The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project
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The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR FRAN OIS M. DICKMAN Interviewed by: Stanley Brooks Initial interview date: February 9, 2001 Copyright 2001 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born in owa" raised in owa and Wyoming U.S. Army, World War " Korean War University of Wyoming" Fletcher School Brookings nstitution Entered Foreign Service - 19,1 Barran-uilla, .olombia - 0ice .onsul 19,1-19,1 2eporting Environment Washington, D. - FS - Arabic 3anguage Training 19,1-19,, Beirut, 3ebanon - FS - Arabic 3anguage Training 19,4-19,7 Environment Sue6 .anal nationali6ation .ourse of instruction Khartoum, Sudan - .onsular7Economic Officer 19,7-1940 Unity .otton Nile waters A D Travel State Department Office of Near East Affairs - Economic Affairs 1940-1941 Arab boycott of srael Sue6 .anal State Department - UA2 Desk Officer 1941-194, Non-aligned movement Nasser Belgrade .onference 1 Syria-Egypt union ends U.S. missiles to srael P3 180 for Egypt North Yemen-Egypt Yemen 2epublicans Egyptian-Saudi relations Egypt=s missiles Dimona .ANE (.ontrol of Arms Near East) Mc.loy Middle East missions Abu Simbel US S .airo library burned Syria Margaret=s activities Tunis, Tunisia - Economic officer 194,-1948 French Nationali6ation Economy P3 180 A D Arab- srael 1947 war Embassy attacked President Bourguiba Environment Margaret=s activities Army War .ollege (.arlisle, Pennsylvania) 1948-1949 Aeddah, Saudi Arabia - Economic7Political Officer 1949-1972 Environment Aidda-2iyadh BshuttleC Deterrent Force North Yemen A2AM.O OPE. Shah of ran 3ondon Droup Military e-uipment Aoseph Kraft Arabists Oman Desalination plant State Department - Arabian Peninsula - .ountry Director 1972-1974 Arab Emirates 2 Dulf States PD2Y Persian Dulf ran Saudi-U.S. investments Secretary of State 2ogers= Yemen visit .ongressional interest Moore-Noel assassinations Black September Arms sales Natural gas Yom Kippur 197E war Oil embargo French-Aapanese tactics .ongressional interest Washington Energy .onference nternational Energy Agency U.S.-Saudi Aoint Economic .ommission (AE.O2) Yamani King Faisal assassinated U.S. ambassadors to Dulf States Oman U.S. Dulf bases srael boycott Ambassador Aames Akins Kuwait liaison office Abu Dhabi - Ambassador 1974-1979 Oil pricing TaF 2eform Act - 1974 Dulf states rulers Political developments Economy Egypt- srael treaty Arms sales Kuwait - Ambassador 1979-198E Teheran embassy sei6ure Kuwait Future Denerations Fund Security alerts A.2. Ali-i Evacuation Population Palestine issue Press Moscow Olympics E .amp David negotiations U.S.-Kuwait relations Dulf .ooperation .ouncil ra--Kuwait relations Kuwait Fund for Economic Development Oil pricing OPE. ra-- ran war Women=s suffrage Shia minority 0oting Sabah family Abu Ain case Palestinian community Kristine Olman case Kuwaiti-U.S. investments Kuwait Petroleum .ompany Sante Fe nternational purchase 3ebanon Secretary of State Shult6=s shuttle Stock market crash Mar-uette University - Diplomat in 2esidence 198E-1981 Kuwait bombing reports 2etirement - University of Wyoming 1981 Adjunct professor Observation: ra-- ran INTERVIEW Q: Today is February 9, 2001. This is an interview with Ambassador Fran&ois M. Dickman in his home in Laramie, Wyoming on behalf of The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. I,m Stanley Brooks, a retired Foreign Service officer who has also chosen to retire in Wyoming. Ambassador Dickman, how is it that someone who grew up in Wyoming found himself in the Foreign Service- D .KMAN: Well, let me give you a little bit of background. First of all, was born in owa .ity in 1921. came to 3aramie in 19EE after my father was appointed as the head of the Modern 3anguage Department at the University of Wyoming. Both my parents were language teachers. My father was born in Antwerp, Belgium. He survived World War after siF years in the Belgian army. After being demobili6ed in 1919, he came to the U.S. at the invitation of an older brother who was living in Waco, TeFas and who was a cotton broker. But my father soon reali6ed that he wasn=t cut out for the cotton 1 business, so he got his master=s degree in French and Derman at Baylor. My mother was born in Tarbes, a city in the southern part of France. She came to the United States in 1920 as an eFchange student at Millikin University in Decatur, llinois. She had previously taught English in a French lycHe. Although she had every intention of returning to France ( think she got a degree after one year at Millikin), she was offered a job as a French instructor in Baylor in 1921. t is there in Waco that