Richard G. Hovannisian on Lieutenant Robert Steed Dunn

Abstract

The index to Richard Hovannisian's latest work: The Republic of Armenia. Volume II [From Versailles to London, 1919-1920], contains a single entry under: Dunn, Lieutenant Robert S. To anyone familiar with the role of Robert S. Dunn in Anatolian and Caucasian post World War I affairs, this cursory treatment must come as a bit of a surprise. Throughout the years 1919-1921, Dunn served as the U.S. High Commissioner, Admiral Mark L. Bristol's eyes and ears in this sensitive region, and it is no exaggeration to state that this U.S. Naval Intelligence Officer's contacts with the Bolsheviks, Armenian and Turkish Nationalist forces, and the reports he sent to Bristol based on them, were instrumental in shaping American foreign policy vis-a-vis this region during and after the period dealt with in the Hovannisian study.