The 1989 massacre at Tiananmen Square was one of the most heart-wrenching displays of state suppression of peaceful assembly in…
The Chinese Interpreter Who Said “No” to President Nixon
It is one of the most important Presidential visits in American history. Richard Nixon’s meeting with Chairman Mao led to…
Dealing with a PR Disaster – The U.S. Bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade
On May 7, 1999, U.S. warplanes accidentally dropped laser-guided bombs on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during NATO’s intervention in…
Apocalypse Not, Part II
On April 29, 1975, Francis Terry McNamara, then Consul General, finally received orders to evacuate the Consulate General in Can…
“The U.S. values amateurism over professionalism in diplomacy”
Chas W. Freeman, Jr. is one of those rare diplomats with brilliant language abilities who also was involved in an…
The Bombing of U.S. Embassy Beirut — April 18, 1983
The suicide bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon on April 18, 1983 was the deadliest attack on a…
Operation Eagle Pull before the Fall of Phnom Penh
It took place in the shadow of the dramatic evacuation from Saigon, which signaled the close of an era and…
The Red Scare Hits the Foreign Service Institute
The Foreign Service Institute plays a central role in the training of American diplomats and other professionals in the U.S.…
McCarthy’s Red Herring
With his infamous Wheeling, West Virginia speech on February 9, 1950, in which he declared he had a list of…
Being Black in a “Lily White” State Department
Terence Todman is one of the few people to attain the rank of career ambassador – the equivalent of a…