On August 7, 1998, three years before President George W. Bush declared the War on Terror, the radical Islamist group al-Qaeda bombed the American embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, where Prudence Bushnell was serving as U.S. ambassador. Terrorism, Betrayal, and Resilience is her account of what happened, how it happened, and...
John Chapman “Chips” Chester offers up an often whimsical but highly informative memoir of an active life in international affairs. His exploits cover U.S. Army service in occupied Germany; a career in the U.S. Foreign Service in Germany, Croatia, Malawi, and the State Department; and a second career on Capitol...
When the Soviet Union ceased to exist, the United States was tasked with establishing diplomatic relations with the newly independent successor republics and creating an embassy in each new capital. In this book, the first U.S. ambassador to Tashkent, Henry Clarke, explains the logistical challenges of accomplishing that goal in...
The Lady of Silk and Steel, From Everest to Embassies tells the rags to riches story of a woman who grew up in nearly destitute circumstances on a small California farm to live in Elizabeth Taylor s former penthouse on the Potomac. A graduate of Stanford University, Sue Cobb became...
As the Cold War wound down in 1989, Africa was awash in civil wars. Ambassador Hank Cohen initiated an aggressive policy of diplomatic intervention in African conflicts, using the prestige and credibility of the world’s only superpower to search for peace. Cohen details his own and others’ efforts in seven...
Ambassador Herman J. “Hank” Cohen decided early in his 38-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service to specialize in African affairs. He made that decision in the late 1950s when the majority of the African nations were transitioning from European colonial rule to sovereign independence. His service in five U.S....
Herman Cohen draws on both the documentary record and his years of on-the-ground experience to provide a uniquely comprehensive survey and interpretation of nearly eight decades of US policy toward Africa. Tracing how this policy has evolved across successive administrations since 1942 (beginning with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third term...
Chuck Cross spent much of his youth and adult life in China and elsewhere in East Asia, garnering insights and skills he later applied to U.S. diplomacy in the region. His book –– part perceptive memoir, part provocative diplomatic history –– traces the intense, sometimes violent American connection with East...
Here is the untold story of how, in the wake of independence in July 1946, the U.S. Department of State and selected U.S. Foreign Service posts trained the first officer corps of the Philippine Foreign Service, affectionately dubbed the “State Department Boys.” These pioneer Filipino diplomats eventually played pivotal roles in Philippine diplomacy...