67. Circular Airgram From the Department of State to all Diplomatic Posts1
SUBJECT
- Impact of Youth and the US National Interest.
One of the first statements2 I made upon assuming my duties in the Department was that we must encourage the active participation of young people and listen to the ideas of dissenters if we are to formulate a foreign policy responsive to the needs of the future.
That statement was addressed to our own people in the Department, but I believe we must take a comparable interest in youth abroad, who today represent a force in society of substantial proportions that may well affect US foreign relations of the future.
We must take them into account—just as we do more traditional political, economic and social forces—in particular because they are increasingly the force of change that will alter the political and social climate in which we work in the future.
Accordingly, I would like your Country Team to re-examine the attention they are giving to this aspect of their work in order to assure that your Embassy’s efforts are commensurate with the current and potential impact of youth on the society of the country and with the resources available to you.
There are two principal objectives on which we should concentrate:
[Page 147](1) To assure that we assess as accurately as possible the political and social attitudes of students and other young people and come to a sound appreciation of their likely effect on political and social structures. Such analysis should be of immediate value to the Embassies in their own work and will be useful to the Department in both current and long-range planning.
(2) To seek to identify and establish relationships with the rising young leaders who are most likely in future years to reach positions of national influence, particularly in economic and political fields. Within carefully but boldly determined limits suitable to your country situation this should include contact not only with potential future leaders within the established system but also with those among the disaffected and the “outs”.
I am conscious that recent personnel cuts3 are making Mission workloads difficult and that you face hard decisions in determining where to place your priorities. It is the intention of this instruction that Embassies should reassess youth matters to assure that they are being given their proper attention proportional to the increased world-wide impact of youth. While reducing wherever possible the total flow of communications, it is necessary to bear in mind that the phenomenon of politically conscious and restless youth should be routinely built in as part of your mission’s normal political reporting.
The following specific suggestions have worked in some countries to assure adequate attention to youth matters. Obviously the situation varies from country to country, and the organization of the work must be adapted to the size and resources of your Mission.
1. While all officers should be responsible for contacts with and reporting views of youth in their functional areas of responsibility, you may wish to consider the designation of a special youth officer from among the present complement. Such an officer, regardless of his agency affiliation, should work with and through the political section in his capacity as coordinator and stimulator of Mission youth awareness and contact. He should be of an age and personality that suit [Page 148] him to deal with young people and to develop the intense personal relationships that characterize this work. The goal should be to find, assign and support the best qualified person in a manner that will be appropriate and comfortable for your Mission.
The responsibilities of such an officer would include:
(a) Establishing contacts, and coordinating the effort of others to do the same, with influential young leaders (political, labor, business, student, educational, media, military, governmental, etc.).
(b) Encouraging, initiating and coordinating analysis and reporting on current and potential political, social and economic impact of youth forces on society. One early focus of such reporting could usefully be the plans of youth groups and the local government for participation in the U.N. sponsored World Youth Assembly to be held in New York in July, 1970.
(c) Coordinating other Embassy efforts on a day-to-day basis.
A reasonable percentage of representation and travel funds will be needed for his use.
2. The established Youth Committees, chaired by you or a senior Embassy officer, should continue to have responsibility for overall direction of youth matters among all elements of the Mission. Alternatively, such supervision and coordination might appropriately be subject to direct responsibility of your Country Team.
3. You are requested to review with your Country Team whether some resources could be specifically earmarked for youth matters. In addition to representation and travel funds, these may include USIS GOE funds, and grants to binational centers; CU exchange grants; military training opportunities; and, where AID operates, participant training slots and the use of the Special Development (self-help) Fund in support of development projects with youth involvement.
Support and overall supervision of the youth program will continue to be extended from Washington by the Inter-Agency Youth Committee (State, Defense, USIA, AID), chaired by the Counselor of the Department and supported full time by the Department’s Youth Advisor.
I would appreciate your consideration of the guidance in this CA and would welcome your comments. Your personal interest and conclusions will, I am sure, be the key to the effectiveness of your Mission’s program.
- Source: National Archives, RG 306, Office of Policy and Plans, IOP/C Cultural and Youth Subject Files, 1955–1971, Entry UD–90, Box 4, EDX 12 Paper on Youth Impact of Youth and the US National Interest 1970. Confidential. Drafted by Pedersen and Cross on January 9; cleared by W. Beverly Carter, Culbertson, White, Tibbetts, Barnett, Stern, Rockwell, Greene, Jones, and Eliot; approved by Rogers. Repeated for information to all consular posts.↩
In his January 22 message to employees of the Department of State, AID, USIA, ACDA, and the Peace Corps, Rogers referenced remarks made by then-presidential candidate Nixon in September 1968 regarding youth and asserted: “In this spirit I hope to lead a receptive and open establishment where men speak their minds and are listened to on merit, and where divergent views are fully and promptly passed on for decision. We must tap all the creative ideas and energies of this Department in the formulation of a foreign policy responsive to the needs of the future. Only if we do so can we systematically delineate meaningful alternatives from which the President can determine a considered policy course.
“To those in the levels of highest responsibility—the Under and Assistant Secretaries, and our Ambassadors—I look not only for your judgment but for stimulation of such a process and in particular your encouragement of the participation of our young people.” (Department of State Bulletin, February 10, 1969, p. 125)
↩- Presumable reference to the Nixon administration’s ongoing effort to reduce overseas personnel. A July 9, 1969, White House press release indicated that Nixon had ordered a 10 percent reduction in direct-hire personnel and certain military personnel and that the reductions would begin as soon as possible. For the text of the press release, see ibid., August 4, 1969, pp. 92–93. In a July 21 memorandum to Richardson, Kissinger referenced the reduction, noting: “Each agency with personnel overseas will be required to meet the ten per cent quota, and reductions will be made on a country-by-country basis, insofar as practicable.” The memorandum is printed in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. III, Foreign Economic Policy; International Monetary Policy, 1969–1972, Document 25. See also ibid., vol. II, Organization and Management of U.S. Foreign Policy, 1969–1972, Documents 303, 304, and 306.↩