Mission to Oslo: Dancing with the Queen, Dealmaking with the Russians, Shaping History

by Tom Loftus

Mission to Oslo is a rollicking tale of the true adventures of President Bill Clinton’s ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway: Tom Loftus, grandson of Norwegian immigrants and former Speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly.

Told with wit and wry humor, the memoir covers 1993 to 1998, the momentous years of the first Clinton administration. It was a time of historic change after the end of the Cold War, with policies adopted that are still debated today: the building of relations with a fledgling Russian democracy, the expansion of NATO to Eastern Europe and the Baltics. And, the Norwegian-brokered Oslo Accords that laid the groundwork for a path to peace in the Mideast.

Loftus is a gifted storyteller, and the job of an American ambassador comes to vibrant life. Everything from traveling with The King and The Queen to dodging tanks on a winter road in Russia. Food, wine, and entertaining in Oslo’s spectacular Ambassador’s Residence. It is all there.

454 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 28, 2024

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was intermittently interesting, but 1) it could've been edited down 25% without any loss of quality (how many times do you need to define "Takk for maten"?!), and 2) a thematic organization (NATO expansion, nuclear issues in northwest Russia, Nobel Peace Prize, logistics at the Ambassador's Residence, the Lillehammer Olympics, etc.) would have made for a more engaging read than a chronological one. Some of the "current affairs" from the '90s feel very distant or different now (e.g., getting the outgoing Norwegian PM to head up the WHO, Norway/Russia relations). As Loftus notes at one point, having been born in 1945, he had lived the history of the Cold War, which is also now 30 years further in the past than when he was serving in Norway.

Recommended if you'd like to learn more about the role and duties of an ambassador, but definitely allow yourself to skip or skim sections that are repetitive, obsolete, or don't interest you. :)