Despite getting extremely close to agreeing to negotiations to avert hostilities, the U.S. and Japan failed to make peace and…
Today in History
Find articles about diplomatic events from each day of the year Here’s a handy calendar of events linked to Moments…
The Birth of the Chemical Weapons Convention (and the OPCW)
Recent events in Syria have once again spotlighted the dangers of chemical weapons and international efforts to catalog and destroy…
Being Gay in the Foreign Service
Public perception of gay rights, including the right to marry and to serve in the military, has undergone a sea…
The Little Emergency that was the Korean War
There was a lot of unfinished business on the Korean peninsula in the 1940’s. It had been ruled by the Empire…
“Without respect, America’s power just seeps away”
Walter Mondale, born in Ceylon, Minnesota on January 5, 1928, was the 42nd Vice President of the U.S. under Jimmy…
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…
“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…
Nixon Goes to China
“There is no place on this small planet for a billion of its potentially most able people to live in…
The Unofficial Diplomat
Back to Memoirs and Occasional Papers The Unofficial Diplomat: A Memoir “From the Chinese Army’s crackdown in Tiananmen Square to…