U.S. relations with Pakistan have often had a disproportionate importance. In the 1980’s, they were again front and center in…
Contempt with a Capital Tea
Oftentimes, high-level diplomatic exchanges are not characterized by the usual diplomatic niceties. Take, for example, a memorable meeting between Indian Foreign Minister…
The Proxy of My Proxy: Saudi Arabia vs. Egypt in North Yemen
Led by President Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptians funneled money, arms, and eventually ground troops to support revolutionaries in North…
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…
Freeing American Hostages in the First Gulf War
Shortly after Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein and his Republican Guard forces took hundreds of Americans…
Crazy Train — A Congolese Victory Tour
What’s a party without prostitutes, undrinkable whiskey, and the best seats in the house, cleared for you at sword-point? Following…
The Division of Cyprus: Paradise with a Problem
Cyprus gained independence from the United Kingdom on August 16, 1960, but the agreements that led to sovereignty failed to…
“Walking Close to the Edge of the Law” — Honduras and the Contras
In the early 1980s, Contra militant groups in Honduras engaged in guerrilla warfare in an attempt to overthrow the Sandinista…
Nixon vs. Khrushchev — The 1959 Kitchen Debate
It was undoubtedly one of the most unorthodox – and therefore memorable – settings for a major political debate. On…
Srebrenica and the Horrors of the Balkan War
The break-up of Yugoslavia caused some of the most heinous human rights violations and ethnic mass killings seen in the…