Author: Mosaiko Staff Writer
U.S. Ambassador to Greece Daniel Speckhard gives Mosaiko.gr an exclusive interview on his favorite places, experiences, and some advice...
The U.S. Embassy in Athens welcomed its new Ambassador, Daniel V. Speckhard, and his family in November 2007. While his usual schedule is packed with government appointments, foreign policy planning, and stuff like that, Mosaiko.gr wanted to find out more about his impressions of Greece, his favorite places, and what advice he has for young students. Josh Lee, a 17-year-old senior at the American Community Schools (ACS) in Chalandri, helped us out by asking the Ambassador the kinds of things he and his fellow ACS students, who include Daniel and Jessica, two of the Ambassador's children, might want to know. Read his interview and learn about some of the less-known experiences and opinions of the new U.S. Ambassador to Greece, a native of Wisconsin who has previously served in Belarus, Brussels, and Iraq.
What were your first impressions of Greece as a country?
The first thing I noticed was the Greek warmth and hospitality. It really is an inviting place to be. I didn't expect so many open arms and so many friendly faces when I came. The second thing I noticed was the incredible beauty and nature of the country. It really is inspiring as it goes from mountains to sea in such a short distance. And the third thing I noticed is the Greek appreciation for their culture and society. Everybody from taxi drivers to college professors were educating me on Greek history and what happened thousands of years ago. You don't see that much in the United States.
In the short time you've been here, have you visited any places outside of Athens, and what is your favorite place?
Last weekend I went to Sounio, which is this beautiful temple on top of a mount overlooking the ocean and sea on three sides. It was fabulous. We went there for the sunset, which I've heard is a wonderful Greek tradition, and I could have stayed there all week. Also went to Kalavryta in the Peloponnese where you can actually go skiing in the mountains. I went there for a ceremony commemorating a tragic massacre in World War II, but I noticed again the beautiful nature, the mountains of Greece so close to the seas. And, really, I love any place where you can see water, and I think that's why Greece is such a good place for me.
How does Greece compare to other places you've been posted?
Greece is a fascinating place politically, first, because of its location at the anchor of the Balkans, which is a very interesting area that is still developing and in a big transition. It is also near the Eastern Mediterranean and most of the Middle East, which means some very interesting political issues, from a diplomat's perspective. I just came from Iraq, and so it's quite a bit different. No one is shooting at me. I don't have to worry about rockets and explosions, and I don't wake up in the morning to car-bombs. I've also worked in Brussels at NATO, and it is a beautiful city. But the weather there can be a little discouraging -- the winters are long, and it's overcast most of the time -- so to see the sun and feel some of this warm weather even in the middle of January is pretty spectacular.
What can you tell us about your recent post into Iraq and Bagdad?
It was very difficult. I've never worked so hard in my life. I was the Deputy to the Ambassador there, and I was essentially running an Embassy, with a staff of five thousand people, all trying to work to help bring peace and stability to the country. We were working literally from 8 a.m. to about 1 a.m. everyday, seven days a week. It was tiring, exhausting, but also the most rewarding thing I've ever done because we knew we were helping to stabilize the country, and that's the job of diplomats. I am happy to see that, slowly but surely, Iraq is making progress and the situation seems to be improving.
When you were a student in high school, did you take any steps to get into the Foreign Service and become a diplomat?
Yes and no. I didn't take any direct steps, but in high school, I realized to be successful in life was going to take hard work. I come from fairly humble roots. My father was actually a high school teacher, and we were very average family. So, I studied very hard in high school to get good grades and to make sure I could go to a good school for college. I kept my sights on insuring that what I achieved through life was not given to me but was a result of hard work. I would say to people out there that perseverance is very important in your life and to not give up your goals.
What were your interests in high school?
I was already very interested in international issues at the time. I enjoyed languages, took German and some French. I knew I wanted to do something in the international sphere, but I was also very focused in science. I got a National science foundation scholarship and went to Hawaii for a year. Sounds pretty good, right? In Hawaii, I studied physics and I really thought that I was going to become a scientist. When I got to college however, I fell in love with the international and political issues and I felt like I wanted to change the world. That idealism and desire drove me into the career I have now.
