54 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2026 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FEATURE After the author’s house was attacked and looted, other embassy family members were evacuated across the river, into an uncertain future. BY JOHN DUNLOP John Dunlop was the USAID mission director in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central Africa region when the story below took place. He began his Foreign Service career as a health officer and has served in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Madagascar, Jordan, Iraq (two tours), and Afghanistan. He is a two-time recipient of the State Department Award for Heroism. Dunlop retired from USAID in September 2025 as a minister counselor. Read about Dunlop’s harrowing escape from rioters in DR Congo in the September-October 2026 FSJ. The fall of Goma in mid-January 2025 sent shockwaves through the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) that reached all the way to the capital, Kinshasa. The U.S. embassy had announced on January 27 that unrest was possible. Early the next morning, it was already clear that the usual low-level protesting outside the embassy was going to be something else entirely. Staff traveling to work and buses going to the international school were turned around. Those already at embassy or USAID facilities were told to shelter in place. By 7:30 a.m., large-scale demonstrations had erupted across the city, targeting foreign embassies and expatriate-owned businesses. By late morning, cars were burning in the streets and explosions could be heard in areas of town where many embassies were located. Both the U.S. embassy and its administrative compound, located roughly half a mile apart, came under attack. Only What YOU CAN FIT in Your Lap
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