In Washington DC Wednesday, President George W. Bush told President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea that he would not resume missile talks with North Korea in the near future, putting a hold on Clinton's two-year campaign with the Korean peninsula.
On the Tufts campus, the former ambassador to South Korea - and the newest dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy - predicted that, when it comes down to it, Bush won't stray far from the work Clinton had begun.
"I believe, in the end, [the Bush administration] will decide on a course of action not all that different from Clinton," newly inaugurated Fletcher Dean Stephen Bosworth said.
At this time, Bush wants to design his own plans, Bosworth said, but, in the end, this new strategy will likely resemble the old. "A definite decision not to go forward [with missile talks] has not been made. In fact, I doubt that decision is likely to be made. It's a decision on the part of Bush to conduct and complete an analysis of Korean issues before deciding a definitive course of action," he said, adding that "as they examine alternatives, they will find no other attractive options."
With over three years of experience as the US Ambassador to South Korea and 27 years in the US Foreign Service, Bosworth has the knowledge to make such predictions. And he plans to incorporate those sorts of life lessons in his time at Fletcher.
"I hope to be able to contribute my experiences in diplomacy to my interests here at Fletcher," Bosworth said, noting his time as an Ambassador to the Philippines during dictator Ferdinand Marcos' overthrow, as well as his crucial role in the Korean dialogue.
During his time on the Korean peninsula, where one of the last vestiges of the Cold War continues to play out, Bosworth felt that all of the leaders involved made important steps in the negotiations. "I think it went quite well, [the US] very much acted in concert with South Korea. We each had our own bilateral dialogue with the North and closely coordinated what we were doing in the North," he said.
Though Bosworth's opinions and experience are still pertinent - he was quoted just two days ago in The Boston Globe on how Bush's will proceed with the talks - he felt that it was time to move on. "Ambassadors generally serve something from around two to four years, and I agreed to [serve] three years," he said. Bosworth actually served three years and three months, extending his tenure because of the sensitive nature of the talks.
After serving as ambassador, Bosworth and his wife felt that, professionally and personally, they should move back to the States. "We really enormously enjoyed [their time in South Korea], but we don't appoint ambassadors for life. When the opportunity to come to Fletcher came along, I considered it very carefully, and this was something that made very good sense for us," he said.
At Fletcher, Bosworth plans to make slow changes to the school for the sake of improvement. "Institutions do not benefit from abrupt change," he said. Bosworth plans to "work with Fletcher faculty, staff, the University, and students to try and build a consensus or trajectory" of progress.
Bosworth is devoted to a pattern of steady improvement. "We have to continue to try and get better. If you rest on your laurels while competing with [other] institutions, you'll discover that you're not as good as you used to be," he said.
As dean, Bosworth plans to continue working closely with the University at large, but his concerns do not include the relationship between the undergraduate and Fletcher graduate communities on campus. Some feel that Fletcher students and Tufts undergraduates do not tend to mingle, but Bosworth feels that this is only natural.
"From my point of view, I don't consider it a serious issue... Tufts undergraduates are very different from Fletcher students, who are graduate students," Bosworth said, pointing out that the age disparity and work experience of Fletcher students are a large difference between the two groups.
In working with the University, Bosworth draws both from his experience as a student and as a trustee of his alma mater, Dartmouth College, where he served as the chair of the Board of Trustees from 1995 to 1999.
Bosworth came to be an international ambassador from a small town in western Michigan. Through "happenstance," he ended up at Dartmouth, and through the courses he took as an international relations major, decided to join the US Foreign Service right after graduation.
Although he applied and was accepted to several prestigious law schools, these institutions weren't "willing to pay me and the State Department was," he said.
Bosworth decided to leave the foreign service in 1988, opting for another route - private industry. He served as president of the United States Japan Foundation, a private American grant-making institution with programs in education, leadership exchange, and policy studies. He also taught at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs from 1990 to 1994, and as a visiting professor at Hamilton College. The State Department asked Bosworth back to serve as the Ambassador to South Korea in 1997.
At Fletcher, Bosworth looks forward to exploring yet another prominent arena of international affairs. "Now I've embarked on another kind of life here in academia," he said.
Bosworth said that he has enjoyed his first three weeks at Tufts, and looks forward to a new chapter in a career that has led him to all ends of the earth. "It's been great. I know I will have bad days in the future at some points, but the atmosphere at Fletcher and at Tufts has been very welcoming," he said. "I feel very comfortable here."
On March 13, from 4-6 p.m. in the Coolidge Room, Bosworth and the South Korean ambassador to the US will hold a panel discussion on the current situation on the Korean peninsula.