What do you see as the biggest challenges for young people today, especially as they get ready to leave home for college?
I have kids myself -- one is 22, one's 19, and one's 15, two daughters and a son -- and what I've noticed, compared to when I was young, is the pressure that young people are under today. They have so many more pressures to grow up and mature at an earlier age. And it is even more complicated, because on one hand they're being told to grow up at a much earlier age and, on the other hand, they're told not to grow up and be young and carefree as long as they can. I think that creates a dichotomy: they are being told to fit in but, at the same time, being told to be so many different things all at once. On top of that, they're being told to get good grades and study hard. This all creates too much pressure. My advice to young people is, first, to believe in yourself and don't compromise your principles. Find out who you are and stick to it. Second, I believe that you should love yourself first. I believe that most problems with young people come from a lack of self-esteem, and they are out there trying to be loved and appreciated. You must ground yourself in your own self-worth and you should love yourself.
Do you have any advice for those of us at ACS getting ready to go off to college?
It is important to choose your goals wisely and work hard to achieve them. At the same time, don't worry. People often think that things like where you go to school and if you get in will determine their entire future. And what you find out as you get older is that there are plenty of points of self-correction, and if you want to be an artist but go off for a while to be a scientist, you can still become an artist if you want. You can follow your dreams, but you don't have to worry if it's not heading in a straight path. My path has been very, very crooked. I didn't join the Foreign Service directly but actually worked for a different government agency and over time worked my way over to the State Department. I didn't follow the tried and true path. Don't pay attention to tried and true paths. Follow your own path.
You were named an Ambassador at a young age. Are there any interesting stories from your first time as an Ambassador?
The first time that I was ambassador was in Belarus, right after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and it was still trying to emerge from those shackles of authoritarian rule and having a difficult time doing so. At the embassy one time, I had a former policeman show up who was by the government for speaking out in a newspaper by revealing a government plot to make the opposition look bad. He had been arrested but gotten himself free, and he showed up at the embassy, seeking political asylum. What I learned about that first experience was that you never know what you are looking at. In the United States, life is pretty simple and straightforward. In some of the more sophisticated Soviet and Eastern bloc countries, there can be conspiracies upon conspiracies. I didn't know whether this guy was real and whether he was looking for political asylum or whether he had been sent there by the Belarus government to embarrass the U.S. government. So over the course of 24 hours, we had to figure this all out, and it was an exciting time. He ended up sleeping in the embassy basement for a while but we were eventually able to escort him out of the country and get him political asylum. It turned out to have been a true story, and he lives in California today. Perhaps a more humorous anecdote is that in the former Soviet Union, they like to drink vodka. I remember going to an important collective farm, which was responsible for one of the national parks. The seventy-five year old farm director was so proud to have us there that he continued toasting with vodka. To respect your host, you are supposed to drink to the bottom of your glass. To be honest, I don't recommend this without parental supervision and I don't recommend it for myself. I tried to keep up with this guy and I had to drink my wife's portion of vodka as well. By the end of the evening, I could hardly walk back to my hotel but the good news is that I felt that I had done my duty for my country. That is a more difficult side of diplomacy and it is not always so easy. One of the things I like about Greece, they do not drink to excess!
Finally, do you have any particular advice for students interested in politics and diplomacy?
Yes, I think that if you understand history and international affairs, it will be very, very useful for you. However, the most important skills are much more fundamental than that. First, critical thinking, which you develop in schools, and I think the American style of education is very good at making you think on your own and not just recite facts. Second, the ability to understand multiple viewpoints: while you may be passionate about something, the key to being a diplomat is to understand where somebody else is coming from and then being able to understand where you can find common ground. Third, you must develop social skills in a way that makes people feel appreciated and understood. Being right all the time won't be very useful in being a diplomat. You must be able to appreciate other viewpoints, other people, and express yourself well.
Link
http://www.acs.gr/