U.S. relations with Moscow through the decades have been problematic at best while the embassy itself has been the subject of spy scandals, eavesdropping and other Cold War intrigue. One of the strangest episodes was revealed in the 1970s, when the U.S. confirmed that the USSR had been beaming microwaves at the embassy for the… Read More "War of the Waves: Combating Espionage in Embassy Moscow"
The More Things Change – A Look Back at Syria’s Hafez al-Assad
“You know I have my ups and downs, but I have a pact with God. The pact is that no matter what problems I have, wherever there is a challenge, I will have all my strength,” asserted a sickly Hafez al-Assad to George Shultz, who grimaced at the firmness of Assad’s grip. Despite Hafez al-Assad’s… Read More "The More Things Change – A Look Back at Syria’s Hafez al-Assad"
Qaddafi – The Man and His Rise to Power
On September 1st, 1969 Muammar Qaddafi along with a group of officers part of the Free Officers Movement staged a bloodless coup d’état against King Idris I of Libya who at that time was in Greece undergoing medical treatment. The coup was staged in the city of Benghazi and was over within two hours. Qaddafi… Read More "Qaddafi – The Man and His Rise to Power"
Terror on the 9th Floor — The Kuala Lumpur Hostage Crisis
On August 4th, 1975, five members of the Japanese Red Army or JRA – a militant organization intent on overthrowing the Japanese government and starting a worldwide revolution – stormed the United States embassy on the 9th floor the AIA Insurance building in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The tallest building in Malaysia at the time, it… Read More "Terror on the 9th Floor — The Kuala Lumpur Hostage Crisis"
It took place in the shadow of the dramatic evacuation from Saigon, which signaled the close of an era and the end to a U.S. presence in Vietnam. However, the fall of Phnom Penh proved to be an even greater tragedy, as it paved the way for a takeover by the ruthless Khmer Rouge, whose… Read More "Operation Eagle Pull before the Fall of Phnom Penh"
Nixon Goes to China
“There is no place on this small planet for a billion of its potentially most able people to live in angry isolation.” Richard Nixon, after his election in 1968, pushed for better relations with China despite historical tensions and hostilities. In 1971, National Security Advisor and future Secretary of State Henry Kissinger took two trips… Read More "Nixon Goes to China"