re: "Earthquake shakes State Department and diplomatic community"

Josh Rogin at The Cable ("Reporting Inside the Foreign Policy Machine") was at Main State the day of the earthquake.

Money quote(s):

"After a few moments of shaking and swaying, the State Department remained intact. The building management staff immediately began searching for damage, but it was not clear whether some early evidence, such as cracks in the stairwells, came from today's earthquake or was there already. Dozens of State Department employees assembled outside at the entrance at the intersection of 23rd and C streets.

"No formal State Department evacuation was called -- diplomacy must go on -- but some employees did evacuate voluntarily and temporarily. The building and annexes are being checked now for damage," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told The Cable. " (Emphasis in original text. - CAA.)

Sometimes you just have to exercise some leadership and common sense and not wait too long for someone to tell you (and the employees you're responsible for) to move to a place of safety.

"(S)everal embassies around Washington did actually evacuate. Many of these embassies have strict contingency plans for emergencies, and those plans were implemented because it wasn't immediately clear why the ground shook in Washington.

Embassies in Washington are often clustered together, so the result of the evacuations was that several impromptu gatherings of diplomats from different countries broke out on the streets of Washington, with chance interactions between envoys representing countries that probably wouldn't talk to each other much in regular circumstances.

For example, in the Van Ness neighborhood, there was a meeting on the street between diplomats evacuated from the embassies of Israel, China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, as they all waited for the all-clear sign. "

8/23

re: "Pipeline, &tc."

CAA (that's me!) continued his response to Jeff Emanuel's post at RedState:, responding to romeg's comment of Thursday, February 9th at 7:13 AM EST(link).

romeg said:

"Saddam Hussein and his family was pilloried publicly in Western media.

While there may be dedicated career members of the Diplomatic Corps and serious-minded State Department employees, it is an agency that is rotten to its core and overrun with fops.

While they are downsizing missions abroad, they may want to consider making equivalent cuts here at home. Why is it that an agency with a budget as large as the State Department takes years to figure out if a pipeline can be built across the U.S./Canada border?"

Response:

"Do you really think that decision was made in Foggy Bottom and not at the White House?

Take another look at Departmental budgets. State is miniscule compared to others.

Oh, and thanks for entertaining the notion that State does include some dedicated employees. Seriously."


2/9

re: "Breaking: Children of Diplomats Getting US Citizenship!"

Peter Spiro at Opinio Juris looked a report about improperly granted U.S. citizenship.

Money quote(s):

"Yes, it’s true. There must be dozens, perhaps even hundreds of newborns who are extended US citizenship every year even though they are “not subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Find the evidence in a report from the restrictionist Center for Immigration Studies here.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be so snarky: the report is a pretty interesting one."

Not only that, but certainly the children of foreign diplomats can be assumed to have a higher national loyalty to their parent's country rather than our own. That'd be one reason that at least that much of the "not subject to the jurisdiction thereof" restriction actually sticks and hasn't been reduced to Constitutional filler verbiage.

"It considers the single operative exception to the otherwise universal rule of birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment. (There is one major exception — those born into Native American tribal jurisdiction — but that hole was plugged by statute in 1924.) It’s generally understood to be a minor qualification to the otherwise absolute rule, but leave it to the folks at CIS (who run some very useful programs, including a daily wrap of media items relating to immigration) to check out its (non)effect on the ground.

Turns out that nobody is policing the exception. Children of diplomats born in the US get ordinary birth certificates, which is all you need to demonstrate citizenship."

This is something that consular officers abroad are expected to keep an eye out for when we encounter citizenship cases like this abroad. The State Dept. publishes an annual "blue book," IIRC, that lists all those foreign diplomats to whom this restriction might apply. In cases of doubt, we're supposed to refer back to Washington so they can make a determination.

There's still the exception for children born to members of an occupying army, but there's never been a case where that was operative. Hopefully there never will be.

7/ 11

re: "Ambassadors for Atlantis"

Andrew Stuttaford at The Corner ("a web-leading source of real-time conservative opinion") relays a story that all diplomats should become familiar with.

What were the "Ambassadors for Atlantis":

"That’s the evocative term used in this post by Edward Lucas on the Economist’s Eastern Approaches blog to describe those exiled Baltic diplomats who flew the flag for their countries’ independendence throughout the long Soviet occupation"

Money quote:

"Sometimes, justice prevails."

From about 1933 until the end of the Cold War, there are some shining exemplars of diplomats and consuls who should be held as role models and heroes for the rest of us latecomers. The surviving diplomatic corps of the Baltic states provided a significant slice of them.

re: "Shoot the Messenger"

Lex at Neptunus Lex ("The unbearable lightness of Lex. Enjoy!") has the measure of our allies.

