Kremlin-Watching in Togo

Editor's Note: A Peace Corps staffer in Togo during the 1970s develops skills at reading arcane indicators of change in an authoritarian government, and has an unexpected chance to celebrate American independence with a KGB officer.--Ed. In the 1970s, I served for four-and-one-half years as Associate Peace Corps Director for Agriculture and Rural Development in Togo, where I had previously served as a Peace Corps Volunteer for three-and-one-half years. One evening, I went to Le Bowling Club in the capital city, Lome, to play billiards. There, I ran into a diplomat from the U.S. embassy. We started talking about the latest developments in Togolese politics. I remarked that the Minister of Information was not long for the Cabinet and would be fired and replaced very soon. My diplomat friend scoffed and told me that I was crazy. The embassy, he said, had identified the Minister of Information as a rising star in the Togolese government who was destined for bigger and better things.