The maternal grandparents came from Bessarabia to the United States at the end of the 19th century. He graduated from Rochester University and Harvard University with a specialization in Chinese studies. During the years 1967-1969 he was employed in the Peace Corps, he traveled to South Korea, where he worked as an English language instructor. There he carefully studied hte Korean attribute, which distinguishes Korean culture from Japanese cul- ture, saw a new approach to the subject of the environment. Since 1969 he has been involved in theactivity of theForeign Service. He had a role in the operational center of the State Department. He spent his first year, 1969-1970, in theoffice as a duty offi- cer in the State Department, being involved in thestudy of US-South African Republic policies. In the years 1971-1973 he was in Taiwan, being a visa officer for non-emi- grants. He later worked in Hong Kong as a policy officer from 1974-1977. He held the same position as a policy officer in Japan from 1977-1980. For a year he returned to the State Department as director of the Office for Business in the Pacific Islands, East Asia and the Pacific. He served as Deputy Director of the Taiwan Relations Office. He was a Nuclear Force Officer in the DS Military Political Bureau. For a longer period he was preoccu- pied with relations with China, later he transferred to the Pentagon.