United Nations/Southern Africa/South Africa files, 1993 - 2002

Description provided by Blaney:

United Nations

(United Nations folder) Department of State notification to Blaney of assignment from the Foreign Service Institute to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations as Deputy Representative of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. 3/12/1993.

(United Nations folder) Notification of Presidential Appointment, Bisdee. (Names Blaney as the next U.S. Deputy Representative to the ECOSOC).

(United Nations folder) POTUS Clinton’s letter to Blaney designating him as Deputy Representative of the United States to the ECOSOC of the United Nations. September 3rd 1993.

(United Nations folder) U.S. statement delivered by Blaney at the ECOSOC on, “The Voluntary Fund for the Victims of Torture”. 10/14/1993. (As example of many such statements and speeches made by Blaney as Deputy Representative).

(United Nations folder) U.S. Statement delivered by Blaney to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), second committee, on “The Report of the Economic and Social Council”. 10/19/1993. (An example of many such statements Blaney made to the UNGA on a wide variety of economic and political issues. Blaney’s section had varying degrees of input into such presentations depending upon the issue. The texts of such statements and speeches were often the result of exchanges of drafts between the United States Mission to the United Nations and Washington agencies; mostly State Department, but at various times, most all agencies of the U.S. government, depending upon on the subject).

(United Nations folder) Blaney delivered U.S. speech to the UNGA on, “Development and International Economic Cooperation. 12/6/1993. (Another example).

(United Nations folder) Blaney delivered U.S. statement to the plenary of the UNGA on, “Repercussions of Israeli Settlements”. 12/21/1993. (Another example).

(United Nations folder) Blaney delivered U.S. statement to the UNGA, second committee, on, “External Debt Crisis and Development”. 10/19/1994. (Another example).

Comment: In sum, Blaney was nicknamed by his U.S. colleagues “Robospeaker” because he delivered so many U.S. speeches and statements on both political and economic issues, sometimes as a stand-in for Ambassador Albright or others. He also headed the U.S. Economic Sanctions Unit at the Security Council of the United Nations, formulating much of U.S. policy on sanctions against countries or people, such as sanctions on Iraq.

(United Nations folder) “Freedom House Accorded ECOSOC Consultative Status”. Freedom House press release, July 27th 1995. (Blaney often led the U.S. Delegation to the ECOSOC’s annual meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. This press release applauds one of his wins; that is, getting Freedom House Consultative Status at the ECOSOC.

(United Nations folder) Whimsical (but stereotyping) message left by someone for Blaney, reflecting the very different type of multilateral diplomacy pursued at the United Nations; that is, when compared to more usual bilateral diplomatic assignments.

(United Nations folder) May 1994 Superior Honor Award presented to Blaney’s unit, the Economic and Social Section of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, for its sustained superior performance 1993-1995.

(United Nations folder) May 1996 Superior Honor Award presented to the group who formulated and implemented Security Council sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro and the Bosnian Serbs, 1991-1996. (Blaney named). (United Nations folder) Assignment of Blaney from the U.S. Mission to the United Nations to Washington as the Director for Southern Africa (AF/S). 7/13/1995.

(United Nations folder) Letter from Domestic Financial Services of the State Department. 6/5/1997. (Essentially a bill, illustrating the great hardship imposed by Senator Jesse Helms’ legislation that compels Foreign Service personnel to pay for much of their housing in New York when assigned to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Blaney calculated that he lost over $25,000 dollars a year while serving at the United Nations, which was a serious financial hardship).

Photo (attached to United Nations folder) of Blaney’s shattered ankle and lattice repair work. The injury made it very difficult to get to the United Nations from Westchester County and do the work. On the other hand, the injury initially forced Blaney to remain at home for about a month, which gave him enough time to finish The Successor States to the USSR, which otherwise may never have been completed.

Appointment book of Blaney. 1993. (Transition period covering the end of his time at the Foreign Service Institute to starting work at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations).

