The U.S. State Department put out its first travel advisory in 1978; the warnings used to inform citizens about the dangers of certain foreign countries but they eventually evolved into a four-tier rating system that starts at an “exercise normal precautions” ranking for countries that are just as or safer than the U.S. and goes all the way up to “do not travel.”
The worst possible ranking is typically given to countries where travelers can find themselves either persecuted or in immediate physical danger: active war zones, authoritarian governments, and countries with which the U.S. does not have formal diplomatic relations.
“These places are dangerous,” says U.S. State Department
On Sept. 4, the State Department posted about countries that are under the Level Four ranking in 2025 on social media platform X: Russia, Ukraine and Belarus have all been under “Do Not Travel” since Russia began a full-scale war by invading Ukraine in 2022.
Countries such as Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Syria, Somalia and Yemen have been under the top travel advisory for more than a decade. In total, there are 21 nations currently marked as “do not travel”.
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“We assign the levels based on local conditions and/or our limited ability to help there,” the State Department post reads. “These places are dangerous and you may be putting yourself at extreme risk by visiting.”
Other countries included in the list are Burkina Faso, Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya and Mali. While Haiti has also been under level four for years, the nation was placed under a state of emergency in March 2024 after one of the country’s most notorious gang leaders freed prisoners and staged an armed rebellion that took down the sitting Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
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Latest travel advisories focus on Haiti, Lebanon
“Do not travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited health care,” the advisory that has been in place since continues to read.
Amid continued strikes from the Israeli military, the Middle Eastern nation of Lebanon also received a reiterated “do not travel” advisory over the summer.
The June 24 update orders “the departure of family members and non-emergency U.S. government personnel from Lebanon” and warns of “civil unrest, kidnapping, unexploded landmines, and the risk of armed conflict.”
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Updates for countries under this type of advisory are updated periodically but a jump from “reconsider travel” to “avoid all travel” is rare and usually influenced by the start of full-scale war.
The last July update for Lebanon lifted a temporary order that any U.S. government officials stationed in the country avoid traveling outside their immediate residence but still advises any American citizens located there that consular help may not be available.
“U.S. citizens in Lebanon should be aware that consular officers from the U.S. Embassy are not always able to travel to assist them,” the State Department website for the country reads. “The Department of State considers the threat to U.S. government personnel in Beirut serious enough to require them to live and work under strict security.”
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