Wilson Nathaniel "Nat" Howell (September 14, 1939 – December 17, 2020) was an American
diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
and
educator
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
. He served as the
United States Ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
to
Kuwait from 1987 to 1991.
Born in
Portsmouth, Virginia
Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area.
The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...
, Howell earned a
B.A. at the
University of Virginia, 1961. He earned 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
The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the United States federal government's primary training institution for employees of the U.S. foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats as well as other professionals to advance U.S. foreig ...
,
Beirut,
Lebanon.
On May 26, 1987,
President Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
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
An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...
Kuwait. Th
U.S. Embassyin
Kuwait City
Kuwait City ( ar, مدينة الكويت) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economical centre of the emirate, ...
, 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
Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
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
Liberation or liberate may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War
* "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode
* "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode
Gaming
* '' Liberati ...
of Kuwait.
In 1992, W. Nathaniel Howell joined the faculty of UVA. His positions included diplomat-in-residence; director, Arab Peninsula and Gulf Studies Program; member of the Steering Committee o
CIAG and John Minor Maury, Jr., Professor of Public Affairs. He retired as Professor Emeritus in early 2015. He died in Charlottesville on December 17, 2020, at the age of 81.
Service chronology
Further reading
*
*
References
External links
*
ttps://majorevents.virginia.edu/finals/archive/howell1991 Commencement Address, University of Virginia Graduation (19 May 1991)br>
Guide to Amb. Howell's papers (unrestricted: Special Collections, the University of Virginia Library)Guide to Amb. Howell's papers (restricted access: Special Collections, the University of Virginia Library)ADST-DACOR webpage for "Strangers When We Met".
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, W. Nathaniel
1939 births
2020 deaths
People from Portsmouth, Virginia
University of Virginia alumni
University of Virginia faculty
Ambassadors of the United States to Kuwait
United States Foreign Service personnel