While You Were Sleeping, the State Dept’s Specials in This “Bureau” Proliferated Like Mushroom

May 1, 2014 By in Appointments, Hillary Clinton, John F. Kerry, Political Appointees, Realities of the FS, Secretary of State, Special Envoys and Reps, Staffing the FS, State Department Tags: , , , , , , ,

— Domani Spero

Update on 5/7/14: Names of a few more special envoys during the Albright era added.

 

We were looking into mushrooms one day (problematic backyard lawn) and stumbled upon “The cleverness of mushrooms.” The article says that “exactly how mushrooms proliferate is still poorly understood.” Hey, we thought — isn’t that kind of the same thing when it comes to special advisors, special envoys and special representatives proliferating inside the State Department?

Exactly how it’s done is still poorly understood. 

For instance, Secretary Madeleine Albright (1997-2001) had, can you believe it, two.  There was Theresa A. Loar, the Coordinator for International Women’s Issues. Then there was  Norman Neureiter, the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State. If there were more, they were not listed in the secretary’s archive.

Update on 5/7/14: A few more special envoys during the Albright era, not reflected on the state.gov archive (Thanks Michael T.):

  • Rev Jesse Jackson, Special Envoy for the President and the Secretary  of State for the Promotion of Democracy in Africa.
  • Amb Richard Bogosian, Special Coordinator for Rwanda and Burundi, 1996-1997
  • Dr. Howard Wolpe, Special Envoy of the President and the Secretary of State to the Burundi peace negotiations, then Special   Envoy of the President and Secretary of State to Africa’s Great Lakes region.
  • Amb Howard F. Jeter, Special Envoy for Liberia
  • Amb Paul Hare, Special Representative to the Angolan Peace Process, 1993-2001

 

Also, according to state.gov’s archive, there were fourteen senior folks including “Special Envoys” and “Special Representatives” at the State Department from 2001-2009 encompassing the tenure of Secretary Colin Powell (2001-2005) and Secretary Condoleezza Rice (2005-2009).

During Secretary Hillary Clinton’s tenure (2009-2013) and presently under Secretary Kerry, the number of these special folks has grown by quite a bit.  In six years, the State Department went from 14 special folks to something like four dozens. It is quite possible that  there are more special and senior folks whose appointments/new desks have not yet made it to the official website.   The number of senior advisors as opposed to the special advisors is even more difficult to find.

One example is Tom Perriello,  the Special Representative for the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development (QDDR) Review appointed by Secretary Kerry in February 2014. His biography is live but he is not listed here. Another one not listed is Senior Advisor to the Secretary David H. Thorne, former U.S. ambassador to Italy and twin brother of  Secretary Kerry’s first wife. 

And by the way, we noticed that Special Advisor for Secretary’s Initiative Elizabeth Bagley was appointed on April 20, 2011. According to state.gov, her term of appointment is 04/20/2011 to present.  Currently her bio page says “The biography for Special Adviser for Secretary Initiatives Elizabeth Bagley will be posted when available.” 

screen shot state.gov

screen shot state.gov

You wait, and wait, and wait …. and nothing happens in three years like what, a turtle carrying the bio page is still circumnavigating the globe to get to Foggy Bottom?

We should note that while it was widely reported last year that the Gitmo Closure office had also been shuttered,  Ambassador Daniel Fried was actually succeeded as Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure by Clifford M. Sloan, an attorney who previously served as Publisher of Slate Magazine and as a General Counsel at The Washington Post Company. Ambassador Fried is now the State Department’s Coordinator for Sanctions Policy.

