Subramanian: Worldview

WOHLDVIEW International affairs, distant lands

Career Diplomat Terence Todman is one of our most senior and respected ambassadors.

BY BONNIE SUBRAMANIAN chairman of the Senate Foreign during the Carter administration. hagen coordinates the activities of Relations Committee, suggested When Todman has been faulted NATO and other agencies that that the post demanded someone it has been for being too con- relate to defense, east-west rela- HEN TER- of"thecaliberofTerenceTodman." ciliatory. As assistant secretary of tions, and trade. "It is a major ence Tod- Todman has established his ere- state for Latin America, he was management job to ensure that man was in- dentials both in the State Depart- criticized by human rights activists there is only one clear voice formed of ment and in the countries where he in the Carter administration for not representing the United States," his nomina- has served. As ambassador to Spain being tough on right-wing dictators says Todman of his current posi- tion as ambassador to South Africa he negotiated a treaty renewal for in the Western Hemisphere. He was tion in Denmark. in 1986, he responded in a way few U.S.-Spanish military bases which removed from the post, but First A firm believer in dialogue, Too- career diplomats would have. He paved the way for Spain's entry in- Lady Rosalyn Carter, a close per- man is currently perfecting his turned down the appointment be- totheNorthAtlanticTreaty Organ- sonal friend, defended his "bal- command of the Danish language, cause he disagreed with the govern- ization (NATO) . In Guinea he sue- anced approach" to human rights. which he picked up by taking ment's policy in South Africa. ceeded in persuading the left- classes in his spare time, and from But even in his refusal, Todman, leaning President Sekou Toure to T ODMANIS CURRENTLY radio and television. "By learning one of the most senior diplomats takealess hostileviewofthe United ambassadorto Denmark, a a language, you learn a perspec- in the foreign service, demonstrated States, and he played a key role in country that is a member of tive," he says. "You can also make a balance and restraint that the negotiations that led to the NATO and a key trade partner. The a better presentation in defense of characterize his approach to signing ofthe Panama Canal Treaty United States embassy in Copen- the U.S. point of view." He is also diplomacy. .------.. quite fluent in French, "The United States can- Spanish, Arabic, and Hindi. not afford to be out of South But Todman stresses that Africa. You have to be there learning a foreign language to maintain a dialogue," said may not always be the solu- Todman in a press confer- tion. "A diplomat must have ence, admitting that he the ability to communicate, would be more than willing which is one of the reasons to accept the job if the ad- why I tell young people that ministration could work out know ledge of their own a policy that was acceptable language is very important," to both blacks and whites in he explains. strife-torn South Africa. Todman believes that the By selecting Todman, the need to communicate has highest ranking black become imperative in an in- diplomat, the administra- creasingly complex world. tion hoped to make a sym- With the emergence of other bolic protest against apart- global powers, he feels the heid at a time when race United States has begun to riots in South Africa adopt a more flexible ap- dominated world headlines. proach in its dealings with When an earlier nomination other countries. "We under- for the post fell through, stand we have to engage in because the candidate dialogue. We can't just tell lacked impeccable ere- people what to do," he says, dentials, Richard Lugar, referring to the decades im­ mediately after World War II when the United States SRIBALA " BONNIE" SUB­ was the preeminent power RAMANIAN is currently a graduate student in the in the world. magazine sequence of SU's From his experience, Newhouse School. She hails however, he feels that the from India, where she is a manner in which the free-lance writer. American point of view is

38 SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE Published by SURFACE, 1988 1 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 4, Iss. 3 [1988], Art. 9

