After World War II, Europe was recovering from the devastation of conflict and suffered from high unemployment and food shortages;…
Operation Winter Warmth – Helping Armenia in Its Darkest Hour
When Armenia gained its independence after the collapse of the USSR in 1991, it was in dire straits. It was…
Burnt Toast in Moscow: A Tradition Gone Horrible Awry
Russian banquets (and, of course, Russian drinking) are legendary, as tradition dictates that every drink be accompanied by a toast…
Reap the Whirlwind — The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi, son of India’s long-time Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, had no intention of entering politics like the rest of his…
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…
The Mind of the African Strongman
Back to Diplomats and Diplomacy The Mind of the African Strongman — Conversations with Dictators, Statesmen, and Father Figures “Hank Cohen’s…
The Longest Day — Tales from D-Day, 1944
The June 6, 1944 invasion of Normandy marked the beginning of the end of World War II. Planning for what would…
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…
The Seychelles – Gangsta’s Paradise
A country of white sand beaches and palm trees, the Seychelles is an exotic tourist destination. It also happens to…