In the 1960s, in the depths of the Cold War, the world was viewed in terms of a zero-sum game:…
East Germany Builds the Berlin Wall
The summer of 1961 was fraught with tensions between Moscow and Washington. Berlin, which had been a Cold War flash…
Jesse Helms: The Senator Who Just Said No
Jesse Alexander Helms, a five-term Republican Senator (1973- 2003) from North Carolina, was known not only for his conservative beliefs…
The Extra Special Relationship: Thatcher, Reagan, and the 1980s
The “special relationship” between the United States and the United Kingdom has served to unite the two nations over the…
The Neutron Bomb — A Negotiating Dud
The neutron bomb, a low-yield thermonuclear weapon which would be especially lethal to enemy ground troops but would not seriously…
Sputnik, The Ugly American, and the Push to Improve FSI Language Training
In the depths of the Cold War, the USSR in 1957 launched Sputnik, the first satellite to orbit the earth.…
From Russia with Love and Back Again: Rostropovich’s Exile and Return
Mstislav Rostropovich, considered one of the greatest cellists of the twentieth century, was born in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan…
134 Cells, One Inmate: The Closure of Spandau Prison
From November 1945 until October 1946, the International Military Tribunal indicted and prosecuted Nazi leaders for their roles in the…
Shirley Temple Black: From the Good Ship Lollipop to the Ship of State
Shirley Temple Black, born April 23, 1928, served her country in vastly different ways. As a child star in the…
Spain’s Post-Franco Emergence from Dictatorship to Democracy
Spanish leader Francisco Franco died November 20, 1975 at the age of 82 after 36 years in power, first as…