Daily Archives: April 27, 2009

Philip Barclay Says a Familiar Goodbye

April 27, 2009 By in AF |Africa, Foreign Service, People, Realities of the FS, UK-FCO

Philip Barclay, the Second Secretary at the British Embassy in Zimbabwe who blogs at the FCO’s Global Conversations says goodbye to Zimbabwe … his final blog post has a familiar feeling for those who move every 3-4 years in this business. I’ve come to think of these arrivals and leavetakings as a large part of the wear and tear of this lifestyle. The getting to know phase in every place is familiar and different in the same breath. It takes about 6-8 months. The goodbyes are often sticky and hard as glue. It takes months, years. You may still be talking about your previous post in the middle of your current tour, hankering about the food, the weather, your old life, etc., etc. You meet find friends and leave friends. And every place that you have called home is lodged in the forever country of memory, the only place where you grow roots … here is Philip:

“The Foreign Office is cruel. I was posted to Zimbabwe despite its awful reputation. I stepped off the plane anxiously, expecting to be butchered at once and fed to lions. That didn’t happen, but I have suffered a greater pain – falling in love with this beautiful, cursed nation and now, after more than three years, having to leave.
[…]
Until today, I had not realised how much I am feeling about leaving Zimbabwe. But now, Easter Monday, the day before I leave for good, I find myself crying tears for the sweet friends and the soul-expanding life I have to leave behind. I know I signed up for a job that makes me move country every three or four years, but I didn’t know it would be as hard as this.”

Read his final post here. Check out the Harare bloggers home here for Grace’s posts.

Philip Barclay Says a Familiar Goodbye

April 27, 2009 By in AF |Africa, Foreign Service, People, Realities of the FS, UK-FCO

Philip Barclay, the Second Secretary at the British Embassy in Zimbabwe who blogs at the FCO’s Global Conversations says goodbye to Zimbabwe … his final blog post has a familiar feeling for those who move every 3-4 years in this business. I’ve come to think of these arrivals and leavetakings as a large part of the wear and tear of this lifestyle. The getting to know phase in every place is familiar and different in the same breath. It takes about 6-8 months. The goodbyes are often sticky and hard as glue. It takes months, years. You may still be talking about your previous post in the middle of your current tour, hankering about the food, the weather, your old life, etc., etc. You meet find friends and leave friends. And every place that you have called home is lodged in the forever country of memory, the only place where you grow roots … here is Philip:

“The Foreign Office is cruel. I was posted to Zimbabwe despite its awful reputation. I stepped off the plane anxiously, expecting to be butchered at once and fed to lions. That didn’t happen, but I have suffered a greater pain – falling in love with this beautiful, cursed nation and now, after more than three years, having to leave.
[…]
Until today, I had not realised how much I am feeling about leaving Zimbabwe. But now, Easter Monday, the day before I leave for good, I find myself crying tears for the sweet friends and the soul-expanding life I have to leave behind. I know I signed up for a job that makes me move country every three or four years, but I didn’t know it would be as hard as this.”

Read his final post here. Check out the Harare bloggers home here for Grace’s posts.

SFRC Hearing: Nomination of Harold Koh to be Legal Adviser

April 27, 2009 By in Nominations, Political Appointees, SFRC, State Department

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
111th CONGRESS
1st SESSION


Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Time: 2:30 P.M.
Place: 419 Dirksen Senate Building
Presiding: Senator Kerry


Nominees:

The Honorable Harold H. Koh
to be Legal Adviser to the Department of State
(see WH Announcement)

SFRC Hearing: Nomination of Harold Koh to be Legal Adviser

April 27, 2009 By in Nominations, Political Appointees, SFRC, State Department

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
111th CONGRESS
1st SESSION


Date: Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Time: 2:30 P.M.
Place: 419 Dirksen Senate Building
Presiding: Senator Kerry


Nominees:

The Honorable Harold H. Koh
to be Legal Adviser to the Department of State
(see WH Announcement)

Officially In: Daniel Benjamin as Coordinator For Counterterrorism (S/CT)

April 27, 2009 By in Nominations, Officially In, Political Appointees, State Department, Terrorism

President Obama has also announced recently his intent to nominate Daniel Benjamin, for Coordinator for Counterterrorism (S/CT), with the rank and status of Ambassador at Large.

Daniel Benjamin is director of the Center on the United States and Europe and a senior fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. Prior to joining Brookings in 2006, he spent six years as a senior fellow in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. From 1994 to1999, Benjamin served on the National Security Council staff: In 1998-1999, he was director for counterterrorism within the Directorate of Transnational Threats in 1998-1999; prior to that, he was a foreign policy speechwriter and special assistant to President Clinton.

Before entering the government, Benjamin was a foreign correspondent for TIME Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. Daniel Benjamin has co-written two books: The Age of Sacred Terror was published by Random House in 2002 and documents the rise of religiously motivated terrorism and American efforts to combat it. The book was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2002 and given the Arthur Ross Book Award of the Council on Foreign Relations for the best book of the year on international affairs. The Next Attack: The Failure of the War on Terror and a Strategy for Getting it Right, was published by Holt/Times Books in 2005 and named a Washington Post “Best Book” of 2005. Mr. Benjamin has written numerous articles for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, TIME, the Los Angeles Times and other publications. He holds degrees from Harvard and Oxford, where he was a Marshall Scholar.

I think this is the second Marshall scholar we have in the current line-up. The other one is Kurt Campbell, nominee for the EAP Bureau.

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Officially In: Daniel Benjamin as Coordinator For Counterterrorism (S/CT)

April 27, 2009 By in Nominations, Officially In, Political Appointees, State Department, Terrorism

President Obama has also announced recently his intent to nominate Daniel Benjamin, for Coordinator for Counterterrorism (S/CT), with the rank and status of Ambassador at Large.

Daniel Benjamin is director of the Center on the United States and Europe and a senior fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. Prior to joining Brookings in 2006, he spent six years as a senior fellow in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. From 1994 to1999, Benjamin served on the National Security Council staff: In 1998-1999, he was director for counterterrorism within the Directorate of Transnational Threats in 1998-1999; prior to that, he was a foreign policy speechwriter and special assistant to President Clinton.

Before entering the government, Benjamin was a foreign correspondent for TIME Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. Daniel Benjamin has co-written two books: The Age of Sacred Terror was published by Random House in 2002 and documents the rise of religiously motivated terrorism and American efforts to combat it. The book was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2002 and given the Arthur Ross Book Award of the Council on Foreign Relations for the best book of the year on international affairs. The Next Attack: The Failure of the War on Terror and a Strategy for Getting it Right, was published by Holt/Times Books in 2005 and named a Washington Post “Best Book” of 2005. Mr. Benjamin has written numerous articles for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, TIME, the Los Angeles Times and other publications. He holds degrees from Harvard and Oxford, where he was a Marshall Scholar.

I think this is the second Marshall scholar we have in the current line-up. The other one is Kurt Campbell, nominee for the EAP Bureau.

Related Items: