The 1950s can be described as a decade filled with some uncertainties, but many prosperities. The Cold War had just ensued between the United States and the USSR, and in the midst of this geopolitical friction, powers from around the world began forming alliances necessary to contain the threats they feared. One of those alliances was forged through joint efforts facilitated by the United States and the United Kingdom; their mission: degrade a Red Scare in the Middle East.

While the Soviets were continuing to expand their spheres of influence in Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, one of the regions they were desperate to conquer was the Middle East. This was mainly due to economic reasons. Fearing a potential domino effect in the region, a coalition of Middle Eastern countries—with the help of the United States and the United Kingdom—came up with an intergovernmental alliance aimed to fend off Communist expansionism. This became known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), a military alliance that lasted between 1958 to 1979. Originally the Baghdad Pact, the organization was first established in 1956 by Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Their sole purpose was to prevent Soviet influence from expanding in lengths towards the Middle East. However, as Iraq dealt with a violent coup that abolished the constitutional monarchy and installed Arab Socialist Karim Qasim into power, the Baghdad Pact was eventually renamed to the Central Treaty Organization in 1958. CENTO, unlike NATO, didn’t function as a collective security organization but was instrumental in sponsoring various economic projects across the Middle East. The most notable was the Van-Sufian railway, a 362 kilometer railway system that traveled from London to Tehran, via Turkey. The organization, however, was hollowed with failures in between, and many felt that the activities pursued by CENTO weren’t enough to contain the spread of Communism in the Middle East. By 1979, following the Iranian revolution, Iran pulled out of CENTO, and this mutual security alliance was disbanded in its entirety.
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Foreign service officers typically must demonstrate adaptability and proactivity to accomplish their missions smoothly and effectively, but sometimes they find themselves thrust into circumstances where they must take their capacity to adapt and develop innovative, proactive solutions to the next level.

Razvigor Bazala found himself in such circumstances during his service as Public Affairs Officer (PAO) with the United States Information Agency (USIA) in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the mid-1990s, after four years of armed conflict in the former Yugoslavia. There, he would face the challenging task of advancing Bosnian national unity in the deeply divided country following the Dayton Accords, the negotiations that had arranged for the end of the armed hostilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

One of the initial challenges confronting Bazala during his service in Sarajevo was the need to work with Bosnians to help mitigate the interethnic strife that had sparked immense violence following Yugoslavia’s breakup, with the object of helping Bosnian civil society institutions begin to regain stability and vibrancy. Bosnian teachers looked to Bazala for assistance in developing a fresh civic education program to teach high school students about the rule of law and norms of governance in a democratic society. Bazala also worked with Bosnian media outlets to promote independent journalism that would strive for objectivity. Helping Bosnian media with its transition into the post-communist environment would require cooperation among reporters, media editors, and broadcasters throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a significant degree of patience, determination, and mutual understanding.
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Historically, Foreign Service Nationals (FSNs) have been working behind the scenes and supporting foreign service personnel who often serve in public-facing roles. They are therefore commonly called the “backbone” of the embassies, and their in-country expertise and continuity serve as valuable contributions to American diplomacy.

In the first decade after World War II, the U.S. Embassy in Delhi hired P.K.V. Krishnan as an FSN. Later, he was heavily involved in the development of U.S.-India labor programs abroad. Unlike FSOs (Foreign Service Officers) who work and travel in different countries, Krishnan, like other FSNs, spent his entire career working locally in the labor section to build experience, deal with complex issues, and solve problems.

During World War II, India remained a British colonial possession and officially declared war on Nazi Germany in September 1939. Around the same time, the U.S. government appointed its first local labor employees in Delhi, India to help formulate administrative goals and duties in the labor field. Read more

Unlike many women’s stories that highlight the immense challenges women face, Alice Shurcliff highlights in her oral history advantages she enjoyed as a female working in intelligence. Shurcliff began working for military intelligence while still in college in the 1930s. She learned that due to the approaching war, military intelligence favored hiring women over men (because men were preparing for the war and would be leaving).

These jobs were more than the typical clerical, traditionally female supportive roles. Instead, Shurcliff exercised a large amount of responsibility. She was initially put in charge of covering the entire British Empire. Women were in charge of many divisions, and Shurcliff suggests in her oral history that the only requirement seemed to be having a masters degree and being ladylike. The war provided women like Shurcliff with an avenue to a career in military intelligence.

Sometimes, having family acquaintances and connections helps. For example, Shurcliff grew up in an “upper-middle-class family” in a home where labor organizing—and indeed the origins of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)—was the norm. She recounts that a personal friend of hers who worked in Turkey helped her when she initially sought a position with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She applied and was accepted. However, because the hiring had not been cleared with the chief of mission, who was hesitant to hire a woman in a predominately Muslim country, she was not permitted to stay in that position. Again, Shurcliff’s friend advocated for her, and she subsequently landed a position with the State Planning Organization in Çukurova. Read more

The year is 1986. A Senegalese farmer walks out in his field a short while after the drought season has ended and the rains have come. As he enters his crops, the field yields before him, bending as in the wind. But there is no wind. Instead, there are countless locusts that part before him like the Red Sea, but not after leaving his only source of income devastated.

This disaster occurs frequently in West Africa, and a USAID [United States Agency for International Development] Deputy Director George Carner was tasked with solving this locust infestation in Senegal.

Swarms of locusts are relatively common occurrences in many parts of Africa. The effects of locusts in Senegal can be better understood if examined on a ten year cycle. During the drought periods of about seven years, the locust eggs lie dormant underground. But as the few years of rain return, the larvae emerge, consume everything in sight, and lay eggs for the next generation, perpetuating the cycle. When George Carner arrived in Senegal in the summer of 1986, so did the wet season and the accompanying locusts. After rapid responses from entomologists and disaster relief experts, Carner concluded this was an issue that must be addressed immediately. In this “Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History,” we see that in just two short years, Carner did so by successfully coordinating government contractors to spray much of Senegal with pesticides while balancing the political, religious, and health consequences of such a plan. What’s more impressive, this plan still proved effective in the face of tragedy for his team and the contractors. Read more