Terrorism, Betrayal & Resilience: My Story of the 1998 U.S. Embassy Bombings
Event Type(s):
ADST-DACOR Book Launch
Description:
“A gripping diplomatic thriller that tells the harrowing saga of the 1998 bombing of Embassy Nairobi, Ambassador Bushnell’s first-person account provides lessons of leadership, crisis management, and policy acumen. The tale dramatically illustrates the terrorism danger diplomats confront daily.”
–– Ambassador Robert E. Gribbin III (Ret.)
On August 7, 1998, al-Qaeda bombed the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and in Kenya, where Prudence Bushnell was U.S. ambassador. Terrorism, Betrayal, and Resilience is her account of what happened, how it happened, and its impact twenty years later. Congress held no hearings about the bombings, the national security community held no after-action reviews, and the mandatory Accountability Review Board focused on narrow security issues. Then on September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacked the U.S. homeland, and the East Africa bombings became little more than a footnote.
This book is Pru Bushnell’s account of her quest to understand how these bombings could have happened, given the scrutiny bin Laden and his Nairobi cell had been getting since 1996 from the U.S. intelligence community. She tracks national security strategies and assumptions about terrorism and the Muslim world that failed to keep us safe in 1998 and that continue today. In this hard-hitting, no-holds-barred account she reveals what led to poor decisions in Washington; and she demonstrates how diplomacy and leadership going forward will be our country’s most potent defense.
“Ambassador Prudence Bushnell is a true professional with the toughness, grit, courage, and compassion that marks the kind of superb leader you want in charge during a crisis. I witnessed her remarkable composure, even when personally injured, and her take-command leadership. This book…vividly presents…an understanding rarely appreciated for our Foreign Service men and women working in difficult assignments; a set of valuable lessons learned; and a case study in leadership during crisis. Every American should read this book.”
— Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)
Prudence Bushnell grew up in post–World War II Germany and France and in Cold War Pakistan and Iran. In the Foreign Service, her leadership posts included deputy assistant secretary of state for African Affairs during the Rwanda genocide, ambassador to Kenya and Guatemala, and dean of the Foreign Service Institute Leadership and Management School. She has continued to promote the practice of leadership and in 2012 founded the Levitt Leadership Institute at Hamilton College. Cambridge University Press, the New York Times, and the Foreign Service Journal have published her works on leadership and terrorism. Among many awards and honors, in 2011 Government Executive Magazine named her one of the “20 All Time Greatest Feds,” and in 1998 Glamour named her one of the Top Ten Women of the Year and Vanity Fair featured her in its Hall of Fame.
Event Date:
10/2/2018
Event Time:
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM Eastern
Location:
DACOR Bacon House 1801 F St, NW Washington, DC 20006 UNITED STATES
