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Quiet Diplomacy: From Cairo to Tokyo in the Twilight of Imperialism
“The chapter on Iran is simply superb. It sheds much new light on the Shah’s voracious appetite for arms, on his complex personality, and on Armin Meyer’s significant role in the settlement of the Saudi-Iranian median line dispute. I admire Ambassador Meyer’s keen insight on the dangers of the ‘arrogance of power.'”
R. K. RAMAZANI
In Quiet Diplomacy, Armin Meyer recounts and analyzes the wide-ranging experiences and lessons learned in his remarkable life and extraordinary diplomatic career. He also offers valuable guidance for today’s diplomacy.
Ambassador Meyer’s distinguished public career spanned more than thirty tumultuous years of hot and cold war, beginning in World War II with a secret mission to Eritrea and an editing assignment in Cairo for the Office of War Information. In the postwar Foreign Service, his twenty-year involvement in the quest for Middle East peace included postings in Baghdad, Beirut, and the State Department’s Near East Bureau, where he dealt with Nasserism, Hawk missiles, and Arab refugees.
Armin Meyer served as President Kennedy’s ambassador to Beirut during Lebanon’s first peaceful presidential transition. As President Johnson’s ambassador to the Shah’s Iran, he dealt with arms, oil, and the Gulf median line. And he served as President Nixon’s ambassador to Japan during Okinawa’s reversion to Japanese administration, the contentious extension of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, and Nixon’s “China Shock.” He also served as the State Department’s first coordinator for combating terrorism.
“…a distinct contribution to the history of the period. Armin Meyer’s prominent role in U.S. policy determination in the Middle East and Japan deserves to be chronicled. So does the United States’ previous emphasis on quiet diplomacy, which–alas–seems to be so sadly lacking these days. “
HERMAN F. EILTS, former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Egypt