(Separate folder) Evaluations of Blaney while performing as U.S. Deputy Representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, plus a Work Requirements Statement. 8/93-4/95. (Describes Blaney’s work at the United Nations).

Director of Southern African Affairs

Comment: Blaney’s job was to formulate U.S. policies and oversee U.S. operations in the ten countries of southern Africa. In that capacity, Blaney advised or dealt with a myriad of political, economic, and social issues that varied country by country. The most recurrent focal points were:

The Binational Commissions (BNCs) initiative of Vice President Al Gore and his Chief of Staff, Leon Fuerth, both of whom Blaney had worked for while detailed to Congress (see Cold War box). Gore’s initiative established separate binational commissions with key countries, including some in Africa, each one of which covered the entire spectrum of its relationship with the United States. The objective was to improve those relationships and solve outstanding problems across-the-board with each of the countries. It was a successful undertaking in Africa, advancing U.S. interests and influence. However, when the Democrats were voted out of office in 2000, the BNCs were soon disbanded. U.S. influence in Africa dropped thereafter as China’s rose.

Similarly, a new initiative, conceived by Blaney, was the U.S.-SADC (The Southern African Development Conference) Forum. This allowed the U.S. to interact with all of the southern African states as a group, and on transnational issues. It provided a needed forum for working on U.S.-SADC trade and taxation agreements, as well as security, political, environmental and social issues. It was an instant success, intensifying the relationships of the United States throughout the sub-region of southern Africa, and strongly supported by American business groups and non-governmental organizations. Unfortunately, the U.S.-SADC Forum was also seen by the next administration as being associated with the Democratic Party, and was terminated by the Bush administration. U.S. relations with southern Africa declined thereafter.

The third area of recurrent focus for Blaney was managing (with each respective U.S. ambassador resident) the bilateral relationships of each southern African country as well as help deal with respective issues and problems throughout southern Africa. In order to better perform this part of his job, Blaney journeyed to all of these countries, many of them repeatedly. Blaney felt that putting “boots on the ground” always improved his understanding of the issues; at all locations.

A last and major focal point of Blaney’s work as “AF/S Director” was to support the push for peace in Angola, which was in the midst of a terrible civil war (UNITA rebels versus the MPLA government). Blaney went to Angola to meet with President Dos Santos and Jonas Savimbi (UNITA) repeatedly in order to reinforce the heroic efforts of Donald Steinberg, the U.S. Ambassador to Angola, to find a path for peace. At times, Steinberg and Blaney did things like walk through poorly marked mine fields to access Savimbi, and then return to Luanda to meet with the government. There were other striking moments of “shuttle diplomacy”. The battlefields and cities traversed were sometimes totally destroyed by intense small arms fire alone. U.S. government efforts to end the war, especially Ambassador Steinberg’s, were impressive, even though ultimately unsuccessful.

“Week at Glance Professional Appointments” of John Blaney. 1995-1999

Cable message of thanks from Ambassador Steinberg, Embassy Luanda, for Blaney’s help and efforts in promoting the peace process in Angola. April, 15th 1997

US/SADC Forum Badge. (Worn by Blaney, April 1999. Held in Gaborone, Botswana).

US/South Africa Binational Commission Badge. (Worn by Blaney June 1996 at a session held in Washington, D.C.).

(In white envelope) White House photo of Vice President Al Gore and Mrs. Gore’s trip to South Africa. December 1995. (One focus was the U.S.-South Africa Binational Commission.).

(In white envelope) White House photo of Vice President Al Gore and President Thabo Mbeki at a meeting of the Binational Commission. 1997.

(In white envelope) White House photo of Vice President Gore and President Mbeki meeting, with John Blaney and one other.

(In white envelope) Photo of a gathering of U.S. ambassadors to southern African countries. (I.e. the countries in Blaney’s portfolio. Left bottom row, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, George Moose, and Ambassador Howard Jeter. On right, Ambassador Dennis Jett. Second row on right, Ambassador Bismark Myrick. On Blaney’s left, top row, is Ambassador Donald Steinberg.

