From its inception, the Soviet Union became the first state in the world to actively attempt to eliminate religion from society.…
Anatomy of an Overthrow: How an African Leader was Toppled
A council of combined security forces known as the Derg staged a coup d’état on September 12, 1974 against Ethiopian…
Trouble in Chiapas: The Zapatista Revolt
Economic development in Mexico has been uneven for generations, as some blamed the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)…
Julia Chang Bloch’s Whole-of-Mission Approach in Nepal
In 1990, Nepal’s centuries-long history of monarchical rule and more recent autocratic substitutes were finally brought to an end in…
Picking Up the Pieces After Black Hawk Down
The State Department dispatched Richard Bogosian to Somalia to repair political and diplomatic damage following an attempt to rescue crews…
The Proxy of My Proxy: Saudi Arabia vs. Egypt in North Yemen
Led by President Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptians funneled money, arms, and eventually ground troops to support revolutionaries in North…
Taiwan vs. China — Saber-Rattling Over The Third Taiwan Strait Crisis
Since 1979, the U.S. has maintained unofficial relations with Taiwan to preserve the U.S.’s recognition of the People’s Republic of…
Cosa Nostra: U.S. Diplomacy and the Italian Mafia, 1954-1992
The Mafia in American culture is a source of inspiration for books, movies, and television. The Godfather, The Sopranos, a…
The Khobar Tower Bombings
On June 25, 1996 a truck containing an estimated 5,000-pound bomb drove to the northern perimeter of the Khobar Towers…
Dissension, Tension and Succession in the House of Saud
In 1932, Saudi Arabia was established by King Abd al-Aziz and has been ruled by the Saud clan ever since.…