David Zenian's journalism career began in Beirut with United Press International (UPI), which became his second home for nearly 23 years. During that time he also reported for the Daily Telegraph, Daily Express and Guardian newspapers of London, National Public Radio, Independent Television News of London and others.
At UPI, Zenian began as a field reporter, and over the years was promoted to Middle East News Editor, Beirut Bureau Manager, and Cyprus Bureau Manager. He traveled across the Middle East and covered every major historical development in the region starting with the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli Wars, the 1970 Jordanian Civil War, numerous airline hijackings, the birth and growth of the PLO and moslem fundamentalism and the first 11 years of the Lebanese Civil War.
Zenian was transferred to Washington in 1987 to take charge of UPI's Middle East Desk. He resigned two years later to join the AGBU staff to establish and direct its Washington based Armenian Information Service.
Most civil service jobs may not have the visible allure of financially lucrative careers to ethnic groups like Armenian-Americans, but their potential benefits often outweigh the more common dollars-and-cents outlook to life.
This view is reinforced by a look at the massive federal government work force in Washington from an Armenian perspective. From political appointees to career civil service employees, the number of Armenians in government does not exceed the handfuls.
Why? "Many factors like the Vietnam war and the civil rights movement, have jarred the general confidence in government, and made a big difference in attitudes toward choosing the civil service as a career," says Ambassador Richard W. Bogosian, the first career officer of Armenian origin to be named as an Ambassador of the United States.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 18, 1937, Bogosian was raised in Medford, Massachusetts, and attended public schools there. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Tufts College in 1959 and a Law Degree from the University of Chicago in 1962.
He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar the same year, but instead of practicing law, he joined the Department of State.
"When I joined the Foreign Service 33 years ago, I wanted to travel. There was a world out there, and I wanted to see it," Bogosian said in a recent interview.
Ambassador Bogosian's early assignments included the American Embassies in Baghdad, Iraq and Paris, France. Following the latter assignment, 'Ambassador Bogosian served in Washington at the Department of State between 1968 and 1972.
Then the real traveling began. Following economic training at the Foreign Service Institute, Ambassador Bogosian was the Chief of the Economic Section of the American Embassy in Kuwait (1972-76), then came Khartoum, Sudan (1976- 79) where he was the Deputy Chief of Mission, and then back to Washington to hold several top positions at the Department of State until his nomination as Ambassador to Niger in 1985, a post which he held until 1988.
Back in Washington for two years, Bogosian, whose foreign languages are Arabic and French, was named Ambassador to Chad in June 1990. A few months after his tour of duty ended in July 1993, Ambassador Bogosian was sent back to Africa as Special Envoy to Somalia and Chief of Mission at the U.S. Liaison Office in Mogadishu from November 1993 to June 1994.
His official biography lists a number of awards from the Department of State and says that he is a member of the American Foreign Service Association and the Armenian General Benevolent Union, which he joined five years ago.
At present, Ambassador Bogosian is the Dean of the Foreign Service Institute's Senior Seminar which re-trains U.S. diplomats.
It is a highly stimulating and productive career which he wants more Armenians to consider. "In the United States, Armenians want to go into business, or become doctors or engineers. They often say: If I can go into business for myself, then why should I work for the government. They do not want to go into politics. I went to college with dentistry on my mind, but ended up with a degree in law and a career in diplomacy.
"Both variety and stability are part of a career in the Foreign Service — and this makes it very exciting. It gives you the opportunity to serve your country and see the world," he said.
Across the ocean, another Armenian also climbed the diplomatic ladder. He is Edward R. Malayan, a Senior Counselor at the Embassy of Russia in Washington, in charge of inter-governmental activities like aviation, law enforcement, state visits and others.
At age 48, Malayan has been in and out of Washington since 1973 and is often referred to as the "leading U.S. expert of the Russian Embassy."
Like fellow career diplomat Ambassador Bogosian, Malayan has gone through many steps. Born in Tbilisi, Gerogia, and educated in Yerevan and the school for foreign diplomats in Moscow, Malayan speaks seven languages, including French, German, Italian, and Georgian.
