Tag Archives: Matthew Palmer

EUR/DAS Matt Palmer as Special Rep For Western Balkans, US Amb to Germany Ric Grenell Dual-Hatted For Serbia-Kosovo

October 7, 2019 By in Ambassadors, Appointments, EUR|Europe, FSOs, Mike Pompeo, Political Appointees, Realities of the FS, Secretary of State, Special Envoys and Reps, State Department, Trends, Trump, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , ,

 

On August 30, 2019, Pompeo appointed career diplomat Matthew Palmer’s as Special Representative for the Western Balkans. 

The Secretary of State has appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary Matthew Palmer as his Special Representative for the Western Balkans.  In this role, Palmer will lead our efforts to strengthen U.S. diplomatic engagement in support of peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and focus on integration of the Western Balkan countries into Western institutions.

As Special Representative, Palmer will travel to Slovenia beginning on September 1 to attend the Bled Strategic Forum.  He will also represent the United States at the Quint Balkan Directors meeting in Brussels and attend meetings in Vienna and Podgorica, September 4-10.

In addition to serving as the Secretary’s Special Representative, Palmer will continue to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, a position he has held since 2018.  Previously, he was Director of the Office of South Central Europe.

October 3, 2019, Trump announced his intent to appoint Richard Grenell  to serve concurrently as U.S. Ambassador to Germany and as Special Presidential Envoy for Serbia and Kosovo Peace Negotiations:

Richard A. Grenell has served as the United States Ambassador to Germany since May 8, 2018.  Mr. Grenell, a foreign policy writer and commentator, founded the international consulting firm Capitol Media Partners in 2010. For nearly two decades, he has served as the primary communications adviser for public officials at the Federal, State, local, and international levels, as well as for a Fortune 200 ranked company.  Mr. Grenell is the longest serving United States spokesman at the United Nations (2001-2008) having served four United States Ambassadors.  He earned a B.A. from Evangel University and an MPA from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

 

FSO Matthew Palmer’s New Book — The Wolf of Sarajevo (Excerpt)

June 1, 2016 By in Book Notes, Foreign Service, FSOs, Literature Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Posted: 12:08 am ET
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In February 2015, we did an excerpt of Matthew Palmer’s book, The American Mission (see Move Over Jason Bourne! Meet Diplomat Alex Baines, Our New Favorite Fictional Hero). In June 2015, he came out with a new book Secrets of State and a new protagonist, former FSO Sam Trainor. This May, he is back with a new thriller featuring FSO Eric Petrofina, back at the American Embassy in Sarajevo after 20 years.

Matt Palmer was a desk officer for Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) through the end of the 1999 Kosovo conflict. He was  also posted twice to the American Embassy in Belgrade, initially as a first-tour officer at the height of the war in Bosnia and, later as the political counselor.  He speaks fluent Serbo-Croatian, and his many experiences in the region served as inspiration for The Wolf of Sarajevo.  We’re looking forward to reading his third book.  We’re pleased to share an excerpt below courtesy of Amazon Kindle.

Screen Shot 2016-05-31

click on image to read the excerpt |recommends using the “full view” for easier navigation (see lower right hand side of screen after excerpt displays on screen)

 

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Matthew Palmer on MSNBC Talks About Diplomats and His New Book, Secrets of State

June 3, 2015 By in Book Notes, Foreign Service, FSOs, Literature Tags: , , , , ,

Posted: 12:08 am EDT
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Related posts:

FSO Matthew Palmer at Politics & Prose with new thriller — Secrets of State, June 1, 7pm

Move Over Jason Bourne! Meet Diplomat Alex Baines, Our New Favorite Fictional Hero

FSO Matthew Palmer at Politics & Prose with new thriller — Secrets of State, June 1, 7pm

May 28, 2015 By in Book Notes, FSOs, Literature Tags: , , , ,

Posted: 3:15 am EDT
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In February, we did an excerpt of Matthew Palmer’s book, The American Mission (see Move Over Jason Bourne! Meet Diplomat Alex Baines, Our New Favorite Fictional Hero). He’s back with a new book Secrets of State and a new protagonist, former FSO Sam Trainor.

The new book is dedicated to Matthew’s late father, Michael Palmer, MD, the author of Miracle Cure, Critical Judgment, Silent Treatment, Natural Causes, Extreme Measures, Flashback, Side Effects, and The Sisterhood, to name a few. Michael Palmer’s books have been translated into thirty languages. The 1991 thriller Extreme Measures starring Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Gene Hackman  is based on his novel of the same name.

Matt Palmer will be at Politics and Prose on Monday, June 1, 2015 at 7 pm. (5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008 | (202) 364-1919 • Hours and Directions). 

 

SECRETS OF STATE

(book cover by G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

SECRETS OF STATE

by Matthew Palmer
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication date: May 26, 2015
Price: $26.95
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-399-165719
eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-626375

Here is a brief clip from his publishing house:

After many years, Sam Trainor has left his Foreign Service job, trading his place as a South Asia analyst for the U.S. government for the same desk at Argus Security, a Beltway Bandit consulting firm. The reason for the move is simple: bypassed for promotion, Trainor, brilliant but a bit unbridled, knew his government career was dead in the water. Though none to comfortable with the reality that consultants have taken over far too much power in the running of the government, he sees the writing on the wall. And why not do the same work for twice the pay?

But working for Argus is different in ways that have nothing to do with salary. No longer sworn to uphold the constitution of the United States, Trainor now answers to corporate masters. So his options are less straightforward when he stumbles upon some Intel that points to a plan to upend the tenuous balance between India and Pakistan. Complicating things, one of the participants in the intercepted phone conversation is Vanalika Chandra, political counselor at the Indian Embassy in Washington—and, not incidentally, Trainor’s adulterous lover. For the veteran analyst, nothing about this sits right.

