Thank you for being available for this interview. It is rare for a new country to be formed, and you had the unique experience of serving as the first U.S. ambassador to one: South Sudan. What was it like to serve in a country without a predecessor you could turn to for guidance?

When I was being confirmed by the U.S. Senate, I had worked in Sudan immediately after the peace agreement was signed. I headed up the Rule of Law Unit for the peacekeeping mission to help them implement the agreement theoretically. When South Sudan formed a new government, I remember thinking, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”. It was exciting, but nerve-wracking. There was so much hope at the beginning. The challenges began almost immediately when I arrived. For example, the oil revenue sharing had not been agreed upon. Almost immediately, Sudan seized South Sudanese oil. Since South Sudan’s oil had to go through Sudan’s pipelines in the north, this seizure cut off more than 90% of South Sudan’s revenue.

Six months into their independence, they were already facing a major crisis. Although it is their right, it is almost as if they said, “thank you for helping us gain our independence, but we will take it from here”. A series of crises continued, and with bad governance and instability, it broke out into civil war.

When the civil war erupted in 2013, you had to evacuate embassy personnel due to the escalating violence in South Sudan. What raced through your mind at the time, and how did you coordinate with Washington?

Once we heard the gunfire, we started making calls to the people we worried had either been arrested or detained. President Salva Kiir went on TV wearing military fatigues and had clearly retaken his role as commander-in-chief of the military. I immediately made sure everybody got back to the residential compound, got on the radio, and took out the Emergency Action Plan. I convened the Emergency Action Committee, the chiefs of agencies at Post, and went through the Emergency Action Plan to gauge if South Sudan’s military forces could keep protecting embassy facilities and personnel. My defense attaché and I went to the presidential palace to convince President Kiir to open the airport and allow our evacuation plans to come in.

We were constantly on video calls with the State Department, Department of Defense, CIA, USAID, National Security Advisor, etc. They wanted us to evacuate almost everyone, which is beyond what the Emergency Action Plan called for. For the first time ever, they sent in the East African Response Team (EARF), a team of marines and army officers based out of AFRICOM’s headquarters in Djibouti. They set up shop in the ambassador’s residence, monitored the actions on the ground, and regularly briefed me in Washington and the Commander in Djibouti.

I boarded every plane to say, “Thank you for your service”.  We helped evacuate people from other embassies, civilians, UN personnel, etc. The hardest evacuation for me was boarding the last person, a U.S. citizen of South Sudanese origin who had been “A Lost Boy of Sudan”. He had been resettled in the United States after the Second Sudanese Civil War and came back after the peace agreement was signed. He worked as a Political Assistant at the Embassy, and after all of this, he was going back to where things had started for him. At that moment, I held it together. But when I got back to the Embassy, and I was alone, I just cried. It was painful to watch all their hopes and dreams evaporate.

As Ambassador, you visited many internal displacement camps throughout South Sudan. Can you describe what role foreign assistance played in improving the lives of the people you met at these camps?

Many people had taken shelter in UN compounds, which was really a first. During the Rwandan genocide, the UN turned people away from their compounds, which admittedly are not set up to house citizens. But in this case, the Head of the UN peacekeeping mission, Hilde Johnson, allowed civilians to take refuge on the compound.

I would go to IDP camps on the outskirts of UN compounds, but I also went to camps where people from the government side were residing. As the conflict became more ethnic, it was important to show that the U.S. was not taking sides, which was the narrative built by the South Sudanese government. In some camps, I would go for a religious service. I am Catholic, so I would go and pray with them and show that I supported all displaced people.

Did humanitarian assistance build goodwill for the U.S. during peace negotiations?

At times, the government did not like humanitarian aid because they felt like we were sheltering people who were responsible for the war. They wanted to paint the United States as allied with the rebels. Nevertheless, we felt that the people needed humanitarian assistance, and that was more important than what the government might have believed.

Shifting to current day developments, Ramadan Mohammed Abdallah Goc, South Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, has reaffirmed the country’s commitment to strengthening its economic ties with Russia. Could this move weaken South Sudan’s credibility with the West?

Although the foreign minister stated that, South Sudan has also accepted immigration detainees from the United States. By doing something that the U.S. wants, South Sudan can temper what they are doing with Russia. From what I can tell, they are hedging their bets regarding who they are going to receive what kind of assistance from [Russia or the United States].

Were there any early warning signs of growing Russian influence during your time in South Sudan? And what do you believe is the driving force behind their amiable relations?

While they did not have formal relations, South Sudan has long bought Russian weapons, and many of the leaders I interacted with had studied in the Soviet Union. A lot of the so-called liberation movements [African independence movements] took their base philosophy and beliefs from elements of communism and socialism. The leaders had all grown up when South Sudan was part of Sudan and a lot of the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement and army leaders, who then transitioned into the leadership of South Sudan, had been trained by the Russians. The Soviet Union sponsored a lot of African students to come and study in the Soviet Union.

Many African countries have felt disrespected and patronized by the West. Western governments do not provide direct assistance to governments. Instead, their aid flows to sectors like health and education. The U.S. and EU provide humanitarian assistance while Russia makes deals that help African leaders stay in power. For example, South Sudan can exchange minerals for Russian weapons to circumvent the UN’s arms embargo.

South Sudan and Russia recently signed oil and mineral extraction deals. Could this lead to economic consequences?

There are many African countries that make deals with Russia. They are a big player in Africa. It is interesting who the U.S. government is sanctioning for having oil deals with Russia. They have sanctioned India for receiving Russian oil. But the US government has not placed additional sanctions on Russia. So, it is unclear what the recourse might be.

Thank you for the interview.