my parents met. My father got his M.A. at Baylor and then got a job to teach at the University of owa. So, my parents moved to owa .ity. There, my father obtained his Ph.D. at the University of owa in 192,. think they went to owa about 192E or thereabouts because was born in owa .ity. My father remained an associate professor in the Modern 3anguage Department until 19E2 when he was appointed to be the chair or the head of the 3anguage Department at the University of Wyoming. should also point out that am an only child. Since French was spoken at home, was raised bilingually. Of course, with both parents coming from Europe, world events were constantly discussed at home. My father had a passionate hatred for the Dermans, which wasn=t surprising since he had barely survived as an infantryman during his siF years in the Belgian army. On several occasions during the trench warfare, he had been buried alive. He suffered from a bullet hole through his upper calf. Although he recovered from poison gas attacks, it resulted in a lifetime of psoriasis causing him to have red blotches all over his skin. He used to treat these blotches with 3ysol. don=t know why 3ysol, but that=s what he used. Of course, my parents were very concerned with the rise of Hitler. My father spoke Derman fluently. can recall vividly my father shouting back in Derman during Hitler=s radio broadcasts warning everyone who was willing to listen of the growing Derman danger and the need to treat BMein KampfC seriously. He would say, BHitler has spelled it all out. We know eFactly what his ideas are.C He -uite correctly anticipated that Dermany under Hitler would renew its war against Britain and France and that the Dermans would invade Belgium using the Schlieffen Plan just like they did in 1911. n fact, when the war broke out, my father told me that he first entered combat at 3iege where his unit tried to fend off the Derman advance and actually managed to delay the advance for a few days. As recall, the Belgian army finally had to retreat to the Yser 2iver, which is right on the French-Belgian border. That=s where a static line was established for the rest of the war and where my father spent the rest of the war in the trenches. As for my mother, she was the intellectual in the family and did most of the work on the language teFtbooks that my parents prepared. My mother identified with and was very tied emotionally to her native France. Every three years, my parents would make a trip to Europe to visit my grandparents. The visits that remember the best were the ones in 19E, when was 10 and in 19E8 when was 1E. At that time, it was possible to load the family car at -uite a reasonable price on the transatlantic ship. This meant driving from 3aramie to New York .ity, which took four or five days, and then taking the car to the dock to be loaded on the ship. Once you reached 3e Havre, the car was unloaded and we just hopped in and that was it. , n 19E8, we took the Normandie, which was a magnificent vessel. Even though we traveled third class, which was the cheapest class, it was a very comfortable trip. n 19E8, for eFample, when we visited France, we drove to Boulogne, where my mother had an uncle and aunt. On this occasion, my father left my mother and me to stay with the uncle and aunt while he drove the family car to Belgium to visit an old friend of his, an academic at the University of 3iege. The two took the occasion to make a brief visit into Dermany where they witnessed the construction of the autobahns. recall my father saying that these superhighways were all directed toward the French and Belgian borders. Since there was very little Derman traffic, he thought it was obvious what they were going to be used for military purposes. After my father returned from his trip to Belgium and Dermany, we drove to Paris and then south to Tarbes to visit my grandfather on my mothers= side. During that summer, accompanied by my grandfather, we all traveled in the family car to taly, first to Denoa and then down to 2ome. t was in August of 19E8. What recall vividly was the fact that Hitler had just made his visit to taly. Everywhere along the highways, you could see the signs BDuce, Duce, DuceC painted along the highways. The other favorite sign on many buildings was the proclamation BObedire, .redere, .ombatere,C in other words, BObey, Believe, and Fight.C After 2ome, we visited Florence, Sienna, and 0enice and then drove back to France. On our way back to the United States, we stopped in Saint Malo to visit friends who were later killed during the war. The discussion centered on the Derman threat and a statement U.S. Ambassador William Bullitt had made which seemed to imply that the U.S.