When oil was discovered in the Arabian Peninsula during the 1930’s and 40’s, the full extent of its impact on Arabian society could not truly be appreciated. It was only during the 1970’s, after OPEC flexed its muscles during the oil embargo, that the countries of the Arabian Gulf truly began to benefit from their… Read More "Rich and Eager to Buy – Saudi Arabia in the Oil Boom ‘70s"
Winning the Peace – USAID and the Demobilization of the Nicaraguan Contras
In the 1980s, one of the focal points of U.S. foreign policy was the rise of leftist militants throughout the globe, particularly in Central America. Under the Reagan Doctrine, the U.S. in 1982 began actively supporting anti-Communist insurgents — the Contras — in Nicaragua in their fight against the Sandinistas. By 1985, public support for the… Read More "Winning the Peace – USAID and the Demobilization of the Nicaraguan Contras"
Iraq’s Rocky Road to Recovery Post-Saddam
In the wake of the U.S.-led Coalition Forces invasion of Iraq in March, 2003 and dissolution of the Ba’ath Party, a transitional administration was created, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The CPA held executive, legislative and legal authority for a little over a year, beginning April 21, 2003, while a more permanent Iraqi government was… Read More "Iraq’s Rocky Road to Recovery Post-Saddam"
Billion-Dollar “Plan Colombia” to End Decades of Civil War
Published January 2016 A guerrilla organization known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia—Ejército del Pueblo, FARC–EP and FARC) has been at war with the Colombian government since 1964, marking it as the hemisphere’s longest-running armed conflict. The FARC has claimed to be a Marxist-Leninist army representing… Read More "Billion-Dollar “Plan Colombia” to End Decades of Civil War"
Pain at the Pumps: The 1973 Oil Embargo and Its Effect on U.S. Foreign Policy
It may be a challenge for those who did not experience it to imagine a time when the supply of gas was so restricted it had to be rationed, leading to massive lines at gas stations across the country. Yet this was the situation the United States found itself in during the autumn of 1973, when an… Read More "Pain at the Pumps: The 1973 Oil Embargo and Its Effect on U.S. Foreign Policy"
Negotiating the UNFCCC – “The Whole World Was Against Us”
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a landmark international climate treaty which entered into force in March 1994, provided the basis for future agreements, including the one reached in Paris in December 2015. Robert Reinstein, the United States’ top negotiator at the United Nations, and Stephanie Kinney, one of the State Department… Read More "Negotiating the UNFCCC – “The Whole World Was Against Us”"
Negotiating the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
One of the most critical problems facing the world today is the issue of climate change. Scientists have predicted that if drastic measures are not enacted soon, global warming will lead to catastrophic changes in the climate, desertification, and a rise in coastal flooding, which would all but destroy many communities and even small countries… Read More "Negotiating the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change"
Kopeks and Big Macs – Russia’s Move to a Market Economy
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the winter of 1991, the newly-formed Russian Federation took on the challenge of creating a market-oriented economy from the world’s largest state-controlled economy. President Yeltsin’s economic reforms led to hyperinflation and loss of financial security for many who had depended on state pensions, and Russia’s GDP contracted… Read More "Kopeks and Big Macs – Russia’s Move to a Market Economy"
What’s the Beef with Our Chicken? The Fight over Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy
While it is widely recognized that the Cold War was a time of heavy diplomatic involvement and trials, few are familiar with another ongoing transatlantic war during the same period: The Chicken War. The 1957 Treaty of Rome created the European Economic Community, which strived to create an open market throughout Europe. Among this treaty’s… Read More "What’s the Beef with Our Chicken? The Fight over Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy"
The ongoing Eurozone crisis has taken on the dimensions of a long, repetitive Greek drama. After years of imposed austerity, Greece voted against accepting the bailout terms proposed by its EU creditors in a referendum in early July 2015, only to see the leftist government under Prime MinisterAlexis Tsipras accept another bailout in exchange for… Read More "The Greek Debt Crisis — How Did It Get Here?"