He has been with the former-Soviet and presently Russian Foreign Services since 1969, starting in Zaire and concentrating on the United States. "I have not been approached by the Armenian government to serve in my country, but I might not have gone even if I was offered a job," he said at a recent interview in the plush Russian Embassy in Washington.
Has being Armenian been a plus, a minus, or even a simple factor in his career? Malayan does not think so. "I have never been considered an Armenian expert, but rather an expert on U.S. affairs. At some point in the 1970's I was the only Armenian speaker in the Soviet Embassy, but even then, my strong point was not that. On the other hand, being Armenian was never, and is still not, an obstacle," he said.
But Malayan admits that young Russian-Armenians may not have the same opportunities he had as a Soviet citizen. "The Russian foreign service is still international, but not as much as in the days of the Soviet Union," he says.
If Malayan and Ambassador Bogosian, both professional career officers, have climbed the diplomatic ladder through the foreign services of their respective countries, the route they followed is not the only way into government.
The other alternative is that of the political appointee, which often carries more clout because of the individual's personal relations with policy makers within the elected administration.
One such veteran is 75-year-old Paul R. Ignatius, who entered government in 1961 as a political appointee in President John F. Kennedy's administration, and over a period of eight years, served as Assistant Secretary of the Army, Undersecretary of the Army, Assistant Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy.
His "induction" into government was preceded by long years in defense related management work for the government which led to an invitation by Robert McNamara to join his team.
"Things were different then, and McNamara had the authority to pick his own people," Ignatius said.
Raised in Glendale, CA when it was nothing more than a "bedroom city for Los Angeles," Ignatius is a perfect example of the first generation Armenian-American.
"There were no Armenian schools or churches when I was growing up, and the few Armenian families in our town were relatives. My parents spoke Armenian, but did not demand that we learn the language.
Ours was a very Armenian household, but our ethnicity was not a focal point. Transition into the U.S. culture was rapid and effective," he said.
While the Ignatius household was where the Armenian Allied Arts Association was born and its regular visitors included Director Rouben Mamoulian and his mother, the actor Akim Tamiroff, and an ever-growing list of actors, painters, writers and artists, the dominant mood was one of openness rather than a ghetto mentality.
"My father was greatly involved in Armenian affairs, but the feeling was that while you should not forget that you are Armenian, this should not put you in a different place from the rest of the country — a U.S. citizen first, but the Armenian heritage should not be forgotten," he said.
Ignatius admits he might have at some point in his life acted more like a "passive" Armenian, but says events in recent years have changed his perspective.
"A lot has changed since the 1988 earthquake. I am now more emotionally involved, more interested. I also have more time for reflection. My sense of heritage is coming back. My children today feel they have an extra dimension to their lives by having an Armenian background," he says.
It is this extra dimension that has driven another Armenian to get involved in government.
He is younger, and by virtue of his assignment is often involved in Armenia related matters at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he is Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Humanitarian Response.
His name is Michael Mahdessian, a 41-year-old second generation Armenian from California who describes himself as a "longtime Democratic activist" whose interest in U.S. politics dates back to his college years.
"I have been involved in Democratic Party politics all my life, and it's this involvement which eventually brought me to the position I hold today," he said in an interview at his Department of State office”. You have to have politics in your blood. I've done fund-raisers, volunteer work on both local and state levels from the grass roots up,” he says with obvious excitement.
Mahdessian served from 1983-85 as Special Assistant to former Rep. Tony Coelho in Washington and after seven years in private business, joined the Clinton campaign in 1992 as Deputy Campaign Manager in California.
"When Clinton became President, I was asked to move to Washington and was assigned to my AID post in July 1993," Mahdessian said. Today, Mahdessian is often referred to as one of the Clinton administration's "Armenia experts" who is called upon to help out in Armenian related issues.
"I am not involved in the decision making process, but I can show them the way," Mahdessian says.
Ambassador Richard W. Bogosian and Senior Counselor Edward R. Malayan chose public service over careers in the private sector. Former Secretary of the Navy Paul R. Ignatius and AID's Michael Mahdessian brought their contributions through an alternative route.
Their choices might not have produced visible advantages for Armenians in Russia or the United States, but in the all too subjective world of diplomacy and international relations, each and every one of them has contributed something to Armenians worldwide.
With more young Armenians getting involved in government, the advantages can only become more obvious.
