The currency of Soviet Russia was the ruble—or was it? When General Services Officer Robert Weisberg was posted to the…
Death, Love and Conspiracy: The Nepalese Royal Massacre of 2001 (Durbar Hatyakanda)
Facing domestic unrest, including a Maoist insurgency, the Nepalese royal family never suspected that the greatest threat to the monarchy…
The “Blood Telegram” That Angered Henry Kissinger: Violence in East Pakistan/Bangladesh
Shortly after joining USAID in 1969, Desaix “Terry” Meyers found himself witnessing both the aftermath of a major natural disaster,…
The Thai-tanic: Responding to the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997
Asian countries took a financial hit in 1997, resulting in a crisis that reverberated throughout the world. It began on…
Paying Calls in Shangri-La
Back to Diplomats and Diplomacy Paying Calls in Shangri-La: Scenes from a Woman’s Life in American Diplomacy “This is a…
Thailand’s Bloodless Coups d’état
When a country undergoes internal conflict and something as dramatic as a coup d’etat, the results can often lead to…
The INF Treaty, Part II — Moving from Arms Control to Arms Reduction
From November 1983 to March of 1985 negotiations between the United States and the USSR languished, leading the U.S. to…
Brunei: The Richest Little Country You’ve Never Heard Of
Brunei, situated on the northern shore of the island of Borneo in the South China Sea, is one of the…
House Un-American: Foreign-Born Wives of American Diplomats
Before World War II, there was a concern, particularly with upper-level Foreign Service officers like Ambassador William C. Bullitt, regarding…
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…