(Separate folder) Department of State Evaluations of John Blaney while serving as the Director for Southern Africa (AF/S). 9/95-4/99.

South Africa: Charge d’ Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission

Comment: Blaney was told by Assistant Secretary of State Susan Rice to go to South Africa in 1999 as the number two (later Chief of Mission) because his managerial credentials were strong, and Embassy Pretoria and its three Consulates had just received a stingily bad inspection report, the worst one worldwide in many years. So, she wanted Blaney to clean it up, including an Inspector General’s demerit list of over 100 pages. Blaney had been barred from any ambassadorships by Secretary Albright (see Career Potholes), but the managerial situation in South Africa was so pressing that Rice may have insisted he go out there in any case.

Fairly soon after his arrival, Ambassador James Joseph completed his tour in South Africa, and Blaney became Charge d’Affaires, a capacity he remained in for much of his time in South Africa. The U.S. Mission in South Africa was large, at four locations, and with 24 United States government agencies. There was a lot to do managerially.

Beyond management, there were also pressing issues with South Africa. The most vexing of these was the South African government’s denial of the existence of HIV/AIDS, which was rampant in the country. The skeptics included its President, Thabo Mbeki. Earlier, the U.S.-South Africa Binational Commission was beginning to make progress on HIV/AIDS, which figured prominently among a panoply of issues. But, in 2000, the Binational Commission system was ended by the incoming Bush administration, and Blaney and his staff were left pretty much on their own to deal with this thorny issue in South Africa.

Another major responsibility and burden was the never-ending stream of VIP visitors and Congressional delegations that usually wanted to meet Nelson Mandela more than the sitting government, or do anything else. Mandela (whose preferred tribal name is “Madiba”) was fascinated and perplexed by the sudden end of the Soviet Union in 1991. He knew that Blaney had served in Moscow as the Soviet Union was collapsing, and was an author on the subject. (See Cold War box). So, the Mandela and Blaney relationship deepened during lengthy discussions of why and how the Soviet Union ended. Their relationship soon became a friendship, and Mandela often invited Blaney to work or comment on issues he was engaged in, such as the ongoing war in Burundi.

In turn, Blaney eventually asked Mandela if he could move the sitting South African government forward on dealing with HIV/AIDS. Although President Mbeki was displeased with Blaney’s end run to Mandela on HIV/AIDS, it was Nelson Mandela who finally starting pushing for positive change on South Africa’s policy towards HIV/AIDS, and Mbeki became somewhat more responsive.

Similarly, when the Mbeki government dithered and the South African people were ambivalent on who to blame for the attacks on 9/11/2001, an exasperated Blaney went to Mandela for help. After meeting with Blaney (who had witnessed the attacks in New York), Mandela called a giant press conference and he and Blaney went on live television. After Blaney made his statement, Mandela spoke out sternly to South Africans, telling them that they must see the United States as the victim of evil acts, and help the United States fight the perpetrators of these heinous actions. It worked, and the next day, U.S. Embassy Pretoria was surrounded by flowers.

There were also fun times together. For example, Blaney somewhat apprehensively asked Mandela if he could meet with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who wanted to pay a call on Mandela. Mandela was ecstatic. He turned out to be a big Schwarzenegger movie fan, and Mandela recalled to Blaney that his biggest dream in life was to become South Africa’s boxing champion. The three of them ended up flying to Cape Town, and visiting Mandela’s prison cell during an outing to Robbins Island.

Blaney tried to turn over his relationship with Mandela to the newly appointed political ambassador when he finally arrived. But after meeting him, Mandela took an instant dislike and told Blaney that he would not meet with him again. Blaney desperately tried to dissuade Mandela, but he was firm. This was a real thorn in Blaney’s relationship with the new ambassador, particularly since access to Nelson Mandela was the major reason VIPs came to South Africa. It remained very awkward, but there was no choice, and Blaney remained the gatekeeper of the Mandela relationship until he departed.

