The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR JOHN M. EVANS Interviewed by: Charles Stuart Kennedy Initial interview date: October 19, 2009 Copyright 2010 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born and raised in Virginia Yale University Entered the Foreign Service in 1971 Teheran, Iran: Consular Officer/Special Assistant to Ambassador 1972.1974 Am,assador and 0rs. Douglas 0acArthur II The Shah US military support 23hite Revolution5 Reporting Relations Ni7on/8issinger visit Political situation Am,assador Richard Helms Consular protection cases Opposition groups Tudeh Party 0inorities 8urds Persian 9ulf issues Iranian views of Ni7on Iranians in US State Department: FSI: Czech language training 1974.1975 Prague, Czechoslovakia: Consular Officer 1975.1978 Czech beneficiaries of US social programs Environment Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe Helsinki Final Act Charter 77 Dissident movement 1 Secret Police Havel Human Rights Czech/Slovak relations Czech/Soviet relations Czech officials Social life State Department: Staff Secretariat, Operations Center 1978.1979 European Political.0ilitary Issues Operations Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty State Department: Staff Aide to the Secretary of State 1979.1980 Secretary of State Cyrus ance Operations Iran developments ance/Brzezinski rift Teheran rescue plan Soviet invasion of Afghanistan US withdraws from 0oscow Olympics Brzezinski views on fall of Soviet Union Richard Hol,rook Panama Canal Treaty Carter/ ance relationship Shah’s last days Carter’s idiosyncrasies Teheran hostages escape Secretary of Sate 0uskie 3orking hours Carter entourage Camp David Accords State Department: FSIA Africa Area Studies 1980.1981 0oscow, Soviet Union: Political Officer (Eastern EuropeC 1981.1983 Relations U.S. Am,assadors Information sources Poland developments Soviet forces in East Europe 0artial law Polish films Elections Daily life 89B 2 Afghanistan Brussels, Belgium: U. S. 0ission to NATO 1983.198E Soviets shoot down 8orean airliner Strategic arms talks US delegation officers Pershing missiles in Europe Operations Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative Soviet missile defense system 0em,er delegations Soviet leadership US.Soviet informal discussions US officials’ views on 9or,achev Scandinavians 23hiskey on the Rocks5 Reagan/9or,achev summit Soviet forces in East Europe 9reek/Turkish relations State Department: Deputy Director, Soviet Desk 198E.1989 Soviet presence in New York Bilateral Relations Committee (BRCC Reykjavik Summit Fakharov/Daniloff issue Gewish Defense League Soviet espionage Sense of change in USSR Reagan/9or,achev Summits Relations with Soviet Em,assy Gackson. anik amendment to 1974 Trade Act US media reporting Russians in Africa Cu,a Soviets’ American e7perts US 0oscow em,assy Sergeant Lonetree EarthHuake in USSR Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCEC 1989 Helsinki Commission 8ennan Institute, 3ilson Center: Co7 Fellowship 1989.1990 Future of the Soviet Union 2Ottomanization of the Soviet Empire5 Review of Ottoman history 3 State Department: European Bureau, Regional Political/0ilitary 1990.1991 Bonn Conference on Economic Cooperation Duties and operations East European progress East 9ermany E7pert conferences East Bloc return to nationalism Peaceful Settlement of Disputes CSCE 0em,ers Baltics Operations ienna Review Conference 0a7 8ampelman 8rakow Conference American Indians Third Basket of Human Rights Prague, Czechoslovakia: Deputy Chief of 0ission 1991.1994 Am,assador Shirley Temple Black President aclav Havel Relations elvet Revolution Czech/Slovak split ladimir 0eciar Am,assador Adrian Basora Communist Parties Sudetenland Nuclear plant 0oscow coup Relations with new Czech Repu,lic President aclav 8laus Departure of Am,assador Black Background of Am,assador Black E7pansion of NATO President Clinton visit St. Peters,urg, Russia: Consul 9eneral 1994.1997 History Economy 0orale Consular district isit of Iueen Eliza,eth 3ife’s activities Contact with pu,lic Political situation ladimir Putin 4 Crime 0oscow/St. Peters,urg rivalry Environment Russian Orthodo7 Church City renovation Communist Party 0ayor So,chak ladimir Yakovlev American business presence President Clinton visit City architecture Soviet Navy Border issues Ryland Homes Emigration Russian officials Social life Putin leaves for 0oscow Local media Church services 9rievance Secretary of State 0adeleine Al,right Chisinau, Repu,lic of 0oldova, Chief, OSCE 0ission to 0oldova 1997.1999 0ission Organization Purpose of 0ission History Ethnics International nature Contacts with government Transnistria issue Separatists Pro,lems 0oldovan sensitivities Negotiations 2President5 Igor Smirnov Soviet weaponry 0oldovan constitution Economy Romanian nationalists OSCE goals for 0oldova Religions Peacekeepers Russians 9eorgian deputy pro,lem 0oldavian view of Transnistrians 5 Russian views