Daily Archives: July 11, 2009

Confirmed: Dell, Rivkin, Susman, Fulton, Roemer, Gray, Schmierer, Gitenstein

July 11, 2009 By in Ambassadors, Confirmations 


The following nominations for ambassadorial posts were confirmed by the Senate on 
July 10. Nominations flagged with an asterisk were approved subject to the nominee's
commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted 
committee of the Senate.

PN502 * DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Christopher William Dell, of New Jersey, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Kosovo.


PN503 * DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Charles H. Rivkin, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to France, and to serve
concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Monaco.

PN523 *       DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Louis B. Susman, of Illinois, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the United States of America to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland.


PN524 *       DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Laurie Susan Fulton, of Virginia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Denmark.


PN576 *       DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Timothy J. Roemer, of Indiana, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the United States of America to India.


PN584 *       DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Gordon Gray, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of
Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the
United States of America to the Republic of Tunisia.


PN588 *       DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Richard J. Schmierer, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service,
Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of
the United States of America to the Sultanate of Oman.


PN637 *       DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Mark Henry Gitenstein, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Romania.


CONFIRMATIONS -- (Senate - July 10, 2009)
Congressional Record [Page: S7375]  GPO's PDF

Video of the Week: Howard Rheingold on Collaboration

July 11, 2009 By in Technology and Work, Trends, Video of the Week

Howard Rheingold talks about the coming world of collaboration, participatory media and collective action — and how Wikipedia is really an outgrowth of our natural human instinct to work as a group.

As Howard Rheingold himself puts it, “I fell into the computer realm from the typewriter dimension, then plugged my computer into my telephone and got sucked into the net.” A writer and designer, he was among the first wave of creative thinkers who saw, in computers and then in the Internet, a way to form powerful new communities.

His 2002 book Smart Mobs, which presaged Web 2.0 in predicting collaborative ventures like Wikipedia, was the outgrowth of decades spent studying and living life online. An early and active member of the Well (he wrote about it in The Virtual Community), he went on to cofound HotWired and Electric Minds, two groundbreaking web communities, in the mid-1990s. Now active in Second Life, he teaches, writes and consults on social networking. His latest passion: teaching and workshopping participatory media literacy, to make sure we all know how to read and make the new media that we’re all creating together.

From ted.com

Secretary Clinton’s Town Hall on QDDR

July 11, 2009 By in Foreign Service, Reform, Secretary of State, State Department

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted a State Department town hall meeting on July 10 to discuss a new initiative to review the U.S. strategic approach to diplomacy and development. Washington, DC. [54 min].

She talks about the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR). Transcript of the town hall meeting is here. The QDDR is actually part of H.R.2410 (see below) so this is a headstart. If that bill becomes law, the QDDR would be institutionalized in the State Department. Full text is here.


SEC. 302. QUADRENNIAL REVIEW OF DIPLOMACY AND DEVELOPMENT (QRDD).

(a) Development of National Strategy on Diplomacy and Development-

(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than December 1, 2010, the President shall develop and transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a national strategy on United States diplomacy and development. The strategy shall include the following:

(A) An identification of key objectives and missions for United States foreign policy and foreign assistance policies and programs, including a clear statement on United States objectives for development assistance.

(B) A description of the roles of civilian agencies and mechanisms for implementing such strategy, including interagency coordination.

(C) The requirements for overseas infrastructure necessary to carry out such strategy.

(D) Plans to adapt such agencies and mechanisms to changing circumstances and the role of international institutions in such strategy.

(E) Budget requirements to carry out such strategy.

(F) Other elements of United States foreign policy and foreign assistance policies and programs with a view toward determining and expressing the strategy of the United States and establishing a diplomacy and development program for the next 10 years.

(2) RELATIONSHIP TO NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY- The strategy described in paragraph (1) shall be consistent with any National Security Strategy prescribed by the President pursuant to section 108 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 404a) that has been issued after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(b) Review Required-

(1) IN GENERAL- Beginning in 2013, the President shall every 4 years, during a year following a year evenly divisible by four, conduct a comprehensive examination (to be known as a ‘Quadrennial Review of Diplomacy and Development’) of the national strategy for United States diplomacy and development described in subsection (a).

