Romania Versus the United States: Diplomacy of the Absurd, 1985–1989

321 Pages·1994·30.72 MB·English

by  Roger Kirk

ROMANIA
VERSUS
THE UNITED
STATES
Also from St. Martin's Press and the
Institute for the Study of Diplomacy
Diplomacy under a Foreign Flag:
When Nations Break Relations
edited by David D. Newsom
Diplomatic Immunity: Principles, Practices, Problems
by Grant V. McClanahan
Communicating with the World:
U.S. Public Diplomacy Overseas
by Hans N. Tuch
THE INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF DIPLOMACY,
an integral part of the Georgetown University School
of Foreign Service, concentrates on increasing
knowledge of the dynamics of diplomacy and its pivotal
role in international peacemaking. The Institute's
programs of research, publications, and public affairs
draw upon scholars and practitioners for insights useful
in the study and conduct of international relations.
ROMANIA
VERSUS
THE UNITED
STATES
Diplomacy of the Absurd,
1985-1989
ROGER KIRK & MIRCEA RACEANU
An Institute for the Study of Diplomacy Book
Palgrave Macmillan
© Institute for the Study of Diplomacy,
Georgetown University 1994
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1994978-0-312-12059-7
All rights reserved. For information, write:
Scholarly & Reference Division,
St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y.lOOlO
First published in the United States of America 1994
ISBN 978-1-349-60815-7 ISBN 978-1-137-11215-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-11215-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kirk, Roger
Romania versus the United States: diplomacy of the absurd,
1985-1989/ Roger Kirk and Mircea Raceanu.
p. cm.
"An Institute for the Study of Diplomacy book."
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. United States-Foreign relations-Romania. 2. Romania-Foreign
relations-United States. I. Raceanu, Mircea. II. Title.
EI83.8.R8K56 1994
327.730498'09'048-dc20 93-44702
CIP
Interior Design by Digital Type & Design
Iioes/
g;;~~8am'i~
Ul/ t9cf9
q;~
foJreedonvUl/~
~ ~
Contents
Preface ........................................................................................................ .ix
Prologue: How Mutual Misperceptions Affected Diplomacy .............. xi
1 Setting the Stage .................................................................................... 1
2 The Cast of Characters and the First Act, 1985 ............................... 19
3 Shultz Tackles Ceau~escu Directly, 1985 .......................................... 45
4 Human Rights Take Center Stage, 1986 ........................................... 65
5 Whitehead Tries to Make a New Start, 1986 .................................... 87
6 Frictions Mount, 1987 ....................................................................... 111
7 Back from the Brink, 1987 ................................................................ 135
8 Pressures Hit the Danger Point, 1987 ............................................. 149
9 Rupture, 1988 ..................................................................................... 167
10 Dialogue of the Deaf, 1988 ............................................................... 187
11 From Bad to Worse, 1988 ................................................................. 205
12 The Last Act, 1989 ............................................................................. 229
13 Epilogue: Some Lessons ................................................................... 249
ApPENDICES
1 Text of December 6,1985, letter
from President Ronald Reagan
to President Nicolae Ceau~escu ....................................................... 267
2 Text of January 7, 1986, letter
from President Nicolae Ceau~escu
to President Ronald Reagan ............................................................ 269
3 Text of June 3, 1986, letter
from President Ronald Reagan
to President Nicolae Ceau~escu ....................................................... 274
4 Text of January 23,1987, message
from Secretary of State George Shultz
to Foreign Minister loan Totu ........................................................ .276
VIII ROMANIA VERSUS THE UNITED STATES
5 Text of March 28,1987, letter
from Secretary of State George Shultz
to President Nicolae Ceau~escu ....................................................... 278
6 Text of January 26,1988, letter
from President Ronald Reagan
to President Nicolae Ceau~escu ....................................................... 280
7 Text of February 12, 1988, letter
from President Nicolae Ceau~escu
to President Ronald Reagan ............................................................ 282
8 Text of February 26, 1988,
Department of State statement:
"Romania Renounces MFN Renewal" .......................................... 285
9 Text of February 27, 1988, Romanian Agerpres
"Statement on the Economic Relations of the
Socialist Republic of Romania with the
United States of America" ............................................................... 286
10 U.S.-Romanian Trade, 1974-1990 ................................................... 288
11 Romanian Emigration to the
United States, Israel, and West Germany
during the Period of MFN, 1975-1988 ............................................ 289
Notes ......................................................................................................... 291
Bibliography ............................................................................................. 303
Index ........................................................................................................ .313
Preface
In November 1985 Roger Kirk assumed his appointment as U.S. ambas
sador to Romania, where he served until July 1989. As a career officer
in the Foreign Service of the United States, he had also served, among
other postings, in the U.S. embassy in Moscow, as ambassador to Somalia,
and as ambassador to the United Nations organizations in Vienna.
Mircea Raceanu was a Romanian career diplomat who had been
deeply involved since 1959 in U.S.-Romanian relations, at both the
Romanian Foreign Ministry in Bucharest and the Romanian embassy in
Washington. He was the ministry's leading expert on the United States.
During most of the period covered in this book, he was acting deputy
director of the Romanian Foreign Ministry's Americas directorate and
head of the department of U.S. and Canadian affairs within the direc
torate. Raceanu's mother and stepfather were early members of the
Romanian Communist Party and had known the Romanian leaders,
including President Nicolae Ceau~escu, for many years.
In January 1989, the Romanian authorities arrested Raceanu and
accused him of being an American spy. On July 21, 1989, a military
court convicted him and condemned him to death, but Ceau~escu's
downfall in December 1989 led to Raceanu's release from prison. His
open criticism of the post-Ceau~escu government, particularly at a May
1,1990, rally at University Square in downtown Bucharest, earned him
the enmity of the Romanian authorities. After two attempts on his life,
he considered it wise to leave Romania for the United States with his fam
ily in the early summer of 1990.
ON SOURCES
We, the authors-sometimes one, sometimes both of us-took part in
virtually all of the events and meetings we describe in this book. Where
we were not eyewitnesses, we identify the participants who told us at the
time what took place. We drew extensively on this personal experience
in writing the book.
In addition, Kirk had full access to the classified State Department files
on the period of his ambassadorship and to all communications between
the embassy in Bucharest and the Department of State during that time.
x ROMANIA VERSUS THE UNITED STATES
These are the primary written source materials for the book. Although
they remain classified for the most part, Kirk was able to obtain declas
sification of key letters to the Romanians from the U.S. president and sec
retary of state as well as President Ceau§escu's letters to Reagan in
reply. The texts of these letters are in the appendices to this work, as are
two key public statements.
We have also drawn on our notes and personal letters written at the
time of the events described and on relevant public papers, congressional
documents, books, and periodicals published in both countries. We
footnote these in the text when we draw from them a specific quote, fact,
or judgment.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to express our appreciation to the Department of State for
access to files, search and copying assistance, and classification review of
the manuscript. We would also like to thank the Institute for the Study of
Diplomacy (ISD) ofthe Georgetown University School of Foreign Service,
as well as the United States Institute of Peace, for their support of this pro
ject. We owe particular gratitude to Margery Boichel Thompson, lSD's
director of publications, for her editorial advice and support, as well as to
Professor Dinu Giurescu, New York Times correspondent David Binder,
and Dr. Ernest Latham for their review and comments. The views in the
study are, of course, our own and do not represent those of the
Department of State or of any other person or institution.