The international community hoped great changes would come to the Soviet Union after Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in March…
9/11 Terror Attacks: A Consular Officer’s Perspective on Visas and Government Intelligence
September 11, 2001 marked one of the worst ever terror attacks on American soil. Two hijacked planes crashed into and…
Life as a Vietnam War POW
In 1966, well into the Vietnam War and three years into Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency, Charles Graham Boyd took his…
Economic Diplomacy and the Private Sector: Helping IBM Expand into Latin America
In 1984 Donald Lyman left the State Department after seven years of service. Although it was a brief stint compared…
Putin in the Making—A Sour First Impression?
Who exactly is Vladimir Putin and how was his experience with U.S. high-level officials as a Russian deputy mayor? To…
“Till Death Do Us Part”—Relationships for Women in the Foreign Service
Women have come a long way in fighting for equality within the workforce. This has inevitably shaped relationships for women…
Pandemic Pandemonium: International Cooperation in the Face of Crisis
Several devastating pandemics have plagued human civilization throughout history. From the Black Death (1350) to the deadly Coronavirus, each outbreak…
Siberia and Samizdat: Moscow’s Underground During Communism
Long regarded as a monolithic entity where any dissension was ruthlessly suppressed by the KGB, Western audiences often ignored the…
To Aid, or Not to Aid—Breaking the Feudal System in Developing Nations
Fifty billion dollars. That is the most recent figure for U.S. yearly spending on foreign aid. However, even though this…
A City Torn Apart: Americans in Berlin
A U.S. army tank manned by a defecting soldier crashed straight through a Berlin Wall checkpoint manned by Russian troops.…