The process of evacuating a country is filled with unexpected challenges. Many of these are logistical, while others include safety…
As If Getting a Venereal Disease Weren’t Bad Enough…
Chas Freeman had an extraordinary career in the Foreign Service. He accomplished the unparalleled feat of becoming nearly bilingual in…
Guests of the Gestapo
Nazi Germany launched the Spring Offensive against France, Belgium, and the Netherlands in May 1940. Within six weeks it had…
The 1958 U.S. Marine Invasion of Lebanon – It was no day at the beach
1958 — Lebanon was yet again at the forefront of foreign policy concerns. Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of the most…
The Headache That Is the Fourth of July Party
The Fourth of July is a celebration of the United States’ independence. It is a day of family, friends, food,…
Did he do it?: Navigating the Alleged Murder of a Kenyan Prostitute
An unfortunate, but not uncommon, part of a consul’s job is to help American citizens who are in distress —…
“It was something out of a B movie” — The 1980 Coup in Bolivia
Social unrest, political fragmentation, drug trafficking, and violence all characterized the late 70’s in Bolivia. All of the major parties…
A Short History of Demarching Orders
A demarche is the term of art for formal instructions sent from a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (or the State…
“Without respect, America’s power just seeps away”
Walter Mondale, born in Ceylon, Minnesota on January 5, 1928, was the 42nd Vice President of the U.S. under Jimmy…
A Completely Lawless Place – Beirut and the Assassination of Ambassador Meloy and Robert Waring
The Lebanese Civil War was a 15-year conflict that took the lives of more than 130,000 people. Throughout the early…