The Foreign Service Journal, February 2004

I described one session, reflecting the general sentiment: “... the present government is completely undemoc- ratic, completely in the hands of the old ruling families and benefits no one but the one thousand families of the country. American policy in the country is completely wrong; it sup- ports a government unaware of the conditions in which the vast majority of the people live and in supporting the present graft-ridden government is wasting the millions of aid dollars it is pouring in here. ... The Americans, and Mr. Henderson in particular, must stop listening to the Iranian upper classes who are giving them the wrong picture of the country.” That line was invariably buttressed as well with warnings about British influence — symbolizing the foreign presence lurking behind every tree — over the country: [they] “had robbed Iran for the past hundred years and would do so again if the Americans did not stop helping them regain their position by means of the negotiations then underway in the oil consortium negotiations.” Those negotiations eventually succeeded, and on the first anniver- 64 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 4 Like almost everyone else, from governments on down, I found the shah’s forced modernization of his country impressive enough to think he might succeed. AN INVITATION FOR SUMMER FICTION O nce again the FSJ is seeking works of fiction of up to 3,000 words for its annual summer fiction issue. Story lines or characters involving the Foreign Service are preferred, but not required. The top stories, selected by the Journal ’s Editorial Board, will be published in the July/August issue; some of them will also be simultaneously posted on the Journal ’s Web site. The writer of each story will receive an honorarium of $250, payable upon publication. All stories must be previously unpublished. Submissions should be unsigned and accompanied by a cover sheet with author’s name, address, telephone number(s) and e-mail address. Deadline is April 1. No fooling. Please also note the following: • Authors are limited to two entries. • Entries will only be accepted by e-mail (preferably in the form of Word attachments and with the text copied into the body of the message). Please send submissions (or questions) to Mikkela Thompson, Journal Business Manager, at thompsonm@afsa.org.