It sounds like a scene out of a movie: a corrupt dictator attempts to flee the country with the help…
Death of an FSO, As Remembered by His Widow
Dennis Keogh had been Political Counselor in South Africa from 1980-83 and made 25 trips to Namibia. In the spring…
The Downing of KAL Flight 007
On August 30, 1983, a Boeing 747, Korean Airlines 007 took off for Seoul from New York’s John F. Kennedy…
Consular Tales from Croatia — The Good, The Bad, and the Bianca Jagger
The Bosnian War spanned from April 1992 to December 1995 and was a result of ethnic tensions that boiled over…
A Unified Diplomatic Service for the 21st Century, Part III
The unusually strong response to Stephanie Kinney’s piece on the lack of core values within the Foreign Service — by far…
Up or Out — The Challenges of the State Department Personnel System
The United States Department of State is not the monolithic entity it may at first appear to be. The lack…
Transnistria — Moldovan Land Under Russian Control
The Transnistria region in Moldova is a Cold War relic. Along with Nagorno-Karabakh in Armenian-controlled Azerbaijan and South Ossetia in Georgia, it is…
My Lai — Atrocity and Cover-up in the Midst of Vietnam
On March 16, 1968, in what was one of the most shocking incidents of the Vietnam War and in the…
Poland’s Path to NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created by ten European countries, the U.S. and Canada in 1949 in the aftermath of…
John S. Service – The Man Who “Lost China,” Part I
During the 1950’s hundreds of government employees, entertainers, educators, and union activists were accused of being communists by Senator Joseph…