1 the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project DAVID HAMILTON SHINN Interviewed

The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project DAVID HAMILTON SHINN Interviewed by: Charles Stuart Kennedy Initial interview date: July 5, 2002 Copyright 2004 A ST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born and raised in akima, Washington George Washington University Entered Foreign Service - 1964 American Foreign Service Association [AFSA, Beirut, -e.anon - Rotation Officer 1964-1966 0onsular 1ork Environment State Department - FS2 - S1ahili -anguage Training 1966-1963 Nairo.i, 5enya - Political Officer 1963-1968 Seychelles U.S. naval visits 85ikuyu domination9 Environment British Ethnicities North1estern University - African Studies 1968-1969 State Department - East African Affairs 1969-1931 Ethiopia Eritrea State Department - East African Affairs - Tan:ania-Uganda Desk Officer 1931-1932 American assassinated Dar es Salaam, Tan:ania - Political Officer 1932-1934 Relations 1 Economy 0hinese Nouakchott, Mauritania - D0M 1934-1936 Polisario French Environment Seattle, Washington - Pearson Program 1936-19?? Municipal policy planning State Department - State and Municipal Governments -iaison 19??-1981 aounde, 0ameroon - D0M 1981-1983 0had border N?Djamena, 0had - TD - 0harge d?affaires 198? President Ha.re Security Mala.o, Equatorial Guinea aounde, 0ameroon Acontinued) 1981-1983 Am.assador Hume Horan Anglo vs. French relations 5hartoum, Sudan - D0M 1983-1986 USA2D Relations Nimeiri Southern Sudan Neigh.or policies Falasha transit 0oup U.S. interests British Security State Department - Senior Seminar 1986-1983 Burkina Faso - Am.assador 1983-1990 Relations Environment 0harles Taylor French 2 Southern University - Diplomat-in-Residence 1990-1991 State Department - FS2 - Project Director 1991-1992 A-100 course evaluation Management Task Force Somalia 1ar assignments State Department - East African Affairs - Director 1993-1996 Somalia Sudan Aid programs UN 5enya Ethiopia Ethiopia - Am.assador 1996-1999 Environment Travel Press Ethnic groups Economy H2DEA2DS Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict University of 0alifornia at -os Angeles - Diplomat-in-Residence 1999-2000 Retirement 2000 Professor, the George Washington University INTERVIEW ": Let$s start at the beginning. Where and when were you born' SH2NN: 2 1as born in akima, Washington on Gune 9, 1940. My mother and father gre1 up in 2o1aH they moved 1est after graduating from 0ornell 0ollege in 2o1a. They first moved to Boise 1here my father 1orked for the M0A. Then they 1ent to Spokane - 2 think still 1ith the M0A - and then to akima 1here they lived for most of their lives. My father continued to 1ork for the M0A. My mother 1as a house 1ifeH she never 1orked outside the home. They 1ere essentially small to1n peopleH 2 gre1 up in such an environment. The Shinn family came from England. The spelling of the name has changed over the years. My mother?s maiden name 1as Gelvin, a Protestant 2rish family from Du.lin. 3 ": What did your parents ma)or in at Cornell' SH2NN: My father 1as a 8jock.9 He 1as the captain of the college 1restling teamH he 1as on the foot.all team. My guess is that he majored in physical education, but 2 am not sure of that. 2 think my mother majored in English. ": How did he get to the Y,CA? SH2NN: 2 think it just interested him. He might just have fallen into it 1hen he graduated. They graduated in the early years of the depression and 2 am sure the employment prospects 1ere not great. ": id you grow up in Ya-ima' SH2NN: 2 1as born and gre1 up there. akima 1as an agricultural hu., neIt to an 2ndian reservation. So 2 had a very distinct recollection of the akama 2ndians 1hen they came to to1n to shop, etc. 2t 1as a fairly small to1n - perhaps 25-30,000. 2t is no1 more than 50,000 inha.itants. There 1as a lot of farming activity in the surrounding area. 2t 1as at the time largely AngloH 1e did have a small black population. No1 it has a significant Hispanic population. 2t 1as a very pleasant to1n to gro1 up in. 2 made close friends 1ith some of my grade school classmates. 2 am still in contact 1ith some of them. My educational eIperience 1as pretty averageH 2 can?t think of any unusual things that happened to me in elementary school. 2t 1as a very sta.le environmentH 2 spent siI years in the same school. 2 spent three years in the same junior high school and three years in the same high school. 2 had some friends 1ith 1hom 2 attended the same schools from grade one to high school graduation. 