The Lebanese Civil War was a 15-year conflict that took the lives of more than 130,000 people. Throughout the early…
An Encounter with Hitler
So it’s 1935, you’re blonde and Jewish and have a bit of Wanderlust. And where do you go? Why, Nazi…
The Art of Protocol
Understanding the rules of protocol is essential to conducting diplomacy, as any diplomat would attest. Everything from knowing how to…
The Chinese Interpreter Who Said “No” to President Nixon
It is one of the most important Presidential visits in American history. Richard Nixon’s meeting with Chairman Mao led to…
Sic Semper Tyrannis – The Assassination of El Jefe, May 30, 1961
Rafael Trujillo, El Jefe, ruled the Dominican Republic as dictator from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. Trujillo gained prominence…
Relying on the Kindness of Strangers — The Start of the Una Chapman Cox Foundation
Established in 1980, the Una Chapman Cox Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the effectiveness and professionalism of…
Independence and “Catastrophe”: The Deadly Founding of Israel, May 14, 1948
On May 15, 1948, the UK withdrew from Palestine. (It had been given a mandate over the territories after it defeated the Ottomans…
Dealing with a PR Disaster – The U.S. Bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade
On May 7, 1999, U.S. warplanes accidentally dropped laser-guided bombs on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during NATO’s intervention in…
The Day Venezuelans Attacked Nixon
In the spring of 1958, President Eisenhower sent Vice President Nixon on a tour of Latin America to improve relations.…
Back in the USSR — Life as a Student in Moscow in the 1960s
Grim. Tedious. Unrelentingly cold and dreary. Add in KGB surveillance and the fear that they truly were out to get…