The Foreign Service has attracted some very talented people over the years and many of those are the spouses of…
The Canadian Caper, Argo, and Escape from Iran
The years leading up to the autumn of 1979 in Iran proved to be turbulent, resulting in a radical transformation…
“Drain Your Glass” — Alcoholism in the Foreign Service
Each and every job has a certain set of requirements and restrictions. Alcohol has played a large role in diplomacy,…
Rolling Thunder: Behind the Fog of War
The call by South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Khánh on July 19, 1964 to expand the Vietnam conflict led to…
Kissinger and Lord in China: A How-To Guide for Secret Negotiations
At the height of the Cold War, with the death toll mounting in Vietnam and the split between the USSR…
Sound and the Fury — The 1954 Geneva Conference on Vietnam and Korea
In April 1954, amidst growing tensions regarding the situation in the Korean Peninsula and Indochina, the international community convened a…
Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s Founding Father
Lee Kuan Yew, who died in March 2015, is known for being the longest serving prime minster in the world…
Horrible Bosses: Internal Tension at the U.S. Mission in Geneva
After years of serving in Africa, you finally get a nice cushy assignment at the U.S. Mission in Geneva, with…
“Like Star Wars and Fiddler on the Roof” — Life with the Sinai Field Mission
The relative peace between Israel and Egypt, particularly on the Sinai, has been one of the few bright spots in…
Vietnam, A Look Back
The Vietnam War remains one of the most contentious foreign policy issues in American history. U.S. military involvement was initially…