A Communist plot, a gruesome murder, a maniacal dictator: all were elements in what would seemingly be the scandal of…
Cyprus — August 1974: “It was a blind shot that got the Ambassador”
On August 19th, 1974, recently appointed Ambassador to Cyprus, Rodger Davies, was shot dead during a Greek Cypriot protest outside…
Hungary Escapes the Shadow of the Soviet Union
For those trapped in Eastern Europe in the 20th century, the horrors of World War II were supplanted by the…
“Without respect, America’s power just seeps away”
Walter Mondale, born in Ceylon, Minnesota on January 5, 1928, was the 42nd Vice President of the U.S. under Jimmy…
African Wars
Back to Diplomats and Diplomacy African Wars: A Defense Intelligence Perspective “I have never read anything quite like it: It…
Another Crazy Day in the Consular Section
Consular officers need to be prepared for whatever American citizens traveling abroad can throw at them. The consular section can…
Back in the USSR — Life as a Student in Moscow in the 1960s
Grim. Tedious. Unrelentingly cold and dreary. Add in KGB surveillance and the fear that they truly were out to get…
“The U.S. values amateurism over professionalism in diplomacy”
Chas W. Freeman, Jr. is one of those rare diplomats with brilliant language abilities who also was involved in an…
McCarthy’s Red Herring
With his infamous Wheeling, West Virginia speech on February 9, 1950, in which he declared he had a list of…
Desert Storm “The War Never Really Ended” — Part I
It was the first major foreign policy crisis for the U.S. since the end of the Cold War. Iraq, which…