In any case, here they are, the State Department’s Special Advisors, Special Envoys, and Special Representatives:

Afghanistan and Pakistan, Special Representative
–Afghanistan and Pakistan (Special Representative): James F. Dobbins

APEC (U.S. Senior Official): Robert S. Wang

Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) Issues, Special Representative
–Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) Issues (Special Representative): Vacant

Burma, Special Representative and Policy Coordinator
–Burma (Senior Advisor): Judith Beth Cefkin

Special Representative for the Central African Republic: W. Stuart Symington

Civil Society and Emerging Democracies, Senior Advisor
–Civil Society and Emerging Democracies (Coordinator): Tomicah Tillemann
Climate Change, Special Envoy
–Climate Change (Special Envoy): Todd D. Stern

Special Advisor for Children’s Issues Ambassador Susan Jacobs

Closure of the Guantanamo Detention Facility (Special Envoy): Clifford M. Sloan

Commercial and Business Affairs, Special Representative
–Commercial and Business Affairs (Special Representative): Lorraine Hariton

Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, Special Envoy

Cyber Issues, Coordinator
–Cyber Issues (Coordinator): Christopher Painter

Eurasian Energy, Special Envoy
–Faith Based and Community Initiatives (Special Advisor): Shaun Casey

Global Food Security, Special Representative
–Global Food Security (Special Representative): Jonathan Shrier (Acting)

Global Health Diplomacy (Special Representative): Leslie V. Rowe (Acting)

Global Intergovernmental Affairs, Special Representative
–Global Intergovernmental Affairs (Special Representative): Mary Pensabene (Acting)

Global Partnerships, Special Representative
–Global Partnerships (Special Representative): Andrew O’Brien

Global Youth Issues, Special Advisor
–Global Youth Issues (Special Adviser): Zeenat Rahman

Great Lakes Region and the D.R.C., Special Envoy
–Great Lakes and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Special Envoy): Russell D. Feingold

Haiti, Special Coordinator
–Haiti (Special Coordinator): Thomas C. Adams

Holocaust Issues, Special Envoy
–Holocaust Issues (Special Adviser): Stuart E. Eizenstat
–Holocaust Issues (Special Envoy): Douglas Davidson

International Disability Rights, Special Advisor
–International Disability Rights (Special Advisor): Judith E. Heumann

International Energy Affairs, Coordinator
–International Energy Affairs (Special Envoy and Coordinator): Carlos Pascual

International Labor Affairs, Special Representative
–International Labor Affairs (Special Representative): Vacant

International Religious Freedom, Ambassador-at-Large

Israel and the Palestinian Authority, U.S. Security Coordinator
–Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations (Special Envoy): Martin S. Indyk

Kimberly Process, Chair

Middle East Transitions (Special Coordinator): Vacant

Middle East Peace, Special Envoy

Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Special Envoy
–Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism (Special Envoy): Ira N. Forman

Muslim Communities, Special Representative
–Muslim Communities (Special Representative): Adnan Kifayat (Acting)

Nonproliferation and Arms Control, Special Advisor
–Nonproliferation and Arms Control (Special Advisor): Robert J. Einhorn

North Korean Human Rights Issues, Special Envoy
–North Korean Human Rights Issues (Special Envoy): Robert R. King

North Korea Policy, Special Representative
–North Korea Policy (Special Representative): Glyn Davies

Nuclear Nonproliferation, Special Representative of the President
–Nuclear Nonproliferation (Special Representative of the President): Susan Burk

Organization of the Islamic Conference, Special Envoy
–Organization of Islamic Cooperation (Special Envoy): Rashad Hussain

QDDR (Special Representative): Thomas Perriello

Sanctions Policy (Coordinator): Daniel Fried

Science and Technology (Adviser): E. William Colglazier

Secretary Initiatives, Special Advisor
–Secretary Initiatives (Special Adviser): Elizabeth Bagley

Senior Advisor to the Secretary: David H. Thorne

Six-Party Talks, Special Envoy
–Six-Party Talks (Special Envoy): Vacant

Strategic Stability and Missile Defense, Special Envoy

Sudan, Special Envoy
–Sudan and South Sudan (Special Envoy): Donald E. Booth

Threat Reduction Programs, Coordinator
–Threat Reduction Programs (Coordinator): Bonnie D. Jenkins

 

In 2016, if you don’t want to compete for the ambassadorial sweeps, don’t forget these gigs.  These positions are not advertised through usajobs.gov and more importantly, these jobs do not/do not require senate confirmations.

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