The Foreign Service Journal, December 2020

30 DECEMBER 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL the U.S. Information Agency. I realized the value of having a sup- port and advocacy group for Black officers and actively recruited more African Americans at State to join. I also recognized the need for advocacy work and organized members to visit the Congres- sional Black Caucus to discuss ideas for a recruitment program targeted toward minorities. This resulted in a law that required the State Department to create what became the Pickering Program. TheThursday Luncheon Group also worked our connections in the department to get the Secretary to approve the program. FSJ: As a longtime AFSA member, do you think the association’s role has changed? What would you recommend AFSA focus on today? EJP: I joined AFSA a couple years after joining the Foreign Service. I think AFSA is still going strong, but I don’t think it is working on all the issues that it should focus on. I don’t think AFSA pays enough attention to minorities. It should seek minor- ity input to better guide the Foreign Service toward an adequate representation of the entire United States. AFSA needs to see itself as both a community activist and as an element of change. It can use Foreign Service officers from these communities to get things done, just as we did. LIFE AFTER THE FS FSJ: After retiring from the For- eign Service in 1996, you became chair and executive director of the International Programs Center at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, and stayed until 2010. Can you tell us about your work there? EJP: The center had been established by David Boren, then president of the University of Oklahoma, to develop a foreign policy studies program. I was its first director, and I was given a free hand and an academic and supporting staff. The goal was twofold: first, to create a strong and degreed approach to include foreign affairs within the univer- sity’s academic program; and second, to sponsor foreign affairs events at the university during the school year. I also taught graduate seminars on international relations. The first foreign affairs event—“Preparing America’s Foreign Policy for the 21st Century,” in September 1997—was a huge suc- cess and put the university and Oklahoma on the map. I received a large number of congratulations at the dinner on the last night of the event from Oklahomans and university staff who did not believe we could bring foreign relations giants such as Henry Kissinger to the campus. It was a lot of work, but it paid off. While at O.U., I established an international affairs cur- riculum that metamorphosed into the College of International Relations. FSJ: What inspired you to write your memoir, Mr. Ambassa- dor: Warrior for Peace ? EJP: I wanted to tell the story about the things that I overcame and accomplished that made me a successful Foreign Service officer. I tried to address the major events in my life and share the things that I have done to educate myself in preparation to meet the challenges in a long career. I also wanted to acknowl- edge the people—family, friends and professional colleagues, especially my late wife—who played a great role in my life. President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Warren Christopher, center, talk with U.S. Ambassador to Australia Edward J. Perkins during a luncheon for Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating in Washington, D.C., in September 1993.