Working with nuclear materials is, by its very nature, volatile. Carrying out diplomacy over nuclear materials is even more so.…
The State Department Under the Red Scare: McCarthy’s Campaign
The inauspicious rise of Joseph McCarthy began in 1950, when the Wisconsin senator was asked to give a speech at…
Money for Secrets: Making a Deal with a KGB Agent
Benedict Arnold. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Mir Jafar. All of these individuals have something in common: they all betrayed their…
Did President Clinton Try to Renounce his U.S. Citizenship?—Investigating the Presidential Scandal
The Vietnam War was one of the most contentious political issues in the United States during the 1960s and early…
Nettling the New Guard—PNGed out of Singapore
Singapore’s story of economic success under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew has catapulted the nation to the status of…
Living Through History with a Historian—Witnessing Monumental Societal Change in the Soviet Union from the 60s to the 90s
American diplomats and their families abroad become accustomed to living through exciting or harrowing events; but occasionally their lives provide…
Kidnapped by Guerillas—The Guatemalan Civil War
Although a career in the Foreign Service is rewarding, it is not without risk. Many career assignments are not a…
Family First: On the Struggles of Familial Medical Clearances
The barriers to entry to the Foreign Service start off high and do not taper off. Individuals pass through written…
CORDS: A New Pacification Program for Vietnam
The Vietnam War was one of the most challenging and complex conflicts of the Cold War era. As the conflict…
A Growing Community: The Early Days of EU Enlargement
When people think of the European Union (EU), they think of Brexit. They think of the rise of nationalism and…