Category Archives: Diplomacy

DACOR Bacon House Foundation Announces 2019-2020 Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship Awards

December 23, 2019 By in Awards, Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Service, FS Groups Tags: , , , , , ,

 

On December 20, 2019, the DACOR Bacon House Foundation, a 1700-member association of foreign affairs professionals based in Washington D.C. announced the 2019 graduate and undergraduate scholarship awards. Foundation President Paul Denig’s announcement includes over$110,000 in graduate fellowships and over $95,000 in undergraduate scholarships as part of its annual education awards program. “The awards will benefit students currently enrolled or soon to enroll in graduate and undergraduate degree programs at 28 colleges and universities throughout the nation.”
The eleven 2019 recipients of the $10,000 DBHF Graduate Fellowships for the Study of International Affairs are currently enrolled in the second year of their master’s degree programs:
  • Samuel Ginty at The Fletcher School at Tufts University
  • Tamara Glazer at The Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago
  • McKenzie Horwitz at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies
  • Hunter Hilinski at Colorado State University
  • Caitlin Keliher at the Kennedy School at Harvard University
  • Emma Myers at NewYork University
  • Emmett Orts at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies
  • MatthewR. Quan at the University of Southern California
  • JoAnna Saunders at American University’s School of International Service
  • Elizabeth Wright at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs
  • Anelise Zimmer at YaleUniversity
The Gantenbein Medical Fund Fellowship, a combined award of $30,000 ($25,000 tuition and $5,000 stipend) was awarded to Samuel Ficenec for the 2019-2020 academic year at Tulane University School of Medicine.
Recipients of the $6,000 DBHF Metro Scholarships to encourage the study of foreign affairs are currently enrolled at five universities. They are:
  • Sagar Sharma at George Mason University;
  • Virgil Parker at Howard University;
  • Christine Harris at ShawUniversity;
  • Efrata Wodaje at Trinity Washington University
  • Maya Montgomery at the University of Maryland
The Louis G. Dreyfus Scholarships for dependents of U.S. Foreign Service Officers at Yale University, the Foundation awarded a total of $35,000 to the following Yale students:
  • Adoma Addo
  • Alex Hoganson
  • Sophie Kane
  • Christian Lewis
The Foundation also awarded a $5,000 dependents scholarship to Emily Heimer, a student at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT.
In addition, the Foundation provides $40,000 each year through the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) Scholarship Program to children of AFSA members whose parents are or were Foreign Service employees.
DACOR is “a private non-profit membership-based organization for foreign affairs professionals, fostering open, informed, and non-partisan dialogue about current foreign policy issues, and supporting the Foreign Service community through fellowship and outreach.” Through its philanthropic arm, the DACOR Bacon House Foundation, DACOR serves as the steward of the historic mansion (also known as the Ringgold–Carroll House and John Marshall House) located at 1801 F Street, NW, Washington D.C. The Foundation annually awards $250,000 in scholarships and fellowships to students pursuing careers in diplomacy, development and international relations.
Click here to read more about DACOR. To read more about their scholarship awards, click here.
Advertisements

The Sad Swagger of Mike Pompeo (Button Format)

October 29, 2019 By in Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs, Leadership and Management, Mike Pompeo, Pompeo, Realities of the FS, Secretary of State, State Department, Trends Tags: , ,

 

A selection of online comments about the “artifact” of international embarrassment that may soon join other actual diplomatic artifacts at the U.S. Diplomacy Center.
“This is so sad.”
“At least they’re not spending money on graphic design”
“That is a crappy use for a public affairs budget.”
“stupid buttons.”
“I will take substance over swagger any day.”
“It was once a noble calling.”
“The background text… I just can’t. “coolness” “cool vibe””
“Sweet mercy this is embarrassing”
“Cheesy. Trying to play the kids for suckers.”
“I love how my taxpayer dollars are spent”
“cool vibe. Swagger. CRINGE!!! This is so bad. Incredibly out of touch with reality.”
“And just makes it more pathetic. If you have swagger, do you need a button telling everyone?”

