Scotland can trace its links to the United Kingdom to more than 400 years ago, when James VI, King of…
Oil, Blood and Steel: The Failed Attempt to Create a Democratic Congo
This is the story of how a corrupt multinational oil company, a self-centered dictator, lingering ethnic tensions, and lack of…
The Fight to Ratify the Panama Canal Treaty
Since Panama’s independence from Colombia in 1903, the Panama Canal had been a dramatic and ongoing point of discussion. The…
The Beijing Conference on Women
“If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights…
“It wasn’t supposed to happen here” — 9/11, Before and After
September 11, 2001 left an indelible mark on American history when nineteen members of al Qaeda carried out the deadliest…
“Military overreach cannot be offset by diplomatic incapacity”
2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, the devastating “war to end all wars.” While…
The Embassy Moscow Fire of 1977
Diplomats working in the USSR had to contend with a wide range of difficulties – poor bilateral relations, KGB surveillance,…
The Birth of NAFTA
It has its share of ardent supporters, who see it as a force for positive economic and social change, as…
The Berlin Wall Is Built — August 13, 1961
On August 13, 1961, Berlin woke up to a shock: the East German Army had begun construction on the infamous…
The Search for Peace in Southern Africa – Oil, Angola, and the Proxy Wars
During the Cold War, the United States and the USSR engaged in a zero-sum game throughout the globe; while mutually…