James Morrison

James Morrison joined the The Washington Times in 1983 as a local reporter covering Alexandria, Va. A year later, he was assigned to open a Times bureau in Canada. From 1987 to 1989, Mr. Morrison was The Washington Times reporter in London, covering Britain, Western Europe and NATO issues. After returning to Washington, he served as an assistant foreign editor until his transfer to the Metro desk as the Virginia editor. Mr. Morrison returned to the Foreign Desk in 1993 to launch the Embassy Row column, a diplomatic news column primarily focusing on foreign ambassadors in the United States and U.S. ambassadors abroad. The column is the only one of its kind in U.S. journalism.

Mr. Morrison was born on Nov. 27, 1950, in Charleston, W.Va. His father worked as a printer for the Charleston Gazette and later relocated to Washington to work as a photo engraver at The Washington Post until his retirement. Before joining The Washington Times, James Morrison was a reporter for the Springfield, Va., Times, the Northern Virginia Sun and the Alexandria Gazette. He attended American University.

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Articles by James Morrison

Embassy Row: Spy master visits Washington

The head of Pakistan's intelligence agency is due in Washington this week, as U.S.-Pakistani relations remain tense and just days after Pakistan's ambassador here demanded an end to U.S. drone attacks against terrorist targets in her country. Published July 29, 2012

Embassy Row: New York and Nigeria

The U.S. ambassador to Nigeria compared the terrorist violence in the northern part of the West African nation to the crime wave that gripped New York in the 1980s, as he urged the Nigerian government to abandon "heavy-handed" military tactics and adopt a softer approach in dealing with the Islamic militant threat. Published July 19, 2012

Embassy Row: Diplomatic dominoes

The surprise resignation of the U.S. ambassador to Poland caps about four weeks of diplomatic distress for the Obama administration, which now has seen two ambassadors quit abruptly and two ambassadorial nominees facing scandals withdraw their names from Senate consideration. Published July 17, 2012

Embassy Row: Irishman ‘gobsmacked’

The chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is rattling a left-wing Irish politician who wants to erect a statue to Ernesto "Che" Guevara, one of the most blood-thirsty rebels of the Cuban revolution — the same Che whose iconic image in a beard and beret adorns the T-shirts of starry-eyed fashionistas from Rodeo Drive to the Champs Elysees. Published July 15, 2012

Embassy Row: Misunderstanding?

The U.S. ambassador to Pakistan created a political storm this week when he said that two leading opposition politicians would form a "pro-U.S. government" if either becomes prime minister in next year's elections. Published July 12, 2012

Embassy Row: ‘Appalling’ ambassador

The co-chairman of a congressional human rights panel is calling on President Obama to fire the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, accusing the career diplomat of failing to promote democracy and ignoring the plight of a Vietnamese-American arrested in Ho Chi Minh City. Published July 10, 2012

Embassy Row: Who lost Canada?

A former Canadian ambassador to the U.S. is blaming President Obama for doing what many would think impossible: Tanking relations with America's northern neighbor and largest trading partner. Published July 8, 2012

Embassy Row: ‘Truth shall set me free’

Scott Gration, the embattled U.S. ambassador to Kenya and retired Air Force general, insists he will be vindicated of charges of gross mismanagement and threats to shoot American diplomats who disobey him. Published July 5, 2012

Embassy Row: Cultural destruction

The ambassador from Cyprus was shocked when he read about Islamic terrorists demolishing ancient religious sites in the fabled city of Timbuktu in the strife-torn West African nation of Mali. Published July 3, 2012

Embassy Row: Return of the king?

The mayor of Easton, Pa., has clashed with the Ghanian ambassador in Washington, who tried to undermine a celebration the mayor is planning for the return of a Ghana native who grew up in the small town south of Philadelphia and now calls himself a king. Published June 21, 2012

Embassy Row: Pakistan demands respect

Pakistani Ambassador Sherry Rehman this week demanded that the White House apologize for a NATO assault on Pakistani forces and halt drone attacks on Pakistani territory, if Washington wants to improve relations with a nation many see as a key South Asian ally in the war on terrorism. Published June 19, 2012

Embassy Row: Confirmation confrontation

The Senate confirmed Mari Carmen Aponte as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador in a simple voice vote that hid the intense two-year controversy over her nomination. Published June 17, 2012

Embassy Row: Diplomatic dispute reopened

President Obama inevitably reopened a bedeviling dispute when he nominated a senior diplomat to serve as ambassador to Azerbaijan, which is locked in a deadly conflict with neighboring Armenia. Published June 14, 2012

Embassy Row: ‘Hurt, but not surprised’

Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States Tuesday denounced a judicial inquiry that accused him of "disloyalty" to Pakistan and claimed he orchestrated a letter to the Pentagon seeking U.S. help in case of a military coup against the civilian government in Islamabad. Published June 12, 2012

Embassy Row: Saucy emails

Brett McGurk appeared to have reassured Republican senators who questioned whether he has the diplomatic experience to serve as U.S. ambassador to Iraq - but then the emails surfaced. Published June 10, 2012

Embassy Row: ‘Cleavages’ in Iraq

President Obama's nominee for U.S. ambassador to Iraq impressed Republican senators in a confirmation hearing this week, but his key critic, Sen. John McCain, remains skeptical of his ability to handle America's biggest and most-expensive embassy. Published June 7, 2012