WASHINGTON INSIGHT

MINI-PORTRAIT: A bevy of bureaucrats little known to the public does much of the moving and shaking in Washington. Consider Edward P. Djerejian, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs--the only top foreign policy official held over from the last two Republican administrations. He was a key to launching the Middle East peace talks and is said to have one of the Foreign Service’s ablest minds on the region. . . . Called a “cautious but clever” diplomat, Djerejian (pronounced Dur-RIDG-ee-un) drew on his 1988-91 tour as ambassador to Damascus to help bring perennial spoiler Syria into the Arab-Israeli talks. A 1992 speech dubbed “the Djerejian doctrine” declared that “the U.S. government does not view Islam as the next ‘ism’ confronting the West or threatening world peace.” As the first U.S. statement on a world religion, it countered claims by some analysts that Islamic fundamentalism would replace communism as the main threat. . . . Fluent in French, Russian, Arabic and Armenian, Djerejian is widely respected for his understanding of Arabs and Russians (he once served a Moscow stint). Tall and trim at 54, he is seen by friends as “warm and entertaining . . , ever ready with an anecdote to drive home a point.”