Yugoslavia had long been a simmering caldron of ethnic and nationalist tensions. After the death of Yugoslav strongman Josip Broz…
Iraqi Kurds, Operation Provide Comfort, and the Birth of Iraq’s Opposition
In the aftermath of Iraq’s crushing defeat during Operation Desert Storm in February 1991, protesters and rebels in the northern…
Winning the Peace – USAID and the Demobilization of the Nicaraguan Contras
In the 1980s, one of the focal points of U.S. foreign policy was the rise of leftist militants throughout the…
De-Baathification and Dismantling the Iraqi Army
The 2003 American invasion of Iraq, which came not long after the invasion of Afghanistan, proved to be highly controversial,…
Implementing the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords
The 1993 Oslo Accords were a historic point in Arab-Israeli relations. Hammered out in complete secrecy in Oslo, Norway, by…
Indira Gandhi’s Assassination and the Anti-Sikh Riots, October 1984
Indira Gandhi was one of the most powerful women of the 20th Century, whose initial rise to power in 1966…
The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 14-28, 1962
The early years of the Kennedy Administration proved to be a tense time in relations with the Soviet Union. Kennedy…
A Russo-American Diplomat: Back in the USSR
Vladimir Toumanoff, a Foreign Service officer for 25 years, had the extraordinary experience of returning as an American diplomat to…
An Opportunity Lost — The 1991 Iraqi Uprising
In the days following the decimation of the Iraqi Army during Operation Desert Storm, groups of Iraqi minorities, specifically the…
The Sabra and Shatila Massacre
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had invaded Lebanon in June 1982 with the goal of pushing out the Palestinian Liberation…