Word: oberg
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When New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis went to Hanoi in the early 1970s, a barrage of American bombs greeted his arrival. Lewis took refuge in the Swedish embassy at the invitation of Ambassador Jean-Christopher Oberg. As the sound of explosions filled the air with Lewis wondering why he had left the relative peace of Cambridge, the story has it that Oberg nonchalantly went about his normal activities. In his mid-thirties at the time, the Swedish diplomat was already a veteran of tumultuous Southeast Asia...
Currently on a year-long leave from his country's foreign services as a fellow at the Center for International Affairs (CFIA), he speaks with passion about an area of the world--Asia--where he has spent much of his adult life. His career beginning in 1961. Oberg was assigned, fresh out of law school, to the Swedish mission in Jakarta. He then moved on to Thailand but returned home in 1965 to take charge of the Asian affairs bureau in Stockholm. For the next five years, Oberg helped mediate between the United States and Hanoi. In 1970, he opened...
...Oberg sees U.S. involvement in Vietnam as a tragedy of moral insensitivity and missed opportunities. "leaving aside the question of whether America should have been there in the first place," he says, "there is no doubt the conflict could have been handled in a way that might have allowed the U.S. to retain some say in the area Nixon, for example was elected in part as a reaction against the war. If he had really wanted to, he could have resolved the problem a lot sooner. Instead, by prolonging a lost and immoral cause. Nixon assured the total defeat...
...Today, Oberg believes conciliation is possible and necessary between the United States and Vietnam. On a recent visit to Hanoi, he was told by the Prime Minister "in no uncertain terms that the Vietnamese would welcome normalization. Public opinion is ready to forget the past and look toward the future." And yet, the diplomat understands the complexity of this proposition for Americans. He notes a tradition in U.S. foreign policy to "let bygones be bygones." But as he puts it: "In the case of Vietnam, this is a hard tradition to live up to. After all, the United States...
...Oberg says his interest in foreign service grew under the influence of his father, also a diplomat. Stationed in France during World War II, the Obergs helped Jews flee the Vichy government and its deportation measures. Oberg tells the story of a young Jewish boy who stayed with the Swedish family for several months until arrangements could be made to take him to a safer place. In departing, the youth left some clothes behind, including a pair of long pants given to Jean-Christophe. "Getting your first pair of long pants was a big thing in those days," says Oberg...