E Pluribus Unum. The average American will unwittingly encounter these very words on a daily basis and hardly give them…
9/11 Terror Attacks: A Consular Officer’s Perspective on Visas and Government Intelligence
September 11, 2001 marked one of the worst ever terror attacks on American soil. Two hijacked planes crashed into and…
From Les Misérables to Good Americans: One Ambassador’s Fight to Secure Refugee Status for Romanian Dissidents
They were doctors, professors, and, in some cases, even peasants. The one thing they all had in common, however, was…
An Unpopular Opinion: Tex Harris and the Yacyretá Dam Project in Argentina
To directly defy orders from one’s superiors undoubtedly takes nerve and, above all, conviction and belief in doing the right…
A Gift from Nixon: A Moon Pebble for Each Head of State
Almost two years ago, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sold the first ticket to the moon. A few months later, on…
A Failure of American Ideology?—The Spread of Communism in South America and the International Sphere
The United States’ war on Communism has crucially shaped much of our foreign policy today. Since the First Red Scare…
Out with the Old, in with the New—Celebrating Georgian Independence
Every American is familiar with the excitement and patriotism that sweeps across the nation on the Fourth of July. Many…
An Embassy in Brazzaville During the Time of Independence
Prior to mid-August 1960, the United States had limited diplomatic activity in the French African colonies. However, within a 48-hour…
Dealing with a Leftist Dipsomaniac: The United States and Ecuador’s Carlos Arosemena
At the beginning of the 1960s, U.S. foreign policy had two bugbears: the Soviet Union and Cuba. Fidel Castro had…
Life as a Vietnam War POW
In 1966, well into the Vietnam War and three years into Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency, Charles Graham Boyd took his…