Interview of Alan F. Neidle by Brian Shoemaker

• Main Author: Neidle, Alan F.
• Other Authors: Shoemaker, Brian
• Format: Audio
• Language: English
• Published: Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program 2007
• Subjects: Antarctic Treaty system > History > Interviews; Neidle; Alan F. > Interviews; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Byrd; Nikita; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1811/30107

Key Names Acheson, Dean, Secretary of State, p. 2 Daniels, Paul, pp. 4-7, 9-11, 25-26, 28, 31, 38-39 Dulles, John Foster, pp. 3-5, 26, 33 Eisenhower, Dwight, pp. 19, 27, 32-33 Flager, Herman, pp. 2-3, 8, 25-26 Kennedy, John, p. 31 Khrushchev, Nikita, pp. 11-12, 27 Powers, Gary, p. 20 Reagan, Ronald, p. 37 Ruina, Jack, pp. 29-30 Whiteman, Marjorie, p. 3 The media can be accessed here: http://streaming.osu.edu/knowledgebank/byrd/oral_history/Alan_Neidle.mp3 Alan Neidle is best remembered as a principal negotiator of the Antarctic Treaty. Soon after graduating from Yale in 1950, he served three years in the Army during the Korean War. This enhanced his interest in international questions, and as a law student at the University of Michigan he focused on international law. In January 1957, he was hired by the State Department, and developed an interest in negotiation. By age 29 he had already negotiated on two treaties, including extradition treaties with Brazil and Sweden. Although still very junior in rank, he was given the Antarctic assignment by Marjorie Whiteman, his boss, a distinguished international lawyer. Ambassador Paul Daniels, with years of experience in Latin America, was named by John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State, to join a team of Antarctic negotiators. Neidle was chosen to be the legal representative. These were the years of the Cold War, and there was rising concern about the role of the Russians in Antarctica. The National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., a non-political venue, was the site of some 60 meetings that were held over the next nine months. For some months the Russians were uncooperative, but the other participants developed a whole catalog of new ideas and refinements. Some voices in the State Department called for abandoning the project on grounds the Russians would never cooperate. Some feared that they might launch missiles from Antarctica, or use it as a submarine base. Daniels persisted, and in time the Russians reversed course, and chose to cooperate. Work on the ...