Monthly Archives: June 2020

Amb. Charles Ray: How U.S. Border Agents Mistreat Black American Diplomats

June 30, 2020 By in Ambassadors, Foreign Service, FSOs, Realities of the FS, State Department Tags: , ,
From Ambassador Charles Ray, Former U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe and Cambodia
Via WIDA/Diplomatic Diary:
The young woman asked why I was coming to Hawaii. “I’m attending a conference,” I answered. More questions followed: Where was I coming from? What kind of work did I do? Where was I born? This interrogation, which was far from over, is familiar to many visitors to the United States going through immigration every day.
This border agent at the Honolulu airport, however, was firing a barrage of questions at an American citizen holding a diplomatic passport with the notation, “The bearer of this passport is the U.S. ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia.” I had been a Foreign Service officer since 1982, and as an African-American, mistreatment by border agents was no novelty to me. Although I was welcomed home on many occasions, I also encountered disrespect and rudeness much too often. Still, I was completely unprepared for what came next in my interaction with the young woman in Hawaii. As she proceeded to stamp my passport, I inquired politely why she had asked so many questions whose answers she could see in the passport. “I just wanted to make sure you spoke English,” she said suspiciously and sent me on my way. No apology. No “Welcome home,” either.
Read in full here.

 

 

US Embassy Sofia: What’s Happening in Bulgaria?

June 30, 2020 By in Ambassadors, Foreign Service, Media, Social Media, U.S. Missions Tags: , ,
Via Embassy Sofia/FB:
The challenge is on! Ambassador Mustafa and her diplomat band perform a favorite Bulgarian song, and challenge 3 Bulgarian musicians to respond. Who got the challenge? What’s the song? Will the challenge be accepted? Find out in our video!

For Sale: U.S. Ambassador’s Residence in Tel Aviv For $87 Million

June 30, 2020 By in Ambassadors, Foreign Service, Functional Bureaus, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , ,

 

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Foreign Service Posts Celebrate #PrideMonth #LGBTI #HappyPride2020

June 29, 2020 By in Foreign Service, Holidays and Celebrations, Org Culture, Org Life, U.S. Missions Tags: , , ,

 

US Embassy Beirut: Lebanese Judge Bans Media Orgs From Interviewing/Hosting Amb Dorothy Shea

June 29, 2020 By in Ambassadors, Foreign Service, FSOs, Media, Spectacular, U.S. Missions Tags: , , ,

 

Who Knew What When: Reports on Russian Bounties on U.S. Troops in Afghanistan #SpeakUp

June 29, 2020 By in Americans Abroad, Defense Department, Mike Pompeo, Realities of the FS, State Department, Trump, U.S. Missions, US Embassy Kabul, War Tags: , , , , ,

 

U.S. Consulate Nuuk Reopens With Sung Choi as First Consul in Greenland Since 1953

June 26, 2020 By in EUR|Europe, FSOs, Principal Officers, Realities of the FS, Staffing the FS, State Department, Trends, Trump, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , ,
On June 10, 2020, the U.S. Consulate in Nuuk, Greenland reopened for the first time since 1953. Via US Embassy Copenhagen:
Sung W. Choi, Consul
U.S. Consulate, Nuuk, Greenland
Sung Choi is the State Department’s first Consul in Nuuk since 1953.  He previously served at the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen focused on Greenland-related matters and Danish domestic politics, beginning 2018.  Sung served 2014-2017 in Seoul, South Korea, as the State Department’s primary analyst of political and economic developments in North Korea and on inter-Korean relations; 2010-2012 as a China Desk Officer focused on human rights and Sino-European relations; and 2009 in Shenyang, China as a Vice Consul.  He has received the State Department’s Award for Heroism.
Sung earned an A.B. from Dartmouth College, a M.P.H. from Columbia University, and a J.D. from William & Mary School of Law.  He worked as a corporate lawyer in New York prior to joining the State Department.  Sung is married to Sarah Stephens, and they have two daughters.

 

State/AF PDAS Geeta Pasi to be U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia

June 23, 2020 By in AF |Africa, Ambassadors, FSOs, Nominations, Officially In Tags: , , , ,
The WH released the following brief bio:
Geeta Pasi, of New York, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
Ms. Pasi, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Career Minister, is Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs at the Department of State.  She previously served as United States Ambassador to Chad and as United States Ambassador to Djibouti.
Ms. Pasi also served as Director of Career Development and Assignments for the State Department, Director of the Department’s Office of East African Affairs, Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Deputy Principal Officer at the United States Consulate General in Frankfurt, Germany.  Her other past assignments include Afghanistan Desk Officer in the Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh Affairs, Political Officer at the United States Embassy in New Delhi, India, and Political Officer at the United States Embassy in Accra, Ghana.
Ms. Pasi earned her B.A. from Duke University and her M.A. from New York University.  She has won numerous Department of State performance awards, including the Matilde W. Sinclaire Language Award.  She speaks French, German, Hindi, Romanian, and Russian.

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State/WHA DAS Cynthia Kierscht to be U.S. Ambassador to Mauritania

June 23, 2020 By in FSOs, Nominations, Officially In, Trump, WHA|Western Hemisphere Tags: , , , ,
The WH released the following brief bio:
Cynthia Kierscht, of Minnesota, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
Ms. Kierscht, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Counselor, currently serves as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.  Prior to that, she was the Director and Deputy Director of the Office of Canadian Affairs for the State Department.
Overseas, Ms. Kierscht served at the United States Embassies in Bogota, Colombia, Rabat, Morocco, and Cairo, Egypt, in the United States Consulate in Marseille, France, and at the United States Interests Section in Tripoli, Libya.  Among her other assignments at the State Department, Ms. Kierscht worked in the Executive Secretariat and the Operations Center, in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, and in the Bureau of Counterterrorism.
Ms. Kierscht earned her B.A. from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota and her M.P.P. from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.  She speaks Arabic, French, and Spanish.

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