Ariel Sharon, who died January 2014 after eight years in a coma, was not known for his calm and easygoing…
When Ambassadors Were Rock Stars
It is difficult in this day and age to imagine any ambassador being on the cover of a major magazine…
Memoirs of a Foreign Service Arabist
Back to Diplomats and Diplomacy Memoirs of a Foreign Service Arabist Available in January 2014 “Among Parker’s fascinating insights into…
The Dramatic Hostage Crisis and Daring Rescue at the Japanese Embassy in Peru
It sounds like something out of a novel: a group of rebels, helped by an American, seize an embassy in…
The Burning of the JFK Library in Cairo — Thanksgiving Day, 1964
On November 28, 1964 — Thanksgiving Day — several hundred students from the Congo and elsewhere set fire to the…
Today in History
Find articles about diplomatic events from each day of the year Here’s a handy calendar of events linked to Moments…
An Iran-Contra War Story with Oliver North
Oliver North is a former United States Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel who served as a National Security Council staff member during the Iran–Contra affair, a political scandal involving…
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956
The early 1950s witnessed a thaw in the Communist monolith. Stalin’s death in 1953 led to Khrushchev’s “secret speech” in…
Establishing Ties with Pakistan — 1947
It was the end of one era and the beginning of another. In August 1947 the British Empire, which had…
The Assassination of Anwar Sadat, Part II
As a result of Anwar Sadat’s growing authoritarianism and treatment of his opposition, tensions in Egypt began rising shortly after…