter of 1991, the newly-formed Russian Federation took on the challenge…
The Velvet Revolution, November 1989
In 1989, change was in the air throughout all of Eastern Europe. Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of glasnost and perestroika –…
The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 14-28, 1962
The early years of the Kennedy Administration proved to be a tense time in relations with the Soviet Union. Kennedy…
Sue McCourt Cobb: Ambassador and Summiteer of Mt. Everest
Climbing Mount Everest has long been the epitome of physical and mental endurance. Since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became…
House Un-American: Foreign-Born Wives of American Diplomats
Before World War II, there was a concern, particularly with upper-level Foreign Service officers like Ambassador William C. Bullitt, regarding…
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…
Drug-Sniffing Mongooses and Other Tales of the Sri Lankan Civil War
In July 1983, tensions increased between Tamil minority separatists and the Sinhalese majority in Sri Lanka, erupting into civil war.…
The “Lavender Scare”: Homosexuals at the State Department
In the 1950s and 60s, security within the U.S. government, including the State Department, was on high alert for internal…
Picking Up the Pieces After Black Hawk Down
The State Department dispatched Richard Bogosian to Somalia to repair political and diplomatic damage following an attempt to rescue crews…
Mari-Luci Jaramillo: Shoemaker’s Daughter to Madame Ambassador
Mari-Luci Jaramillo, U.S. Ambassador to Honduras from 1977-1980, rose from poverty in New Mexico to a life of diplomacy and…