Shortly after Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein and his Republican Guard forces took hundreds of Americans…
Oil, Blood and Steel: The Failed Attempt to Create a Democratic Congo
This is the story of how a corrupt multinational oil company, a self-centered dictator, lingering ethnic tensions, and lack of…
Losing “The Congolese Bet” — The Belgian Congo’s Violent Road to Independence
Remembered as one of the most tragic victims of European imperialism, the Belgian Congo suffered decades of exploitation, violence, racism…
“The Six-Day Miracle”: The 1967 War and How It Changed Israel
“This is a fight for the homeland – it is either us or the Israelis…. Any of the old Palestine…
How to Handle a Crisis – Ambassador Edition
As part of its Ambassadorial Seminar, the Foreign Service Institute gives each of the participants a copy of “This Worked…
Combating Blatant Racism during an Evacuation from Liberia
The process of evacuating a country is filled with unexpected challenges. Many of these are logistical, while others include safety…
A Book you can Swear By: Becoming Ambassador in the Most Unusual of Circumstances
Traditionally, U.S. government officials put their hand on the Bible for their swearing-in. In recent years, some have used alternatives,…
Born in the Congo: The Experience of Giving Birth During a Civil War
Emergency medical care in developing countries can be problematic, if not wholly inadequate. Even more so in the 1960s. When…
Apocalypse Not – The Evacuation from Can Tho, Vietnam — April 1975
The shaky peace that had held in Vietnam since the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in 1973 began to…
A Soul Filled with Shame –The Rwandan Genocide, April 7- July 18,1994
A colony of Belgium until 1962, Rwanda became dominated politically by the minority Tutsis. During the independence movement, the majority…