The United States and North Korea have not had the best relations, to put it mildly. Even in a place…
Averell Harriman, The Old Crocodile of Diplomacy
W. Averell Harriman was one of the more prominent public figures of the 20th Century, holding major positions in diplomacy,…
Schmoozing for Diplomats
To the uninitiated (or to those who simply watch too many B-movies), an ambassador’s life seems to be nothing but…
Ethiopian Flight 961 — The Worst Hijacking in History Before 9/11
On November 23, 1996, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was flying from Addis Ababa to Nairobi when the plane was hijacked…
KAL 007: A Targeted Assassination?
On September 1, 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 en route on its second leg from Anchorage, Alaska to Seoul,…
Dealing with a Reunified Germany
With the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the long-awaited reunification between East and West Germany began. A…
Turning the Tables: An Interview with Stu Kennedy
In this interview with the Foreign Service Journal, Charles Stuart Kennedy talks about his Foreign Service career and pioneering work creating American…
“Military overreach cannot be offset by diplomatic incapacity”
2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, the devastating “war to end all wars.” While…
The State Department Boys
Back to Diplomats and Diplomacy The State Department Boys: Philippine Diplomacy and Its American Heritage Here is the untold story of how,…
North Korea and U.S. Violation of International Waters
For much of military history, combatants of all nationalities have operated under the guidance of an ancient adage: all’s fair…