The Foreign Service Journal, May 2003

M A Y 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 51 Arnold P. Schifferdecker , 67, a retired Foreign Service officer who also was a consultant to the State Department and chairman of the Foreign Service Journal Editorial Board, died March 15 at George Washington University Hospital fol- lowing a heart attack. A consummate diplomat who had a knack for appreciating the different cultures in which he worked and a perpetual twinkle in his eye, Arnie, as he was known to friends and col- leagues, was also a marathon runner, a loving husband, father and grandfa- ther, and a mentor and good friend who enriched the lives of all he touched. A native of Missouri and graduate of the University of Missouri, Arnie served in the Navy as a carrier-based navigator. In 1964, he joined the Foreign Service and served until 1995, mainly as a political officer, with assignments in Israel, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakis- tan, Morocco and Washington. He spoke French, Turkish and Dari, a dialect of Persian that is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan and the link-language for the many different language groups in that country. He also studied internation- al economic and political affairs relat- ed to the Near East at Princeton and George Washington Universities. After retirement, Arnie worked for seven years as a State Department consultant, which took him to Bulgaria, Albania and back to Afghanistan. An Afghan Hand Arnie will be perhaps best remem- bered professionally as ‘an old Afghan hand,’ as he described himself in a recent review of a book on Afghanistan for the Journal . Early postings as a political officer in Pakistan and Afghanistan first brought Arnie into contact with the Afghan people. He returned to Kabul as an adviser to the United Nations Special Mission in Afghanistan from 1997 through 1998, during the troubled reign of the Taliban. In 1998 Arnie received a United Nations Peace Medal for his work in Afghanistan, for promoting a cease-fire between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. Following the U.N. assign- ment, he continued his involvement in Afghanistan’s efforts to recover from the ravages of more than two decades of war as a volunteer working with the Afghanistan-America Foundation. “Such were his contacts and friend- ships in Afghanistan,” recalls friend and colleague Tom Eighmy, “that President Hamid Karzai directed that a special message be sent to Arnie’s wife, Joan, the day before the memori- al service.” Indeed, Joan Schifferdecker recalls that Hamid Karzai was a regular visitor during Arnie’s tenure with UNSMA in Islamabad. “When he was in Washington for the first time after becoming interim president of Afghanistan,” she remembers, “Karzai spotted Arnie at a reception at the Ritz and called out across the room, ‘Arnie, I see you have a beard now!’ He was a good friend.” In the letter to Joan, President Karzai and National Security Adviser Dr. Zalmai Rassoul extend their con- dolences: “…Although sympathy is only a small consolation even from the hearts of us who share your pain, I want you to know how deeply Arnie’s loss is felt here. He was greatly admired and respected by us for his assistance and continued interest in our endeavors to bring prosperity and stability to our country. We will always remember Arnie’s kindness and thoughtfulness. We shall dearly miss Arnie’s presence.” Mentor and Friend A caring person, Arnie was also a strong, if unassuming, mentor —within his family and in his professional work. It was his unfailing kindness and the twinkle in his eye that made his mentor- ing effective and his friendships lasting. A PPRECIATION A RNOLD P. S CHIFFERDECKER 1935 – 2003 Arnie at Harper’s Ferry, W.Va., in 1992.