Washington’s Slow-Motion Thaw

Washington’s Slow-Motion Thaw

The strangest part of seeing the Cuban embargo officially deemed past its use-by date is how long this took. I first traveled to Cuba in 1995, after convincing my editor that it would become a huge business story once President Bill Clinton normalized relations. Like...
The Night the Cold War Ended

The Night the Cold War Ended

It was November 9, 1989. I was at the library at Northwestern University, putting the final touches on my first book — which happened to be about Soviet foreign policy. In a mad rush to beat my deadline, I dashed out and dropped the manuscript in the FedEx box just...
More Lucky than Brilliant

More Lucky than Brilliant

If you were born before 1950, you probably remember what happened in October 1962. If you were born after that fateful month, you’re lucky. Exactly half a century ago, the United States and the Soviet Union reached the brink of a deadly nuclear showdown during...