American Ambassadors in a Troubled World: Interviews with Senior Diplomats

241 Pages·1992·12.44 MB·English

by  Dayton Mak

American Ambassadors
in a
Troubled World
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American Ambassadors
in a
Troubled World
Interviews with Senior Diplomats
Dayton Mak
and
Charles Stuart Kennedy
Contributions in Political Science, Number 303
GREENWOOD PRESS
Westport, Connecticut • London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mak, Dayton.
American ambassadors in a troubled world : interviews with senior
diplomats / Dayton Mak and Charles Stuart Kennedy.
p. cm.—(Contributions in political science, ISSN 0147-1066
; no. 303)
Includes index.
ISBN 0-313-28558-6 (alk. paper)
1. United States—Foreign relations—1945-1989. 2. Ambassadors-
United States—Interviews. 3. United States—Foreign relations
administration. I. Kennedy, Charles Stuart. II. Title.
III. Series.
E840.M335 1992
327.73-dc20 92-7398
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright © 1992 by Dayton Mak and Charles Stuart Kennedy
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 92-7398
ISBN: 0-313-28558-6
ISSN: 0147-1066
First published in 1992
Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
Contents
Preface vii
The American Ambassador: A Historical Perspectivespectivee 1 1
Ambassadorial Backgrounds: Who Are They?e tthey? 7
Appointments: How to Become an Ambassadorbassador 21
Ambassadorial Seminar: Preparation for the Posthee post 33
Managing an Embass embassy 51
Conducting Business with Heads of Stateof state 69
Coping with Policy and Washington Bureaucracyeauracyy 79
Troubles in Asia: Korea and Laoand laoss 955
The Six-Day War, June 1967: Egypt, Jordan, and Israeld israel m 1077
The Jonestown Affair: Guyana, 1978a, 1978 125
Cyprus: Preventing a Greek-Turkish Warish warm 141
vi Contents
12. The Fall of Saigon: Spring 1975 159
13. Nicaragua, 1979: Somoza Out, Sandinistas In 179
14. Terrorism, Coups, and Other Violence 191
15. The American Ambassador and the Future 213
Appendix A: President's Letter to Ambassadors 215
Appendix B: Interviews Used in Text 219
Appendix C: Master Organization of a United
States Diplomatic Mission 223
Index 225
Preface
The material for this book has been taken from transcripts of taped
interviews of over seventy U.S. ambassadors and other senior diplomatic
officers who served in embassies abroad and whose experiences were
recorded under the Association for Diplomatic Studies' Foreign Affairs
Oral History Program. The texts are verbatim with minor editing in the
interests of brevity and clarity. The transcripts in their entirety may be
read at the Lauinger Library of Georgetown University or at the De
partment of State's Foreign Service Institute.
The authors, retired Foreign Service officers, wish to thank all of the
persons whose experiences are recorded here as well as those who
volunteered their time to conduct the interviews. Our particular thanks
go to William Morgan and Norman Pratt, retired Foreign Service officers,
and Ambassador Andrew Steigman of Georgetown University for their
most helpful advice and assistance throughout the project. We also want
to thank our transcribers, Marion Henderson, Thomas Stern, Debbie Read,
and Elizabeth Beuter.
Special thanks are due to the librarian of the Lauinger Library, Dr.
Susan Martin, and her assistant, Karen Laufman, and the Special
Collections Division's George M. Barringer and Jon Reynolds, all of
Georgetown University.
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1
The American Ambassador:
A Historical Perspective
Representing the president and the American people abroad as ambassador
of the United States of America to another nation is a singular honor.
Men and women, successful in their various careers, have been proud to
serve their country as ambassador. To a Foreign Service officer, it is the
acme of a career.
There have been times when the life of the ambassador abroad was a
comfortable one; a handsome place to live, a fine office in which to work,
domestic and office help to assist and a place of honor and privilege in the
foreign community. In those times the persons of the ambassador and his
family as well as the staffs of the chancery and residence were protected
as a matter of accepted diplomatic courtesy.
The world has changed. The virtual end of colonialism and great power
domination has let loose a host of ideas, interests and goals sometimes
considered inimical to American interests. Some elements, viewing the
United States an obstacle to their goals have turned to street violence and
terrorism against American commercial establishments and U.S. embassies.
Ambassadors themselves have become favored targets. The once quiet
embassies and comfortable residences of ambassadors have been turned
into armed fortresses, heavily guarded with access carefully restricted. In
some capitals ambassadors, their families and their staffs have become
virtual prisoners in their own embassies. Transportation for the ambassador
is often now an armored sedan surrounded fore and aft by a convoy of
armed guards.