2 stayed in akima for another t1o years 1hile attending junior college. 2 spent my entire youth in akima. ": Was there a sub)e.t in s.hool in whi.h you be.ame parti.ularly interested' SH2NN: Starting in junior high 2 became very interested in geography. 2 1as also interested in social studies, history, civics, government. But geography 1as at the head of the listH 2 attri.ute that to my strong interest in collecting stamps 1hich 2 started at a very early age. That forced me to become acquainted 1ith names of eIotic countries. Some of them have disappeared, but at the time they 1ere going concerns. 2n any case, this ho..y piqued my interest in geography. 2 can remem.er one of my projects 1as the purchase of a roll of 1hite butcher paper that 2 spread on the ping-pong ta.le in the basement. 2 1rote as many of the 1orld?s countries as 2 could accommodate on the roll and then added key facts such as population, capital, type of government, trade items, etc. 2 learned a lot a.out many countries. The trajectory 1as stamp collecting to geography to the Foreign Service. 4 ": While you were growing up, did the outside world intrude very mu.h' SH2NN: Not really, at least in the sense that it had a direct impact on me or my family. akima is a provincial to1n. 2 did read avidly a.out the 5orean War, even though 2 1as .arely a teenager. 2t 1as pro.a.ly not a su.ject kids of my age took an interest in. 2 devoured all that 1as 1ritten in the ne1spaper a.out the su.ject. That 1as one of the fe1 outside intrusions that 2 can recall. My father had a very modest incomeH foreign travel 1as not an option although 1e did visit neigh.oring British 0olum.ia. ": What were your reading preferen.es' SH2NN: 2 1ent through phases. One phase covered the 8Hardy Boys9 series. 2 1ent through a science-fiction phase. 2 read 8The National Geographic9 thoroughly. 2 1ent through a phase 1hen forestry eIcited meH 2 thought for a 1hile that 2 might 1ant to pursue the Forest Service as a career. 2n fact, 2 did spend four summers 1ith it, but reali:ed that my math and science and skills 1ere not entirely up to the requirements. 2 did read a num.er of books on forestry and natural resources. 2 1ould not characteri:e myself as a voracious reader in my youth although 2 read more than the average student. 2 had numerous jo.s and spent a lot of time on recreational activities such as skiing and hiking. My parents did not o1n a TD set until 2 1as 1ell into my teens. 2 1as also very active in student government in junior and high school. ": id you have any siblings' SH2NN: 2 had a brother 1ho 1as eight years older. Because of the age difference, 1e 1ere not particularly close. ": Were the day$s events dis.ussed around the dinner table' SH2NN: Not a great deal, although 1e did discuss local issues. My brother 1as off at college as 2 1as really gro1ing up. My father 1as not particularly interested in foreign affairsH my mother 1as more interested. She tended to be more interested in 1hat 1as going on outside the akima Dalley. But she 1as very illH in fact both of my parents died at a fairly young age - before 2 reached t1enty. She 1as in and out of the hospital for much of my youth. ": Was there a daily newspaper that attra.ted your interest' SH2NN: 2 dou.t that one could su.scri.e at the time to a paper like The New Yor- Times in akima. ou might have been a.le to get one of the Seattle papers, but 1e didn?t. We relied on the daily Ya-ima Republi. 1hich frankly 1as not much of a ne1spaper 1hen it came to international affairs. 2t did print some 1ire service reports, but that 1as the eItent of the foreign coverage. The population 1as much more interested in local matters. 5 ": id your family show any interest in politi.s' SH2NN: Not really. They 1ere not particularly political. akima 1as and still is very conservative. The Gohn Birch Society had a serious presence, although it had no disciples in our family. Politics 1as not an issue discussed around the ta.le nor did it seem to be of special interest to anyone in the family. ": What about the Cold War' SH2NN: That had an impact. 2n the 1950s and 1960s there 1ere the bom. scares. A fe1 of the 1ealthier people in akima built bom. shelters. No one in our income bracket could afford one. 2 dou.t that 1e 1ould have built one even if 1e could have afforded it. But there 1as a feeling of concern. We had regular air raid drills 1ith sirens blasting from tops of school houses. There 1ere regular tests on the radio. 2 have strong recollections of those precautions. We certainly 1ere a1are of the 0old War.

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