Bahrain is likely one of the United States’ staunchest allies within the Persian Gulf area, however that doesn’t imply Invoice Roebuck’s time period as ambassador was easy.
He got here in a number of years after the Arab Spring, a sequence of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions throughout a lot of the Arab world, together with Bahrain.
A number of the nation’s management thought the U.S. may’ve finished extra to calm tensions between Bahrain’s authorities and its individuals. That made Roebuck’s diplomatic project extra difficult.
“My job was to stroll that fantastic line—proceed to press them on what we thought have been necessary political reforms but additionally to actually construct that relationship again up and reassure them that we supported them politically, militarily, and regionally,” he says. “I feel we succeeded.”
Roebuck, a North Carolina native, had already served within the Peace Corps in Côte d’Ivoire and taught English in Saudi Arabia earlier than coming to UGA for regulation college. After he graduated, he put his worldwide expertise to additional use within the overseas service and was posted all through the Center East.
My job was to stroll that fantastic line—proceed to press them on what we thought have been necessary political reforms but additionally to actually construct that relationship again up.”
Roebuck had the monumental problem of serving as performing ambassador to Libya after the 2012 assassination of Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Benghazi. Three different Individuals have been killed.
Within the aftermath of Stevens’ dying, Roebuck needed to information safety efforts within the embassy in Tripoli.
“We had 85 marines guarding it,” he says. “Usually there may be 12.”
Roebuck additionally needed to shore up the morale of an embassy employees that was devastated by the homicide of their former boss, and navigate the tumultuous relationship with the Libyan authorities. “The Libyans have been making an attempt to sort things as finest they might. And Chris was the type of individual the place for those who met him as soon as, you felt like he was your finest good friend.”
Roebuck served as cost d’affaires, or performing ambassador, in Libya from January to July 2013 and stabilized the scenario for the incoming ambassador.
Libya was not the one tough posting for Roebuck. Following his ambassadorship in Bahrain, Roebuck labored in a diplomatic function embedded with U.S. Special Forces battling ISIS in Syria. A well-earned retirement got here after that, and now Roebuck is in Washington, D.C., the place he serves as govt vp of the Arab Gulf States Institute.
“It was an ideal step for me,” Roebuck says of his function on the coverage assume tank, the place he contributes to coverage papers and leads different communications.
Chris was one of the gifted diplomats of his technology. I had a particular relationship with him however all people who knew him thought that. That’s simply the best way he was. He was excellent at constructing and sustaining relationships and making individuals really feel particular. He had type of a laid-back coolness. He was good-looking, however very modest. He had additionally been a Peace Corps volunteer, had an urge for service. So his character was fairly particular.” — Invoice Roebuck on his good friend and fellow ambassador, the late Cristopher Stevens
This story will seem within the Fall 2022 subject of Georgia Journal.
