For centuries, it was the national symbol of a nation. For decades, it was kept in Fort Knox for safekeeping.…
NSFW FSOs
Diplomats by training, if not by disposition, are calm, level-headed types. They may be called on to deliver a harsh…
The Birth of NATO
After the devastation of World War II and the ensuing Cold War with the Soviet Union, nations across the globe…
The U.S. Invades “A Little Island Called Grenada,” Part I
In one of the smallest proxies of the Cold War, the United States, with the support of troops from other…
Clifton Wharton — Diplomat and Pioneer
Clifton Reginald Wharton, Sr. was the first African-American Foreign Service Officer to rise to the rank of ambassador without a…
Yeltsin Under Siege — The October 1993 Constitutional Crisis
For Russians, it was yet another dramatic confrontation which played out in the streets of Moscow, one which marked the…
“The State Department has always been a whipping boy”
Charles “Chip” Bohlen (August 30, 1904 – January 1, 1974) served in the Foreign Service from 1929 to 1969 and…
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 Paris Peace Conference — 1946
At the Paris Peace Conference, which lasted from July to October 1946, negotiators from the United States, Soviet Union, United…
Jean Bédel Bokassa: The Man who Would be Emperor
Jean Bédel Bokassa ruled as President-for-life and later as Emperor of the Central African Republic from 1966 to 1979. In…