Kennan put much of this in a long letter to Bohlen in the winter of 1945.

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Bohlen currently serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies.

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Mr Bohlen estimates that "at least 500 buildings" in UAE cities are sheathed in the flammable panels.

BBC: 'Towering inferno' fears for Gulf's high-rise blocks

Ambassador Bohlen, the U.S. delegation's leader, served in the government for nearly 30 years, including in the State Department.

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When Bohlen received the letter, he was busy with the Yalta Conference, where the Big Three negotiated the future of Europe, and his reply to Kennan was brief.

NEWYORKER: Getting Real

Mr Bohlen, the institute's chief technical officer, said that the UAE has passed new legislation banning the use of flammable facades, but it only applies to new building construction.

BBC: 'Towering inferno' fears for Gulf's high-rise blocks

Al-Marayati was selected to participate in the confab by the U.S. delegation, which was led by Ambassador Avis Bohlen, a Georgetown University professor and former Clinton administration official, according to MPAC's website.

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Gareth Saxe is appropriately boorish as Chip Bohlen, the American CIA agent who intrudes upon the Russians' gathering with clumsy bonhomie, his not-so-subtle threats putting a face to the general feeling of U.S. government dominance.

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Mr Bohlen is not alone in voicing concerns about the risk of fire in many of the high-rise towers that pepper every major Gulf city - or about the failure to pin down what is causing many fires.

BBC: 'Towering inferno' fears for Gulf's high-rise blocks