After World War II, Europe was recovering from the devastation of conflict and suffered from high unemployment and food shortages;…
Burnt Toast in Moscow: A Tradition Gone Horrible Awry
Russian banquets (and, of course, Russian drinking) are legendary, as tradition dictates that every drink be accompanied by a toast…
The NPT and the Aftermath of India’s Nuclear Test — May 1974
Operation Smiling Buddha was the assigned code name for India’s first nuclear weapons explosion on May 18th, 1974. India declared…
The Longest Day — Tales from D-Day, 1944
The June 6, 1944 invasion of Normandy marked the beginning of the end of World War II. Planning for what would…
Saving a Lost Generation – The Rush to Adopt Romania’s Orphans
The despotic reign of Romania’s Nicolae Ceauşescu caused deplorable living conditions for Romanians and left its most vulnerable citizens –…
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 Nazi Invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece
Axis military efforts in the Balkans, compared with the rest of Europe, had not gone well. Italy had invaded Greece…
The Light at the End of the Tunnel — Surviving a Nazi POW Camp
Fredrick Irving’s plane was shot down over Magyarovar, Hungary during World War II. Right after hitting the ground, three Hungarian farmers…
Counterinsurgency in Eastern Afghanistan — Security
In December 2001, as per the Bonn Agreement signed in reaction to the September 11 attacks, the North Atlantic Treaty…
Diplomatic Insecurity: The State Department Leaves the U.S. Embassy in Morocco in Peril
Threats against embassies are an ongoing concern that heads of mission, especially in certain parts of the world like the…