The U.N. climate conference, held in a petrostate, is a surreal moment. This darkly funny novel about Baku, oil companies and climate change in the first Trump term helps make sense of it all.
Tag: Foreign Service (US)
Wayne S. Smith, a Leading Critic of the Embargo on Cuba, Dies at 91
A former State Department official, he resigned in protest in 1982 over Cuba policy, then spent decades trying to rebuild relations with the island nation.
Asian American Officials Cite Unfair Scrutiny and Lost Jobs in China Spy Tensions
National security employees with ties to Asia say U.S. counterintelligence officers wrongly regard them as potential spies and ban them from jobs.
Peter Tarnoff Dies at 86; Diplomat Helped Plot ‘Argo’ Escape From Iran
A consummate man behind the scenes, he held top posts under Carter and Clinton, and in between ran the Council on Foreign Relations.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Plead Guilty to Illegal Lobbying and Hiding Gifts
Richard Olson lobbied for the government of Qatar soon after retiring and took gifts from a businessman while serving as ambassador to Pakistan, according to prosecutors.
U.S. Asks Taliban to Spare Its Kabul Embassy in Coming Fight for Capital
The demand seeks to stave off an evacuation of the embassy by dangling aid to future Afghan governments — even one that includes the Taliban.
Biden Names U.S. Ambassador Nominees to Israel and Mexico
The official announcements of the long-rumored nominations came as the president traveled to Europe with the goal of demonstrating to global leaders that “America is back at the table.”
The Americans Left Behind in Kuwait
Dozens of military contractors have been imprisoned in the emirate — some on trumped-up drug charges, and many after torture. Why has the government failed to help them?
Pompeo Faces Political Peril and Diplomats’ Revolt in Impeachment Inquiry
The secretary of state has been drawn deeply into the Ukraine affair, with a parade of his diplomats testifying. He is sticking by the president.
Nonfiction: Richard Holbrooke, the Last Great Freewheeling Diplomat
George Packer’s biography of Holbrooke, “Our Man,” is a complex portrait of a complex man who had power, but never enough.