(2) KEY ELEMENTS OF REVIEW- The review described in paragraph (1) shall include the following:

(A) A review of all elements of the strategy described in subsection (a), consistent with the most recent National Security Strategy prescribed by the President pursuant to section 108 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 404a) that has been issued after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(B) A review of the roles and responsibilities of Federal departments and agencies in carrying out the strategy described in subsection (a) and the mechanisms for cooperation between such departments and agencies, including the coordination of such departments and agencies and the relationship between the principal offices of such departments and agencies and offices defining sufficient capacity, resources, overseas infrastructure, budget plan, and other elements of United States diplomacy and development of the United States that would be required to have a high level of confidence that the United States can successfully execute the full range of missions called for in such strategy.

(C) Identifying the budget plan that would be required to provide sufficient resources to execute successfully the full range of missions called for in the strategy described in subsection (a) at a high level of success and any additional resources required to achieve such a level of success.

(D) Making recommendations that are not constrained to comply with the budget submitted to Congress by the President pursuant to section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code.

(3) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION AND CONSULTATION-

(A) IN GENERAL- Each Quadrennial Review of Diplomacy and Development shall take into account the views of the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Treasury, the United States Trade Representative, and the head of any other relevant agency.

(B) DELEGATION- If the President delegates the requirements of this section, the head of the Federal department or agency to whom such delegation is made shall consult with each official specified in subparagraph (A).

(c) Consultation With Outside Stakeholders- In developing the strategy required under subsection (a) and conducting the review required under subsection (b), the President shall consult with private businesses, non-governmental organizations involved in diplomacy and development, and experts at academic institutions or institutions involved in the study of foreign policy or development matters.

(d) QRDD and Congressional Committees-

(1) CONSULTATION- In developing the strategy required under subsection (a) and conducting the review required under subsection (b), the President shall consult with the appropriate congressional committees.

(2) REPORT- The President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on each Quadrennial Review of Diplomacy and Development. The report shall be submitted in the year following the year in which such a Quadrennial Review is conducted, but not later than the date on which the President submits the budget for the next fiscal year to Congress under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code. The report shall include the following:

(A) The results of such a Quadrennial Review, including a comprehensive discussion of the national strategy for United States foreign policy and foreign assistance policies and programs, the roles and responsibilities of and strategic guidance for civilian agencies and mechanisms in implementing such strategy, the requirements for overseas infrastructure necessary to carry out such strategy, plans to adapt such agencies and mechanisms to changing circumstances, and the role of international institutions in such strategy.

(B) The assumed or defined objectives and missions that inform the national strategy for United States foreign policy and foreign assistance policies and programs.

(C) The threats to the assumed or defined objectives and missions of the United States that were examined for the purposes of such a Quadrennial Review.

(D) The assumptions used in such a Quadrennial Review, including assumptions relating to–

(i) the capacity of United States diplomatic and development personnel to respond to such threats;

(ii) the cooperation and capacity of allies, other friendly countries, and international institutions in addressing such threats;

(iii) levels of engagement in operations other than war and smaller-scale contingencies and withdrawal from such operations and contingencies; and

(iv) the intensity, duration, and military and political end-states of conflicts and smaller-scale contingencies that arise in the diplomatic and development context.

(E) The anticipated roles and missions of the reserve components available to civilian agencies, including capabilities and resources necessary to assure that such reserve components can capably discharge such roles and missions.

(F) The extent to which diplomatic and development personnel need to be shifted to different regions to carry out the national strategy under subsection (a).

(G) Any other matter the Secretary considers appropriate.

(e) Independent Panel Assessment-

(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 6 months before the date on which the report on a Quadrennial Review of Diplomacy and Development is to be transmitted under subsection (d), the President shall establish a panel to conduct an assessment of such a Quadrennial Review.

(2) REPORT ON ASSESSMENT- Not later than 3 months after the date on which the report on such a Quadrennial Review is transmitted under subsection (d), the panel established under paragraph (1) shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an assessment of such a Quadrennial Review, including an assessment of the recommendations of such a Quadrennial Review, the stated and implied assumptions incorporated in such a Quadrennial Review, and the vulnerabilities of the strategy underlying such a Quadrennial Review.

(f) Exclusion- Any provision in this section relating to budgets or budget plans shall not be construed to require any information on any program that is funded from accounts within budget function 050 (National Defense).

Related Items:

07/10/2009 – The Department of State’s Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review

07/10/2009 – Briefing on Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review
(with Jack Lew and Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter)