Beginning in the middle of the 1980s, relations between General Manuel Noriega, Panama’s de facto leader, and the United States…
Philip Habib — Cursed is the Peacemaker
Philip Habib (February 25, 1920 – May 25, 1992) was a career diplomat known for his work in Vietnam, South Korea and the Middle East.…
The Jonestown Massacre
Jonestown, Guyana was the scene of one of the most harrowing tragedies in American history. On November 18, 1978, at…
Fifty Years in USAID
Back to Memoirs and Occasional Papers Fifty Years in USAID: Stories from the Front Line Published in November 2012 by…
The Iran Hostage Crisis– Part II
In these excerpts, Bruce Laingen, then Charge d’Affaires of U.S. Embassy Tehran and one of the “super Satans” kept hostage at the…
The Iran Hostage Crisis — Part I
November 4, 1979 – Radical Iranian students take over the U.S. embassy in Tehran and hold 52 Americans hostage. The…
Tie a Yellow Ribbon — The Iran Hostage Crisis as Seen from the Home Front
Penelope (Penne) Laingen is the wife of Bruce Laingen, who had served in Germany, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan before being…
“It was an Unwinnable War”
George Ball was the Under Secretary of State for Economic and Agricultural Affairs in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. He supported…
Fascinating Figures
Diplomacy and foreign policy attract some of the smartest, most dedicated, and most interesting figures in every generation. In this…
Forever on the Road
Back to Memoirs and Occasional Papers Forever on the Road: A Franco-American Family’s Thirty Years in the Foreign Service Nicole…