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MR. FAIRBANK: We have to seek personnel to conduct
relations with revolutions, not relations with governments.
The Foreign Service is for the purpose of relations with
governments. We are dealing wi th revolutionary situations,
as we have all said. That requires, I think, a new approach
to the problem of personnel.
Very briefly, a man who is to deal with a revolution,
to have ideas about our relations with it, must of course
begin with the local language. That is very difficult to come
by in Southeast Asia. Further, he must know the local culture,
really how the people live and think. He must, in other words,
live and think with them as a Cominform agent would do. Third,
he must know the local personalities so he can really look at
TAUKAN
the polities in operational terms and he must know local
conditions from contact. To do this, in my view, one must
ARCHIVES NATIONAL RECORDS AND of
develop personnel who understand in detail the aspirations of
SERVICE'*
as
the people who are trying to remake their countries, so that
any
this country can get on the same beam with this native leadership.
1 would say further that our objective there is to formulate
an alternative to the Marxism which provides them with a world-
view spiritual dynamic, or the like. The United states, it
seems to me, is short on that side, say, of a country not in a
revolutionary ferment. Our ideology is very rich and we are
very much devoted to it, but we do not have it as an export
product, it seems to me, in an organized form for the present
day. We have started a revolution in Asia but we are not now
the guiding force in it from the outside,
To carry out this project of persons who can put the Asiatic
revolution in terms that make sense, both in terms of the
Asiatic and to us, these personnel must have nonofficial status
first of all. They must be in these regions not with the
responsibilities of government status, and of course they must
have on-the-spot operational contact, be there not just as
students wandering about, but doing something with the local
people. Further, they must have freedom to think and develop
their ideas in any way that the situation seems to call for.
Continus lly if we want people in this kind of free contact in
Asia it seems to me we must look to private agencies in this
country and we very practically could ask a number of specific
private agencies what might be proposed as personnel programs.
Fducational institutions, for example, can develop a very
extensive contact. A youth organization, a YMCA that sort
of think might be tried and possibly develop personnel programs.
In general this need reflects the fact that in Furope we have
a vast reservoir of personnel. Think of the hundred if not
thousands of young American personnel who have been in Furope
this summer with intimate contact in their cultural background
and people who are now available for programs that we may have
there, and compare that with Asia.
MR. DFCKFR
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"ocrText": "-94- -\nMR. FAIRBANK: We have to seek personnel to conduct\nrelations with revolutions, not relations with governments.\nThe Foreign Service is for the purpose of relations with\ngovernments. We are dealing wi th revolutionary situations,\nas we have all said. That requires, I think, a new approach\nto the problem of personnel.\nVery briefly, a man who is to deal with a revolution,\nto have ideas about our relations with it, must of course\nbegin with the local language. That is very difficult to come\nby in Southeast Asia. Further, he must know the local culture,\nreally how the people live and think. He must, in other words,\nlive and think with them as a Cominform agent would do. Third,\nhe must know the local personalities so he can really look at\nTAUKAN\nthe polities in operational terms and he must know local\nconditions from contact. To do this, in my view, one must\nARCHIVES NATIONAL RECORDS AND of\ndevelop personnel who understand in detail the aspirations of\nSERVICE'*\nas\nthe people who are trying to remake their countries, so that\nany\nthis country can get on the same beam with this native leadership.\n1 would say further that our objective there is to formulate\nan alternative to the Marxism which provides them with a world-\nview spiritual dynamic, or the like. The United states, it\nseems to me, is short on that side, say, of a country not in a\nrevolutionary ferment. Our ideology is very rich and we are\nvery much devoted to it, but we do not have it as an export\nproduct, it seems to me, in an organized form for the present\nday. We have started a revolution in Asia but we are not now\nthe guiding force in it from the outside,\nTo carry out this project of persons who can put the Asiatic\nrevolution in terms that make sense, both in terms of the\nAsiatic and to us, these personnel must have nonofficial status\nfirst of all. They must be in these regions not with the\nresponsibilities of government status, and of course they must\nhave on-the-spot operational contact, be there not just as\nstudents wandering about, but doing something with the local\npeople. Further, they must have freedom to think and develop\ntheir ideas in any way that the situation seems to call for.\nContinus lly if we want people in this kind of free contact in\nAsia it seems to me we must look to private agencies in this\ncountry and we very practically could ask a number of specific\nprivate agencies what might be proposed as personnel programs.\nFducational institutions, for example, can develop a very\nextensive contact. A youth organization, a YMCA that sort\nof think might be tried and possibly develop personnel programs.\nIn general this need reflects the fact that in Furope we have\na vast reservoir of personnel. Think of the hundred if not\nthousands of young American personnel who have been in Furope\nthis summer with intimate contact in their cultural background\nand people who are now available for programs that we may have\nthere, and compare that with Asia.\nMR. DFCKFR"
}