During the spring of 1994, Americans were gripped by an incident in Singapore which unexpectedly became a cause celebre: the…
John Foster Dulles – Master Craftsman, Man of Paradox
President Dwight Eisenhower appointed John Foster Dulles as Secretary of State in January 1953, a job he held until almost…
Haiti, The Bearer of Scars
Haiti is a land of great beauty and of great suffering. The Haitian proverb, bay kou bliye, pote mak sonje…
Douglas MacArthur, America’s Emperor of Japan
He was a general’s general, tough, unrelenting, a man who embraced the role history thrust on him. He was also…
“Do you know who I am?” – Diplomatic Immunity Gone Wrong
For the uninitiated, one of the apparent perks of being a diplomat is diplomatic immunity — You’ll never have to…
Sound and the Fury — The 1954 Geneva Conference on Vietnam and Korea
In April 1954, amidst growing tensions regarding the situation in the Korean Peninsula and Indochina, the international community convened a…
The Long Arm of History — Kurt Waldheim Banned for his Nazi Past
On June 8th, 1986, Kurt Waldheim was elected President of Austria. The former Secretary General of the United Nations and…
Burnt Toast in Moscow: A Tradition Gone Horrible Awry
Russian banquets (and, of course, Russian drinking) are legendary, as tradition dictates that every drink be accompanied by a toast…
Rebel With a Cause — Struggling with the Armenian Genocide
2015 marks the 100th anniversary of what a number of international organizations, countries, and even some U.S. states formally recognize…
The Seychelles – Gangsta’s Paradise
A country of white sand beaches and palm trees, the Seychelles is an exotic tourist destination. It also happens to…