William H. Luers, Diplomat Who Backed Czech Dissident Leader, Dies at 95

William H. Luers, Diplomat Who Backed Czech Dissident Leader, Dies at 95

In 1983, William H. Luers, a new American ambassador to Czechoslovakia, bet on a long shot for its future: Vaclav Havel, the often-imprisoned poet-playwright and enemy of the Communist state. But after leading a peaceful revolution to oust the regime, the long shot cultural leader became the democratically-elected last president …

Read more

U.S. Spy Chief Took on Role of Negotiator in Gaza War

U.S. Spy Chief Took on Role of Negotiator in Gaza War

For his first three years as the head of the C.I.A., William J. Burns was relentlessly focused on tripling the agency’s resources devoted to understanding China, and on countering Russia and its mysterious partnerships with Iran and North Korea. But in the last 16 months of his tenure, the diplomat-turned-spy …

Read more