by Benjamin Tua

by Christopher Datta

A Lifetime of Diplomatic Engagement
By Paul Foldi

by Richard Combs

by Robert E. Gribbin

Compiled by Robert Gribbin

by Judith Heimann

by Mikael Barfod

by Ophir Falk

by Louis Sell

by Alon Ben-Meir

New items for May 2019

George H.W. Bush held diplomatic posts at the United Nations and in Beijing before becoming vice president and then president of the United States.  As U.S. Ambassador to the UN 1971-73, Bush said “I learned that the United Nations is … Continued

by Keith C. Smith

by William Rugh

Edited by Thomas E. McNamara

by Ofer Israeli

Dr. Khaled al-Asaad, a Syrian archaeologist and the head of antiquities for the ancient city of Palmyra was publicly beheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2015. This 2002 picture shows al-Asaad in front of a first century sarcophagus from Palmyra. Photograph: Marc Deville/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.

Moved by the international outcry over ISIS destruction in Iraq and Syria, and with the Syrian state in disarray, the Congress in 2016 enacted emergency legislation to block the importation of illegally acquired Syrian antiquities to the United States. The State Department also began to take a serious interest in the relationship between terrorism and the destruction and trafficking of antiquities.

by Larry Schwartz
Adapted from Newberry Series Lecture at Dacor-Bacon House
Washington, D.C., July 13, 2018