W. Nathaniel Howell

Wilson Nathaniel "Nat" Howell (born September 14, 1939) is an American diplomat and educator. He served as the United States Ambassador to Kuwait from 1987 to 1991.

Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, Nat earned a B.A. at the University of Virginia, 1961. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in Government and Foreign Affairs at UVA, 1965, and entered the Foreign Service. From 1970 to 1972, he studied Arabic at the Foreign Service Institute, Beirut, Lebanon.

On May 26, 1987, President Reagan announced his intention to nominate Howell to be Ambassador of the U.S. to Kuwait. Howell was at his post awaiting reassignment when, on August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. The [http://kuwait.usembassy.gov/ U.S. Embassy] in Kuwait City, was declared closed by Saddam Hussein on August 24, by which time many Americans and other nationals had taken refuge on the embassy compound. Iraq's declaration of the annexation of Kuwait, by means of trumped-up historical, economic and political pretexts, was not recognized by the U.S. It was decided to keep the mission open, under siege, as Iraq would not allow non-diplomats to leave the country (Iraq retained foreign "guests" as human shields, to deter military strikes).

For reasons best known to himself, Saddam relented and allowed all persons on the compound to leave overland, by way of Baghdad, in mid-December 1990, before the start of the Gulf War. At that point, Howell and the remainder of his staff left the embassy unoccupied, though technically not "closed," until his successor, Skip Gnehm, returned upon the liberation of Kuwait.

In 1992, W. Nathaniel Howell became part of the faculty of UVA. His titles include diplomat-in-residence; director, Arab Peninsula and Gulf Studies Program; and John Minor Maury, Jr., Professor of Public Affairs.

Further reading

*cite book | author=Culbertson, Roberta & Howell, W. Nathaniel | title=Siege: Crisis Leadership: The Survival of U.S. Embassy Kuwait | year=2001 | publisher=VFH Press | location=Charlottesville, VA | id=ISBN 0-9668919-2-9

ee also

*Ambassadors from the United States
*List of diplomats
*List of educators

External links

* [http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1987/052687c.htm Presidential Nomination of W. Nathaniel Howell To Be U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait]
* [http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/ciag/who_we_are/steering_committee/howell.cfm UVA Health System - Ambassador W. Nathaniel Howell, Ph.D.]
* [http://www.virginia.edu/facultyexperts/expert.php?id=234 "UVA Top News Daily" - Faculty Experts Guide]