Debt, Borders, and Bullets: Saddam Hussein’s Invasion of Kuwait

On the early morning of August 2, 1990, the world awoke to the startling news that the armed forces of the Republic of Iraq had surged across its southern frontier into the sovereign territory of Kuwait. In scarcely a few hours, a state that had existed for less than half a century was overrun, its government deposed, and its oil wells seized. The seizure of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein’s regime not only rekindled memories of historical grievances but also posed an existential challenge to the post–Cold War international order. 

Sealing the Revolution : Signing the Declaration of Independence

The affixing of fifty-six signatures to the engrossed parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on August 2, 1776, stands as a defining moment in the birth of the United States.

Public Enemy No. 1: The Story Of John Dillinger

In the kaleidoscope of American history, John Herbert Dillinger occupies a space unlike any other: equal parts outlaw, celebrity, and lightning rod.

Blood and Revolution: The Final Days of the Romanovs

The night of July 16–17, 1918, marked one of the most harrowing and definitive moments in Russian history. In the Siberian town of Ekaterinburg, the Romanov dynasty, which had ruled Russia for more than three centuries, met a tragic and violent end.

From Magistrate to Martyr: The Tale Of Jean Moulin

In the stillness that follows catastrophe, we often discover the faintest embers of courage glowing in the most unlikely places. Such was the case in occupied France during the dark days of World War II, when a government in exile had little more than hope and defiance to offer its people.

The Treaty of Versailles: Justice, Punishment, and the Seeds of Another War

On a clear summer day in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles on June 28, 1919, representatives of the Allied Powers and Germany came together to put pen to paper on the accord that would bring the First World War to its formal conclusion.

What Really Happened in Sarajevo in 1914?

On 28 June 1914, a sequence of events unfolded in Sarajevo that would irrevocably alter the course of the twentieth century. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist affiliated with the secret society Young Bosnia.

A Divided Senate, A United Cause: The War of 1812

On June 18, 1812, the United States Senate delivered one of the most consequential votes in early American history, deciding by a narrow margin of 19 to 13 to declare war against Great Britain.

Operation Iraqi Freedom: The Fall of Saddam Hussein

On March 19, 2003, the United States, backed primarily by the United Kingdom and a coalition of allied nations, initiated a decisive military campaign against Iraq with the objective of removing Saddam Hussein from power.

Diplomacy, Energy Security, and U.S. Strategy : The End of the Arab Oil Embargo

On March 18, 1974, the five-month-old oil embargo imposed by Arab oil-producing countries against the United States officially came to an end.