Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007 - The University of Texas at Austin

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Chapter 6. Conclusion George Lister accomplished more in his career than might be expected of a mid-level State Department bureaucrat—much less one, who, at multiple times in his career, almost lost his job. Lister’s successes do not necessarily undermine models of foreign policy that emphasize high-level decision-making. They do complement such models, however. Lister’s career shows that determined, ideologically-motivated individuals who do not occupy positions of authority can nonetheless shape U.S. foreign policy and leverage U.S. influence to affect foreign countries. Lister’s most major accomplishment as a diplomat in the first 20 years of his career was to commence a dialogue with the Italian Socialist Party. Partly as a result of Lister’s efforts, the Socialists in Italy were convinced to make a split with the Communist Party. Lister was moderately successful in the 1960s and early 1970s after returning to the State Department. Some of his work may have helped to improve Latin American perceptions of the U.S., but many of the policies he recommended—especially his calls for dialogue with Chilean Socialists—were disregarded. Beginning in 1973, Lister devoted himself to the issue of human rights in U.S. foreign policy. Lister had the most impact of his career working as a human rights advocate at the State Department. Lister helped to institutionalize human rights policy in the State Department as well as to shape the development of the human rights 127
movement—in particular, by insisting that both the State Department and the human rights movement treat human rights objectively. He also contributed to human rights and democracy in a range of countries, including Chile, South Korea, and the Dominican Republic. Reasons for Impact A mid-level official wishing to have a significant impact on U.S. foreign policy could adopt one of two basic strategies. One strategy would be to try to advance to a higher post within the bureaucratic structure in the hopes of being able to play a future role in high-level decision-making. Another strategy would be to try to immediately influence foreign policy, regardless of the effects on the official’s career advancement. On the continuum between these two strategies, Lister’s approach fell at the latter extreme. Although he may not have intended to adopt such a strategy, his decision in Italy to oppose the DCM put him on a course which hampered his possibilities for career advancement. Returning to the State Department, Lister chose to continue to play a maverick role. He was not always well-received, but he still managed to be extremely successful. Below, I outline several of the factors that helped him to achieve success, particularly during his time as a human rights advocate. 128
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Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007
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Impacting Foreign Policy as a Mid-L
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Impacting Foreign Policy as a Mid-L
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Chile..............................
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contributions to U.S. foreign polic
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etween personalities and more as a
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duties but not jeopardize his caree
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21 Morton H. Halperin and Patricia
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younger sister. As Lister’s long-
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as an ideological battle that the U
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February 1955, Lister received a le
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wanted to bring the entire Socialis
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Schlesinger soon began working toge
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espects Saragat more than vice-vers
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Socialist Party that this office ha
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First, his contacts with Italian So
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eceptive to the Italian Socialists
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64 George Lister, “Political Less
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As he frequently did though, Lister
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Impact in the Bureau of Inter-Ameri
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leaders,” Lister wrote in 1971. 1
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Latin Americans to watch out for [t
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Lister’s facility with explaining
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away from the Communists, much as h
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Domingo as part of an inter-departm
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the crisis was “interesting and i
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War effort. Besides his propaganda
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Affairs to ask that the U.S. press
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win the ideological battle against
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31 Ibid. 32 Memo, George Lister to
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104 Ibid. 105 Ibid. 106 Ibid. 107 C
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ights suddenly became a major U.S.
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international human rights experts
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Rights, Carter reiterated that U.S.
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Reagan’s human rights policy was,
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When, as a result of the hearings,
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Human rights were rhetorically usef
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substantial,” Shlaudeman said.
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a reporter as “Mr. Human Rights.
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encourage improvement. As if to und
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Lister won plaudits from Patricia D
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Page 131 and 132: 62 Letter, Kim Dae Jung to George L
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Page 143 and 144: Archival Documents Bibliography Abr
Page 145 and 146: Lister, George. Memo to Mr. William
Page 147 and 148: Lister, George. Memo to ARA Office
Page 149 and 150: Lister, George. Memo to Elliott Abr
Page 151 and 152: U.S. State Department. Career Histo
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Page 155 and 156: Shlaudeman, Harry. Former Assistant
Page 157 and 158: Memorial Service for George Lister.
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Copyright by Gregory Krauss 2007 - The University of Texas at Austin

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