The Soviet Union, in Churchill’s famous words, was a “riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”; as such it made…
The Irrepressible Prudence Bushnell
As a teenage daughter of a Foreign Service Officer who moved his family from country to country every so often,…
The Tumultuous Economy of 1990s Japan
The Lost Decade marked a tumultuous time in Japan’s economic history, as corporations and banking systems played fast and loose…
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…
Wives and Women in the Foreign Service: The Creation of the Family Liaison Office
A 1957 State Department publication of “Suggestions for Wives from Other Foreign Service Wives” introduced the idea that the main…
The Light at the End of the Tunnel — Surviving a Nazi POW Camp
Fredrick Irving’s plane was shot down over Magyarovar, Hungary during World War II. Right after hitting the ground, three Hungarian farmers…
Counterinsurgency in Eastern Afghanistan 2004-2008 — An Overview
It is impossible to understand the War in Afghanistan, now the longest war in American history, much less the motives…
Counterinsurgency in Eastern Afghanistan — Security
In December 2001, as per the Bonn Agreement signed in reaction to the September 11 attacks, the North Atlantic Treaty…
Cosa Nostra: U.S. Diplomacy and the Italian Mafia, 1954-1992
The Mafia in American culture is a source of inspiration for books, movies, and television. The Godfather, The Sopranos, a…
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…