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 Famine in Biafra — USAID’s Response to the Nigerian Civil War
Known as the ‘Giant of Africa,’ Nigeria stretches across the continent like a patchwork quilt, sewn together from dozens of…
“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…
Baker’s Half Dozen — Six Precepts of Foreign Policy
A skilled diplomat and negotiator, James A. Baker III served as the Secretary of State during a period of tumultuous change, including…
Nelson Mandela’s Road to the Presidency
May 9th, 1994 marked one of the most significant – and previously unimaginable – milestones in modern African history as…
Top Ten Things You Learn From a Hostage Situation
Sometimes it just ain’t easy working for the State Department. If you go through the lengthy history of the Foreign Service…
Making the World a Safer Place — Nuclear Arsenals and the Fall of the USSR
Imagine what Europe would be like today if Belarusian strongman Aleksandr Lukashenka were able to threaten his neighbors with nuclear…
James A. Baker III — The Velvet Hammer
James A. Baker served as the Secretary of State during the Presidency of George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1992,…