The years leading up to the autumn of 1979 in Iran proved to be turbulent, resulting in a radical transformation…
The U-2 Spy Plane Incident
On May 1, 1960, an America U-2 spy plane was shot down in Soviet airspace, causing great embarrassment to the…
Sue McCourt Cobb: Ambassador and Summiteer of Mt. Everest
Climbing Mount Everest has long been the epitome of physical and mental endurance. Since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became…
Eyes of the Dragon — Under Surveillance in China
The extent of the surveillance operations of the Soviet KGB is legendary, but the Soviet Union was not the only…
A Dissident for Dinner — George H.W. Bush’s Ill-Fated Banquet in China
An essential part of being an ambassador is knowing how to push the envelope when it comes to dealing with…
Ambassador to a Small World
Back to Memoirs and Occasional Papers Ambassador to a Small World is a highly personal portrait of Chad from the…
Establishing Relations with the Holy See
The Catholic Church has been a political force in Europe for more than a millennium and more than a fifth…
Little Boy Lost: The Case of Elian Gonzalez
In early 2000, the custody case surrounding Cuban child Elian Gonzalez dominated the American news cycle. Combining U.S.-Cuba immigration policies,…
King of Jordan and of the Go-Kart Racing Circuit
Prince Hussein bin Talal, who became King of Jordan following the assassination of his grandfather and the abdication of his…
The Greek Debt Crisis — How Did It Get Here?
The ongoing Eurozone crisis has taken on the dimensions of a long, repetitive Greek drama. After years of imposed austerity,…