The assassination of 73-year old Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin came at the end of a peace rally in Tel…
Kopeks and Big Macs – Russia’s Move to a Market Economy
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the winter of 1991, the newly-formed Russian Federation took on the challenge…
The 1991 Iraq War — The Battle at the UN
As an after-effect of the Iraq-Iran War which raged from 1980 to 1988, Baghdad found itself crippled by debts to…
The U-2 Spy Plane Incident
On May 1, 1960, an America U-2 spy plane was shot down in Soviet airspace, causing great embarrassment to the…
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…
The Last Emperor – The Fall of Haile Selassie
None could be more considered more central to the modern history of Africa’s longest independent nation, Ethiopia, than Emperor Haile Selassie. Regent…
A Russo-American Diplomat: Back in the USSR
Vladimir Toumanoff, a Foreign Service officer for 25 years, had the extraordinary experience of returning as an American diplomat to…
Putin, The Early Years
From his crackdown on domestic opposition to his decision to invade Crimea and bomb U.S.-backed rebels in Syria, Vladimir Putin…
Eyes of the Dragon — Under Surveillance in China
The extent of the surveillance operations of the Soviet KGB is legendary, but the Soviet Union was not the only…
An Opportunity Lost — The 1991 Iraqi Uprising
In the days following the decimation of the Iraqi Army during Operation Desert Storm, groups of Iraqi minorities, specifically the…