Reaching for Critical Mass: American Ambassadorships to Asia and Gendered Diplomacy in the Post-Cold War Era Open Access
Scheel, Bethany (Spring 2022)
Abstract
Historically, the American Foreign Service has been “white, male, and Ivy League” as described by former Undersecretary of State Benjamin Reid during the 1989 Alison Palmer proceedings which exposed the long-standing gender inequality within the State Department. Though modern research is slowly expanding to investigate how women have shaped international relations in the 20th century, especially in the field of global human rights, there is still a dearth of scholarship that examines women ambassadors and their role as representatives of the United States abroad. Therefore, it is useful to focus on two women ambassadors, Julia Chang Bloch, Ambassador to Nepal 1989-1992, and D. Kathleen Stephens, Ambassador to the Republic of Korea 2008-2011, whose work has not been taken seriously by historians, asking questions such as “Why is their history excluded?” and “What can these women’s contributions to American foreign policy teach us about our inter and intranational dynamics?” to help fill a vital gap in women’s history. This study hinges on primary sources such as interviews and secondary sources like journal articles to illuminate the entirety of these women’s lives and careers. It argues that Ambassadors Julia Chang Bloch and D. Kathleen Stephens’s appointments are historically significant, both due to their novelty and their adherence to pre-established themes found in women’s role in American foreign policy. Their lives and careers exemplify the diversity of women ambassadorial appointments to Asia, further informing historians about the significant place these women hold in our collective diplomatic history.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: “The Senior Person on the Ground”: Introductions, Historiography, and Methods…..1
Chapter 2: “She Wore Smashing, Shocking Pink Jackets” The Life and Career of Julia Chang Bloch………………………………………………………………...……………………...……15
Chapter 3: “Shared Problems”: The Life and Career of D. Kathleen Stephens……………...….34
Chapter 4: “Truly Representative of the American People”: Themes in the Careers of Julia Chang Bloch and Doris Kathleen Stephens……………………………………………………...46
Chapter 5: “Critical Mass”: How Close or Far are We Really?....................................................54
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………..57
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