A U.S. army tank manned by a defecting soldier crashed straight through a Berlin Wall checkpoint manned by Russian troops.…
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…
One City, Two Countries: Manning the Mexican-U.S. Border in Nuevo Laredo
Bustling with commerce, illegal border crossings, and cocaine trafficking, in 2000, Nuevo Laredo was the third busiest visa post in…
The Fall of South Vietnam and Operation Babylift
The fall of Saigon and the chaotic evacuation of the U.S. Embassy is one of the most infamous episodes in…
Fake Eyeglasses and an Elaborate Ruse: Escaping Iran During the 1979 Hostage Crisis
With forged passport in hand, Kathleen Stafford donned fake eyeglasses and pulled her long hair back. If this plan worked,…
Spies and Prostitutes: Memories of a Visa Officer in Post-WWII Greece
In post-World War II Greece, U.S. consular officers met all kinds of people—from suspected spies to prostitutes. Don Gelber was…
South Korea’s 1987 “Tear Gas Festival:” The Path to Democratic Elections
South Korea was in a haze in 1987—both literally and figuratively. After years of de facto military dictatorship, the populace…
Migrating with Iran’s Bakhtiari Tribe Before the Revolution: A Tale From the Foreign Service
Back when the United States had diplomatic missions in Iran, a young Foreign Service Officer travelled with members of the…
Frank Carlucci and the Last Days of Patrice Lumumba in the Congo
Long before he was President Reagan’s Secretary of Defense, Frank Carlucci was a young State Department political officer in Kinshasa,…
Combating the flow of Foreign Fighters affiliated with the Islamic State
The rapid ascent of ISIS in 2013-16 was fueled by a flow of “foreign fighters” from across the Middle East,…