(in folder 1) Remarks of Charge Blaney at U.S. Embassy Pretoria upon the 224th Birthday Celebration of the United States Marine Corps. 1999.

(in envelope A) Blaney receiving a U.S. Marine Corps plaque at the U.S. Consulate in Cape Town. 1999.

(in folder 1) Brief biography Blaney used as Deputy Chief of Mission. 2000.

(in envelope A) Photo of Blaney doing a demarche to a representative of the South African Government.

(in envelope A) Photo of Blaney made up as Dracula at an Embassy Halloween party.

(In envelope A) Photo of outgoing Secretary of State Madeleine Albright being greeted by Blaney as she starts her visit to South Africa. December 2000. (Albright shaking hands with Blaney, who worked for her at the United Nations. Also at planeside is the soon outgoing politically appointed U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, Delano Lewis, and his spouse Gayle Lewis.).

(In folder 1) List of Country Team members at U.S. Embassy Pretoria. 2000. (In envelope A) Photo (L-R) Tom Hull, head of Public Affairs, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, U.S. Ambassador Delano Lewis, Gayle Lewis, and John Blaney.

(in envelope A) Photo of Blaney visiting Gore Island, Senegal, at the, “Gate of No Return”. (One of the main departure locations where Africans were forcibly sent as slaves to the United States and elsewhere).

Appointment book of John Blaney. 2001. (Among other things, shows Blaney’s arrival in New York near the time of the attacks on September 11, 2001, which he witnessed from John F. Kennedy Airport). Long Island was sealed off, and the airports shut down, but Blaney returned to post in South Africa as soon as possible.

(in envelope B) Nelson Mandela’s private contact information (and Zelda la Grange), with some other important contact cards (Nicky Oppenheimer, F. Ginwala, Gregory Mills).

A Blaney notebook of early 2001. (Shows activities).

(in envelope C) Gift of Nelson Mandela to Blaney. Photo together. Just outside his house in Johannesburg.

(in envelope C) Photo during boat trip to Robbins Island.

(in envelope C) Photo of Blaney in Mandela’s prison cell.

(in envelope C) Photo of crowd awaiting Mandela and Schwarzenegger’s return from Robbins Island.

(Envelope D) Photo of Secretary Powell visiting U. S. Embassy Pretoria. May 2001.

Comment: Secretary Powell had many meetings, including President Mbeki, former President Mandela and many others. But undoubtedly, the most memorable moment was his speech at Witwatersrand University on May 25, 2001. Known as a leftist center, students and others rioted while he spoke and pelted the auditorium with thousands of rocks. Fortunately, Blaney had insisted earlier that its doubtful Chancellor ensure that South African riot police would be on hand. But even they were very hard pressed to hold back thousands of angry demonstrators.

Collin Powell was not fazed, and after his speech, when all the exits were blocked by rioting demonstrators, he simply asked the mortified Chancellor if he had a bottle of wine on hand. He did, and they sat down for about an hour and conversed, with the riot groaning on loudly right outside.

Blaney thought his career was over. But in Blaney’s armored limousine, which was pummeled by rocks as Blaney and Powell made their exit, Secretary Powell leaned over and said, “That was great, John! I really enjoyed it.”

Indeed, Powell was superb at the event, his speech was excellent and impactful with a large media presence. His extemporaneous remarks, even better, including ably answering taunts from the audience like, “You are just an Uncle Tom, right!” Blaney thought him the best extemporaneous speaker he had ever heard.

(Envelope D) Floppy disk. Powell’s Speech. [Removed to GTM Shared Box 17]

(Folder 1) Examples of press clippings. June 2001. (U.S. helping handicapped children in South Africa, fighting crime by signing an Extradition Treaty, etc.)

(Folder 1) Charge Blaney’s speech before The Institute of South Africa. August 1, 2001.

(in envelope E) Two photos and Blaney’s Special Olympics badge, worn while working to support the Special Olympics in South Africa. August 2001.

