On a Mission

By Kevin Markey

Diplomat Michael Owen Has Made a Career of Representing U.S. Interests Abroad

For a kid who grew up in the tiny town of Lyon, Miss. (population 300), the teeming streets of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) might seem a long way from home. But Michael Owen ’73 has never let cultural differences slow him down. Today, as the U.S. consul general for western India, Owen oversees American diplomatic interests in one of the most dynamic — and dynamically evolving — places on Earth. Within India, the world’s largest democracy, he is the State Department’s principal officer for a region whose population, 260 million, is exceeded by only three countries.

The first member of his family to attend college, Owen, 55, went on from Rice to earn graduate degrees at Princeton and Iowa State University. His Foreign Service career has taken him to Europe, Asia and Africa. Prior to being appointed general consul for western India in 2005, he served as deputy chief of mission and chargé d’affaires in Tanzania. An economic specialist with a flair for languages, he’s amply gifted with the paramount skill of a Foreign Service officer: He genuinely likes meeting people. He knows how to ask questions, whether of high-ranking officials or rural villagers; he knows how to listen to answers and he has the technical insight to turn aspirations into effective policy.

"I’ve enjoyed every one of my tours and found plenty that was fascinating in every place. I think that’s one of the lessons of foreign travel: No matter where you are, if you take the time and effort to look and listen carefully, you will find something fascinating."

-Michael Owen

Owen and his wife, Annerieke, a native of the Netherlands and a naturalized American citizen, have two children: son Brendan, a student at Princeton, and daughter Sigrid, who recently graduated from the American School in Bombay. “Much to our delight,” Owen reports, “Sigrid entered Rice this August as a member of the Class of 2011.”

We recently caught up with Owen to talk about life in Tanzania, the current state of U.S.–India relations — and baseball.

Sallyport: Were you already thinking of a career in the Foreign Service as an undergrad at Rice?

Owen: That didn’t happen until the mid-1980s. At Rice, I had a double major in civil engineering and economics. Three courses and professors in particular still stand out. There was an upper-level civil engineering course taught by Nat Krahl, who instilled an aesthetic sense that encouraged me to look beyond the pure efficiencies of design and insist on elegance. Another great class was 20th-century literature taught by Terrence Doody, which awakened an enthusiasm for literature. And Charles McClure taught a course in public affairs that got me interested in public service.

After graduating, I went on to receive a master’s in public affairs from Princeton and a master’s in creative writing from Iowa State University.

But I always had a great interest in foreign travel and cultures — I took several backpacking trips to Europe and North Africa in the 1970s and took a year off work as a journalist in 1980–81 to trek across Africa. Over a period of six months, I drove with a group (among whom was my future wife) from London to Cape Town and then hitchhiked back to Europe via another route. This was a real life-altering experience. It convinced me that I wanted an international career. I knew a couple of people who already were in the Foreign Service, and they convinced me to apply.

Sallyport: What was your first overseas post?

Owen: Dublin. Adjusting to life in Ireland was remarkably easy. I have red hair and a red beard (nowadays there’s more than a bit of gray as well), so many people assumed I was Irish. The biggest adjustment was learning to drive on the left side of the road.
After Ireland, I served in Mauritania, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Tanzania and now here in Mumbai. In between, I’ve had two assignments at the State Department in Washington, D.C.
I’ve enjoyed every one of my tours and found plenty that was fascinating in every place. Even a country like Mauritania, which is one of the world’s poorest and is essentially all desert, has a fascinating history and culture. I think that’s one of the lessons of foreign travel: No matter where you are, if you take the time and effort to look and listen carefully, you will find something fascinating.

Sallyport: What is Tanzania like? The capital, Dar es Salaam, has such a storybook-sounding name.

Owen: Yes, Dar es Salaam means “haven of peace” in Arabic, and it is a very peaceful place. The city is laid out along a beautiful stretch of the Indian Ocean coastline — there are gorgeous white sand beaches right next to the center of town.

Dar es Salaam has an interesting mélange of African, Arabic and South Asian cultures as a result of centuries of seafaring trade among countries ranging from India to the Arabian Peninsula and down to Tanzania. And just offshore is the island of Zanzibar, which was the entrepôt for trade in ivory, spices and slaves through the 18th and 19th centuries. It was from here that Henry Stanley launched his inland expedition to track down David Livingstone in the mid-1800s.

