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Dr. Edwin M. Wright
Thirty years ago, in Washington, D.C., Dr. Edwin M. Wright opened a lecture at the Department of State's Foreign Service Institute with a question: When did the Arab-Israeli dispute begin? His audience of American diplomats responded with such answers as "with the Balfour Declaration 1917" or "at the first Zionist Congress at Basel, Switzerland in 1897." Dr. Wright agreed with them all, but suggested they also include 1700 B.C., the time of Abraham, considered their patriarch by both Arabs and Jews. Forty-two years ago Russian military officers in Tehran were conferring with U.S. Army Major Wright about expediting American military supplies for the Soviet Army at Stalingrad. Nearly 90 years ago Edwin Wright was born of missionary parents at Tabriz, Iran.
The length and depth of Dr. Wright's involvement in the Middle East are suggested by such dates circumstances. His impact on U.S. relations with the countries of the Middle East goes considerably beyond his own personal involvement, however. He is a teacher considered by Americans who have specialized in the Middle East as perhaps the greatest living U.S. expert on the area as a whole. He would modestly disclaim any such credit for himself. Rather...