(in envelope E) Letters of thanks from Lynn Morawski and Loretta Claiborne. August 1,2001.

(in envelope E) Timothy Shriver’s card. (Special Olympics).

World Conference on Racism (2001)

Comment: The World Conference on Racism occurred in Durban, South Africa in early September 2001. It was a delicate situation because of the Conference’s condemnation of Israel. Blaney ended up being the last U.S. representative in the chair, but worked to delay the United States walking out completely, at least until President Mbeki had delivered his speech as host. After direct consultations with Secretary Powell, Blaney was able to remain in the chair until after Mbeki had spoken.

(folder 1) CNN “Arafat: Summit Must Condemn Israel.”

(folder 1) Blaney biography for the World Conference on Racism.

(folder 1) World Conference on Racism, Blaney’s U.S. delegation badges.

(folder 1) Contact list for U.S. delegation members.

Anti-Terrorism

Comment: The attack on September 11th 2001 occurred very shortly after the World Conference on Racism. Fortunately, Embassy Pretoria had already established an active working group, which Blaney chaired, and had been proactive in making strong contacts with the law enforcement agencies of South Africa’s government. While its operations were mostly defensive, the working group, chaired by Blaney, came across information, not about the al-Qaeda operatives involved in the very recent attacks in the United States, but rather about an al-Qaeda ringleader of the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The Embassy group worked closely with a number of U.S. and South African law enforcement agencies, and at political levels, to enable a joint sting operation, which Blaney and the Embassy working group helped design. The al-Qaeda ringleader bomber was captured, rendered from Cape Town to New York, convicted, and sent to prison.

Sample of unclassified working group documents on anti-terrorism.

(folder 1) Legal Attaché (FBI) letter of appreciation to Blaney.

(framed) Secret Service Commendation for Blaney from its Director.

A CIA plaque expressing its appreciation to Blaney. U.S.-South Africa Free Trade Agreement

Comment: Blaney had already launched the idea of a U.S.-SADC Free Trade Agreement, but that also somehow became associated too closely with the Clinton administration. So, he and his staff suggested to Washington’s new Bush administration a U.S.-South Africa Free Trade Agreement. Robert Zoellick and others in Washington liked the idea, and agreed to go to South Africa to explore it in talks with its government. Both Blaney and Zoellick put aside their bitter personal relationship to explore various types of new trade deals (See “Potholes” folder in “Post-State Department” box).

(folder 1) “Exploring a Free trade Agreement between the United States and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU)” February 2002.

Farewell

(folder 1) USAID “You make a Difference Award” to Blaney. 4/30/2002.

(in envelope E) Photo of Blaney presenting his head of Public Affairs, Thomas Hull (who later became U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone), a Superior Honor Award. (An example of many awards that Blaney wrote and pushed for on behalf of his staff.)

(folder 1) Group Meritorious Honor Award, for improving regional courier service. (Blaney created a “hub” in South Africa).

(folder 1) “President Bush to Nominate three Individuals to serve his administration”. 5/14/2002. White House.gov home page. (Blaney is slated for Liberia).

(folder 1) Note (one of many) from staff at Embassy Pretoria expressing best wishes and good luck in Liberia. (Which Blaney would certainly need!).

Management Notes

Comment: Running a large multi-locational mission in South Africa was demanding, especially given the volume of visitors. To help, Blaney invented the State Department’s first visual Virtual Staff Meeting system in the world. It brought Embassy Pretoria virtually together with its staffs at three Consulates; that is, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. Although the new technology was challenging (with breakdowns), and met with much initial skepticism—it worked, and improved operations across-the-board.

Blaney also insisted on optimal communications in other ways, including having everyone at the U.S. Mission to South Africa wear small badges with contact information. These were updated, and often tailored for VIP visits. Visitor itineraries were usually extensive, often including representational events.

(attached to green folder) A few examples of contact information badges worn by all staff.

(green folder) A few examples of representational events, guest lists, and repayment vouchers.