The Foreign Service Journal, November 2020

42 NOVEMBER 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL history to oral interviews. By blending genres, Whitman delivers a rich, layered ode to Brazzaville, one that draws readers in to feel the city’s triumphs and anguishes. Dan Whitman was a Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Information Agency and Department of State from 1985 through 2009. His postings included Denmark, Spain, South Africa, Haiti and Cameroon. He now teaches at American University in Washington, D.C. He has published books on Africa and Europe and has written for The Foreign Service Journal . Bunker Diplomacy: An Arab-American in the U.S. Foreign Service: Personal Reflections on 25 Years of U.S. Policy in the Middle East Nabeel A. Khoury, Westphalia Press, 2020, $16.95/paperback, e-book available, 258 pages. Nabeel Khoury served for years in the Middle East, witnessing crisis after crisis firsthand, along with policy shifts across administrations. In this memoir he combines an in-depth, on-the-ground look at Middle East diplomacy with a strategic perspective honed through years of service in a turbu- lent region. In the words of former Deputy Secretary of State Wil- liam J. Burns, Khoury “offers readers a searing personal journey through America’s trials and tribulations in the Middle East.” In conversations with Arab journalists, generals and government officials, Khoury worked to bridge the divide between the Arab world and the United States. He sought to execute and improve U.S. policy outcomes in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iraq and Yemen. In a book talk at the Atlantic Council, Khoury described how U.S. posts in the region shifted frommore open and welcoming facilities into “bunkers,” and how he was forced to negotiate with his own security team just to go out alone. Nabeel A. Khoury retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2013 with the rank of Minister Counselor after 25 years of service. His final overseas posting was as deputy chief of mission in Yemen (2004-2007). In 2003, during the Iraq War, he served as State Department spokesperson at U.S. Central Command in Doha and in Baghdad. He has taught Middle East and U.S. strategy courses at the National Defense University and Northwestern University. Betrayal by a Father and the Power of Forgiveness Rosibel N. Hernandez, Xulon Press, 2019, $12.49/paperback, e-book available, 92 pages. When Rose Hernandez was three years old, her parents immigrated to the United States from El Salvador in pursuit of the American dream. Rose grew up in a tough neighborhood in Washington, D.C., and her family strove to make ends meet. Her father worked two jobs and was emotionally absent from Rose’s childhood, but his greater missteps would ultimately threaten his relationship with his daughter and family. Rose’s father had a long-running problemwith infidelity. After one especially egregious affair with a woman younger than Rose, this festering wound usually kept behind closed doors erupted in full view of the family, and the result was a shattered home. Rose was now confronted with a major dilemma. How would she ever trust men again? How would she find forgiveness for her father? What followed was an enlightened journey in which Rose and her family found the courage and the will to forgive Rose’s father. As genuine forgiveness set in and resentment melted away, Rose, her family and her father developed deeper bonds than ever before and restored trust and love to their family. Rosibel N. Hernandez joined the State Department Foreign Service as an office management specialist in 2005 and later transitioned to the human resources officer career track. She has served in Athens, Bucharest, Havana, Santiago, Mexico City and Washington, D.C. Guardians of the Grail: A Life of Diplomacy on the Edge Christopher Datta, independently published, 2018, $15/paperback, e-book available, 220 pages. Christopher Datta begins his riveting memoir by telling the reader that he wrote it to describe “the arc of my For- eign Service career. As I became more senior, I was challenged with more difficult situations. How do we handle development work better? How do we promote democratic development without killing people? How do we keep America safe? How do we keep the peace without the use of force?” Continued on p. 48