The Tanzanian landscape is absolutely spectacular. There is nothing quite like seeing tens of thousands of wildebeest galloping across the Serengeti in the annual migration. And, of course, lions and cheetahs are lying in wait for the weak and the slow — if you watch the migration just for a while, you’re sure to see a chase. You also can see hundreds of elephants, always encircling and protecting their young, and thousands of pink flamingos in the lakes of northern Tanzania. The remote Mahale Mountain National Park has the largest population of chimpanzees in Africa.

Unique as they are, all these parks are threatened by human encroachment. As the human population of Tanzania grows, the demand for grazing and farmland continues to increase, creating more pressures. When elephants trample crops or leopards chow down on livestock, you have a major conflict. Our work with the African Wildlife Foundation was focused on mitigating these conflicts and helping local populations have a stake in preservation of the parks through responsible ecotourism.

Sallyport: What were your duties as deputy chief of mission, the State Department’s No. 2 man in Tanzania?

Owen: Whenever the ambassador leaves, the DCM becomes the chargé d’affaires, which means he is chief of the mission but not ambassador, because the Senate hasn’t confirmed him. We had a 20-month vacancy without an ambassador in Tanzania, so I was chargé for that period. Essentially, my role was to manage the day-to-day operations of the embassy. The most important part of the job is to coordinate the work of the various sections and agencies that are part of the mission to ensure there is no duplication of effort and no working at cross-purposes. In Tanzania, for example, the United States Agency for International Development, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Peace Corps were all doing HIV/AIDS counseling. I had to ensure they were all working in a consistent, complementary manner.

Sallyport: How severe is the AIDS crisis in Tanzania?

“No matter how downtrodden people are, most still have aspirations for the future.”

-Michael Owen

Owen: This is the most important challenge facing Tanzania. As in most countries in eastern and southern Africa, Tanzania has a very high HIV prevalence rate. Best estimates are about 10 percent for prevalence. Prevalence is equally high among women and men, and there is serious concern that AIDS could spread rapidly in the next few years. Tanzania already has several hundred thousand AIDS orphans.

The United States has launched the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in 12 countries in Africa, including Tanzania. This program focuses on prevention, care and treatment and is the single largest development assistance program we have in Tanzania. Five different agencies are involved in this effort: the State Department, USAID, the Defense Department, the Peace Corps and the Centers for Disease Control. Managing the efforts of these five agencies was a major challenge, but we are starting to see results. Tanzanian blood banks now have safe blood, millions of people have access to voluntary counseling and testing, and antiretroviral medicines are available for people who are HIV positive.

Sallyport: How does your current position in western India — consul general — differ from your previous post?

Owen: Every U.S. embassy around the world is headed by an ambassador — who is chief of mission — and a deputy chief of mission. In India, both the ambassador and DCM are at our embassy in New Delhi, but the United States also has three constituent posts in the country: consulate Mumbai, consulate Chennai and consulate Calcutta. And we will soon open a fourth consulate in Hyderabad. A consul general, also referred to as a principal officer, heads each of these constituent posts.

I am the U.S. consul general for western India, based in Mumbai. We represent the United States and U.S. interests in five states of western India — Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — which have a combined population of some 260 million people.

We have to establish and maintain a good working relationship with the governments of all five states in our district. We follow economic and financial developments very closely, particularly because Mumbai is India’s financial center, and the Indian Central Bank, the Securities and Exchange Board and the two national stock markets and commodities exchanges are all located here. Most of India’s nuclear establishment — including the Department of Atomic Energy, the Nuclear Power Corporation and the Atomic Research Center — are all located here, too, so we need to establish a good relationship on this front as well. We host a large number of U.S. trade delegations, we watch out for the interests of some 40,000 American citizens living in western India, and this year, we will issue about 200,000 visas to Indian citizens who want to visit the United States.

Sallyport: Where is our relationship with India headed?

Owen: Relations between the United States and India are at an all-time high. After years of suspicion and distance during the Cold War, we’ve grown dramatically closer, particularly in the last few years. Our two governments now cooperate in virtually every sector you can imagine.

We have a new trade policy dialogue to promote bilateral trade, an Agricultural Knowledge Initiative to help boost Indian agricultural productivity, an energy dialogue to promote clean and renewable energy sources and a program to cooperate in space exploration. Our two militaries are holding joint training exercises, and we also are now cooperating closely on counterterrorism.

