17 Mishandled International Events Throughout History

16. In 1992, at a state dinner in Japan President George H.W. Bush collapsed and vomited all over the Japanese Prime Minister

There is no denying that the job of the President of the United States is an exhausting and physically demanding role, eventually taking its toll on all involved parties. On January 8, 1992, after having traveled through 16 time zones over the preceding 10 days, the greatly fatigued President George H.W. Bush, ignoring the advice of his doctor, attended a state dinner in his honor at the home of the Japanese Prime Minister, Kiichi Miyazawa. At approximately 8:20 pm, in between the second and third courses (raw salmon with caviar and grilled beef with peppery sauce respectively) President Bush suddenly fainted. Slumping sideways, the 67-year-old leader of the free world collapsed into his host and promptly vomited over Miyazawa’s trousers in front of the representatives of 135 nations.

Terrifying those present, with First Lady Barbara Bush rushing to her husband and holding a napkin to his face and an unknown Secret Service agent leaping over the table to catch the falling president, Prime Minister Miyazawa cradled Bush’s head and was lowered unconscious to the floor. Upon waking seconds later, Bush allegedly joked that they should just “roll me under the table until the dinner’s over” and after a few minutes, although worryingly white, Bush regained his feet. Reported as “just the flu”, not a repeat of an atrial fibrillation which struck down the president in May 1991 whilst jogging at Camp David, Japanese television politely declined to release the footage. Today, the only glimpses of the event are visible from snippets of footage acquired by ABC. In an almost inexcusable lapse of judgment, CNN nearly published a hoax story, perpetrated by James Edward Smith, which claimed that he was the president’s physician and that his charge had died.

15. UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson stood at a sacred Burmese religious site and attempted to recite a poem celebrating British colonialism

In January 2017, then-Foreign Secretary and former Mayor of London Boris Johnson embarked on an official visit to Myanmar. During this trip, Johnson visited the Shwedagon Pagoda, the most sacred Buddhist site in the former capital, Yangon, and a shrine of great significance to the Burmese people. In front of regional officials, having already described a golden statue of the Buddha as “a very big guinea pig”, Johnson rang an ancient bell and initiated an unplanned recital of “The Road to Mandalay”: a poem written by Rudyard Kipling in 1890. The poem captures and invokes the nostalgia of a retired English soldier reminiscing about his postings in colonial Burma, whilst Kipling himself was a jingoist and imperialist advocate, strongly encouraging the colonization and enslavement of what he regarded as inferior nations and peoples. Between 1824 and 1948, Burma was colonized by the British Empire, fighting three separate wars in the pursuit of independence during the nineteenth century period celebrated by Kipling in his poetic work. Among the lines uttered by Johnson was “the temple bells they say, Come you back you English soldier.”

The British ambassador to Myanmar, Andrew Patrick, swiftly realizing the horrendous gaffe occurring, rushed to inform the Foreign Secretary that “you’re on mic” and it was “probably not a good idea”. Bemused, Johnson responded: “What? The Road to Mandalay?”, to which an increasingly infuriated Patrick tersely informed him “No. Not appropriate”. The incident was later described as “incredible insensitivity” and a display of abject ignorance regarding the lasting effects of British colonialism. But this was not the first controversial diplomatic faux pas by Johnson. In 2016, he was criticized for a crude limerick suggesting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “sowed his wild oats with the help of a goat”, whilst, also in 2016, alongside U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Johnson was questioned about his remark that Hilary Clinton looked “like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital”.

14. The Ems Dispatch, a misrepresentation of a meeting between Wilhelm I and the French ambassador, resulted in the declaration of the Franco-Prussian War just six days later

The Austro-Prussian War of 1866 saw the enlargement and empowerment of the German Confederation and Prussian domination of the territory. In early 1870, German Prince Leopold, of the House of Hohenzollern which also ruled the Kingdom of Prussia, was offered the Spanish throne. France, a long-term rival and adversary of the German nation, saw this prospect as adversely threatening their security and sought to take action to preclude encirclement. Although Leopold was compelled to withdraw his acceptance of the crown in July after French protests, the French sought assurances that the House of Hohenzollern would make no further overtures towards Spain.

