The Foreign Service has undergone major reforms and tinkering over the past century, so much so that people often joked…
Ariel Sharon Launches an Attack — Against the U.S. Ambassador
Ariel Sharon, who died January 2014 after eight years in a coma, was not known for his calm and easygoing…
The U.S. De-recognizes Taiwan in Favor of Communist China — January 1, 1979
“The Government of the United States of America acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan…
New Year’s Eve with the Roosevelts
For most of us, New Year’s Eve means watching the ball drop in Times Square on TV. For a lucky…
The Lockerbie Bombing and Its Aftermath
On December 21, 1988, Pan American flight 103 flying from London Heathrow to JFK Airport in New York exploded over…
John S. Service – The Man Who “Lost China,” Part II
John Service, the son of missionaries who grew up in China, was one of the Department’s “China hands,” an expert…
Sorry Mao: It’s Pronounced “Truman”, not “Too-Lu-Mun”
In 1944, John Service, Colonel David Barrett, and a small group of diplomats and military staff went to Yenan to…
444 Days — The End Game
The 444-day-long Iran Hostage Crisis ranks as one of the most traumatic diplomatic events in U.S. history and even thirty…
“Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina” — The Tumultuous Times of Juan and Evita Peron
July 26, 1952: The people of Argentina are glued to their radios and fall silent as an official broadcast comes…
The More Things Change – A Look Back at Syria’s Hafez al-Assad
“You know I have my ups and downs, but I have a pact with God. The pact is that no…