MEĐUNARODNI PROBLEMI

Are Ambassadors Creators or just Executors of the National Interests? George Frost Kennan and the 1961 Non-Aligned Conference in Belgrade

Mišić Saša (University of Belgrade – Faculty of Political Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia), sasa.misic@fpn.bg.ac.rs
Živojinović Dragan (University of Belgrade – Faculty of Political Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia), dragan.zivojinovic@fpn.bg.ac.rs

George Frost Kennan was one of the most famous foreign policy thinkers and strategists in the Cold War period. However, in terms of practical achievements, he was far less successful. First, Kennan’s ambassadorship in Moscow (1952) was cancelled after only four and a half months because Stalin declared him persona non grata. Likewise, as an ambassador in Yugoslavia (1961–1963), he was not of better fortune; he resigned before the end of his mandate. The research question in this article is the following: Was George Frost Kennan a creator or just an executor of American national interests in Yugoslavia during his term as ambassador? Did he make a difference in relations between the United States and Yugoslavia, or was he just a bureaucrat implementing the decisions of his superiors? Our answer and our central thesis is that Kennan came to Yugoslavia believing that he would make a difference, and the Yugoslavs accepted him with the same belief. However, after Tito’s speech at the 1961 Non-Aligned Conference in Belgrade, in the next few months, Kennan was left high and dry by his government as well as by his Yugoslav hosts. The article consists of two parts: the first part will describe Kennan’s interpretation of the concept of the National Interest; the second part will focus on Kennan’s ambassadorship in Yugoslavia before and after the 1961 Non-Aligned Conference in Belgrade.

Keywords: national interest, ambassadors, foreign policy, diplomacy, United States, Yugoslavia, US foreign policy, Josip Broz Tito, Non-Aligned Movement