Money quote(s):

"Unhappy at the way a journalist had portrayed the country’s defense and intelligence establishment, the Pakistani ISI murdered him, according to US intelligence"

Considering all that can be creditably attributed to the ISI over the years, this doesn't exactly stretch the horizons of disbelief.

"He was bludgeoned to death, it appears. Because of his criticism about the professionalism of the country’s security apparatus."

This sends exactly the message, to their intended audience, that they wish to send. Unfortunately for them, messages fall out of channels all the time and are read or heard by audiences unconsidered.

Consider: Saddam Hussein's deception plan, directed against Iran, to convince the Iranians that he had WMD, thus deterring aggression or attacks from Iran.

This wasn't actually stupid of Saddam, just short-sighted. He, sensibly enough, kept his focus on the more immediate threat right next door. And managed to convince a more distant but equally existential threat, leading directly to OIF.

"The gloves are well and truly off now.

I sincerely hope that our diplomatic corps is hard at work seeking transit privileges to – and more importantly from – Afghanistan through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan."

Lex is displaying his professionalism here. As Tom Clancy put it:

"(A)mateurs discuss tactics,.... Professional soldiers study logistics."

I share Lex's hope. Afghanistan is a long ways away to have to execute another anabasis.

re: "Finally."

Digger at Life After Jerusalem ("The musings of a Two-Spirit American Indian, Public Diplomacy-coned Foreign Service Officer") and I don't agree about everything. In fact, we differ profoundly (if respectfully) on some social issues.

But she nails this.

Money quote(s):

"As with most decisions I make, the reasons behind my decision to join the Foreign Service were complicated. Among them of course was that my wife was in the Service. But bin Laden was a deciding factor too...after 9/11, I wanted to serve my country. And as an out lesbian, military service was not an option.

So I am glad he is dead...I know that while this has cut the head off the snake, the danger continues. I pray for the safety of all those serving our country now."

Western Civilization, including our little corner of it here in Los Estados Unidos, is a fairly big tent. And I welcome those willing to serve to keep the tent poles upright, the lines untangled, and pegs firmly in the ground.

That applies as much to our colleagues in uniform, to those serving around the world in our Intelligence Community, as well as to those of us willing to serve as roustabouts in our Foreign Circus, er, Service.

"He is (was) a spoiled rich kid. He sent poor muslims off to die in the service of a jihad that most muslim leaders reject. He never took a risk to his own life to carry out his murderous plans.

And so all this time, while we had an image of him living in caves, an image that no doubt served him well among his followers, many of whom actually are living in caves and other lives of desparate poverty, he was actually living in a million dollar mansion.

He had excellent security and was in town and a mere 60 miles from Islamabad. He was not living a life of hardship, but he used the lives of hardship of his followers to carry out his plans with no personal risk to himself."

This is not a leadership model I would recommend.

"(T)here are those who will decry this action, who will say all war is wrong.

I am a believer in diplomacy, in negotiation. I believe soft power must go hand in hand with hard power, that we can save lives by better funding the diplomatic corps so we can fight fewer wars. But I don't think we can ever hope to stay out of all wars.

Because I believe Hitler would have continued his evil plans to wipe all Jews from the face of the earth had it not been for war. I am not convinced that slavery would have ended without war."

Violence never settles anything except for those things that only violence will settle.

re: "MEPs again flex muscles in diplomatic service debate"

Honor Mahoney at EUObserver.Com ("to support the debate on - and development of European affairs") has news of the upcoming EU diplomatic service.

Money quote(s):

"New agreements on setting up a budget line for the External Action Service (EAS) as well as hiring national diplomats to kit out the service share the power of decision-making between member states and parliament - a situation that has forced national governments to make some concessions on the diplomatic service."

&

"Their main objections are that service is not politically accountable to the parliament; that its decision-making in key areas such as in development aid (an area with an annual budget running to billions of euros) is convoluted; and that the civilian mission part of the service is too entangled in the military structures of the service. "

re: "Just Admit It: The Surge Worked (Updated)"

Abu Muqawama at CNAS ("an independent and nonpartisan research institution") came to a reasonable conclusion.

Money quote(s):

"If you really move the goal posts, defining up "success" as the Surge having not only reduced levels of violence and addressed immediate drivers of conflict but having also managed to fix all the problems in Iraq's political process, then yeah, it failed. But I don't recall that ever being the aim of the operation in 2007, and I don't think it's reasonable to expect the U.S. military and its friends in the diplomatic corps to be able to settle the political affairs of a host nation."

&

"(T)here can be no denying that a space has indeed been created for a more or less peaceful political process to take place. Acts of heinous violence still take place in Baghdad, but so too does a relatively peaceful political process.

