Joseph D. Stafford, III
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Joe Stafford is a former career Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. State Department. During his 36-year career, he served primarily at U.S. Embassies and Consulates in Africa and the Middle East. His first assignment was to the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran. His assignment was cut short when, in November 1979, Iranian student militants seized the Embassy and took most of its U.S. personnel hostage. Joe, his wife, and four other colleagues managed to escape the Embassy and, after sheltering with Canadian diplomats, returned clandestinely to the U.S. in January 1980. He later served as Ambassador to The Gambia, and his final Foreign Service assignment was as Charge d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, 2010-12.
Your initial Foreign Service assignment was certainly an auspicious one; what were some other noteworthy assignments?
After Iran, I went on to serve in various African and Middle Eastern countries; while my experiences in all these countries were memorable, I’ll mention three in particular. The first is Egypt, where I served at the Embassy Cairo, 1980-83. It was my first experience in the Arab world, and I came to appreciate the richness and complexity of that world. The second is Algeria, a country in the throes of a major Islamist insurgency during my time at the Embassy in Algiers, 1996-98. My Algerian experience impressed upon me the challenges of working with a government and society enduring severe civil strife. The third is Nigeria, where I served as Consul General in Lagos, 2010-12 and left with a deep sense of respect for the resilience, determination, and ingenuity of the Nigerian people, under often challenging socio-economic circumstances.
Following your Foreign Service career, have you remained active in foreign affairs?
Yes. After the Foreign Service, I served in a couple of temporary assignments with the State Department and then returned to Africa in 2016 for four-plus years as a private contractor. I was based at the U.S. Embassy in the West African country of Niger, where I was the in-country representative for a capacity-building project with Niger’s security and military forces. I am now interested in China, following its domestic and foreign policies and studying Mandarin with a view to visiting at some point.
What foreign affairs issues concern you the most at present?
Two issues come immediately to mind. One is our relationship with China. I accept the view that our most important bilateral relationship is with China, given its status as the world’s second-most powerful country and one with which we have both shared and diverging interests on many vital issues. How we and the Chinese manage that relationship will continue to be crucial for our respective countries, and the world at-large, for the foreseeable future. Another issue is strengthening international cooperation to deal with transnational issues ranging from cybercrime to climate change. In a changing world order, mobilizing governments, non-state actors, and the general populace to meet these global challenges is as daunting a task as ever.