It was unusual for any Americans during the Cold War to travel in the Soviet Union but Russell Sveda did…
The Birth of the Chemical Weapons Convention (and the OPCW)
Recent events in Syria have once again spotlighted the dangers of chemical weapons and international efforts to catalog and destroy…
Burma’s 8888 Demonstrations and the Rise of Aung San Suu Kyi
Political activist. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Political prisoner and inspiration to millions of people around the world. Aung San Suu…
Cain and Abel: Splitting Up North and South Korea
With the end of World War II in August 1945, there was still no consensus on Korea’s fate among Allied…
Terror on the 9th Floor — The Kuala Lumpur Hostage Crisis
On August 4th, 1975, five members of the Japanese Red Army or JRA – a militant organization intent on overthrowing…
The Little Emergency that was the Korean War
There was a lot of unfinished business on the Korean peninsula in the 1940’s. It had been ruled by the Empire…
“Without respect, America’s power just seeps away”
Walter Mondale, born in Ceylon, Minnesota on January 5, 1928, was the 42nd Vice President of the U.S. under Jimmy…
The Art of Protocol
Understanding the rules of protocol is essential to conducting diplomacy, as any diplomat would attest. Everything from knowing how to…
The Tiananmen Square Massacre — June 4, 1989
The 1989 massacre at Tiananmen Square was one of the most heart-wrenching displays of state suppression of peaceful assembly in…
Sic Semper Tyrannis – The Assassination of El Jefe, May 30, 1961
Rafael Trujillo, El Jefe, ruled the Dominican Republic as dictator from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. Trujillo gained prominence…