First published in 1958, The Ugly American exposed
in graphic detail the reasons why American diplomacy was failing in Southeast
Asia in the 1950's and the reasons why communism was succeeding. As a chronicle
of the struggle for influence in Asia, it caused quite a diplomatic fury. Its
lessons seem startlingly urgent today in light of the turmoil in Central
America and in the Middle East. Whether the foreign policy errors this book
dramatizes have been corrected is an important question, and one that can be
usefully debated in the classroom.
As a harbinger of the United
States failure in Vietnam, The Ugly American seems a terribly prophetic
book. How could the warnings Lederer and Burdick sounded have gone unheeded? An
examination of their book shows us precisely how, for in The Ugly American
knowledgeable and skillful executors of American foreign policy (those who
believe that "the things we do must be done in the real interest of the
people whose friendship we need--not just in the interest of propaganda")
are routinely replaced by those who know less, care less, and are eminently
less qualified to serve those interests.
The novel opens with one such
individual--the "Honorable" Louis Sears, ambassador to the fictitious
country of Sarkhan, a small underdeveloped nation in which communist and
American interests are vying for supremacy. Sears has assumed his post as a
political stopgap. Between three terms in the Senate and an anticipated federal
judgeship "with a long tenure," he's simply filling time in a
"cushy" job with a large entertainment budget and lavish living
conditions, in a country he had never heard of, serving people he thinks of as
"little monkeys." A caricature depicting Sears as a braying mule has
appeared in a local Sarkhanese newspaper, making clear just how the American
ambassador is perceived: Sears is the prototype of "the ugly
American."
In contrast, the following
chapter presents the Russian ambassador to Sarkhan, Louis Krupitzyn, a thorough
professional whose two-year training period has included instruction in the
language and the customs of the nation he has been sent to serve in. His entire
staff is fluent in Sarkhanese and in the cultural nuances which distinguish the
Sarkhanese people. The Soviet ambassador molds himself into this pattern of the
ideal Sarkhan. He diets, losing forty pounds; he studies ballet, reads
Sarkhanese literature and drama, and becomes a skillful nose flute player--all
as a prelude to effective diplomacy. Equipped with his country's long-range
political goals for Sarkhan and a clear strategy, the ambassador is able to
take actions designed to promote the communist interest in Sarkhan in many
ways, not the least of which are the "small ways," which include
"educating" the population by degrees. In addition, Krupitzyn
instigates deliberate acts of espionage designed to further strengthen the
communist position. For example, a Russian informer planted at an American
embassy as translator supplies key information about an American rice shipment
which the Russians are able to use for their own political advantage.
Where the American ambassador
is crude and bumbling, the Russian is refined and skillful. This theme is
echoed over and over in The Ugly American in reference to Burma, Ceylon,
Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines--all the countries the novel
examines. Still, there are individuals who do not fall into the model of the
ugly American. These are tough, hardworking Americans with a strong sense of
human decency and an innate understanding of how to help people. These
individuals are able to win friends for America at the same time that they help
improve the living conditions of those who desperately need it. It is not the
infusion of big American dollars and the establishment of big American projects
that these nations need, the authors' examples assert, but individuals who
contribute their skills to help the citizens of underdeveloped nations with
problems they themselves have identified. In the book these individuals
include:
The lesson is clear. These decent Americans who remain
close to the people of the countries they are working in are also America's
best ambassadors. In fact, three years after this book's initial publication,
John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps, whose philosophy and methods
closely parallel the model of small-scale, people-oriented assistance Lederer
and Burdick depict in The Ugly American.
But individual Americans
cannot match the communist effort to dominate in underdeveloped nations, the
book warns. All the good they do is easily undermined by the failures of
high-level diplomats and the absence of a clear strategy for dealing with the
problems these nations face. If the blundering Ambassador Sears and his
counterpart and eventual successor in Sarkhan, Joe Bing, create hostility
rather than friendship for America, Ambassador MacWhite, who serves between
them, is an example of a man who can reverse this process through genuine
concern for the population and a set of coherent principles designed to address
Sarkhan's most pressing problems--underdevelopment, poverty, and the threat of communism.
