American Arabists in the Cold War Middle East, 194675
ANTHEM MIDDLE EAST STUDIES
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Camron Michael Amin University of Michigan Dearborn (USA)
Editorial Board
Benjamin Fortna School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (UK)
John Meloy American University of Beirut (Lebanon)
Lisa Pollard University of North Carolina Wilmington (USA)
Mark L. Stein Muhlenberg College (USA)
Rene Worringer University of Guelph (Canada)
American Arabists in the Cold War Middle East, 194675
From Orientalism to Professionalism
Teresa Fava Thomas
Anthem Press
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This edition first published in UK and USA 2016
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Copyright Teresa Fava Thomas 2016
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Thomas, Teresa Fava, author.
Title: American Arabists in the Cold War Middle East, 194675 : from
orientalism to professionalism / Teresa Fava Thomas.
Description: New York, NY : Anthem Press, 2016. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016003919| ISBN 9781783085088 (hardback : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781783085095 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: United StatesForeign relationsMiddle East. | Middle
EastForeign relationsUnited States. | ArabistsUnited
StatesHistory20th century. | United StatesForeign
relations19451989. | Cold War.
Classification: LCC DS63.2.U5 T53 2016 | DDC 327.7305609/045dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016003919
ISBN-13: 978 1 78308 508 8 (Hbk)
ISBN-10: 1 78308 508 8 (Hbk)
This title is also available as an e-book.
CONTENTS
This book has taken a far longer path from its origin, as my dissertation at Clark University, than even I could have imagined. This work is rooted in oral history as well as the documentary record, and this has necessitated the assistance of many persons who were willing to talk about their experiences representing America abroad. I have incurred tremendous debts to many people but especially to many Middle East hands as well as their families.
At Clark University Professor Douglas Little offered a model of what a scholar should be and patiently gave a lot of valuable advice. Professor George M. Lane, as both teacher and diplomat, encouraged and guided this work. Their advice was always the most cogent and wise. I have tried to follow their guidance, and any errors are entirely mine.
Institutional support from Clark University and Fitchburg State University (FSU) has enabled me to attend conferences, travel to archives and conduct interviews. FSUs head librarian Robert Foley and his staff have patiently dealt with endless requests for interlibrary loans.
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) enabled me to spend a summer in Washington, DC, attending the NEH seminar on the New International History of the Cold War led by Professor James Hershberg and an array of Cold War scholars, including Raymond Gartoff. It was a wonderful opportunity to explore the National Security Archives document collections. This support opened new vistas for me on foreign policy. I also must express my deep appreciation for the hardworking and helpful staff of the National Archives facilities in Washington, as well as College Park and Suitland, Maryland. Over the years the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) conferences have been a very helpful venue for presenting my work. I have greatly benefited from the comments and suggestions of many SHAFR members.
The Middle East Institute library in Washington, especially with the aid of librarian Betsy Folkins, was a wonderful source of materials on the American interaction with the Levant and the careers of Raymond Hare and Malcolm Kerr. The archivists of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, especially Mary Kennefick, as well as the staff of the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library, have been very helpful in locating key documents. This work has been enriched by materials from the oral history collections of Princeton Universitys Mugar Library, as well as the William Yale Papers at Boston Universitys Mugar Library. The staff of the Government Documents Depository at Harvard Universitys Widener Library has been very helpful as well.
Dr. James Snow of the Foreign Service Institute generously offered much time to discuss the ingenious scientific linguists as well as his tenure as head of the Arabic language training program at Beirut. The former president of the American University of Beirut (AUB) David Dodge patiently read early chapters and discussed his career. AUB President Robert Haddad and Dean Lufty Diab also provided materials on the course of studies for American diplomats from the AUB archives.
The oral history interview project of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) has been instrumental in the completion of this work. Their transcripts, originally housed at Georgetown University and then at the Foreign Service Institute, are now online. The ADST oral history project, led by Charles Stuart Kennedy, has done an incredible job of interviewing an array of American Foreign Service officers and recording their perspectives on the formulation and implementation of foreign policy. No words can express the extent of my gratitude to Charles Stuart Kennedy, Dayton Mak, Stephen Low, Marilyn Bentley and many others who have carried forward the ADSTs commitment to diplomatic history.
So many diplomats kindly gave their time, including (but not limited to) William R. Crawford, Hermann F. Eilts, Paul J. Hare, Raymond Hare, Andrew I. Killgore, George M. Lane, Dayton S. Mak, Richard W. Murphy, Richard B. Parker, Talcott Seelye and Michael E. Sternermany thanks to them and to their families for allowing me to interview them about their experiences. Many others generously gave of their time to discuss their careers via telephone or by correspondence, including Donald Bergus, Hume Horan and William Lakeland.
