The Ambassadors: America's Diplomats on the Front Lines
New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2019. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. xxv, [3], 322, [2] pages. Acknowledgments. Illustrations. Cast of Characters. Timeline of Events. Notes. Bibliography Index. Paul Richter covered the State Department and foreign policy for the Los Angeles Times out of its Washington, DC, bureau. He previously covered the Pentagon, the White House and, from New York City, the financial industry. He was raised in Minneapolis and Washington, DC, and graduated from Clark University. The author, a veteran diplomatic correspondent, shows how an inner circle of American career ambassadors (Ryan Crocker, Robert Ford, Anne Patterson, and Chris Stevens) has served as an essential line of national defense in the greater Middle East. These ambassadors ended their service at a time when the diplomatic corps was being downsized and marginalized. The heroes are the front-line diplomats who have been crucial in the line of national defense for two decades of wars in the Middle East. Paul Richter shares the stories of four expeditionary diplomats. We’ll see Ryan Crocker’s effort to organize a new Afghan government after the fall of the Taliban, even threatening the life of a Pashtun warlord to ensure that a column of tanks could join US forces in the biggest battle of the Afghan war. Robert Ford, the sole American official for the province of Najaf in central Iraq, tries to restart the economy and deal with militia violence. J. Christopher Stevens is smuggled into Libya as U.S. Envoy to the rebels during its bloody civil war, then returns as ambassador only to be killed in Benghazi. Veteran Anne Patterson is sent to Pakistan to broker deals that prevent a government collapse and to help guide the secret war on jihadists. An important addition to appreciating the roles of these diplomats, and an in-depth look into the complexity and length of these wars. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Ambassadors, Diplomats, Al Qaeda, James Mattis, Anne Patterson, Christopher Stevens, Ryan Crocker, Robert Ford, Iraq, Jihad, Taliban
ISBN: 9781501172410
[Book #78867]
Price: $27.50