In MacWhite we have the
example of the ideal ambassador: respectful of the culture and customs of his
country, sensitive to the need for training on the part of all diplomatic
personnel, learned in communist literature and the methodology which underlies
the communist attempts to gain power in poor nations. In order to help prevent
similar situations in his country, MacWhite goes to observe firsthand the
mistakes of the French military in Vietnam. He dissects the failures they made
at the battle for Dien Bien Phu and studies communist strategy and Vietnamese
terrain in order to understand these mistakes. Then he reports his findings to
the senior French military command and their American advisors.
"'Since December of 1946
the French have been fighting a war which has been maneuvered by the Communists
precisely along the lines which Mao outlined in this pamphlet. You are a
military man--you will please excuse my bluntness--but you made every mistake
Mao wanted you to. You ignored his every lesson for fighting on this type of
terrain. You neglected to get the political and economic cooperation of the
Vietnamese, even though Mao proved long ago that Asians will not fight
otherwise...'"
The French commander replies:
"' If you are suggesting, Ambassador MacWhite, that the nation which
produced Napoleon now has to go to a primitive Chinese for military
instruction, I can tell you that you are not only making a mistake, you're
being insulting.'"
A report submitted to the
United States Senate is similarly handled. The report is contradicted by the
testimony of an American senator who has spent a brief week touring Vietnam.
The authors describe the week's tour as being carefully orchestrated by
American embassy officials determined not to allow the senator to see how badly
things are going both militarily and in terms of the French and American
attempt to "win friends" in Vietnam for the West. The Senate's
dismissal of MacWhite's report on conditions in Vietnam and the Foreign Office
dismissal of MacWhite himself as ambassador to Sarkhan point to American
foreign policy failures as serious as the absence of careful selection and
training of its diplomatic personnel. In the end, another ugly American
replaces MacWhite in Sarkhan. As for the failure of America to learn from the
mistakes of the French, that is not fiction; it is history.
By exposing the ineptitude of
those who shape foreign policy, Lederer and Burdick point out the way costly
mistakes are made--costly in terms of United Sates influence in the world, even
more costly in terms of the fate of the citizens whose lives and well-being are
at stake. This is a book that is certain to deepen students' understanding of
the complexity of international affairs. Its terse, episodic style and its many
portraits of individuals engaged in the process of diplomacy give readers an
important sense of the dimensions of the problems which receive such cursory
treatment on the nightly news. The Ugly American is mandatory reading
for the citizens of a participatory democracy, in terms of understanding the
mistake of the past and in order to prevent their repetition in the future.
Use these questions to clarify your students' basic
political, historical and geographical knowledge of Southeast Asia. In the
sections marked "Identify," real-life names and places are in
boldface type.
Chapter 1
Identify:
Louis Sears
John Cowlin
Deong
O.S.S
Sarkhan
1. In
what ways is Ambassador Sears shown to be totally unsuited to his government
position in Sarkhan?
2. What
is the truest story behind the vicious attack on John Cowlin?
Chapter 2
Identify:
Louis Krupitzyn
1. Describe the
training Louis Krupitzyn undergoes before assuming his position in Sarkhan. In
what ways does this contrast with the manner in which "Lucky Louis
#1" becomes ambassador?
Chapter 3
Identify:
Father John Finian
U. Tien
"The Communist
Farmer"
Vinich
Burma
1. Why
does Father Finian consider the people of Asia to be susceptible to communism?
2. What
parallels does he draw between the faith of communists and the faith of
Catholics?
3. What
method does father Finian adopt in organizing an anticommunist campaign in
Burma? Why is his campaign successful?
Chapter 4
Identify:
Ruth Jyoti
1. What
observations does Ruth Jyoti make of the San Francisco newspapers she reads?
2. What
are her impressions of Joe Bing and Bob Maile? Why are they important?
Chapter 5
1. What
does Ambassador Sears's personal letter to Peterson at the State Department
reveal about his method of operating in Sarkhan and about his judgment of Joe
Bing?
Chapter 6
Identify:
Hamilton Bridge Upton
1. In
what way is Upton's approval of Joe Bing surprising? What does this show about
his abilities as an American Foreign Service officer?
