ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...
ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...
ambassador rudolf v. perina - Association for Diplomatic Studies and ...
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way to go. On the nuclear issue, the Europeans stepped in <strong>and</strong> tried to start a dialogue.<br />
We did not object to this because it took away pressure from the U.S. to talk to Iran <strong>and</strong><br />
showed the Europeans what tough going it was. We did not think the EU ef<strong>for</strong>t would<br />
succeed <strong>and</strong> were irritated that the Europeans did not see that themselves but did we not<br />
try to stop them.<br />
I had some contact with Iranians when I was Special Negotiator. There was a tradition <strong>for</strong><br />
the Minsk Group Co-Chairs from time to time to brief the Iranians on the status of the<br />
Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations as a courtesy, since Iran was a neighboring country to<br />
the conflict. The Iranians asked <strong>for</strong> such a briefing shortly after President Bush’s “axis of<br />
evil” speech, perhaps as a test of whether the U.S. would still have contact with them. I<br />
had to get permission directly from Colin Powell <strong>for</strong> the briefing but he concurred. The<br />
French Co-Chair organized the meeting in Paris. It lasted about an hour <strong>and</strong> dealt strictly<br />
with Nagorno-Karabakh <strong>and</strong> nothing else so it really did not qualify as any sort of<br />
dialogue in a political sense.<br />
Q: Did you get any feel <strong>for</strong> the influence on <strong>for</strong>eign policy of Vice President Cheney <strong>and</strong><br />
his office?<br />
PERINA: Not really. I was not involved in any deliberations at that level. I certainly<br />
knew the conventional wisdom in Washington that the Vice President was very powerful.<br />
What I did see was that members of his staff participated at more interagency meetings<br />
than I had ever seen with previous vice presidents. I also know that their views were<br />
taken very seriously in the clearance process. This was in some contrast to staff members<br />
of the National Security Council. In fact, within the bureaucracy the NSC was considered<br />
a relatively weak institution compared to its role in other administrations. Many of the<br />
people were junior <strong>and</strong> did not seek to exert much influence. It is interesting how these<br />
power relationships of institutions transfer down to relationships between people on tasks<br />
like drafting memos.<br />
Q: When did you retire?<br />
PERINA: I retired on April 30, 2006 after almost 32 years in the Foreign Service. I did<br />
subsequently take on some short-term assignments as a retiree, including a two-month<br />
stint as Chargé d’Affaires in our Embassy in Chisinau <strong>and</strong> a four-month stint as the<br />
Chargé in the Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia. The family links also continued because<br />
three months be<strong>for</strong>e my retirement my younger daughter, Alex<strong>and</strong>ra, joined the State<br />
Department as an attorney in the Legal Adviser’s Office. She wanted to work in the State<br />
Department, which I think says something good about my career there, at least as<br />
perceived by my family.<br />
Q: That’s a good way to end.<br />
PERINA: I think so.<br />
Q: Thank you very much, Rudy<br />
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