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tropical cyclones or typhoons (January to April); volcanic eruption on Aoba (Ambae) island began 27 November 2005, volcanism also causes minor earthquakes; tsunamis

Vanuatu sounds too tropical and serene. We really need to open up a consulate in Greenland or someplace else very cold and desolate. Short of that, we have some embassies in quasi-war zones, like the Congo or the Central African Republic.

Ah, the Central African Republic has a very interesting history:

Bokassa I, also known as Salah Eddine Ahmed Bokassa and Jean-Bédel Bokassa was the military ruler of the Central African Republic from January 1, 1966 and the emperor of the Central African Empire from December 4, 1976, until his and its overthrow on September 20, 1979.

Here's the really interesting bit -

In September 1976, Bokassa dissolved the government and replaced it with the Conseil de la Révolution Centrafricaine 'Central African Revolutionary Council'. On December 4, 1976, at the MESAN congress, Bokassa declared the republic a monarchy, the Central African Empire. He issued an imperial constitution, converted back to Catholicism and had himself crowned Emperor Bokassa I on December 4, 1977, in a lavish ceremony clearly trying to copy Napoleon I who converted the French revolutionary republic of which he was First Consul into the First French Empire (but after conquering an empire second to no contemporary power), his full title being Empereur de Centrafrique par la volonté du peuple Centrafricain, uni au sein du parti politique national, le MESAN, "Emperor of Central Africa by the will of the Central African people, united within the national political party, the MESAN"). Bokassa attempted to justify his actions by claiming that creating a monarchy would help Central Africa "stand out" from the rest of the continent, and earn the world's respect. Over $20 million was spent on the coronation (consuming one third of the C.A.R.'s annual budget and all of France's aid that year), but despite generous invitations, no foreign leaders attended the event. Many thought Bokassa was insane, and compared his egotistical extravagance with that of Africa's other well-known eccentric dictator, Idi Amin. Tenacious rumors that he occasionally consumed human flesh were found unproven during his trial.

The rumour persists that he did eat people, however - others say it was certain.

Too bad we can't send Myers to him. ;)

Regards, Ivan

Thanks to William Seward, America owns quite a chunk of cold, desolate wasteland. Unfortunately, it's hard to think of a good reason to send an ambassador to Alaska. Maybe we can have him negotiate with those caribou for whose sake we are not drilling for oil. (More PC stupidity! We have oil in one of the most desolate, forsaken pieces of earth and we can't even get it because we might inconvenience some animals. Sheesh!)