If you are a history lover, news junkie, or student of political science, government, international studies, international relations, international law, diplomacy, public policy, etc. then this is a blog that will catch your eye!
Language of Europe, superimposed over the political borders. What struck me: Basque and Hungarian have their own categories. Technically, so does Maltese, but that’s a semitic language and related to Arabic and Hebrew, among others. Also, “other Indo-European” is the category for sticking languages that don’t have known relatives before the original proto-language.
Winston Churchill sits with King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia during lunch at Auberge due Lac, Fayoum, in February 1945. The King’s interpreter is standing behind him.
One of the most remarkable ladies in the world. While you’re seeing things on the news about protests and uprisings in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia take some time to learn about one of the most amazing female activists of the 21st century known as Burma’s Iron Lady.
Political activist. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Political prisoner and inspiration to millions of people around the world. Aung San Suu Kyi won 59% of the national votes in the 1990 general election and 81% of the seats in Parliament. But she was seen as a threat to the ruling military junta and was placed under house arrest from July 20, 1989 until her release on November 13, 2010. Marshall Adair was the political economic counselor in the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon and witnessed the military crackdown and massacre under General Saw Maung as well as the mass demonstrations for democracy beginning August 8, 1988, which led to the rise to prominence of Burma’s Iron Lady. Adair was interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy beginning in September 2011.
To read more of Adair’s account of his service in Burma and his observations of the life and work of his friend, Aung San Suu Kyi, please follow the link below.
July of 1974 was not a good time for Richard Nixon. The senate hearings had revealed the existence of the Watergate tapes - official recordings of White House conversations between Nixon and his staff.
On July 30, after weeks of delaying, Nixon released the tapes to the public after coercion from the Supreme Court. He would resign ten days later on August 9.
To learn another perspective of this affair, follow the link.
On July 8, 1950, President Truman named Gen. Douglas MacArthur
commander of all United Nations military forces fighting in defense of
the Republic of Korea. MacArthur was a veteran of both World Wars, and
after WWII he served for five years as Supreme Commander of the Allied
Powers in Japan.
But despite his previous successes, this would be a brief assignment.
President Truman and his advisers believed that since North Korea shared its northern border with China, an aggressive
surge by MacArthur could cause the Chinese to fear for their own safety
and enter the war. The President issued the order to advance beyond the
38th parallel with the understanding that coalition forces would stop
short of inciting Chinese intervention.
MacArthur, however, dismissed the likelihood of Chinese intervention. A
month later, MacArthur was proven wrong after Chinese forces attacked
the Eighth Army.
Once engaged in the conflict, Chinese forces
began to inflict serious casualties on UN forces and change the shape of
the war. MacArthur began to clash with President Truman and his
advisers on policy issues.
In the spring of 1951, MacArthur took
his feud with Truman public with a letter criticizing the President’s
conservative war strategy. This proved to be the final straw.
On April 11, 1951, the President relieved General MacArthur from his command.
Image: Douglas MacArthur, ca. 1945. National Archives Identifier 6233761.
You can read about General MacArthur’s time as Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers in Japan here!
We here at ADST hope you all had a fun and safe July 4th weekend. If you’re still feeling patriotic, you can read more about Constance Ray Harvey, a Medal of Freedom winner who helped sabotage the Nazis in Vichy France.
The U.S. has always had a friendly relationship with Nepal, but it was nearly jeopardized back in the late 1970s due to the antics of political appointee Ambassador Marquita Maytag. Ambassador Maytag was almost the very definition of “Ambassadors Gone Wild.”
