“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” This line from “The New Colossus,” by…
Promoting the Space Program in North Africa—The Space Mobile
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been a source of pride for the United States, but it was…
Peace Corps to Ambassador: Frank Almaguer in Honduras
Prior to a long career at USAID, Frank Almaguer first gained experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in British Honduras…
Women Working Together to Rebuild Liberia after the Civil War
The Liberian Civil War was doubtless one of the most devastating conflicts in recent history. Spanning from 1989 to 2003,…
Negotiating the Helsinki Final Act—Soviet Style
Following Allied victory in World War II, the world plunged headfirst into a bitter rivalry lasting decades between the two…
A “Typical Roberta Cohen Operation”—Establishing USIA Programs in Addis Ababa
Like much of Africa, Ethiopia experienced a watershed moment at the end of World War II, emerging out from under…
Daily Life in Japanese Custody: Japan Takes Over U.S. Consulate in Vietnam During WWII
About one month before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States officially entered World War II, tensions were already…
Living Through History with a Historian—Witnessing Monumental Societal Change in the Soviet Union from the 60s to the 90s
American diplomats and their families abroad become accustomed to living through exciting or harrowing events; but occasionally their lives provide…
Phoenix from the Ashes—Reform Efforts on the Foreign Assistance Act
In a world as technologically advanced and reliant as ours, one would expect adaptation to be a staple component of…
Fighting Where the “Wango-Wango Bird Couldn’t Get”—U.S. Diplomats and the Ecuador-Peru Boundary Dispute
In 1895, the United States intervened in a long-standing border dispute between Great Britain and Venezuela, forcing its resolution—and forcing…