America has always been regarded as a very safe country compared to the rest of the world. Because of this, many Americans become accustomed to the security of their homeland and drop their guard in places unfamiliar to them. This sense of security that Americans are used to can be fatal when they travel abroad.
There are many reasons why Americans can find themselves overseas in a dangerous country or region. Whether they are tourists, international diplomats or multi-national citizens, Americans can be harmed, taken hostage or even killed in foreign lands.
One of the largest foreign hostage crises in United States history was the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979. In this catastrophe, 52 American diplomats were taken hostage in Iran and eight US service members died trying to save them.
More recently, as the Hamas-Israel conflict erupted this month, many Americans were caught in the crossfire. In total, 27 US citizens have died and another 14 went missing, many of whom are presumed to be hostages.
“I think that the entire war is horrible, but I think it’s worse that there were so many people from other countries like America that weren’t even involved who got killed in those big attacks during the first few days,” said PV student Izaac Harvey.
While some of these deaths could have been unintentional, the hostage-takings were not. The main goal of a hostage-taker is to use the hostage’s life to leverage a deal with the family, business or nation of the hostage. This puts Americans at a higher risk of being taken hostage due to the power of their government.
However, the foreign hostage policy of the United States aims to limit this risk for overseas American citizens. The policy is centered around the idea of “no concessions”, or the idea of not giving hostage takers any sort of ransom for the safe return of hostages. This policy is meant to discourage hostage-takings by removing the possibility of potential reward for the hostage-takers.
While this policy certainly has its benefits, it is quite controversial. “I understand why the ‘no concessions’ hostage policy was put in place by America, but it seems that it would just be brutal for the loved ones of hostages who would do anything, including paying terrorists, to get the hostages home,” said PV student Luke Lafay. It is undetermined how the US will safely recover the hostages in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
While almost all Americans that travel overseas return safely without problem, there can be much higher risk of being harmed or killed while in a foreign country.
