The Ugly American Book Review Essay

A criticism of U.S. diplomatic efforts in Southeast Asia, William Lederer and Eugene Burdick’s novel The Ugly American showcases how essential research, knowledge, and understanding are when communicating with foreign publics. Both Lederer and Burdick were members of the United States military during this time, and both became disillusioned with the United States’ diplomatic efforts in Southeast Asia during this time. The authors’ disappointment and criticism of American diplomatic efforts stem from poor communication, research, and understanding of the various cultures and peoples that reside in Southeast Asia and are detailed in the pages of their book. First published in 1958, the novel is set during the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union as they fight each other through proxy warfare. Taking place in the fictional nation of Sarkhan, a country that is based on Thailand and represents Vietnam, The Ugly American uses interrelated vignettes to depict the failures of U.S. diplomatic corps against the more polished diplomatic efforts of the Soviet Union. Portrayed as insensitive, clueless, and uncaring of the local languages, cultures, and customs of Sarkhan, the refusal of American diplomats to integrate and understand native peoples of Sarkhan stood in stark contrast to the more successful diplomatic efforts of the Soviet Union. One of the most politically influential novels in U.S. history, Lederer and Burdick’s novel is both a lesson on the importance of research, knowledge, and understanding when conducting communication initiatives in conjunction with foreign policy. The novel also serves as a criticism of contemporary U.S. foreign policy initiatives, implying through its plot that the reason American diplomatic efforts were failing in Southeast Asia was that the United States did not employ tactics similar to those of the novel’s protagonist Homer Atkins.

The complex nature of strategically communicating with foreign nations and their peoples can create a roadblock of misunderstanding as culture, language, and social norms and beliefs can be so different that it impedes successful communications. This misunderstanding is readily apparent in The Ugly American and is depicted through four main concepts of communication practices that U.S. diplomatic initiatives fail to successfully employ. The first practice Lederer and Burdick allude to throughout their novel is the lack of research the Americans put into their foreign policy initiatives. When communicating with any public, domestic or foreign, professionals must be aware of both the publics they wish to communicate with and any potential communications campaign tools that can be used to interact with these publics. These tools and tactics must be applicable to the specific public, and this can only be determined with thorough research and understanding of the public in question. Professionals need to use acquired knowledge responsibly in order to build “mutual understanding, credibility, and relationships with publics” (Public Relations Society of America, 2000). However, it is implied that U.S. diplomatic efforts lacked a significant understanding of Sarkhan and the culture and values of its people, resulting in failed diplomatic attempts by the United States.

This is seen especially in the first two chapters of the novel, “Lucky, Lucky Lou #1 and #2,” where a lack of research on and about Sarkhan lead to American Ambassador Louis Sears to be mocked by the local newspapers and government officials as being stupid and inadept. Prince Ngong leads the discussion on Sears’ blunders and incompetence as an ambassador by saying, “I think we’re agreed that there are only two types of men with whom one can bargain with profit: with wise man… or the stupid man… the American, for reasons which are not clear to me, have chosen to send us stupid men as ambassadors” (Lederer and Burdick, 1959). Sears’ character was written to showcase how a lack of research leads to a snowball of communication problems that can lead to unethical and ineffective communication practices. Without understanding the publics one serves through in-depth research, one cannot provide expert consultation, communications, or even substantial advice to their clients or organizations. Sears refused to conduct research on who he was representing and refused to listen to outside counsel when is diplomatic efforts started going south; he had no knowledge of Sarkhans geographic location and assumed they were “black” when first accepting the ambassadorship and later regarded the Sarkhanese as being “strange little monkeys'' once he arrived in Sarkhan (Lederer and Burdick, 1959). Not bothering to educate himself on the nation and its culture, Sears was unable to conduct himself properly with Sarkhanese officials and natives who were displeased with his actions. This compromised U.S. diplomatic efforts in Sarkhan, leading towards a growing sentiment towards Soviet efforts and by extension, communism, which had a significant negative effect on civilian Americans living in Sarkhan.

A second criticism Lederer and Burdick acknowledge in their novel is the unwillingness of Americans to integrate with the native peoples. In the vignette titled “What Would You Do If You Were President,” Burmese journalist U Maung Swe observes that “For some reason, the [American] people I meet in my country are not the same as the ones I knew in the United States. A mysterious change seems to come over Americans when they go to a foreign land. They isolate themselves socially. They live pretentiously. They are loud and ostentatious." While some characters within the novel like Father Finian and George MacWhite integrate themselves into Sarkhanese society, speaking with locals and attempting to understand the language and customs, Sears lives in a gated, guarded house outside of the local city, unwilling to interact with locals he deems “lesser” than himself. To Sears, his position as ambassador is just a job that serves as a means to an end-- he wishes to serve a cushy tenure as a federal judge and is using this job as a placeholder while waiting for an opening (Lederer and Burdick, 1959). While the Soviet ambassador Louis Krupitzyn speaks the local language and understands the local culture, Sears confines himself to his comfortable diplomatic compound in the capital. Sears “keeps his people tied up with meetings, social events, and greeting and briefing the scores of senators, congressmen, generals, admirals, undersecretaries of state and defense, and so on, who come pouring through here to 'look for themselves,’” (Lederer and Burdick, 1959) demonstrating how American diplomatic initiatives failed significantly against those of the Soviet Union because of the reluctance of American foreign service officers to interact and integrate with those they were trying to communicate with. His unwillingness to integrate with the foreign public he was working with undermined his credibility and authenticity with the Sarkhanese, leading natives to believe that any attempt at communication was a propaganda ploy that could not be trusted.

