Robert Strausz-Hupé (March 25, 1903 – February 24, 2002) was an Austrian-born American diplomat and
geopolitical
Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...
theorist.
Life and career
Born in 1903 in Austria, Strausz-Hupé immigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 1923. Serving as an advisor on foreign investment to American financial institutions, he watched the Depression spread political misery across the
America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
After the
Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
of Austria in 1938, Strausz-Hupé began writing and lecturing to American audiences on "the coming war."
After one such lecture in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, he was invited to give a talk at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, an event which led to his taking a position on the faculty there in 1940. He became an Associate Professor in 1946.
Strausz-Hupé founded the
Foreign Policy Research Institute
The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) is an American think tank based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that conducts research on geopolitics, international relations, and international security in the various regions of the world as well a ...
at the University of Pennsylvania in 1955, which later became independent in 1970. In 1957, the Institute published the first issue of ''
Orbis'', the quarterly journal that remains to this day the institute's flagship publication. Strausz-Hupé authored or co-authored several important books on international affairs.
Strausz-Hupé was a foreign policy advisor to
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...
when Goldwater was the Republican Party's candidate for
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
in 1964, and also advised
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
in his successful 1968 campaign. As president, Nixon appointed Strausz-Hupé to be
Ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
to
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
in 1969, but the appointment was blocked by Arkansas Senator
J. William Fulbright
James William Fulbright (April 9, 1905 – February 9, 1995) was an American politician, academic, and statesman who represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1945 until his resignation in 1974. , Fulbright is the longest serving chair ...
, head of the
Foreign Relations Committee, on the grounds that Strausz-Hupé was too strongly against
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
.
Despite this, the following year he was appointed U.S.
Ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
to
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
and the
Maldive Islands
Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...
, and subsequently served as ambassador to
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
(1972–74),
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
(1974–76),
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
(1976–77), and
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
(1981–89).
"History: Robert Strausz-Hupé"
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...
website
In 1989, upon retirement after eight years as Ambassador to Turkey, Strausz-Hupé rejoined the Foreign Policy Research Institute as Distinguished Diplomat-in-Residence and president emeritus.
Personal life and death
On April 26, 1938, in New York City, he married Eleanor DeGraff Cuyler Walker (1898-1976), daughter of railroad director Thomas DeWitt Cuyler
Thomas DeWitt Cuyler (September 28, 1854 – November 2, 1922) was an American lawyer who served as director of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the chairman of the Association of Railway Executives.
Early life
Cuyler was born in Philadelphia on S ...
(1854-1922) and his wife, Frances Lewis Cuyler (1860-1941). She was a descendant of the Hasbrouck family
The Hasbrouck family was an early immigrant family to Ulster County, New York, and helped found New Paltz, New York. The Hasbrouck family were French Huguenots who fled persecution in France by moving to Germany, and then the United States. ...
and a second cousin, once removed of New York Governor DeWitt Clinton
DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and naturalist. He served as a United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the seventh governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely res ...
. She was the youngest of four daughters, and was divorced from Joseph Walker with three children of her own: Eleanor Cuyler Walker Seyffert (1917-1992), Joseph Walker IV (1920-2007) and Peter Cuyler Walker (1925-2000). They did not have any children together, and Eleanor died on March 8, 1976, while in Sweden.
Strausz-Hupé married secondly Mayrose (nee Ferreira) Nugara (b. 1936) on August 22, 1979. She had three children of her own: Ingrid, Cynthia and Ricky. He died at home in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
Newtown Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Prior to 1789 it was part of Chester County. The population was 12,216 as of the 2010 census, and was 19,705 as of 2017.
History
The first mention of the township was in 1684, ...
, on February 24, 2002, at the age of 98.[Lewis, Paul (February 26, 2002]
"Robert Strausz-Hupé, Envoy And Cold-War Stalwart, 98" (obituary)
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''
Quotations
*"As policy evolves towards several continental systems, and technology accentuates the strategic importance of large, contiguous areas. Thus the era of overseas empires and free world trade closes. If this reasoning is pushed to its absolute conclusion, the national state is also a thing of the past, and the future belongs to the giant state. Many nations will be locked in a few vast compartments. But in each of these one people, controlling a strategic area, will be master of the others." – ''Geopolitics: The Struggle for Space and Power'' (1942)
Works
* ''Axis America: Hitler Plans Our Future'' (1941)
* ''Geopolitics: The Struggle for Space and Power'' (1942)
* ''The Balance of Tomorrow: Power and Foreign Policy in the United States'' (1945)
* ''International Relations'' (1950)
* ''The Zone of Indifference'' (1952)
* ''The Estrangement of Western Man'' (1953)
* ''A Forward Strategy for America'' (1955)
* ''Power and Community'' (1956)
* (co-editor) ''The Idea of Colonialism'' (1958)
* (with others) ''Protracted Conflict: A Forward Strategy for America'' (1959)
* (with others) ''Building the Atlantic World'' (1963)
* ''In My Time: An Eclectic Autobiography'' (1965)
* ''Strategy and Values: Selected Writings of Robert Strausz-Hupé (1973)
* ''Democracy and American Foreign Policy: Reflections on the Legacy of Alexis de Tocqueville'' (1995)
References
Notes
Further reading
* Kaplan, Robert D. (2012) ''The Revenge of Geography: What the Maps Tell Us About the Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate'' New York: Random House.
External links
The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strausz-Hupe, Robert
1903 births
2002 deaths
Geopoliticians
American people of Austrian descent
Permanent Representatives of the United States to NATO
Ambassadors of the United States to Turkey
American political scientists
Ambassadors of the United States to Sri Lanka
Ambassadors of the United States to Belgium
Ambassadors of the United States to Sweden
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Pennsylvania Republicans
New Right (United States)
American anti-communists
20th-century American diplomats
20th-century political scientists