The 1989 massacre at Tiananmen Square was one of the most heart-wrenching displays of state suppression of peaceful assembly in…
Tom Clancy Bombs Korea
Remember when renegade South Korean soldiers set off a bomb in Seoul during a festival and make it look like it was done by…
The Year of Living Dangerously – Indonesia and the Downed CIA Pilot, May 1958
In April and May of 1958, Indonesia went through a period of rebellion, as discontent on the peripheral islands, like…
Apocalypse Not, Part II
On April 29, 1975, Francis Terry McNamara, then Consul General, finally received orders to evacuate the Consulate General in Can…
Apocalypse Not – The Evacuation from Can Tho, Vietnam — April 1975
The shaky peace that had held in Vietnam since the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in 1973 began to…
The Fall of Saigon — April 30, 1975
April 30, 1975 will long be remembered as the day that Saigon fell and with it, the end of U.S.…
“The U.S. values amateurism over professionalism in diplomacy”
Chas W. Freeman, Jr. is one of those rare diplomats with brilliant language abilities who also was involved in an…
“Two Men, One Grave” — The Execution of Pakistan’s Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), served as president of Pakistan in the 1970s. By 1977, opposition…
A Quaker Goes to Spain
Back to Diplomats and Diplomacy A Quaker Goes to Spain: The Diplomatic Mission of Anthony Morris, 1813–1816 The 51st volume…
When Visa Officers Went Bad
Consular officers are often the face of the U.S. government overseas. They are the ones interviewing visa applicants, dealing with…