Chapter 7
Identify:
Marie MacIntosh
1. How
does Marie MacIntosh's life change once she goes to Sarkhan?
2. Describe
some advantages Americans serving in a "hardship post" enjoy.
Chapter 8
1. How is
Sears's disinterest in his position and his incompetence at its shown in this
chapter?
Chapter 9
Identify:
McCarthy "excitement"
Haido
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek
Ramon Magsaysay
Gilbert MacWhite
Li Pang
Donald and Roger
1. What
painful lesson does Ambassador MacWhite learn from his old friend Li Pang?
2. What
shortcomings does MacWhite come to grips with as a result of this lesson? How
does he propose to correct them?
Chapter 10
Identify:
Edward B. Hillandale
1. How
does "The Ragtime Kid" convince the Filipinos that all Americans are
not "rich and bloated snobs"?
Chapter 11
Identify:
Major James "Tex" Wolchek
Dien Bien Phu
Hanoi
Mao Tse-tung
General Monet
1. What
are some of the tactics the Vietnamese communists use to defeat the French?
2. On
what basis does Monet originally reject the military tactics of Mao Tse-tung
which Tex explains to him? What happens to make Monet determined to adopt them?
Chapter 12
1. What
are the two military tactics Mao describes that Monet decides he can use?
2. Do you
believe that MacWhite remained a neutral observer in this military action?
Defend your position on this question.
3. On
what basis do the French troops succeed? Why do the American and French high
command reject MacWhite's and Monet's suggestion that they adopt Mao's military
strategy in Vietnam? What is the outcome of the French military action in
Vietnam?
4. How do
the French and Communist armies compare in terms of equipment and
sophistication? In what way is the truth of Mao's analysis of guerrilla war
borne out by the communist victory in Vietnam?
Chapter 13
Identify:
U. Maung Swe
Chiang Kai-shek
Chinese Nationalists
1. What
does Swe believe is wrong with the Americans who work in Burma?
2. What
advice does Swe give to Americans who serve in Burma? In what ways were the
Martins extremely effective in their dealings with the people of this country?
Chapter 14
Identify:
Tom Knox
Phnom Penh
1. How
does the Tom Knox incident represent another variation on the theme of American
diplomatic incompetence in Asia?
2. Who is
responsible for setting up and paying for Tom's luxurious excursions to
Indonesia, India, and France? What purpose does it serve?
3. How
have the American officials distorted Tom's role? What are the mistakes
Ambassador MacWhite makes as a result of this distortion?
Chapter 15
1. A)
What does Colonel Hillandale consider to be the key to Sarkhan?
B) On what basis does he make this judgment?
C) Of what importance is this understanding to American diplomatic policy in
Sarkhan?
2. Why
are Generals Saugh and Bhakal forced to leave Sarkhan?
3. What
is the story behind George Swift's black eye? Why does MacWhite decide that
Swift should be transferred and not Hillandale?
Chapter 16
Identify:
Solomon Asch
Captain Boning
Doctor Ruby Tsung
1. What
is the purpose of the conference Asch is heading? What is Asch's strategy for
the American delegation?
2. Describe
the negotiation philosophy Asch conveys to the French and English
representatives.
3. Discuss
the cause and effects of Captain Boning's poor performance at the conference.
Chapter 17
Identify:
Homer Atkins
Ho Chi-Minh
Saigon
1. What
are Atkins's recommendations to the Vietnamese, and how are they received?
2. A) To
what is Atkins referring in his mention of Dien Bien Phu?
B) What information does Atkins give the French Ambassador about Ho Chi Minh?
C) What is the historical significance of the facts presented in a book whose
copyright date is 1958?
3. What
does this chapter teach you about the causes of the French defeat in Vietnam?
4. Explore
the levels of meaning indicated by the title The Ugly American.
Chapter 18
Identify:
Foster Dulles (see page 233)
Jeepo
1. Why
won't Homer send to the United States for the kind of pump he needs in Sarkhan?
2. How
does Jeepo solve the problem of powering the pump? Why does he trust Atkins?
