It sounds like something out of a novel: a group of rebels, helped by an American, seize an embassy in…
The Civil War in China, Part II –The Dixie Mission and Losing China
After attempting to convince Washington that a civil war in China was imminent and that the Communists would be the…
The Civil War in China, Part I – The Bureaucratic Fight in Washington
Oftentimes the greatest foreign policy struggles are not with the host government but rather with the government bureaucracy back home.…
Pearl Harbor, A Postscript
One of the great dilemmas in foreign policy is when and whether to negotiate with one’s enemies. Will a dialogue…
The Failed Attempt to Avert War with Japan, 1941
The attack by the Imperial Japanese Army against the Naval Base at Pearl Harbor catapulted the United States into World…
A Day That Will Live in Infamy
December 7, 1941 will forever be one of the most memorable dates in American history. The attack on Pearl Harbor, a preemptive…
József Mindszenty: The Cardinal who Lived in Embassy Budapest
József Mindszenty was a Roman Catholic cardinal ordained shortly after World War II who staunchly resisted the fascist and later…
An Iran-Contra War Story with Oliver North
Oliver North is a former United States Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel who served as a National Security Council staff member during the Iran–Contra affair, a political scandal involving…
El Salvador, the Sheraton Hotel Siege and the Jesuit Murders — November 1989
The civil war in El Salvador lasted from 1979-1992 and was fought between the government and the Farabundo Martí National…
The Fall of the Berlin Wall — November 9, 1989
At the end of World War II, Germany was partitioned into four separate areas, each controlled by the four allied…