Some Milestones in U.S. Diplomatic History Source:U.S. State Department Benjamin Franklin was the first U.S. diplomat.He was appointed in 1776 to help gain French support for American independence and later became minister to France (1778). With John Jay and John Adams, he negotiated the peace treaty with Great Britain (Treaty of Paris, Sept. 3, 1783). The rank of ambassador was first used by the United States in 1893. Thomas F. Bayardwas appointed ambassador to Great Britain (March 30) and James B. Eustis became ambassador to France (April 18). Prior to this, the highest-ranking U.S. diplomats were ministers. Six U.S. ambassadors have been killed by terrorists:John Gordon Mein, Guatemala (August 28, 1968); Cleo A. Noel, Jr., Sudan (March 1, l973); Rodger P. Davies, Cyprus (Aug. 19, 1974); Francis E. Meloy, Jr., Lebanon (June 16, 1976); Adolph Dubs, Afghanistan (Feb. 14, 1979); Christopher Stevens, Libya (Sep. 11, 2012). A number of distinguished writers have held diplomatic or consular posts: Washington Irving,Minister to Spain, 1842–46. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Consul at Liverpool, 1853–57. Bret Harte, Consul at Crefeld, 1878–1880, and at Glasgow, 1880–1885. James Russell Lowell, Minister to Spain, 1877–80; to Great Britain, 1880–85. James Fenimore Cooper, Consul at Lyon, 1826. William Dean Howells, Consul at Venice, 1861–65. Archibald MacLeish, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, 1944–45.

Israel's 60th Anniversary May 14, 1948, the Jewish National Council proclaimed the State of Israel: Ariel Sharon, Israeli Prime Minister, 2001–2006 May 14, 2008, marked the 60th anniversary of the creation of the modern State of Israel. As part of the 19th-century Zionistmovement, Jews had begun settling in Palestineas early as 1820. This effort to establish a Jewish homeland received British approval in the Balfour Declarationof 1917. During the 1930s, Jews persecuted by the Hitlerregime poured into Palestine. The postwar acknowledgment of the Holocaust—Hitler's genocide of 6 million Jews—increased international interest in and sympathy for the cause of Zionism. However, Arabs in Palestine and surrounding countries bitterly opposed prewar and postwar proposals to partition Palestine into Arab and Jewish sectors. The British mandate to govern Palestine ended after the war, and, in 1947, the UN voted to partition Palestine. When the British officially withdrew on May 14, 1948, the Jewish National Council proclaimed the State of Israel. Prominent Israeli Politicians Ehud Barak David Ben-Gurion Yizhak Ben-Zvi Golda Meir Moshe Dayan Abba Eban Levi Eshkol Benjamin Netanyahu Ehud Olmert Shimon Peres Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Shamir Moshe Sharett Ariel Sharon Chaim Weizmann Ezer Weizman Other Players in Modern Israel's History Mahmoud Abbas Yasir Arafat Menachem Begin Anwar Sadat

U.S. Representatives to the United Nations YearAmbassador 1946 Edward R. Stettinius, Jr. 1946–1947Herschel V. Johnson (acting) 1947–1953Warren R. Austin 1953–1960 Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. 1960–1961James J. Wadsworth 1961–1965 Adlai E. Stevenson 1965–1968 Arthur J. Goldberg 1968 George W. Ball 1968–1969James Russell Wiggins 1969–1971Charles W. Yost 1971–1973 George H. W. Bush 1973–1975John A. Scali 1975–1976 Daniel P. Moynihan 1976–1977William W. Scranton 1977–1979 Andrew Young 1979–1981Donald McHenry 1981–1985 Jeane J. Kirkpatrick 1985–1989Vernon A. Walters 1989–1992Thomas J. Pickering 1992–1993Edward J. Perkins 1993–1996 Madeleine K. Albright 1997–1998 Bill Richardson 1998–1999A. Peter Burleigh (acting) 1999–2001 Richard Holbrooke 2001James B. Cunningham (acting) 2001–2004 John D. Negroponte 2004–2005 John Danforth 2005–2006 John Bolton 2007–2009Zalmay Khalilzad 2009–2013Susan Rice 2013–Samantha Power

