The worldwide increase in demand for recreational drugs in the 1960s and 1970s prompted drug barons in Colombia to ramp…
Drug-Sniffing Mongooses and Other Tales of the Sri Lankan Civil War
In July 1983, tensions increased between Tamil minority separatists and the Sinhalese majority in Sri Lanka, erupting into civil war.…
The “Lavender Scare”: Homosexuals at the State Department
In the 1950s and 60s, security within the U.S. government, including the State Department, was on high alert for internal…
Haiti, The Bearer of Scars
Haiti is a land of great beauty and of great suffering. The Haitian proverb, bay kou bliye, pote mak sonje…
Ghana’s Populist Mystic, Jerry Rawlings
Like many leaders throughout Africa, Jerry Rawlings was a paradoxical figure. He could be calculating and ruthless, as when he…
The Seychelles – Gangsta’s Paradise
A country of white sand beaches and palm trees, the Seychelles is an exotic tourist destination. It also happens to…
Get Your Cameras Ready: Celebrities in the Embassies
While the work at embassies can often put Foreign Service officers in harm’s way, on occasion they have the chance…
The Irrepressible Prudence Bushnell
As a teenage daughter of a Foreign Service Officer who moved his family from country to country every so often,…
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…
The Risk of a Lonely Drive: The U.S. Consul General in Guadalajara Describes His Kidnapping
Mexico has often been a dangerous place, particularly in the 1970s with the heightened activity of organized crime syndicates and…