On July 13, 1870, during a walk in the Kurpark in Ems King Wilhelm I of Prussia was stopped by the French ambassador, Count Vincent Benedetti, who pressed the issue. Despite conversing politely, Wilhelm subsequently wrote to Chancellor Otto von Bismarck that he had found Benedetti “annoyingly persistent”. Editing out Wilhelm’s politeness towards the French ambassador, and emphasizing the implicit threat of war given by Benedetti, Bismarck released that evening a highly misleading, arguably erroneous, version of the telegram he had received from the German monarch. The French interpreted the recorded account as insulting towards their diplomat and state, aided by poor translations of the altered telegram, leading swiftly to calls to follow through with the threat and declare war. Concurrently, the Germans, feeling that the telegram demonstrated an insult and threat to their king and country, equally demanded military action. France declared war on July 19, thus starting the Franco-Prussian War. Lasting until 1871, more than 250,000 people would lose their lives as a result of this diplomatic debacle.

13. In the “blooper heard round the world” Gerald Ford claimed that the Soviet Union did not dominate Eastern Europe, who were instead free from Soviet interference

During the 1976 presidential debates between President Gerald Ford, elevated to the Oval Office by the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974, and former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, one of, if not the archetypal gaffe in modern American politics occurred. In response to a follow-up question from moderator Max Frankel, Ford incredulously responded that “there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration”. Listing Yugoslavia, Romania, and Poland, Ford claimed that “each of those countries is independent, autonomous: it has its own territorial integrity and the United States does not concede that those countries are under the domination of the Soviet Union”.

Naturally, the rest of the world immediately frantically scrambled to respond to this incredible statement by the incumbent President of the United States, with the Soviets seeking to capitalize on a valuable piece of free propaganda and the “Free World” seeking to shore up support for democracy in Europe. The New York Times determined that the comment was “enormously harmful to Mr. Ford, because his statement seemed to suggest that he did not understand the geopolitics of the region” and the remark is widely regarded as “one of the most damaging gaffes in the history of presidential politics”. Years later, Carter would express gratitude to Ford’s misguided and insistent proclamation, stating that “if it hadn’t been for the debates, I would have lost.”

12. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder accidentally extinguished the Eternal Flame in Jerusalem commemorating the victims of the Holocaust

In October 2000, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder embarked on a tour of the Middle East. Included among the stops was the Yad Vashem Memorial to the victims of the Holocaust in Jerusalem. Given the immense sensitivity, even today, regarding German-Jewish relations, his trip was promoted as an important recognition of the past, with Chancellor Schroeder commenting during this visit that “without knowledge of the past there is no way to a future”. After a ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance, a chamber containing the ashes of many victims of the Holocaust in addition to the Eternal Flame, created in 1948 to commemorate the six million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany in the Holocaust, Schröder was invited to increase the size of the flame. Unfortunately, in the dark chamber, the German Chancellor accidentally turned the gas handle the wrong way and instead of enlarging the flame, and symbolically the hopes of the Jewish people, extinguished it.

Despite the efforts of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, the flame could not be saved and for the first recorded time went out, if only briefly. A technician employed at the Yad Vashem rushed to the rescue with a cigarette lighter to relight the sacred monument. Lampooned by Western news media as “hopeless”, despite the interventions of Barak in attempt to spare his mortified German guest embarrassment, Israeli media outlets were less conciliatory and attacked Schröder’s insensitivity and incompetence at the monument.

11. The death of a Chinese engineer in The Hague in 1966 resulted in a five-month police standoff outside the Chinese legation in an attempt to question those believed to be responsible

Hsu Tsu-tsai, a 42-year-old Chinese engineer, was discovered critically injured on a doorstep in The Hague on July 16, 1966. The house in question, Number 17, Prinse Mauritslaan, was the residence of the Third Secretary of the Chinese Legation to the Netherlands, where the visiting engineer was staying and found screaming for help by a passing member of the public who alerted the authorities. Against the wishes of Chinese officials at the house, Dutch police transported Hsu to a hospital where he was diagnosed with serious spinal and internal injuries. Whilst undergoing treatment in the X-Ray department of the Red Cross Hospital, three Chinese officials stormed the room, placed Hsu on a stretcher, and forcibly carried him into a car. Driving the grievously wounded engineer to the Chinese legation at Adriaan Goekooplaan 7, unable to receive the medical attention he desperately needed Hsu would die later that afternoon.

