Mohammad Mossadegh became Prime Minister of Iran in 1951 and was hugely popular for taking a stand against the Anglo-Iranian Oil…
The Enigmatic Jackie Kennedy
Popular U.S. politicians and their wives often become celebrities to the public, both home and abroad. This can make state…
The Division of Cyprus: Paradise with a Problem
Cyprus gained independence from the United Kingdom on August 16, 1960, but the agreements that led to sovereignty failed to…
Who May Enter? Issuing Visas to Jewish Refugees
Nazi policies designed to persecute Jewish populations prompted a wave of emigration from Europe beginning in 1933. Many sought to…
Jordan’s Black September, 1970
In 1972, a group of Palestinian terrorists shocked the world by kidnapping eleven Israeli athletes during the Summer Olympics in…
Douglas MacArthur, America’s Emperor of Japan
He was a general’s general, tough, unrelenting, a man who embraced the role history thrust on him. He was also…
Wives Gone Wild
Every Foreign Service Officer can have a difficult job of navigating cultural differences, memorizing customs and sticking to protocol while…
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…
Watergate – Another Perspective
The Watergate affair was the most controversial political scandal to ever come out of the Oval Office and, along with…
Normalizing Ties with Franco: “I don’t have to like the son of a bitch, do I?”
For many people, Spain in the 1930s and 40s was a country of despair, where the dreams of democracy and…