By Ava Feer
WASHINGTON – Life as a U.S. ambassador is much like that of a fish inhabiting its fishbowl, the scrutiny and attention is constant.
“You better like being visible,” said former Ambassador Anthony Quainton, as he comfortably sat in his book-filled office on American University’s campus in upper northwest Washington.
Quainton served in the U.S. Department of State’s foreign service for over 30 years. His job took him all over the world, from early postings in Australia and Pakistan to ambassadorships in the Central African Republic, Peru, Kuwait and Nicaragua. He is familiar with the whole world.
Quainton fills a different post now, as a distinguished diplomat in residence at American’s School of International Service.
Louis Goodman, a professor and dean emeritus at the School of International Service, knew Quainton while he worked for the Department of State. Goodman understood Quainton “to be a good person,” and hired Quainton while dean of the School of International Service.
Goodman said he hoped Quainton would, “bring his experiences as a diplomat to the school and teach about them.” He believed Quainton would be able to relate well to students.
Quainton did not always think he would end up in diplomacy. After receiving an undergraduate degree from Princeton University, he won the prestigious Marshall scholarship, allowing him to study at the University of Oxford. Soon after, he was contacted by the Department of State and asked if he was interested in taking the oral portion of the foreign service officer test, (he had already taken the written portion). He did so and in 1959, entered the foreign service.
For his first posting, Quainton said he “expected … to be sent to the Soviet Union,” since a lot of his research had been focused on it.
Quainton ended up instead in Australia until an opportunity to learn Hindi presented itself.
He then learned the Hindi and Urdu languages and was eventually posted to Pakistan.
He was there during a quick war between Pakistan and India. He recalls having “a trench in our backyard,” and how his family had to be evacuated to Iran, which at the time, was on better terms with the U.S.
After his posting in Pakistan, Quainton said his “trajectory changed completely.” “The next 12, 13 years I did almost nothing but South Asia,” he said.
All of Quainton’s postings only lasted two to a little less than three years, a norm in the foreign service that he found challenging.
“You’re only really hitting your stride after a year, a year and a half,” said Quainton, adding that building a network in a country takes time.
Quainton’s ambassadorship to Nicaragua was one of his more complicated posts.
“The challenge was to maintain relations with a revolutionary government that we were trying to overthrow,” said Quainton.
While President Ronald Reagan appointed him, he disagreed with the Reagan administration’s approach in the country and was eventually recalled and moved to Kuwait even though he “tried very hard to be an effective exponent of the Reagan administration’s policy.”
Soon after his move, while eating breakfast in Kuwait and listening to the news, he heard about the Iran-Contra affair, which rocked the Reagan White House and involved the arming of Nicaraguan rebels. While Quainton played no role in it, he immediately said to his wife, “I know who is responsible,” since he had become familiar with American activity there.
As an ambassador, Quainton believes the ability to accurately represent the policy of any administration, is of utmost importance. For ambassadors serving under President Donald Trump, he believes that may be challenging, especially when some of his directives go directly against established American foreign policy norms.
According to Quainton, Trump’s, “willingness to be chummy with dictators” is particularly troubling.
Quainton is part of a group of former Department of State employees working for American.
Carolyn Gallaher, the associate dean for faculty affairs at American’s School of International Service, said former diplomats are uniquely positioned to offer “an insider’s view of how the process of … diplomacy, works.”
Former Ambassador Sally Shelton-Colby, a professor at the School of International Service, said hiring practitioners is important because, “the real world of foreign policy decision making, can often be very different from what students think.”
Ultimately, to Quainton, the job of an ambassador boils down to one main point. “You must always be speaking for your country,” he said.
Ambassador Anthony Quainton seated in his office in the School of International Service’s building on American University’s campus. Quainton served in the U.S. foreign service for over 30 years before coming to American to teach and serve as its diplomat in residence.
(Photo by Ava Feer)