We’ve seen dramatic growth in trade and visiting trade delegations in both directions, and there are more students from India in the United States than from any other country. The number of visas we issue to Indian citizens to travel to the United States this year will almost double over last year.

Sallyport: We’ve heard a lot lately about the outsourcing of jobs to India, particularly in the software/IT sectors, but also in accounting and other professional fields. Should we be worried?

Owen: Actually, most academic studies have shown outsourcing to produce a net benefit for the United States. As U.S. companies become more profitable, their share prices and dividends rise, and they are able to increase investment levels.

But I think even more important is the fact that investment and outsourcing between India and the United States has become a real two-way street. Indian companies are investing significant amounts in the U.S. economy in a wide variety of sectors, from hotels to aluminum production to food and beverages. Just a few months ago, we issued visas to senior officials of an Indian company that had bought a U.S. glass manufacturing company in Chapter 11. The Indian investment kept the company solvent and saved more than 200 jobs. I think the recognition of these two-way flows is very important, and to maintain these flows, we have to keep both our markets open.

Sallyport: So a dynamic Indian economy is in the best interest of the United States?

Owen: India is home to almost one-fifth of the world’s population, and it is a very young nation, with more than 50 percent of its population under the age of 25. Its economy is growing impressively, with recent real growth rates in the 7 to 10 percent range, and it is rapidly becoming one of the larger economies in the world.

Our exports to India are growing at double-digit rates. They have the potential to continue growing very rapidly for years to come since our bilateral trade is still relatively modest. So a healthy Indian economy is important to our own economy as a source of trade and investment.

But even more important, you have to keep in mind that some 700 million people in India still live in poverty, with incomes of less than $2 per day. A strong Indian economy with steady growth is vital to lifting these people out of poverty, and that’s an objective we all should favor.

Sallyport: Between Tanzania and India, you’ve lived amid poverty that most of us can’t really comprehend.

Owen: It’s important to look beyond the physical manifestations of poverty and look at individual people. No matter how downtrodden people are, most still have aspirations for the future.

“A vast number of Indians formulate their opinions primarily from popular culture sources such as American TV programs or rap music and, consequently, often view Americans as a bunch of sex-crazed, gun-toting materialists.”

-Michael Owen

One of the most jarring things about India, and Mumbai in particular, is the extreme contrast between rich and poor. In south Mumbai, there are some of the glitziest buildings and wealthiest people in the world, and right outside, people are sleeping on the sidewalk. No matter how often you see this, you never really get used to it. On the other hand, I’m constantly amazed by the creativity of the poorest of the poor, who find some very innovative ways to make a living.

Mumbai has the largest slum in Asia — Dharavi — which is home to more than 1 million people. I’ve visited there several times, and it’s endlessly fascinating to see the tiny enterprises that people begin in order to eke out a living. It’s amazing to see how people manage to save tiny amounts on a regular basis that allow them eventually to pay their kids’ school expenses, invest in a bicycle or expand their business. This is why microlending is so vitally important in poverty reduction.

I’ve seen so many instances in India, Tanzania and Ghana in which poor women get a small loan — say $50 — that allows them to start a microbusiness. This might be sewing clothes, making fruit juice or growing and selling spices. The women work hard, get the business going, repay the loan, save and expand the business and, thus, are able to help their families. Microfinance is so important — and the role of women is, absolutely — in poverty reduction.

Sallyport: Is economic development the most challenging part of your job?

Owen: Explaining American society and values to Indians who have only a limited exposure to the United States is the most challenging aspect. A vast number of Indians formulate their opinions primarily from popular culture sources such as American TV programs or rap music and, consequently, often view Americans as a bunch of sex-crazed, gun-toting materialists.

In addition to reaching out to Indian audiences, particularly outside urban areas, we send a significant number of Indians from all walks of life to the United States each year for three- to four-week intensive study tours in which they meet Americans with similar interests. These typically are people who never have been to the United States. It’s gratifying that almost all return with a vastly different, more positive, view.

I think it’s important here to distinguish between U.S. policies and U.S. values. Many Indians may disagree with some U.S. policies, but they generally embrace American values such as personal freedom, democracy and opportunity, once they are aware of them.

Sallyport: Living abroad for such long stretches, there must be things you really miss.

Owen: Baseball! I’m a long-suffering Houston Astros fan and try to follow their season closely. That’s much easier with the Internet, but I still miss actually going to games. And, of course, Owls’ baseball — last spring and summer, I was up in the middle of the night trying to follow the College World Series.