Robert G. Morris
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This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
Robert G. Morris is from Des Moines and has a Ph.D. degree in physics from Iowa State University. After working as a scientist he became a foreign service officer. He has served in Washington, France, Germany, Argentina, and Spain. Now retired, he is the author of the recent monograph Science and Technology in United States Foreign Affairs. His writing has appeared in State Magazine and Foreign Service Journal. Morris has published other novels, Diplomatic Circles and Diplomatic Affairs.
He and his wife Beverly live in Ashland, Oregon, where they never miss a play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
The South American country of Colonia hosts a conference to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba within the hemisphere. The United States embassy in Colonia must advise the secretary of state and welcome her to the conference. The new ambassador and Henry, the economic officer, favor full U.S. recognition on economic grounds. The ambassador's deputy Carl is opposed.
A routine bomb scare prompts Carl to evacuate the embassy when the man on the telephone sounds like a Cuban. Although the threat is a bluff, the embassy fears the secretary will be unsafe.
Ladies' man Carl is himself a conquest of new officer Betty. The conference prevents their wedding in the States, so the ambassador offers his residence for the ceremony and invites all their "diplomatic relations" from the embassy family. A lady journalist and an older woman on the U.S. delegation to the conference compete with Betty for Carl's attention.
The U.S. secretary of state comes to the conference and is willing to deal with Cuba. But a caucus recesses the conference; Latin American countries are afraid the United States will dominate investment in Cuba. The embassy family celebrates Christmas and New Year's in hot weather. Carl and Betty get their honeymoon.
To see the place for himself Henry sails from Grand Cayman to Cuba with John Pauley, expelled from the embassy by Colonia at the end of the first novel of the series, Diplomatic Circles, because he had learned the truth about its nuclear program: there wasn't any.
The conference resumes with the secretary's position bolstered by Henry's information on the needs of the Cuban people. An embassy marine saves the secretary from Cuban assassins. The United States withdraws from the conference. Diplomatic relations are unchanged.
Diplomatic Relations depicts the life of Americans abroad, carrying out their duties for their country in unfamiliar if not hostile places. They are the foreign service officers in the United States embassy in the fictitious South American country of Colonia. The event of the year is the attendance of the U.S. secretary of state at a conference to consider reestablishing diplomatic relations with Cuba and the troubles that brings.
Diplomatic Relations will appeal not just to people who have served overseas but also to a large segment of the general public curious about what diplomats do. Many readers will relate to real adventures of people like themselves who serve in embassies more than they will to spies, detectives, and lawyers.
"In Diplomatic Circles, you succeeded in bringing the Foreign Service in all its excitement and importance (as well as its blemishes --the darker side) back to life for me."
"Your dialogue is excellent all around...
"Overall, an excellent book which was a real pleasure to read ... It moves and moves you on from page to page. The excitement builds and comes to a high-pitched end, Then life starts all over again."
0.H. Ganley, retired foreign service office
Former deputy assistant secretary of state for scientific and technological affairs, Washington
Former science officer at the American Embassies in Rome and Bucharest
"... A masterful job of painting a picture of life at an embassy..."
" ... Your plot is very plausible indeed ... Readers will get some insight into the foreign policy games nations play... "
Wilfred F. Declercq, retired foreign service officer
Former science officer at the American Embassies in Tel Aviv and Belgrade and the Department of State in Washington
"I think that anyone who has been in the Foreign Service will associate himself or herself with the characters and events you so skillfully portrayed -- even those officers who were not science officers."
"Certainly in my case, I experienced many of the same situations ... The closeness to reality is striking."
"It's a gem."
Justin Bloom, retired foreign service officer.
Former science officer at the American Embassies in Tokyo and London
"Diplomatic Circles covers all the bases in describing how an embassy really functions. In places, it transported me back there, for better or worse."
"The action scenes were the best part for me. Whether our science officer was contending with Senate staffers or up-country guerrillas, those scenes really flowed."
Francis M. Kinnelly, retired foreign service officer
Formerly science officer at the American Embassies-in Ottawa, Bonn, and Madrid, and the Department of State in Washington
"...I found Diplomatic Circles to be very nearly impossible to put down."
"I have since recommended it to others, and will continue to do so..."
"It is an authentic portrayal of the internal workings of a U. S. embassy, and realistically describes how the many different individuals who staff an embassy interact during both routine and hectic periods."
"...A genuine pleasure to read."
Richard W. Getzinger, retired foreign service officer
Former science officer at the U.S. Mission to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna
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