My Diplomatic Life – True Stories Behind The Hype

My diplomatic life true revealing stories behind the hype is a story that takes the sheen off the   perception of a glamorous and privileged lifestyle.

If you thought the life of a diplomat was all glamour, high profile and high powered mixing with the great and the good shaping world events, this site should go some way in dispelling some of the more widely held perceptions of a diplomatic life. 

There are many autobiographies out there penned beautifully by ex-Ambassadors (and their wives!) detailing what they got up to at their diplomatic level. But what about those mid-level diplomats further down the diplomatic totem pole, what exactly did they do and why is not much written by those who served in the trenches in quite frankly some God awful places around the world? Well. now is the time to address this black diplomatic hole and so………

This blog gives you an in-depth look, warts and all, at the varied work, I as a diplomat had to carry out in various conflict posts including the so-called “Axis of Evil” diplomatic posts around the world.  I volunteered for the posts my colleagues avoided.

Everyone has a story to tell and I am no exception.

These are not the usual diplomatic stories, high level meetings and glamorous cocktail parties from a Washington or Paris Embassy.

This blog and future posts will show the true story of what a mid-level diplomat had to deal with. The experience I had serving in conflict areas across the globe including the so-called “Axis of Evil” countries will open your eyes.

Situations I found myself in were in turn, amusing, complicated, fraught with danger, exciting and in some cases frankly quite unbelievable.

I hope you enjoy this insight and will follow my journey.

On this website are some of the exciting and sometimes quite unbelievable true revealing stories, situations and experiences I met with during my diplomatic career. There are more, but space is limited so these are some of the highlights. These I will expand in further posts in the coming weeks and months. Enjoy!

Follow me on Linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-warren-b80a0151/

Egypt

• Having to move a foreigners gravesite (including residents!) 20 Kms from its site in Luxor to a new site in the desert 20 Kms away.
• As a diplomatic Consul, having to bail out a British citizen from jail in Hurghada. This man had swindled British citizens out of hundreds of thousands of pounds in a fraudulent property scam. I was one of the victims!
• Evacuating British citizens from Egypt during the Arab Spring crisis of 2011.
• Dealing with a bomb blast in central Cairo.
• Visiting El-Alamein
• Internal travel within Egypt.

Iran

• Living and working in this theocratic regime.
• Working to release Royal Navy sailors and marines captured by Revolutionary Guards and held hostage, then escorting them back to UK.
• Royal Navy Hostages In Iran – What Really Happened In 2007
• Unfortunately, and purely by chance, witnessing a public execution.
• Being besieged in the embassy by mobs on a regular basis.
• Internal travel within Iran.

Iraq

• The logistics of living and working in Iraq.
• Trying to set up UK funded projects in Basra.
• Surviving regular rocket and mortar attacks on our compound.
• Working with the US and British armed forces.
• Acting as an election monitor for the first free and independent Iraqi elections.
• Organising Royal, Ministerial and VVIP visits.
• Organising the first diplomatic official Queens Birthday Party for Southern Iraq.
• Led with UK mainstream project “Engaging with the Islamic World”
• Internal travel within Iraq

Albania

• Being rescued by the SAS during period of civil unrest and deadly demonstrations
• SAS Rescue 3 Trapped British Diplomats in Albania
• Discovering the secret grave of WW2 RAF pilot in a small village in the south of the country
• RAF Pilot Secret Hidden Grave Discovered In Albania
• Being shot up with 2 embassy colleagues wounded in an ambush outside Tirana
• Tirana Ambushed 2 British Diplomats Shot
• Tirana Ambushed 2 British Diplomats Shot Conclusion
• One million pillboxes and bunkers throughout the country…why?
• Ambassador’s strange behaviour
• Travel tales from journeys inside Albania
• A potentially deadly Queens Birthday Party celebration\
• Tirana – Bloodshed Avoided At Queens Birthday Party

Kazakhstan

• Establishing a new diplomatic embassy in Astana. Moving the old embassy from Almaty to Astana.
• Dealing with a British businessman shot in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
• Internal travel within Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Kosovo

• Moving in behind the troops to establish a British diplomatic presence in Pristina.
• The trials of living in Kosovo post conflict.
• Acting as an election monitor in the first free and province wide elections.
• Working with ICTY uncovering graves of murdered Kosovars.
• Surviving a near miss from a mine blast on the outskirts of Pristina.
• Regular border crossings from Kosovo into FYRM to liaise with British embassy in Skopje.
• Internal travel within Kosovo.
• Trip to Belgrade.

Slovakia

• Dealing with many “unusual” visa requests.
• Surviving a shooting in the Irish Pub in Bratislava.
• Dealing with the death of a close colleague in tragic circumstances.
• Internal travel in Slovakia including river trip to Budapest and liaison visits to Vienna,

India

• Life on attachment in the magical city of Mumbai.
• Legendary Indian visas scams, some of the stories are quite frankly mind blowing
• Goa!!

Algeria

• New embassy in a mess.
• Ship visit by Royal Navy warship.
• Evacuating UK citizens (and others) from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya during the Arab Spring of 2011.
• Internal travel within Algeria
• Rescuing Oil Workers From Approaching Gaddafi Forces

Senegal

• Consular attachment to Dakar.
• Prison visits to convicted British drug dealers.
• Goree (the slave) island.

North Korea

• Internal trips by road up the west coast to the Russian border.
• Interior trips by road up the east coast and crossing the border into China.
• Internal trips by road into the interior visiting mines, mills and factories.
• Strange North Korean celebrations.
• Pyongyang life.
• Learning to play golf in the Hermit Kingdom.
• Air Koryo
• Train journey from Pyongyang to Beijing.
• Discovering the lost grave of an RAF pilot from the Korean war and working with the North Korean military for proper reburial.
• North Korea Military Works With British Diplomat
• North Korea Military Perpetuate A Cruel Heartless Deception
• Panmunjon and the most heavily guarded border in the world.
• *In most of the posts I served in, I was responsible for writing country profiles, evacuation/disaster contingency planning, setting up warden networks, running emergency control centres and compiling regular travel advice for the FCO *