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presented should vary from coun­ ship Council. positive image ofthe United States. a renewal ofAmerican bases, which try to country. "Sometimes you Following that, he was assigned After serving in Guinea, Todman later led to Spain's entry into NATO. have to spell it out very clearly and in various roles to embassies in ·worked actively to be posted to a at other times you have to be sub­ New Delhi, Tunis, and Tongo. He non-African country. He was ODMAN HAS BEEN tle," he says, maintaining that the returned to Washington in 1968 as assigned to Costa Rica in 1975, the Trecognized at home and consistency in the content of the country director for Kenya, Tan­ first black ambassador to a Latin abroad as an outstanding policy must never be lost. zania, Uganda, and the Seychelle American country. diplomat. He was recently awarded But when a diplomat does see the Islands, in the Bureau of African Later Todman returned to the the President's Distinguished Ser­ need for a change in policy as Tod­ Affairs. State Department as assistant vice Award, and the government of man did in South Afric.a, his posi­ Todman's first posting as am­ secretary of state for Latin the Virgin Islands presented him tion can become awkward. Ex­ bassador was to the African America. During this time he with its Medal of Honor. plaining his perspective in such a Republic of Chad, after which he played a key role in the negotiations He has been decorated by the situation, Todman says, "What an served for four years as the am­ that led to the signing ofth e Panama government of Chad and the ambassador is able to do depends bassador to Guinea. Todman looks Canal Treaty, which paved the way Spanish government awarded him on how the policy of his govern­ back at his assignment in Guinea for Panamanian control ofthe canal the Grand Cross of the Highest ment is perceived," adding candid­ as one ofthe most rewarding of his at the end of this century. He also Order of Isabela Ia Catolica. Tod­ ly, " I am not sure the government's career and one in which he was able initiated a dialogue with Cuba and man has received honorary doc­ policy is believed by people in South to effect a change in the ruling negotiated an agreement that led to torates from Syracuse University Africa." government's attitude towards the the establishment of a physical and Colgate University. Todman believes that honesty is United States. presence in that country. With ex­ While widely recognized for his an essential part of the job and that At the time he was posted to perience in African and Latin deep dedication to his profession, " a diplomat should have the Guinea, anti-American sentiment American affairs behind him, Tod­ Todman admits that he shies away courage to tell both sides about was high. President Sekou Toure man was next assigned to Spain. from the sort of lifestyle that ac­ things the way he sees them." had asked the United States for help The five years that Todman companies a career in the foreign when Guinea became independent served there were crucial in Spain's service. Reflecting on the adage that ERENCE A. TODMAN from France in 1952 and had not history. The country was in a state a diplomat's life is made up oflarge Twas born in 1926 in St. received an encouraging response. of flux following the death of its doses of protocol, Geritol and Thomas, the Virgin Islands. The Soviet Union came to his right-wing dictator, General Fran­ alcohol, the 62-year-old am­ He served as an officer in the United rescue; as a result Toure became co. In 1982, Spain swung to the op­ bassador professes a scrupulous States Army in Japan and as assis­ a rabid critic of the United States. posite end ofth e political spectrum adherence to protocol but not to the tant personnel officer of the govern­ But by establishing an open line of when a socialist governm~nt was other two. Terence Todman finds ment ofth e Virgin Islands. He then communication with Toure, Tod­ elected. Despite the tilt to the left, his work stimulating enough. went on to obtain a bachelor's man contributed to building a more Todman was able to negotiate for degree from Inte r-American University, in San German, Puer­ to Rico, where he graduated sum­ Also in the Corps ma cum laude. He enrolled in SU's Arnold Raphel's mother remem­ Hamilton College and went on to Maxwell School of Citizenship bers him at the age of ten, draw­ pursue a master's degree at SU's with the intention of pursuing a ing maps and writing about the Maxwell School. He joined the career in the foreign service. He political situation in the Middle State Department in 1967 and graduated in 1952 with a master's East. The United States ambas­ was first assigned to the city of degree in public administration. sador to Pakistan is not sure he Isfahan in Iran and later to the At the oral examination Todman can corroborate that, but if his capital, Teheran. Atthe Teheran took for his e ntry into the experience in the foreign service embassy he served as a staff aide diplomatic corps, one ofthe inter­ is any indication it would appear to the ambassador and then as viewers felt that his accent was not plausible. Political Officer. American enough for a prospective The 43-year-old diplomat on and the new developments are He returned to Washington in United States diplomat. Todman, his first ambassadorial assign­ likely to affect future U.S. foreign 1978 to join the policy planning who had given up other lucrative ment has been involved with the policy in the region. Proximity to staffin charge ofNorth America, job opportunities to join the foreign Middle East and South Asia for countries like China, India, and Iran, and the Persian Gulf. Soon service, was initially dismayed. But the major part of his career in Iran also make the diplomatic after, he was made special assis­ he found that the BuTeau of Near the foreign service. mission in Pakistan a strategically tant to the secretary ofstate, dur­ Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Raphel's appointment in 1987 important one. ing which time he was involved where he was assigned, did not have came at a time when crucial Raphel has been closely in­ in the negotiations for the return serious objections to his Carribean changes were taking place in the volved with the dramatic political of the hostages in Iran. Over a accent, and thus a long string of delicate balance of power in the developments that have occurred period of two years he worked diplomatic appointments began. region. Ever since Soviet troops in the region over the past decade. with secretaries of state Cyrus After an initial stint at the State entered Afghanistan in 1980, the He was one ofthe four diplomats Vance, Edmund Muskie, and Department, Todman was assigned region has been a theater for who traveled to Algeria in 1980 Alexander Haig. Raphel was next as an advisor to U.S. delegations superpower politics. The United during the final weeks of the assigned to the Bureau ofPolitico­ to the United Nations General States has supported a guerilla hostage crisis in Iran to negotiate Military Affairs and then to the Assembly and Trusteeship Coun­ resistance movement in for the release of the American Near Eastern and South Asian cil. He also served as the United Afghanistan through neighbor­ hostages. Affairs Desk, where he served States Representative on the Peti­ ing Pakistan. But recently the Raphel was born in Troy, New until the Senate confirmed his tions and Rural Economic Develop­ Soviet Union has agreed to York. He completed his nomination as ambassador ear­ ment Committees of the Trustee- withdraw its military presence, undergraduate education at ly in 1987. -B.S.

JUNE 1188 39 https://surface.syr.edu/sumagazine/vol4/iss3/9 2