If you want to argue that getting involved in Iraq in the first place was a stupid decision, fine. I agree with you. But trying to argue that the Surge "failed" at this point -- even if Iraq someday descends anew into civil war -- simply isn't a credible option anymore."


Hat tip to Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit ("the intersection between advanced technologies and individual liberty").

re: "Guest Post: How to win the GWOT - or whatever it's called today"

Mark Pfeifle and Jonathan Thompson guest-posted at Mountain Runner ("A blog by Matt Armstrong on public diplomacy and strategic communication in the 21st century").

Money quote(s):

"America has the finest military and diplomatic leaders in the world. They know how to win on the battlefield and at the negotiating table. Yet, despite those winning ways, there are times when they become victims of circumstances rather than drivers of events. At such times, some may falter with the media and public, and when that happens, they too often lay blame the results on bad press coverage.

Earlier this decade domestic and international audiences wanted to understand what our military leaders and diplomats were doing in Iraq - what was working, what wasn't, and what the future held. We understood that people wanted a constant and understandable dialog then, and we know they now want the same about Afghanistan and Pakistan.

We need people skilled at understanding the motivational factors of societies and communities - domestically and abroad. We have some, such as Generals David Petraeus and Ray Odierno, and Ambassadors Richard Holbrooke and Adam Ereli, who understand the public's increasing need for information. Many are meeting the mark, yet others are still learning."

&

"We have fallen short of the mark in successfully communicating to a skeptical audience - domestically and internationally. We need experienced and knowledgeable communications heads, with staffs to support them.

Winning the battles and wars of tomorrow is not just about bombs and bullets. Winning requires expertise at communication and outreach. We won't win if we don't get this right. "

re: "And the news is?"

Richard at EU Referendum ("To discuss issues related to the UK's position in Europe and the world") remarks on the formation of a European diplomatic corps.

Money quote(s):

"This is the EU's putative External Action Service (EEAS), with five hundred and thirty staff from the EU commission having already begun training to build a "shared diplomatic culture and an esprit de corps", ready to take over once the treaty has been bludgeoned into place."

&

"In December 2005, there was further evidence that the EU was implementing the constitutional treaty and, as we know from COM(2006)712 final, it has been actively plotting to take over embassy functions for some considerable time.This is simply the tip of the iceberg, just another step in the slow process of integration. There is no point in complaining about it – this is what the EU does."

JG - From Russia with love: Ambassador, wife host National Day reception

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

From Russia with love: Ambassador, wife host National Day reception

published: Sunday June 15, 2008

Chester Francis-Jackson Gleaner Writer

Russian Ambassador host Victor Zotin (right) toasts his country's National Day with Governor General Sir Kenneth (second left) and Lady Hall, and Energy Minister Clive Mullings, at his Norbrook Drive residence, last Thursday. - photos by Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Luvs, in the world of diplomacy, parties, receptions and entertaining generally plays a most vital role in projecting a positive image of the host and country.

They often serve as the springboard from which many a bilateral and/or multilateral deal is negotiated and not just between nations, but also between businesses and individuals.

In this respect, parties are not just all about social-profiling for the diplomatic, political and/or social elite. But more importantly, they are crucial to the diplomatic swirl and appreciated as such, by true diplomats. Luvs, this appreciation has not been lost by successive Russian envoys here over the years, as they have completely understood the importance of this tool in the diplomatic arsenal, and have used it when appropriate, especially on the occasion of Russia's National Day.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Ambassador Zotin is no neophyte to the fine art of diplomacy.

With nearly 40 years of service with the Russian foreign service, the affable diplomat has proved during his stint here, to be a man of unimpeachable character, style and substance, and above all else, a friend of Jamaica with an understanding of the complexities and nuances that form the platforms from which our politics and world views are formed.

It is an understanding that has earned him the respect of those in government as well of those with whom he interacts."

"Ambassador Zotin and wife completed the welcoming formalities, and guests joined the buzzing mix of national leaders, members of the diplomatic and consular corps as well as leading citizenry to the lawns accented by low-hung mango trees."

"The dignitaries and notables out sharing the very fab occasion included Governor General Sir Kenneth and Lady Hall; Senate president Oswald Harding and wife, Marigold; National Security Minister Trevor MacMillan and wife, Dr Olivia McDonald; HE Ambassador Douglas Saunders and wife, Angela Robertson; HE Ambassador Maxine Roberts; Chinese Ambassador HE Chen Jinghua and Madam Xiao Linhua; French Ambassador HE Francis Hurtut; Spanish Ambassador HE Jesús Silva and his charming wife, Sara Silva.


Young guests Margareta Vlasova (left) and Yulia Chazshina have that supermodel look already, don't they? Jo Ann Kingsley (centre) beams with Elena Dorofeeva (right) and Alyona Morozova."