Attempting to cremate the body before autopsy, a hearse smuggling his body was intercepted by Dutch police and an investigation opened into the death of the Chinese national. Chinese diplomats refused to answer questions, invoking their immunity, and consequently, on July 19 the Netherlands expelled the Chinese charge d’affaires, Li En-chiu. In retaliation, China detained the Dutch envoy in Peking (now Beijing) until all accomplices in the death of Hsu were permitted to return to China. After a five-and-a-half month standoff, in which the Dutch constructed a 10-foot high fence around the Chinese legation to prevent an escape, accepting that no prosecution was possible due to diplomatic immunity they allowed the suspects to depart.

10. Described as “flagrant disregard for convention” and an “outrage” among Royalist traditionalists, First Lady Michelle Obama initiated physical contact with Queen Elizabeth II (by hugging her)

Whilst not the most serious diplomatic embarrassment or mistake appearing on this list, on April 1, 2009, during a reception at Buckingham Palace for the leaders of the G20 nations American First Lady Michelle Obama broke with centuries of royal convention to give Queen Elizabeth II a hug. Precipitating a flurry of discussion and debate among the British press regarding royal traditions and whether this act signaled a relaxing of centuries of strict adherence to regulations, Mrs. Obama’s breach of etiquette was politely reciprocated by the Queen.

Stemming from a Middle Age belief in the divine right of monarchs – the presumption that a person in a position of power was selected by God and thus naturally superior to those beneath them – the Kings and Queens of Europe were widely believed to have healing powers. This belief was particularly applied to those persons specially blessed by the Pope, a characteristic assumed by the reigning Kings and Queens of England from the time of Henry VIII who was named “Defender of the Faith” by Pope Leo X in 1521, a title retained by the English monarchy to this day. Consequently, physical contact with the royal personage was highly restricted, with the touch of holiness bestowed only upon those regarded as worthy of a divine interaction. Despite the absurdity of the convention, even as the belief in religious healing disappeared, the proscription on touching has remained.

9. In 1891, the U.S. Secretary of State attempted to assist in the defeat of a Chilean rebellion by cutting off arms supplies, only for the rebellion to win and later sue the United States for their interference and illegal seizure of property

In 1891, the Chilean National Congress split with the Chilean President, José Manuel Balmaceda, precipitating a violent civil war. The Chilean Navy sided with the Congressionalist cause, whilst the Army with Balmaceda. Seeking support among multinational corporate interests operating in Chile, the Congressionalists attempted to purchase weapons from private military companies in the United States through these third-parties to aid in the conflict. Sensing that an influx of weapons might change the fortunes of the war, Chilean Foreign Minister Prudencio Lazcano appealed to United States Secretary of State James Blaine to intercede and prevent the transactions.

Agreeing to aid the Chilean government, in strict breach of international protocol to avoid involvement in internal affairs, the United States Marshal Service was ordered to seize the Itata – a ship carrying arms bought by American nitrate companies on behalf of the Chilean Congress. Defying orders to remain in port, the Itata set sail on May 7 before eventually being forced to surrender to an international blockade involving the Royal Navy, German Imperial Navy, and U.S. Navy. Despite the return of the Itata, along with its cargo of 5,000 rifles, to San Diego, another ship, the Maipo arrived just one month later with munitions anyway and, to the immense embarrassment of both Blaine and the United States, the Congressionalists emerged victorious in the conflict. Failing to prosecute the Itata and its crew, with the cargo being determined in court to be private property and consequently beyond the jurisdiction of the U.S. Federal Government, to add insult to injury the Chilean government sued the U.S. in 1901 for illegal seizure of property.

8. In an attempt to be friendly to a group of protesters in Australia, President George H.W. Bush unintentionally delivered the British equivalent of extending the middle finger

An understanding of foreign cultural customs and norms is an important aspect of international diplomacy, a trap President George H.W. Bush fell into during a visit to Australia in 1992. Believing he was being friendly and supportive to a group of peace protestors in Canberra, President Bush gave the “V-for-victory” or “peace sign” as he drove past in his limousine. Unfortunately for the elder Bush, he presented the symbol with his palm facing inwards, as is customary for the hand gesture in the United States. However, in the British Isles, and commonly also across the Commonwealth nations including Australia, the palm should face outwards to express peace, with the gesture presented by an inward palm signifying the same as an extended middle finger in American culture.

