For U.S. Foreign Service Officers during the Vietnam War, an assignment to South Vietnam was unlike any other. For some,…
Barranquilla Nights—Braving a Difficult Time in Colombia
Annie Pforzheimer entered the U.S. Foreign Service when she was twenty-four years old and was immediately whisked away to Barranquilla,…
One for All and All for One: The Conception and Early Development of NATO
During his opening remarks at the Munich Security Conference in February 2020, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg declared that “[I]n…
The Interest Trap—Diplomacy before the Cyprus Dispute
The majority of society dismisses Classical literature and history as irrelevant to tangible success in a world that has become…
Diplomacy and Danger—Close Calls in Uganda
In 1971, a Ugandan coup d’état led by General Idi Amin ousted President Milton Obote’s government. After Amin seized power,…
An Expropriation Saga in Peru
For many Latin American states, expropriation has been a hammer in the toolbox of land or labor reform. For the…
A City Torn Apart: Americans in Berlin
A U.S. army tank manned by a defecting soldier crashed straight through a Berlin Wall checkpoint manned by Russian troops.…
The Last Ones Left: Inside the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
With a simple “good luck” from President Richard Nixon, Ambassador Joseph Farland set out to Pakistan, unsure of what to…
An Unconventional Leader—Pope Francis Transforms the Vatican
White smoke billowed from the Vatican, indicating that the College of Cardinals had cast their ballots. Jorge Mario Bergolgio, a…
Stephen Thuransky’s 1947 Escape from Hungarian Political Police
Stephen T. Thuransky was arrested for calling the president of Hungary an obscene name. Communist Hungary in 1947 was a…