As the hearings of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange continue, the question of whether he will be extradited to the United…
Ethic Tensions Boil Over in Malaysia’s 13 May 1969 Incident
A single election can have many impacts, but one in particular unmasked a deep, controversial issue based on ethnic tensions.…
George W. Bush and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
Forty million total cases. Three million deaths. One year. This was not the casualty of a bloody global conflict, but…
“Dining is the Soul of Diplomacy”
Lord Palmerston, a former British prime minister and three time foreign minister, once famously noted, “Dining is the soul of…
The Last Ones Left: Inside the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
With a simple “good luck” from President Richard Nixon, Ambassador Joseph Farland set out to Pakistan, unsure of what to…
The U.S. Response to the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia
The Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami of 2004 killed over 275,000 people in 14 different countries. In Aceh, Indonesia alone,…
The Question of Puerto Rico: The U.S. Faces International Criticism in the Late 20th Century
As decolonization was embraced on the world stage, the U.S. government and its diplomats had to decide, “How do we…
“Encouraging” Soviet Workmen in 1984—Vodka, Cigarettes, and Snow Plowing in Soviet Russia
The currency of Soviet Russia was the ruble—or was it? When General Services Officer Robert Weisberg was posted to the…
“She’s Not a Woman, She’s a Diplomat”—Navigating Saudi Arabia in the 1980s
A car full of armed guards trailed after Janice Bay as she defiantly walked down the gate-lined road away from…
“A Special Place in My Heart:” Memories of USAID in Vietnam
Images of the U.S. military in Vietnam are part of the American consciousness. But these images are only part of…