of former Soviet armaments 0oscow 0emorandum 0oldavia view of unitary state State Department: INR: Russia and former Soviet States 1999.2002 Prime 0inister ladimir Putin Impending Russian elections Chechen 3ar President Bush and Putin Daily Brief a,olished Soviet su,marine 8ursk sinks INR stress on source information Russian e7pansions into Black Sea Ara, support of Chechens US policy re Chechen war 9/11 Bin Laden U.S./Russian consultations Putin popularity Russian organized crime US/Russian bilateral pro,lems State Department: Director, Office of Russian Affairs 2002.2004 Russia argues against IraH 3ar Bush and Putin NATO e7pansion 0icheil Saakashvili Chechen terrorism US/Russian disagreements Erosion of Bush/Putin trust Russian Em,assy Am,assador to the Repu,lic of Armenia 2004.200E US Armenian community Armenian 9enocide dilemma US Assistance Program Armenian history Em,assy staff and accommodations Peace Corps President Ro,ert 8ocharian 9overnment Armenia.Azer,aijan conflict 8ara,akh conflict Ethnic conflicts in former Soviet nations 9enocide Convention terms Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission E US speaking tour flap American University Agriculture Turk/Armenian animosity Soviet legacy Armenia/Israel relations Armenia/Russia relations Christian Herter Award Trou,le over 2genocide5 Retirement 200E 2Ethnic Cleansing5 replaces 29enocide5 Trou,les in State Department INTERVIEW Q: Today is the 19th of October, 2009. This is the first interview with John M. Evans, E- V- -N-S. And John, you go by John, Or not, E ANS: Yes, GohnA 0arshall is my middle name. Q: And Marshall. Is that with two -s, E ANS: Yes. Q: Two Ls, o.ay. All right, John, let/s start at the beginning. 0hen and where were you born, E ANS: I was born in Newport News, irginia, on 0ay 1E, 1948. Q: And let/s get a glimpse of your family. How about let/s ta.e the Evans side and then we/ll move to your mother/s side. 0hat do you .now about the Evanses, E ANS: I know a fair bit a,out them, actually, because my great.great grandfather, who was a businessman in Philadelphia, had the good fortune to make a bit of money and retire at the age of 32A he spent the rest of his life taking his family around Europe and doing genealogical research. So we have a big book at home which traces our family ,ack 12 generations to one 3illiam Evans, who arrived in 1E99 near Philadelphia and founded the town of Limerick, which is a,out 10 miles from alley Forge. Q: 0as he coming out of Ireland, E ANS: Yes. 7 Q: Evans would seem to be 0elsh. E ANS: 3ell the surname is 3elsh but this is a family that had moved to Ireland. Presuma,ly they were anglicized 3elsh. Q: Miners came in there too, I thin.. E ANS: 0iners did too. These people, well, first of all, there was a Captain Gohn Evans who in the 17th century was in the New York area. 3e suspect that he was a privateer and sometimes a pirate. Q: This is switching bac. and forth. E ANS: Depending on the circumstances. He got an enormous grant of land from Benjamin Fletcher, who was at that time governor of New York, and it was basically the Palisades, which are, you know, that part of New Gersey across from 0anhattan. But there was some wrongdoing involved here and by the time 3illiam Evans came over to join his cousin Gohn in what was going to be a big project there, Gohn Evans was in chains and on his way back to England with Benjamin Fletcher. There’d been a turnover in the New York government and so that deal was off. So instead 3illiam and his family continued on to found Limerick, Pennsylvania. Q: 0ell did your- the man who retired at the age of 32, this is the great-great grandfather, E ANS: That’s right. Q: 0hat was his business, E ANS: 3ell, he prepared to go to the University of Pennsylvania but then he ended up workingA he was interested in chemistry and science. He ended up working for a la, and found out that he could make money and he got involved in a num,er of things, including tanning and the production of women’s shoes and so that served him very well. Q: 0ell how about your grandfather4 what was he up to, E ANS: 0y grandfather on the Evans side did go to the University of Pennsylvania and ended up as an e7ecutiveA he was vice president of Bell Telephone and he had three sons and they lived on the 0ain Line of Philadelphia, in 3ynnewood. Q: And then, let/s ta.e a year or so, where did- how did your father come along, E ANS: 3ell, my father attended the 3illiam Penn Charter School and then Amherst College before 3orld 3ar II and he got a PhD at Princeton in neo.Platonic thought and then started teaching. He taught at Tulane. Right after Pearl Har,or he enlisted in the Navy and was a commander of a mine.sweeper in the Pacific. Then, after the war, he 8 found a teaching position at 3illiam and 0ary and that’s why I came to be born in 3illiams,urg. Q: 0hat sort of a war did he have, Did he tal. much about it, E ANS: Yes, and he knew a,out the Pacific Campaign.