For most of the 1980s, Panama was controlled by one man — General Manuel Noriega, who had been trained by…
Boots on the Ground: Discovering Oliver North’s Secret Plan for Nicaragua
Central America in the 1980’s became a focal point for foreign policy during the Reagan administration, as concern over gains…
The Failed Attempt to Get a Terrorist Mastermind
Imad Mughniyah, Chief of Hezbollah International Operations, was one of the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists and was sought by authorities…
The Queen of Thailand Deep in the Heart of Texas
There are many hallmarks of a good diplomat — the ability to understand foreign cultures, communications skills, flexibility, the ability…
The Afghan Invasion as Seen from U.S. Embassy Moscow
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was, among other things, a horrible political miscalculation, lasting nine bloody years and resulting in the…
Not-So Full Disclosure
So you have been entrusted with a very important mission — in this case, trying to convince several countries in…
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 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…
The Strange Case of Ngo Dinh Can
It sounds like a scene out of a movie: a corrupt dictator attempts to flee the country with the help…
“The First Terrorist Attack in the U.S.” – The Letelier-Moffitt Assassinations
After Augusto Pinochet led a coup d’état in Chile on September 11, 1973, taking power from the democratically elected President…