On June 21, 1966, France made the somewhat shocking move to withdraw its troops from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization…
Dean Rusk — A “Silent Buddha” Amidst Chaos
Dean Rusk served as Secretary of State for eight controversial years, from 1961 through 1969, when public discomfort over his…
A House of Cards – The Collapse of Yugoslavia
Over a bloody three years, hundreds of thousands of Europeans were dislocated, imprisoned, raped, tortured, starved and massacred as an…
“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…
The War in Bosnia and the Moral Dilemma of Refugees
The Bosnian War, which began April 5, 1992, was the result of the breakup of Yugoslavia. Pressure began to build…
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 Civil War in China, Part I – The Bureaucratic Fight in Washington
Oftentimes the greatest foreign policy struggles are not with the host government but rather with the government bureaucracy back home.…
Pearl Harbor, A Postscript
One of the great dilemmas in foreign policy is when and whether to negotiate with one’s enemies. Will a dialogue…
Life at Embassy Tokyo After Pearl Harbor
Despite getting extremely close to agreeing to negotiations to avert hostilities, the U.S. and Japan failed to make peace and…