Selected International Organizations Learn about various international organizations that operate cooperatively throughout the world. Each organization is composed of several or many countries with a joint goal. African Union(AU)1 *.Members:(53) Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe Arab League(AL) *.Members: (21 plus the Palestine Liberation Organization) Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen, Palestine Liberation Organization *.Observers: (3) Eritrea, India, Venezuela Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) *.Members:(10) Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam *.Associate Member:(1) Papua New Guinea Commonwealth of Nations *.Members:(53) Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji (suspended), the Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, UK, Vanuatu, Zambia Commonwealth of Independent States(CIS) *.Members:(12) Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan Group of 8(G-8) *.Members:(9) Canada, EU (as one member), France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK, U.S. Group of 20(G-20) *.Members:(20) Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, EU (as one member), France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, UK, U.S. European Union(EU) *.Members:(28) Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK. North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) *.Members:(28) Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, UK, U.S. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) *.Members:(12) Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Venezuela 1. The Organization of African Unity (OAU), the African Union's predecessor, was formally disbanded on July 8, 2002. The AU was inaugurated July 9, 2002. The 53 member nations remain the same.

Members of the United Nations (193 nations) This table provides information about the member countries of the United Nations, including the date of admission CountryJoined UN1 Afghanistan1946 Albania1955 Algeria1962 Andorra1993 Angola1976 Antigua and Barbuda1981Argentina 1945 ... Bosnia and Herzegovina1992 Botswana1966 Brazil1945 Brunei1984 Bulgaria1955 Burkina Faso1960 Burma (Myanmar)1948 Burundi1962 Cambodia1955 Cameroon1960 Canada1945 Cape Verde1975 Central African Republic1960 Chad1960 Chile1945 China 21945 Colombia1945 Comoros1975 Congo, Rep. of1960 Congo, Dem. Rep. of1960 Costa Rica1945 Côte d'Ivoire1960 Croatia1992 Cuba1945 Cyprus1960 Czech Republic 31993 Denmark1945 Djibouti1977 Dominica1978 Dominican Republic1945 East Timor 42002 Ecuador1945 Egypt1945 El Salvador1945 Equatorial Guinea1968Eritrea 1993 Estonia... Guinea-Bissau1974Guyana 1966 Haiti ... Korea, North1991 Korea, South1991Kuwait 1963 ... Liechtenstein1990Lithuania 1991 ... Marshall Islands1991Mauritania 1961 ... Montenegro4, 62006 Morocco1956 Mozambique1975 Namibia1990 Nauru1999 Nepal1955 Netherlands1945 New Zealand1945Nicaragua 1945 ... Papua New Guinea1975 Paraguay1945 Peru1945 Philippines1945 Poland1945 Portugal1955 Qatar1971 Romania1955 Russia1945 Rwanda1962 St. Kitts and Nevis1983 St. Lucia1979 St. Vincent and the Grenadines1980 Samoa1976 San Marino1992 São Tomé and Príncipe1975 Saudi Arabia1945 Senegal1960 Serbia62000 Seychelles1976 Sierra Leone1961 Singapore1965 Slovakia 31993 Slovenia1992 Solomon Islands1978 Somalia1960 South Africa1945 South Sudan2011 Spain1955 Sri Lanka1955 Sudan1956 Suriname1975 Swaziland1968 Sweden1946 Switzerland 42002 Syria1945 Tajikistan1992 Tanzania1961 Thailand1946 Togo1960 Tonga1999 Trinidad and Tobago1962 Tunisia1956 Turkey1945 Turkmenistan1992 Tuvalu2000 Uganda1962 Ukraine1945 United Arab Emirates1971 United Kingdom1945 United States1945Uruguay 1945 ... 1. The UN officially came into existence on Oct. 24, 1945. 2. On Oct. 25, 1971, the UN voted membership to the People's Republic of China, which replaced the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the world body. 3. Czechoslovakia was an original member of the United Nations from Oct. 24, 1945. As of Dec. 31, 1992, it ceased to exist and the Czech Republic and Slovakia as successor states were admitted Jan. 19, 1993. 4. Newest members. 5. The General Assembly on April 8, 1993, decided to admit the state provisionally being referred to as “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” pending settlement of the difference that has arisen over its name. 6. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a charter member; after its dissolution, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was admitted Nov. 1, 2000. On Feb. 4, 2003, the name of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was changed to Serbia and Montenegro; in 2006, Serbia and Montenegro became separate countries.