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.…
Evacuating Uganda — With Style
From 1971-1979, Uganda was under the control of the mercurial Idi Amin, one of the most brutal military dictators ever…
A Dream Deferred
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a…
Horrible Bosses: Internal Tension at the U.S. Mission in Geneva
After years of serving in Africa, you finally get a nice cushy assignment at the U.S. Mission in Geneva, with…
American Ambassadors
Back to Diplomats and Diplomacy American Ambassadors: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Diplomats The way in which people…