Apocryphally purported to have originated from the Hundred Years War, in reference to the victory of the English over the French using technologically advanced longbows and the practice of the French to remove the string-fingers of captured archers, it is believed that the English version of the gesture stems from the Second World War. Promoted by the allies to represent “V for Victory”, it was initially used with either an inward or outward facing palm. However, after the repeated use of the gesture by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill with an inward facing palm it was increasingly interpreted in English society as a cleverly disguised insult to the Germans, inferring “Stick it up the Germans”.

7. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi repeatedly referred to the Obamas as “sun-tanned”

In September 2009, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, not known for shying away from controversy including the alleged hiring of under-age prostitutes and pledging to marry attractive female members of his cabinet, referred to President Barack Obama in astonishingly undiplomatic fashion. Recounting his recent visit to the United States, Berlusconi, in announcing that he carried well-wishes from first African-American President of the United States, stated: “I have to bring you some greetings, greetings from a man, what is his name – just a minute it was someone with a tan – Barack Obama”.

Not the first time that Berlusconi had made remarks concerning the skin color of the American President, making headlines in November 2008 when he commented that the president-elect was “young, handsome and even suntanned.” However, on this occasion not content to merely repeat his insulting remarks, Berlusconi went further by referencing the First Lady, commenting that “you wouldn’t believe it but they go to the beach together to sunbathe because even his wife is suntanned”. Criticized by many within Italian political circles, including the country’s sole black Member of Parliament, Jean Leonard Touadi, who rebuked the president in that “by repeating these quips that are out of place, the prime minister continues to damage the image of Italy”. Berlusconi responding to these criticisms by saying anyone who did not find the comments funny was an “imbecile”.

6. Joachim von Ribbentrop, the Nazi Ambassador to the United Kingdom, made an unfortunate habit of social faux pas during his tenure including unintentionally striking King George VI

Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop, commonly known as Joachim von Ribbentrop, was Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany from 1938 until the death of Adolf Hitler on April 30, 1945. Less commonly known alongside his more memorable accomplishments, such as the Munich Agreement (1938) and the the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (the Soviet-German non-aggression pact), is that Ribbentrop served between 1936-1938 as the Ambassador to the Court of St. James with the hope of negotiating an Anglo-German alliance.

His tenure in this position was marked with persistent diplomatic blunders and gaffes, rendering his efficacy limited. At a recital of Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken at a service in Durham Cathedral, as the opening bars of organ music are identical to the German national anthem Ribbentrop lept to his feet to give the Nazi salute before being physically restrained by the Marquess of Londonderry. Ribbentrop also made the impolite habit of requesting tailors from the finest establishments, before making them wait for hours, dismissing them, and requesting they return the following day to repeat the process. Ribbentrop’s secretary later commented that his boss “behaved very stupidly and very pompously and the British don’t like pompous people”, calling Ribbentrop “pompous, conceited and not too intelligent”. Of particular note, in February 1937 Ribbentrop greeted King George VI with the Nazi salute. Unfortunately for Ribbentrop, whom the king was walking towards to shake the hand of, his sudden movement smacked the British monarch squarely in the face and nearly knocked him over.

5. Presidents Obama and Sarkozy were caught on a “hot mic” denigrating the Israeli Prime Minister at a summit in 2011

Diplomacy is an art-form, with subtlety, flattery, and nuance key weapons in the arsenal of international relations and as Sir Humphrey Appleby once quipped: “one Prime Minister’s lunch with an ambassador destroys two years of patient diplomacy”. Words and opinions must be carefully guarded, offense limited, and customs adhered to. Unfortunately for Presidents Obama and Sarkozy at a G20 economic summit in Cannes in November 2011, precisely the opposite happened. Unaware that the microphones in their meeting room had been switched on in preparation for a joint news conference, the heads of state for the United States and France were overheard criticizing and demeaning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In response to Sarkozy’s comment that “I cannot bear Netanyahu, he’s a liar”, President Obama replied, “you’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you!”.

Journalists from Arrest Sur Images listening to the conversation politely agreed to not report on what they had heard, with a total of three minutes of conversation recorded. However, after Reuters and Associated Press began publishing leaked stories of the incident they were forced to corroborate the events as reported. Although Israel sought to dismiss the incident as merely office chat, with officials responding that “everyone talks about everyone. Sometimes even good friends say things about each other, certainly in such competitive professions”, reaffirming that both Obama and Sarkozy were friends of Israel, it is unquestionable that throughout his tenure as American President, Obama’s relationship with the Israeli Prime Minister soured considerably.