3. What
is the procedure Atkins and Jeepo will follow in making the pump available to
the people of Sarkhan? How is the approach different form the standard American
business in which the goal is to make large profits?
Chapter 19
1. How
does Emma Atkins revolutionize the sweeping of Chang Dong?
Chapter 20
Identify:
Senator Jonathan Brown
1. What
is the senator's objective on his Asian trip? How is this objective thwarted?
2. Name
three important situations Senator Brown fails to become aware of because of
the deliberate misrepresentation perpetuated by the American ambassador and his
staff.
3. How do
the distortions Brown witnesses affect his political judgment and, ultimately,
the U.S. policy that is influenced by it?
Chapter 21
1. What
is the underlying principle upon which Ambassador MacWhite's diplomatic policy
is based?
2. Under
what conditions does he agree to remain at his post in Sarkhan?
3. How
does his replacement by Joe Bing underscore everything that is wrong with
American diplomatic policy in Asia?
Chapter 22
1. How does
the fact that the authors have based this book on their own observations and
firsthand experiences influence the effect it has on you? What do you believe
their purpose was in writing this book?
1. Describe
the communist strategy for successful intervention in underdeveloped nations,
based upon the evidence given in The Ugly American. Include references
from the writings of Chairman Mao as presented in the novel.
2. In
what ways is the book's epilogue necessary for the reader's understanding of
the urgency of the problem explored in the novel?
3. Discuss
the characteristics of "the ugly American" as personified by Louis
Sears and Joe Bing.
4. Name
the three most important characteristics of a diplomat serving in a foreign
nation. Discuss in detail why they are essential for successful relations with
that country.
5. Discuss
the factors that contributed to the French defeat against the Vietnamese
communists and their leader, Ho Chi Minh. What military and political lessons
could the Americans have learned from this?
6. What
common factor enables Father Finian, John Colwin, Edward Hillandale, Tom Knox,
Homer and Emma Atkins, and Ambassador MacWhite to have successful dealings with
the people they were sent to help? How did the government they were sent to
serve undermine each one?
7. If you
could have an influence in shaping foreign policy and foreign service for this
country, what principles and practical suggestions would you establish as
priorities for underdeveloped countries of the world?
1. Consult
a map of Southeast Asia and become familiar with geographical locations of all
the countries and cities referred to in The Ugly American.
2. What
are the new names for
A) the city of Saigon
B) the country of Ceylon?
Research when these places changed names and what the circumstances were that
led to the changes.
3. Assign
groups of students to do research on the status of the following nations in the
post-1958 period up to the present time. Have students trace the economic
progress, changes in government, and alliances with communist or western
nations of the following: Burma; Ceylon (Sri Lanka); Cambodia (Kampuchea); the
Philippines; Vietnam; Indonesia.
4. Have
students do research on American foreign policy operations, with specific
attention to the following:
A) What kind of training do American diplomatic personnel currently receive? In
what ways has this changed since the period described in The Ugly American?
B) What requirements for service abroad does the U.S. government impose on its
foreign service officers and their staffs?
C) What are the living conditions of our foreign service personnel? Do they
match those suggested by Ambassador MacWhite? Are they still luxurious and far
above the standard of living of the majority of the population of the host
nation?
D) Using the list of criteria advanced by Ambassador MacWhite, try to determine
which of his suggestions have been adopted as a matter of U.S. policy.
5. Research
and report on the establishment of the Peace Corps by President John F. Kennedy
in 1961. What were its purposes and philosophy? What is the status of the Peace
Corps today?
6. Research
the United States involvement in Vietnam from the period of the French
withdrawal to the fall of Saigon. What explanations for the American failure in
Vietnam did the official U.S. military and political spokesman put forth? In
what sense does the information contained in The Ugly American help you
to understand some other explanations for the U.S. failure to stop communist forces
from succeeding in Vietnam?
7. Select
a particular developing nation in which the United States and the Soviet Union
are competing for control. Have your students research both American and
Russian influences on:
A) economic and military aid to that nation
B) political upheavals
C) major economic and social problems
Teacher's guide by Jacqueline Parker, author, poet, and
teacher of writing and literature.