This special goes behind embassy walls, with unprecedented access to those who keep America's international relations stable and strong in the midst of crisis and calm.

In Japan, newly appointed Ambassador Howard Baker is the key to mending relations with Japan after the fatal collision of a U.S. submarine and a Japanese fishing ship. National Geographic was the only television crew to accompany Ambassador Baker when he delivered the emotional apology to the victims' families on behalf of the United States. In Pakistan, the new ambassador arrived one month before the September 11 attacks and now is a frontline warrior in the struggle against terrorism. On the other side of the world, the U.S. ambassador to Guatemala must play an important role in preventing that country from plunging back into civil war. Her previous post was in Africa, where she survived the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya in 1998--an experience that she shares in this program, which includes interviews with more than a dozen U.S. diplomats and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.