As Trainor and his team dig deeper for the source of this dangerous misinformation, it quickly becomes apparent that, left unchecked, it could lead to nuclear war. As the riveting plot unfolds—from the Beltway and the Pentagon to Mumbai and Lahore—Trainor will come to the troubling conclusion that his employer’s involvement—and motives—may not align with his own hard won view of the way the global politics should be conducted. And as the clock ticks, he must suss out a truth that will prevent the world from changing forever.

Matthew Palmer is a twenty-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, currently serving as the Director of Multilateral Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of Asian and Pacific Affairs. A life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he has worked as a diplomat around the world. While on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, Palmer helped design and implement the Kimberley Process for certifying African diamonds as “conflict free,” expertise he drew on in writing his debut novel, The American Mission.

His third book already has a title —  The Wolf of Sarajevo.  It is set in the Balkans where he spent a good chunk of his Foreign Service career.

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Move Over Jason Bourne! Meet Diplomat Alex Baines, Our New Favorite Fictional Hero

February 20, 2015 By in AF |Africa, Book Notes, Foreign Service, FSOs, Literature Tags: , , , , , 5 Comments

 

Matthew Palmer is a twenty-seven year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service. He served as Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade from 2011-2014. Last year, he became the Director for Multilateral Affairs in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the State Department. The American Mission is his first novel. It is a thriller set in the Democratic Republic of Congo featuring American diplomat Alex Baines as the protagonist. The American Mission is the first in a series of novels focused on American diplomacy that will be published by Putnam, an imprint of Penguin Random House.  This is first-rate, can’t put down fiction.  Bought the book one day, and gobbled it up to the end in two days! The excerpt below selected by Putnam is the only section of the book that’s set in the consular section.  The rest of the story is about Africa, minerals and exploitation by big corporations (there goes your economic statecraft).  Oh, there is an ambassador, corrupted, and an OGA guy with tricks, and a love interest. All for a fictional run that would make into a fantastic movie.  Read the Goodreads review here, from Kirkus here, from Rhapsody in Books here and the rest of media reviews here.  Thanks to Matt, and Ashley (Putnam) for allowing us to share this excerpt with our readers!

Matt Palmer Author Photo Credit (C) Kathryn Banas

Matt Palmer Author Photo Credit (C) Kathryn BanasAMERICAN MISSION jacket

Reprinted from The American Mission by Matthew Palmer by arrangement with G. P. Putnam’s Sons, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, Copyright © 2014 by Matthew Palmer.

 

JUNE 12, 2009
CONAKRY

Check this one out. Twenty—two years old. Absolutely stunning. Says she wants to go to Disney World, but she has a one—way ticket to New York. Why do they always say that they’re going to Disney World? You’d think they’d just won the Super Bowl or something.”

Hamilton Scott, Alex’s partner on the visa line at the U.S. Embassy in Conakry, Guinea, leaned around the narrow partition that separated their interview booths, dangling an application for a tourist visa. The woman in the visa photo clipped to the upper corner bore a striking resemblance to the supermodel Naomi Campbell.

It was admittedly unprofessional, but Alex understood what Ham was doing. Visa—line work could be excruciatingly monotonous, and in a third—world hellhole like Conakry, the applicants would say or do just about anything to gain entrance to the United States. The vice consuls often resorted to black humor or informal games like Visa Applicant Bingo as a way to keep themselves sane.

“Do you think she’d sleep with me for a visa?” Ham asked with mock seriousness.

“Twenty—two? Isn’t she a little old for you, Ham?”

“Ordinarily, yes. But this girl’s exceptional. And there’s no way she qualifies as a tourist.”

“Qualify” was a kind of code word in visa work. The law said that anyone applying for a visa to the United States had to prove that he or she was not secretly intending to emigrate. The challenge for the applicants was demonstrating that they had strong and compelling reasons to come back after visiting the U.S. In practice, this meant money. Rich people were “qualified” for visas. Poor people struggled to overcome the supposition that they were economic migrants. In the euphemistic language of government, they were “unqualified.”

Ham turned back to the applicant and explained to Ms. Hadja Malabo that, sadly, she lacked the qualifications for an American visa and should consider reapplying when her “situation” had changed. Ham’s French was flawless, a consequence of four years at a boarding school in Switzerland. He was polite but, Alex thought, somewhat brusque in rejecting Ms. Malabo’s application.

Ham leaned back around the partition.

“I’m almost through my stack, only four or five left. How you doing?”

Alex looked at the pile of application packages still in front of him. There were at least twenty left. He and Ham were the only two interviewing officers at post, which meant about fifty nonimmigrant visa interviews a day for each of them. Ham made his decisions with a brutal efficiency. Alex took more time with each applicant. Most would come away empty—handed, but he wanted to give each person who came into his interview booth the sense that they had had a chance to make their case and that the consul had at least given them a fair shot. For most Guineans, their brief moment with a consular officer was as close as they were going to get to the United States.

“I still have a few to go,” Alex admitted.

“Give me some of yours.” Ham reached over and took nearly half of the stack out of Alex’s in—box. “If we can finish in less than an hour, we can grab a sandwich and a beer at Harry’s bar. My treat. Gotta meet with the Ambassador after lunch to talk over the report on human trafficking I did for him last week.” Ham paused for a moment. “I’m sorry, Alex,” he said carefully. “You know I don’t mean to rub that in.”

 

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