U.S.-Soviet relations during the Cold War were marked by increasing tension. Emerging from WWII as the two strongest countries, competition…
Introducing American Culture to Tokyoites
Renate Coleshill was born in Germany and went on to work for the U.S. Foreign Service in a number of…
Fiscal Relief in a Tumultuous Time—The Paris Club in the Nineties
At the end of World War II, Argentina was entrenched in debt and on the verge of defaulting to its…
First India, Next the World: Madhumita Gupta’s Story of Determination and Drive
Madhumita Gupta had a long and successful career serving as a Foreign Service National with the U.S. Agency for International…
Atomic Age Uncertainty—Tension Between the United States and the Soviet Union
One of the most defining moments of the twentieth century was the detonation of an atomic bomb over the Japanese…
The Velvet Divorce: A Peaceful Breakup in Post-Communist Czechoslovakia
Most divorces do not end well, and those between countries tend to be the messiest of all. The dissolution of…
Disposition in Diplomacy
Bureaucracies are often considered dry and difficult to navigate. However, every organization is only as good as the people who…
Duty and Danger: Escaping the Burning U.S. Embassy in 1979 Libya
On December 2nd, 1979, thousands of anti-American demonstrators attacked the U.S. Embassy; protesters broke down the door and set fires…
“Encouraging” Soviet Workmen in 1984—Vodka, Cigarettes, and Snow Plowing in Soviet Russia
The currency of Soviet Russia was the ruble—or was it? When General Services Officer Robert Weisberg was posted to the…
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,…