Frequently moving is part of every foreign service career. Sadly, that time is upon me. As I say goodbye to my post and get settled in my new location, it could be a while before I have internet connectivity. I’ll be back as soon as I can. -TH
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Last month, we held a discussion on the practice of big contributors and bundlers becoming politically appointed ambassadors despite sometimes having little (or no) foreign policy experience and not speaking the language of the host country. I planned to write an entire post on it, but the sixteen comments pretty much said everything I would have said. I’d like to just share one quick link on the subject. According to Open Secrets:
“The 19 ambassadors that CRP has found in our campaign contribution database, along with their spouses and children, have given more than $98,200 to Obama personally, bundled at least $3.4 million for his 2008 presidential run and bundled another $1.4 million for his inauguration.”
These also aren’t new kids on the fundraising block:
“The new nominees for ambassadors to Belize, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Romania and Switzerland — along with their spouses and dependent children — have contributed at least $637,800 to federal candidates, parties and committees since 1989, CRP has found. Nearly that entire sum has gone to Democrats, including $32,775 to Obama himself and $8,300 to former primary opponent and now-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.”
Look on the bright side though, the U.S. isn’t the only country that wraps up money with diplomatic positions. First Diplomatic offers to negotiate diplomatic titles for people:
“This diplomatic appointment and passport program is for persons of wealth and means, who are serious and can provide the host country a useful service in return for the appointment : having an office as the Honorary Consulate, host visiting dignitaries from the country. Sometimes this “useful service” is as simple as giving the right amount of money to the right people. We offer legal assistance in applying for citizenship and a diplomatic passport. Several small countries and island countries grant a diplomatic passport and an appointment for people who are able to match the country’s criteria and who can provide the necessary contribution. Active positions (Consul, Vice Consul, etc) have serious requirements, that is why honorary positions (Honorary Consul, Honorary Ambassador) are very popular among medium and large business owners who want to protect their business and have much more opportunities than a normal citizen. Diplomatic passport holders bear diplomatic immunity, which is recognized within 192 countries of the world UN members.”
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Has anyone else wondered why they changed the term for local employees from Foreign Service Nationals (FSNs) to Locally Engaged Staff (LES)? I mean, I understand that LES is supposed to include Eligible Family Members (EFMs) and FSNs, so it’s more inclusive. On the other hand, while Foreign Service Nationals had a nice symmetry with Foreign Service Officers and Foreign Service Specialists, LES just seems like calling people “less.” Really? No one fought that?
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The entire internet is abuzz with talk of Iran. After a disputed election, much of the country has been erupting into protests met with harsh violence from the ruling regime. This has been extensively covered elsewhere, so I’ll just add a quick thought. I previously wrote that the U.S. is frequently blamed for everything that goes on the world, often wrongfully.
As Iran undergoes the worst protests since the revolution, I’m so thankful we do not have an embassy in Tehran. Aside from concerns about embassy security (that would be huge), on the policy side, we’re not nearly as visible without a presence there. While some are saying it’s the CIA, the simple lack of an official U.S. presence there seems to be calming hegemonic blame.
Of course, some know about the secret conspiracy of John McCain, George Soros, NGOs and satellite TV (as seen here a la Shrek):
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