4. Prince Philip, the husband to Queen Elizabeth II, is notorious for ill-advised, inappropriate, racist, and sexist remarks during his official visits

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and stalwart consort of Queen Elizabeth II, has enjoyed a lengthy career of public diplomacy on behalf of the United Kingdom. In the capacity of his royal duties, Prince Philip, as of 2002, had accompanied his wife on all 251 official overseas visits. In the course of the Coronation tour from November 1953 to May 1954, the pair traveled 43,618 miles. In total, the Duke has partaken in over 19,000 official engagements. Yet, despite this estimable resume, Prince Philip is legendarily bad at public diplomacy, routinely, and often entirely unintentionally, insulting his hosts.

Moving beyond humorous and largely inoffensive, if nonetheless impolite remarks, many of the comments made by the Prince over the years have been deeply offensive and frequently overtly racist or sexist. During a visit with British students in China in 1986, the Prince commented that “If you stay here much longer, you’ll all be slitty-eyed”, remarked that an old-fashioned fuse-box “looks as if it was put in by an Indian”, asked a Scottish driving instructed “how do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to get them through the test”, told the President of Nigeria that his traditional culture attire made him “look like you’re ready for bed”, and whilst in Australia asked indigenous Aborigines “do you still throw spears at each other”. Meanwhile, he once noted that an ethnic female police officer wearing a bullet-proof vest looked “like a suicide-bomber”, asked a female sea cadet “do you work in a strip club?”, and during a papal reception in Edinburgh asked Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie if she owned “a pair of knickers made out of [tartan]”.

3. During a visit to Poland in 1977, a poor translation resulted in Jimmy Carter expressing a desire to defect to the Communist nation and have intimate relations with its people

In 1977, during his first official visit abroad as President of the United States, Jimmy Carter was betrayed by the language barrier and the incompetence of his translator, Steven Seymour. In the course of meeting his Polish counterpart, Edward Gierek, Seymour was on hand to provide a translation of his president’s words into Polish. Unfortunately, his translations could, perhaps, have not been farther from the truth of what Carter said.

Announcing that he was extremely glad to be in Poland for his first trip abroad, Seymour somehow managed to mistranslate the friendly statement into the announcement of seeming defection by the American President, turning “I left the United States this morning” into “I left the United States, never to return”. Furthermore, Carter’s warm statement of his visit to the nation was bizarrely mistranslated into the comment that President Carter “as happy to grasp at Poland’s private parts”. Following up this colossal mistake, Seymour then successively translated Carter’s expression of a hope to learn more about the Polish peoples “desires for the future” into “I desire the Poles carnally”. Adding insult to injury, during Carter’s toast at a state banquet later during the same trip a different interpreter providing a translation could not understand the American President’s Georgia accent and consequently chose to simply not translate his words rather than offer an inaccurate depiction. Perhaps, in hindsight, the latter interpreter opted for the better path in the face of confusion.

2. British Prime Minister David Cameron refused to remove his commemorative poppy during a visit to China, despite it possessing a significantly different meaning for his hosts

For those unfamiliar with the custom, November 11, the date of the end of hostilities after World War I, each year is known as Remembrance Day among Commonwealth countries: a memorial day observed to commemorate those fallen in battle. Since 1921, originating from the American Legion and subsequently adopted by the British Empire, a commemorative poppy is worn by large portions of the population as a sign of respect and recognition to the sacrifices of these soldiers. With this time of year coinciding with a trip by Prime Minister David Cameron to China in 2010, naturally, the British head of government wore a poppy on his lapel. In spite of his offensive gesture to his hosts, the Prime Minister made it clear neither he nor his delegation would not remove his commemorative poppy when requested to by the Chinese government prior to the official welcome at Beijing’s Great Hall. A spokesperson for Downing Street later clarified that “the Chinese told us it would be inappropriate to wear poppies because of the Opium Wars. We informed them they meant a great deal to us and we would be wearing them all the same.”

Despite the peaceful symbolic meaning to the British, the poppy encompasses a significantly different message to the Chinese: a symbol of British colonialism, and, in particular, the violent Opium Wars of the 19th century. During the 1830s, in an attempt to reject encroaching European interference in the introspective nation, the Qing Emperor reimposed an early ban on the production of opium in China. In 1938, the year of the ban, the East India Company was responsible for the exportation of 1,400 tons of opium from China. Responding by seizing a small island, Hong Kong, and blockading the Yangzi River, the British invaded China. Unable to respond to the superior military might of the British Empire, the Chinese were compelled to sue for peace. As part of this agreement, the British acquired Hong Kong, cheaper opium, compensation, and other perks. The same process was repeated in 1956-58, with the ever-increasing subjugation of the Chinese people to imperialism and a cost in lives reaching into the hundreds of thousands.

