DIPLOMACY ON THE WING

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP75-00149R000800110007-8
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
November 11, 2016
Document Release Date: 
December 10, 1998
Sequence Number: 
7
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
July 15, 1956
Content Type: 
NSPR
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PDF icon CIA-RDP75-00149R000800110007-8.pdf110.01 KB
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PORI ''dc'~Y .J,ind.) till r Ifl itized -,Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-0014 1,802 FOIAb3b . I r- `.i hen Dr, Henry, Vl. Wriston,, president r;r~ 'tuc cf +?i,t?xif., niversity, spoke out irar . ..+ ; ,+ +rj~ c?ords against the,hab t Secretary of State John 'Foster Dulles of rushing around the world trying to con- duct diplomacy in person and leaving the State Department to tend for itself, it was no, ordinary attack.. .,Dr. Wriston. has been a valued adviser to Secretary Dulles. He has done as much as anyone to help Dulles reorganize the U. S. foreign service. He has a long and distinguished career behind him in education and public af- fairs. The article entitled The Secretary of State Abroad" appeared in the well- known American quarterly review "For- eign Affairs" of ` which .Allen W. Dulles, head of the Central Iwtalligsnee Agency and brother to Secretary Dulles, is a mein- ber of the, editorial advisory board. Dr. 'Wriston takes cognizance, of the fact that American Secretaries of State have been traveling more in recent years since the United States became the greatest of the world powers and since-the use of the fast, airplane. But he thinks the very. frequent absence' of the Secretary of State from his office Is a serious handicap to the formulation and conduct of foreign policy. , a With, that position, we have long recd. Mr. Dulles.is so frequently on the wing that he does not have time to do much b4sic. and balanced planning of foreign po icy. 1 e is usually thinking in terms of some spec\fic visit he is. going to make and no- -body' eems'to have given thorough atten- tion t ' general, world-wide policy. Perhaps this is why Mr. Dulles so often ehange) his position In his public state- ments o ,policy. When ullesis gone, there is nobody of top ran to brief the President on for- eign polic jnd nobody in the State De- partment to make top decisions. As ,the result the Department frequen ly has appeared ridiculous by its inability to make a necessary decision or by doft- quick reversals from one position to an- other: Dr. Wriston, in his article in "F'oreign Affairs",' says: "Aftir his status as adviser to the Pre- sident, 'the second principal function the Secretary is to keep under continuous over-all review every phase of our world- vvide responsibilities and opportunities. In the present state. of world affairs .this a- lone is a back-breaking task. Over concen- tration upon one area seriously impairs the balance . . . So swift is the movement of events that'even brief absences can ser- iously dislocate policy formation." The. author of the article declares at one pR(nt that so far as competent diplomacy is concerned, ''The airplane has become more than a convenience; it is a tempts= tion." To all of thisr Secretary Dulles replies that "today Ave all have to .travel," `an' that Xhrushchev and Bulganin have trav- eled more than he has in' the, past six months. He says it is old-fashioned to sit at, home and that he can accomplish' so much more with a personal talk There are a lot of people who do not believe Secretary pullcs is accomplishing very much in anv~way. Whether the very. 'pointed remarks of Dr. Wriston will tend to cause Mr. Dulles to be more sparing with the"use of his i'magic carpet" we cannot tell. CertaitilX the former has been tioser than most peo- ple to the situation which he discusses. I*e may be able to see with more perspective than the flying Secretary. . Most Americans will agree with Dr. Wr+ston when 1w ,a%-s: "The vital requisi-- ec for the effective discharge of thedutiep of Secretary of State are perspective any wisdom. Those qualities find their' mo. effec-.v.e employment when there is least i modicum of leisure for quiet'r flect.on." CPYRGHT Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000800110007-8