The spread of AIDS in Africa in the 1980s and 90s presented unique challenges for U.S. diplomats suddenly faced with…
Why We Stuck with Maliki — and Lost Iraq
To understand why Iraq is imploding, you must understand Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — and why the United States has…
Pot Shards
Back to Diplomats and Diplomacy Pot Shards: Fragments of a Life Lived in CIA, the White House, and the Two Koreas…
The 1974 Turkish Intervention in Cyprus
The “Cyprus problem” of ongoing conflict between the Greeks and Turks on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus came to a…
The Iraqi Revolution — of 1958
In 1958, the 14 July Revolution ended the thirty-seven-year Hashemite monarchy of Iraq in a coup d’état and established the…
More No-tell CODELs
Members of Congress often travel abroad on official trips for business purposes in order to meet with governmental officials and…
The Whistle-Blower: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
“We were young, we were foolish, we were arrogant, but we were right.” —Daniel Ellsberg The recent issue of NSA…
The Fog of War – Investigating a U.S. Airstrike on an Afghan Wedding Party
On July 1, 2002, a U.S. airstrike in the town of Deh Rawood, Afghanistan killed dozens of civilians at a…
France has de Gaulle to Withdraw from NATO
On June 21, 1966, France made the somewhat shocking move to withdraw its troops from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization…
Losing “The Congolese Bet” — The Belgian Congo’s Violent Road to Independence
Remembered as one of the most tragic victims of European imperialism, the Belgian Congo suffered decades of exploitation, violence, racism…