1. The Governor of Otrar executed the ambassador of Genghis Khan, resulting in not only his death but the deaths of millions and the destruction of his nation

The city of Otrar, part of the Khwarezmian Empire, was a prosperous city ruled by Inalchuq, the uncle of Sultan Muhammad II during the early 13th century. In 1218, a Mongolian trade caravan, numbering roughly 450 men and including a personal envoy from Genghis Khan, arrived in Otrar. In what was probably the greatest diplomatic mistake in history, Inalchuq accused the caravan of spying, arresting and executing them en masse. When word reached the Great Khan he responded in uncharacteristically diplomatic fashion, sending a delegation of two Mongols and one Muslim to the Sultan to demand justice against his uncle. Continuing the trend of impressively poor judgment, Muhammad II executed the Muslim ambassador and shaved the beards of the Mongols.

Unwilling to tolerate another insult, Genghis called an immediate halt to his conquest of China and redirected the entirety of his military empire towards Khwarezmia. Besieging Otrar in 1219, unlike their traditional offer of surrender to a city the Mongols presented no such mercy, declaring to eradicate the city from the face of the Earth. After a protracted siege lasting five months, Otrar fell and tens of thousands were butchered by the vengeful Mongols. Inalchuq, taken alive on the orders of the Khan, was reportedly executed in the most brutal fashion: in mockery of his offers of wealth to spare his life, Genghis showed his contempt for worldly possessions by pouring molten silver into the eyes and ears of the captured governor. The resultant invasion and subsequent conquest of Khwarezmia by the Mongolian Empire would prove devastating for the region, with an estimated 25% of the population killed with minimal losses for the Mongols, in addition to the destruction of the Sultanate which was absorbed into the Khanate as a vassal region.

Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“K Blows Top: A Cold war Comic Interlude Starring Nikita Khrushchev, America’s Most Unlikely Tourist”, Peter Carlson (2010)

“Khrushchev Bangs His Shoe on Desk”, Benjamin Welles, The New York Times (October 13, 1960)

“25 Years Ago Today: George H.W. Bush Vomited on the Prime Minister of Japan”, Ann McDaniel, Newsweek (January 8, 2017)

“CNN Averts Hoax About Bush’s Death”, Dennis McDougal, Los Angeles Times (October 1, 1992)

“Boris Johnson caught on camera reciting Kipling in Myanmar temple”, Robert Booth, The Guardian (September 30, 2017)

“The Franco-Prussian War”, Michael Howard, Dorset Press (1990)

“The Myth of Gerald Ford’s Fatal ‘Soviet Domination’ Gaffe”, David Graham, The Atlantic (August 2, 2016)

“Hapless Schroder puts out Holocaust flame”, The Guardian (November 1, 2000)

“Mystery of the Locked Legation: Who Killed Mr. Hsu?”, Rudolph Chelminski, Life Magazine (March 9, 2015)

“The Queen and Mrs. Obama: A Breach in Protocol”, Howard Chua-Eoan, Time Magazine (April 1, 2009)

“The Itata Incident”, Osgood Hardy, Hispanic American Historical Review (1922)

“How to Flip Someone Off Life a Brit”, Lauren Gawne, Slate Magazine (October 15, 2015)

“Italians criticize Silvio Berlusconi over-tanned Barack Obama ‘racist gaffe'”, Nick Squires, The Telegraph (September 28, 2009)

“Ribbentrop”, Michael Bloch, Crown Publishing (1992)

“Sarkozy, Obama bemoan Netanyahu over open mic”, CNN (November 8, 2011)

“Prince Philip gaffes: 97 best and worst quotes as he celebrates his birthday”, The Mirror (June 10, 2018)

“The greatest mistranslations ever”, Fiona Mcdonald, BBC NEWS (February 2, 2015)

“David Cameron in China: Ministers refuse calls to remove poppies”, Andrew Porters, The Telegraph (November 10, 2010)

“Genghis Khan: Conqueror of the World”, Leo de Hartog, I.B. Tauris (2004)