On June 8th, 1986, Kurt Waldheim was elected President of Austria. The former Secretary General of the United Nations and…
The Berlin Crisis of 1961
In the early years of the Cold War, Berlin repeatedly became the focal point of tension between the U.S. and…
No Nukes for New Zealand — Breakdown of the ANZUS Treaty
In the mid 1980’s, U.S. bilateral relations with New Zealand, a long-time ally in a relatively peaceful corner of the…
Terror in the Sky — Hezbollah Seizes TWA Flight 847
The summer of 1985 was a particularly gruesome one for terrorist incidents. One of the more memorable was the hijacking…
No Dogs Allowed Here in Soviet Russia
Diplomats are often faced with difficult circumstances. Their negotiations may affect the outcome of international disputes or solidify relations among…
Watergate – Another Perspective
The Watergate affair was the most controversial political scandal to ever come out of the Oval Office and, along with…
The Marshall Plan — “The Europeans did the job themselves”
After World War II, Europe was recovering from the devastation of conflict and suffered from high unemployment and food shortages;…
The NPT and the Aftermath of India’s Nuclear Test — May 1974
Operation Smiling Buddha was the assigned code name for India’s first nuclear weapons explosion on May 18th, 1974. India declared…
Normalizing Ties with Franco: “I don’t have to like the son of a bitch, do I?”
For many people, Spain in the 1930s and 40s was a country of despair, where the dreams of democracy and…
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…