On August 7, 1998, the U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya were bombed by terrorists associated with al-Qaeda. More than 200 people were killed and at least 4,000 were injured, most of these local Africans who either worked at the embassies or were just unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity at the time. To many in the Foreign Service, 9/11 was not the wake-up call. Our wake-up call had already occured three years earlier.
You are currently browsing articles tagged Politics.
The Department of State finally received a little extra funding that can be used toward hiring. A State cable (or telegram…yes…we still use telegrams) came out recently announcing how the Department will use some of the funds it received from the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008. The good news, especially if you’re looking to join the Foreign Service, is that some of that money will be used to hire 140 new Officers above attrition rates.
Life After Jerusalem has posted an interesting article about the selling of ambassadorships. The general public probably isn’t even aware that only about two-thirds of the ambassadors representing the United States come from the Foreign Service. The other third are “political appointees,” many of whom are being rewarded for their work for the political party currently in power.
If you do a quick search of what is being discussed in the blogosphere regarding the Foreign Service these days, it seems to be all Obama all the time. Foreign Service Officers in Berlin were recently instructed that they could not attend Obama’s speech because it would be seen as advocating on behalf of a candidate.
Since I’ve yet to hear a single reference to current political crisis in the main stream American media, here’s a link to an editorial from The Kyiv Post about their thoughts on President Yushchenko’s recent dissolution of parliament.
The President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko has dissolved the parliament and has announced new elections. Supportors of his opponents are vowing to defy the rule and have begun to set up tents outside near the government offices.
It hasn’t gotten much coverage in the American media, but things have been a little tense in Kyiv these last few days. Large scale protests have been held in our future neighborhood by the various political parties. So far the demonstrations have been peaceful, but the court recently was forced to rule that the demonstrations stop to allow people to calm down. The people aren’t listening.
Although I’m a newcomer to the DC world, I’ve quickly gathered that it is a city of many power struggles. One of the largest of these in the government world is between the State Department and the rest of the executive branch (particularly the Pentagon.) It has been an issue for some time, but is apparently easier to spot with the current administration as State is regarded by many as a liberal institution. Figure in a strongly conservative administration plus a war in Iraq and Afghanistan and that can create tension.
The watercooler talk among the new Junior Officers and the wannabe Foreign Service Officers out there has recently focused on the newly announced changes to the Foreign Service testing process. Granted, the buzz has probably been quite a bit louder among the wannabe’s because for those of us already in it is more of a “Huh…that’s interesting” kind of thing because we’ve already made it. It is a much bigger deal to those still trying to get in.
This evening I took a walk down to Olsson’s Books, a DC area bookstore chain, to attend a discussion with John Brady Kiesling who was in town to promote his new book, “Diplomacy Lessons: Realism for an Unloved Superpower.”
Recent Comments