A third point that Lederer and Burdick point out in their novel is the abundance of unqualified ambassadors representing the U.S. abroad. While Krupitzyn and his wife went through two years of training, learning what the ideal Sarkhanese man was and conforming themselves to fit local perceptions and norms, Lederer and Burdick write that “many of Sears’s actions are based on real events in which more than one real diplomat took part… yet our ambassadors cannot speak the native tongue of major nations” (Lederer and Burdick, 1959). In the United States, men like Krupitzyn are rare while the majority of those serving in the U.S. Foreign Service Office are like Sears and Joe Bing: unwilling to get their hands dirty and put in the time and effort to gain the knowledge and skills needed to enact strategic communications abroad. Lederer and Burdick conclude that this failure of gaining qualified officers and ambassadors stems from a sense of innate arrogance and superiority within Americans. This lack of qualified officers impedes the ability of U.S. initiatives to “creatively find ways to open channels of communication to a much broader variety of voices and viewpoints” (Martinson, 1999).

MacWhite in the vignette “Everyone Has Ears'' swallows a bitter pill when he is shown the truth of his arrogance and lack of qualification concerning his foreign operations by Li Pang. Completely caught off guard, Li Pang demonstrates how “all the positions in his embassy… and in every U.S. Embassy in the world, and in all the USIS offices, these vulnerable positions were held by aliens'' (Lederer and Burdick, 1959), and that the majority of the U.S. government, MacWhite included, were unqualified or unprepared to deal with the implications of this. However, while MacWhite was willing to learn from this harsh lesson, Sears remains steadfast in the ignorance of his situation and the effect his actions have on those around him. Without education or in-depth knowledge of Sarkhan and its people and customs, Sears is relegated to a figurehead. However, as Lederer and Burdick write, “if ambassadors were mere figureheads surrounded by experienced, linguistically trained career diplomats, their inabilities… would be little more than an insulting inconvenience… Unfortunately, ambassadors are more than figureheads; they are in charge, and like Sears, their misunderstandings can have grave consequences” (Lederer and Burdick, 1959). To achieve effective foreign communications, one must first understand the nation they’re communicating with, reviewing the culture and customs while remaining aware of cultural nuances that could have a significant effect on the communications being conducted. Sears, and by extension, the U.S. government, fail to understand this concept within The Ugly American, unwilling or unable to gain the qualifications needed to do their jobs properly and effectively.

The final point that Lederer and Burdick illustrate through their writing is the importance of effective and personal communications. The authors write “because we must rely on interpreters who are almost always non-Americans, our on-the-spot information is both second-hand and subject to minor censorship and editing without our knowledge” (Lederer and Burdick, 1959). Being able to communicate effectively and in the manner expected in each different country is critical towards global communications and is often overlooked in planning. This was done so in the story of Gilbert MacWhite and Li Pang and is shown when Prince Ngong is able to persuade Sears that the insulting political editorial was actually favorable towards him. Both of these characters depended on third-person communication channels, unable to comprehend the negative effects this had on both their diplomatic and communication efforts. Real-time information is vital towards government initiatives abroad, and not being able to conduct in-person communications with foreign nations can severely affect this necessary function.

Being unable to communicate in person impedes one’s ability to find opportunities to communicate and engage with its foreign public while building relationships between the organization or client and their publics. In the Ugly American, third-party communication was the main factor in the misunderstandings and failures of U.S. diplomatic efforts. Work in Sarkhan could not be conducted as Sears did not have the ability to participate in close communications with the Sarkhanese and their government officials. As concluded by John Foster Dulles, “Interpreters are no substitute. It is not possible to understand what is in the minds of other people without understanding their language, and without understanding their language it is impossible to be sure that they understand what is on our minds” (Lederer and Burdick, 1959). This is showcased by the vignette “The Six-Foot Swami from Savannah,” in which George Swift could not speak the language and could not understand what was in the minds of the Sarkhanese. What resulted was he offended the majority of the local people he came across. This is true for all foreign nations one goes to, but it is especially dire in global communications where geopolitical politics are in play. Sears provides the perfect example again as he was easily manipulated into believing everything was fine and the United States was highly regarded by the Sarkhanese government; this was not the case, and in fact, many Sarkhanese were more inclined and sympathetic towards the Soviet cause, a sentiment Sears would have picked up on if he did not rely solely on third-person communication methods like interpreters. Sears was restricted to a limited and misleading picture of what the Sarkhanese thought about himself and the United States as he solely relied on information from the few Sarkhanese who spoke English, leading to him being uninformed and easily manipulated by the outside forces around him.

The Ugly American had a huge impact in diplomatic circles when it was first published; John F. Kennedy even sent a copy to each Senator within the Senate, revealing how relevant and important the lessons of the novel were in regard to contemporary U.S. foreign policy. Underlying this fictional novel are lessons that all professionals must take note of as they communicate with others domestically and internationally. Communication, despite being a vital skill and tool needed in all facets of life remains one of the most complex and neglected tools in organizations and global initiatives. As Lederer and Burdick illustrate, without proper research, integration, education, and skills needed for one-on-one communications, global communications remain stagnated and filled with misinformation. Proper communication skills are necessary in order to successfully implement and complete diplomatic and global initiatives, and during the early years of the Cold War, the United States was lacking severely in this area. Lederer and Burdick novel elucidates how organizations participating and relying on global communication practices need to focus on resolving these problems in order to procure a more effective form of diplomacy and negotiation. There is a lot of room for error in communication despite it being a skill everyone uses in their daily lives, and The Ugly American is a lesson and a warning towards the consequences of ineffective communications.