Robert A. D. Ford
 Robert A. D. Ford    ( diplomat, poet) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | January 8, 1915 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | April 12, 1998 (Age 83) Vichy, France |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Alma mater | • University of Western Ontario • Cornell University |
Not to be confused with Major General Robert Ford
Robert Arthur Douglas Ford was a Canadian poet, translator and diplomat who "kept his finger on the Soviet pulse for much of the Cold War."[1][2] He attended the 1981 Bilderberg meeting.
Education
Born in Ottawa, Ontario, the son of former London Free Press Editor-in Chief and University of Western Ontario Chancellor Arthur Ford, he received his B.A. in history and English in 1937 from the University of Western Ontario and a M.A. in history in 1940 from Cornell University.
Career
Ford joined the Foreign Service in 1940. In 1946 he was second secretary in the Canadian embassy in Moscow. Later he worked as Ambassador to Colombia, Yugoslavia, and Egypt before his appointment to the Soviet Union. After Moscow, he maintained his interest in Russia and the Soviet Union.
In 1968, Ford directed the interdepartmental Special Task Force on Europe (STAFEUR) as part of Pierre Trudeau's foreign policy review. "Though Ford sensed that Trudeau and his cabinet aimed to withdraw Canada from NATO, the final report highlighted the invaluable role of the American and European alliance both in securing Canadian sovereignty and in keeping Canada relevant in world affairs."[1]
Canadian officials understood potential ramifications to global communism of bloc disintegration and any further departure by Yugoslavia and were eager to exploit any degree of schism within Communist Eastern Europe. Ford, one of the Department of External Affair’s (DEA) foremost experts on the Soviet Union, stated that
Any victories for communism meant victories for the USSR. But already in the present period it is becoming clear that this is no longer strictly accurate. Yugoslavia resisted the thesis that communism is synonymous with the word of Moscow, and still refuses to accept it. [...] And considerable concessions have had to be made for Poland.[3]
After his retirement from the Department of External Affairs, Ford acted as Special Advisor on East-West Relations and was 1980-85, and a member of the Palme Commission on Disarmament and Security Issues.[4][1]
Poetry
Ford was the author of 4 collections of verse, including translations - A Window on the North (Governor General's Award, 1956), The Solitary City (1969) and Holes in Space (1979). "All are distinguished by a clinical despair and a precision of language and form".[4][5]
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1981 | 15 May 1981 | 17 May 1981 | Switzerland Palace Hotel Bürgenstock | The 29th Bilderberg |
References
- ↑ Jump up to: a b c https://ambcanada.ca/ambassadors/robert-ford
- ↑ https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3108&context=etd
- ↑ https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3108&context=etd
- ↑ Jump up to: a b https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/robert-ford
- ↑ https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/canlit/article/download/194233/190138
