The Role of Embassies

Class Length: 1-2 Class Meetings

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

  1. Identify the services provided by U.S. embassies abroad.
  2. Explain the role U.S. ambassadors and embassies play in carrying out U.S. foreign policy and protecting American interests.

Materials:

-Copies of article on U.S. Embassy in Baghdad (cite reference #2)

-Articles on recent bombings, U.S. and Iraq (cite reference #2, 3)

-Information on U.S. and international embassies purposes and missions (cite references #1, 5-8)

Terms:

-Post

-Mission

-Consulate

-Ambassador

-Country team

-Consular officers

Procedures:

Teacher will give students background information on recent bombings from :

-August 7, 1998 the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed, killing 231 people. Four alleged operatives of Osama bin Laden were convicted of planning and executing the bombings. These bombings raised the issue of security at all U.S. embassies.

-May 12, 2003, three suicide bombings hit residential housing where many Westerners lived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing 25 plus the nine attackers and wounding over 200. U.S. and Saudi officials accused al-Qaida of planning the attacks. The U.S. Embassy and consulates in Saudi Arabia were temporarily closed due to threats of more attacks.

Students will consider:

  1. Why American embassies and Americans living abroad are sometimes the targets of terrorism?
  2. What should the U.S. do to protect its embassies and citizens living and working abroad?

Students will receive an article on the continued U.S. presence in Iraq: “US opens massive embassy in Baghdad - The largest in the world” from

Teacher will discuss the proposed relationship between the U.S. and Iraq with your class. Teacher will ask the following questions:

  1. What role will the U.S. ambassador and embassy play in the new Iraq? What do they think? Why do they think this?
  2. What message does building a large embassy convey about the U.S.’s goals and intensions in Iraq?

Students will use library and Internet resources to research the purpose of U.S. Embassy’s abroad. Students will use the following questions as guidelines for their research:

1.What role do you think U.S. embassies and ambassadors play abroad? What services do you imagine embassies and consulates provide?

2.Define and incorporate the terms post, mission, consulate, ambassador, country team, and consular officers, as they relate to embassies.

3.What relationship does an embassy have with its host country? Use specific examples showing the positive and negative examples of this relationship.

4.What particular job responsibilities and functions are required of embassy staff?

5.What should the U.S. government do to protect Americans abroad?

Students can us the following Internet resources to help them in their research:

Embassies

State Department: Protocol for the Modern Diplomat

Diplomacy at Work: A U.S. Embassy

Students will add another dimension to their research. Each will select a specific nation and research U.S. diplomatic relations with that country. Students should consider:

  1. What are the major issues between these two nations?
  2. What roles have the U.S.embassy and ambassador played?

References:

EmbassyWorld.com (2007). Embassy & consulate indexes. Directory & Search Engine

Of The World's Embassies & Consulates, 1998. Retrieved November 11th, 2007

from

Newsahead.com (2007). US opens massive embassy in Baghdad—The largest in the

world. Retrieved Novemebr 12th, 2007 from

Public Broadcasting Service (2007). African embassy bombings: An online newshour

report. PBS Online. MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. Retrieved November 11th, 2007

from

Public Broadcasting Service (2003). U.S. raises terror alert level; Embassies in saudi

arabia close. PBS Online. MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. Retrieved November 11th,

2007 from

U.S. Department of State (2007). Diplomacy at work: A U.S. embassy. Bureau of Public

Affairs. Retrieved November 12th, 2007 from

U.S. Department of State (2007). Tips for traveling abroad. Travel.State.Gov: Bureau of

Consular Affairs. Retrieved November 10th, 2007 from

U.S. Department of State (2007). Websites of u.s. embassies, consulates, and diplomatic

missions. Bureau of International Information Programs.Retrieved November 10th, 2007 from

U.S. Department of State (2005). Protocol for the modern diplomat. TransitionCenter

Foreign Service Institute. Retrieved November 11th, 2007 from