Sir Terence Joseph Clark (born 19 June 1934) is a British retired diplomat and writer.

Career

Clark was educated at Parmiter's School. He did

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

nominally in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, actually learning

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

at the Joint Services School for Linguists and at the School of Slavonic Studies at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and graduated as a Russian interpreter and

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...

in the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force ( ...

. He then joined the Foreign Service (now the

Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

), volunteered to learn

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and was sent first to the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

in London and then to the Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies in Lebanon. He then served at

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

and

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

. He returned to Belgrade with the rank of counsellor 1979–82, with a break as

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

at Tripoli February–March 1981 while the

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

, Michael Edes, was on leave. Clark was deputy leader of the UK delegation to the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (predecessor of the

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

) 1982–83, head of the Information Department at the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

1983–85, ambassador to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

1985–89 during the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

, and back to Muscat as ambassador to

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

1990–94 including the 1991

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. Clark left the Diplomatic Service in 1994 and was a consultant to the international business development company MEC International 1995–2008 and chairman of the Anglo-Omani Society 1995–2004. He was director of the

International Crisis Group The International Crisis Group (ICG; also known as the Crisis Group) is a global non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1995. It is a think tank, used by policymakers and academics, conducting research and analysis on global crises. ...

's Bosnia Project in Sarajevo in 1996.

Honours

Clark was appointed CVO in 1978, CMG in 1985, and knighted KBE in 1990. He was awarded the Commander's Cross of the German Order of Merit in 1978 while he was serving in Bonn.

Publications

*''The Saluqi: Coursing Hound of the East'' (chapters), ed. Gail Goodman, Midbar, 1995.
''Oman in Time: A Nation's History''
(contribution), Ministry of Information, Oman, 2001 *''

Al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ‎; 714 – 6 October 775) usually known simply as by his laqab al-Manṣūr () was the second Abbasid caliph, reigning from 754 to 775 succeeding his brother al-Saffah (). He is known ...

's book on hunting'' (introduction, translation and notes, with Muawiya Derhalli), Aris & Phillips, Warminster, 2001. *''Dogs in Antiquity: Anubis to Cerberus; The Origins of the Domestic Dog'' (with Douglas Brewer and Adrian Phillips), Aris & Phillips, Warminster, 2001. *''Underground to Overseas: The Story of Petroleum Development Oman'', Stacey International, 2007. *''British missions around the Gulf, 1575-2005: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman'' (with Hugh Arbuthnott and Richard Muir), Global Oriental, Folkestone, 2008.

References

CLARK, Sir Terence (Joseph)
''Who's Who 2014'', A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2013
Interview with Sir Terence Clark
British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Churchill College, Cambridge, 8 November 2002 {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Terence Joseph 1934 births Living people Royal Air Force officers Alumni of SOAS University of London Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Iraq Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Oman British writers Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel