The U.S. focus on terrorism began to intensify in the late 1970s and 80s. However, it was often difficult to…
Winning the Peace – USAID and the Demobilization of the Nicaraguan Contras
In the 1980s, one of the focal points of U.S. foreign policy was the rise of leftist militants throughout the…
Combining Forces to Counter Terrorism — The Birth of S/CT
U.S. inter-agency coordination on countering terrorism was limited, for bureaucratic and technical reasons, prior to the mid-1980s. As hijackings and…
De-Baathification and Dismantling the Iraqi Army
The 2003 American invasion of Iraq, which came not long after the invasion of Afghanistan, proved to be highly controversial,…
Leveling the Playing Field in the Salvadoran Civil War
The Salvadoran Civil War, lasting from 1979-1992, pitted the military-led government of El Salvador against a coalition of five left-wing guerrilla…
Transnistria — Life in a Russian Bear Hug
Transnistria is a small breakaway state located between the Dniester River and Moldova’s eastern border with Ukraine. In November 1990,…
Escape from Japanese Internment in China
In June of 1937, Beijing became one of the first cities to fall as Japanese forces began their conquest of…
Georgia and The Rose Revolution
Georgia declared independence from the Soviet Union in April 1991, and problems and instability arose almost immediately. The first President…
Officially Unofficial – The Opening of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT)
On the first day of January 1979, the United States de-recognized the Republic of China (also known as Taiwan or…
Taking the Chill off the Cold War: The First Reagan-Gorbachev Summit
The Geneva Summit of 1985 was the first meeting between President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev to talk about the arms…