As violence and protests against Nicaragua’s despotic government increased, the U.S. and the Organization of American States (OAS) tried to…
The Irrepressible Prudence Bushnell
As a teenage daughter of a Foreign Service Officer who moved his family from country to country every so often,…
No Good Deed – Cattle, the French, and Getting PNG’ed from Madagascar
While U.S. diplomatic missions attempt to build relationships with the nations in which they maintain embassies, these relationships don’t always…
From ‘Wife of’ to Assistant Secretary of State: Phyllis Oakley Rises Through the State Department
While it was never written into the formal policies of the U.S. Department of State, it had been common practice…
The Reign of the Snake – The Seedy Tenure of Togo’s President Eyadema
Extravagant dinners with Dom Pérignon and caviar, rampant corruption, political assassinations, a starving populace. Togo had been a small jewel…
The Khobar Tower Bombings
On June 25, 1996 a truck containing an estimated 5,000-pound bomb drove to the northern perimeter of the Khobar Towers…
The End of an Era — Handholding Ferdinand Marcos in Exile
Just minutes after returning from his three-year exile, former Philippine Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated at the Manila airport…
Rehabilitating Former Child Soldiers in Mozambique
Mozambique in the 1980s was a country in the midst of a bloody civil war, when at least 100,000 people…
Johnny Young – From Abject Poverty to Chief of Mission
Johnny Young, who served in the Foreign Service from 1967 to 2005, was born into abject poverty in the Deep…
Yemen and the War on Terror
The ongoing political tumult in Yemen threatens to undermine the country as well as American counterterrorism efforts in the region.…