PHYLLIS ELLIOT OAKLEY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE
RECALLING HER VISIT TO CHUGHTAI MUSEUM

That caliber of diplomats no longer posted in Pakistan

The role of any diplomat is to bridge two nations. Representing one’s own country, the task of diplomat is to carve a relation with host country. That diplomacy is no more. Arrogance has replaced that attitude and the present diplomats are more like Commandos sent to hammer submissiveness in the country. How can one win hearts and souls with such an arrogant approach to life? Wrong postings have harmed countries seeking better image of themselves.

My father dealt with hundreds of diplomats, and mostly they were in Karachi then, but they still found time to visit Lahore and befriend the artists of Pakistan. These countries included Canada, Australia, USSR, United Kingdom, Great Britain, France, Germany, Netherlands, etc, and of course USA. I myself hosted Ambassadors and High Commissioners of many of these countries. Our invitation card from day one goes to most of the Embassies in Islamabad. I see very few of them now. Afraid perhaps, but mostly unconcerned. Pakistan no longer matters to them, and they have treated us like a SLAVE COUNTRY now. Obviously they are making a grave mistake by distancing themselves from the people of Pakistan.

In this way I was recalling Phyliss E. Oakley, and considered her a perfect specimen of what an American is like. Reserved yes, polite always. In fact she possessed a wonderful insight into many things, and knew the power of the language of Art in diplomatic affairs. In fact another Ambassador Benjamin J. Oehlert had even started an ART IN THE EMBASSY programme in which the best of Pakistani Art was acquired and hung in the American Embassy. Chughtai Art hung in in the various US Consulates, but mostly there were FOUR WORKS OF CHUGHTAI ARTIST hanging in the US State Department itself. The works are still there and cement USA and Pakistan as nothing else. A work of Chughtai namely Kashmeeri Girl is at the Kennedy Memorial Boston, a gift of President Ayub Khan to John Kennedy at the White House.

A proposal to the new American Ambassador. Make your stay felt here! Prove Americans are one of the most friendly nations in the world.
About Phyllis Oakley at present teaching American Policy as Professor at John Hopkins University, USA.

Phyllis Elliott Oakley
Adjunct Professor
American Foreign Policy

Phyllis Elliott Oakley is a diplomat who served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration (1994–97) and Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research (1997–99). She is married to former Ambassador Robert B. Oakley and is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Council on Foreign Relations. Oakley is a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Ms. Oakley held a variety of positions within the U.S. foreign service. She was a Staff Assistant to Under Secretary Philip Habib, an Afghanistan Desk Officer and a Cultural Affairs Officer in Kinshasa (on loan to the United States Information Agency, USIA). She worked with the Agency for International Development (AID) Afghanistan’s cross-border humanitarian assistance program in Pakistan and served in Congressional Affairs for the Near Eastern Bureau of the State Department.

Currently an Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies, Phyllis Oakley is teaching a course on functional issues in American foreign policy. She has also been a visiting professor at Mount Holyoke College and Northwestern University and serves on the visiting board of the College of Arts and Sciences of Northwestern University and the advisory board for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. She was chair of the board at Americans for UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) from 2003 to 2007 while also serving as chair of the Public Affairs Committee and Nominating Committee at Americans for UNFPA.

God bless her for her skills!