 

Pompeo Announces to the Universe: “We’re leading from the front … We’re leading from the front …We’re leading from the front …

October 16, 2019 By in Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Mike Pompeo, Pompeo, Realities of the FS, Secretary of State, Spectacular, State Department, Trends, Trump, U.S. Missions Tags: ,

 

 

Miles With Mike This Week: Level Three Orange Alert, and Nothing Remotely Good

October 7, 2019 By in Chaos, Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs, Hall of Shame, Impeachment Inquiry, Mike Pompeo, Realities of the FS, Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State, Spectacular, State Department, Trends, Trump, U.S. Missions, Ukraine Tags: , ,

 

Read: Text Msgs From Ambassadors Volker, Sondland, Taylor, and Others on #UkraineNightmare

October 4, 2019 By in Ambassadors, chargé d’affaires, Diplomacy, EUR|Europe, Foreign Assistance, Foreign Service, FSOs, Hall of Shame, Hotspots, Impeachment Inquiry, Mike Pompeo, Political Appointees, Pompeo, Realities of the FS, Secretary of State, Special Envoys and Reps, Spectacular, State Department, Top Ranks, Trends, Trump, U.S. Missions, US Presidents Tags: , , , , , ,

 

 

WaPo Editorial Board: Pompeo is enabling the destruction of U.S. diplomacy

October 4, 2019 By in Courage, Diplomacy, Diplomatic Life, Elections, Foreign Service, FSOs, Hall of Shame, Impeachment, Media, Pompeo, Realities of the FS, Secretary of State, State Department, Trump Tags: , , , ,

 

Via WaPo Editorial Board:

Mr. Pompeo listened on July 25 while Mr. Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate that theory as well as the false story that Mr. Biden sought the removal of a Ukrainian prosecutor to protect his son. He listened while Mr. Trump slandered the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch — a dedicated Foreign Service professional — whose tour in Kiev Mr. Pompeo had cut short.
[…]
Mr. Pompeo’s claim that the conversation was “in the context” of long-standing U.S. policy is demonstrably false.

So, too, was Mr. Pompeo’s assertion that a request by House committees for depositions from Ms. Yovanovitch and other State Department officials was improper. Mr. Pompeo claimed the committees had not followed proper procedure or given the officials enough time to prepare. He insisted that State Department lawyers must be present at all depositions to prevent the disclosure of “privileged information.” The House committee chairmen correctly interpreted this bluster: Mr. Pompeo, they said, was “intimidating Department witnesses in order to protect himself and the President.”

Fortunately, one of those witnesses, former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt D. Volker, is due to testify on Thursday, and Ms. Yovanovitch has reportedly been scheduled for next week. They and other State Department professionals should not hesitate to tell Congress the truth about how Mr. Pompeo enabled the destruction of U.S. diplomacy.

Give this guy the “One Team” Award!

@StateDept to Launch ‘Heroes of U.S. Diplomacy’ Initiative – Friday, September 13, HST

September 13, 2019 By in Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Service, Mike Pompeo, Pompeo, Secretary of State, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , ,

 

Via state.gov:

The Heroes of U.S. Diplomacy initiative will launch at U.S. Department of State in the Harry S. Truman Building in Washington, D.C. on Friday, September 13, 2019. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo will kick-off the event, and the Director of the Foreign Service Institute Ambassador Daniel B. Smith will serve as Master of Ceremonies. The inaugural event features the first “Hero” Elizabeth “Lizzie” Slater in conversation with Director General Ambassador Carol Z. Perez. Lizzie will discuss her actions following the embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi in 1998 as she helped re-build the communications systems for both embassies, as well as the professional values she modeled throughout her career. Read more below.

The Heroes of U.S. Diplomacy initiative will run through 2020.  This initiative highlights the stories of modern-day “Heroes Among Us,” alongside heroic figures from our Department’s rich history.  These individuals displayed sound policy judgment, as well as intellectual, moral and/or physical courage while advancing the Department of State’s mission, thereby elevating U.S. diplomacy.

More about this initiative:

This initiative highlights the stories of modern-day “Heroes Among Us,” alongside heroes from our Department’s rich history. These heroes have displayed sound policy judgment, as well as intellectual, moral and physical courage while advancing the Department of State’s mission, or elevating U.S. diplomacy.

With support from the Una Chapman Cox Foundation, this initiative will include Department of State remarks and panel discussions, programming around the country, and other videos, podcasts, reading lists, and exhibits to tell these Heroes’ stories. New Heroes are announced on a semi-monthly basis. Learn about our first Hero here.

It is our hope that the Heroes of U.S. Diplomacy initiative will raise awareness about diplomacy as an instrument to advance the interests of the American people at home and around the world. This initiative will also educate current and future Department of State employees about the shared history for all foreign affairs professionals.

The Heroes of U.S. Diplomacy Steering Committee, comprised of senior Department officials, established the eligibility and criteria befitting of the Hero designation. Nominees must be affiliated with the Department of State as current or former Civil Servants, Foreign Service Generalists or Specialists, non-career appointees, Eligible Family Members, or Locally Employed Staff. To allow for historic perspective, the actions and accomplishments for which they are being recognized must have occurred at least five years prior to their nomination.

For updates and continual coverage, visit www.state.gov/HeroesofUSDiplomacy/ . You may also follow the hashtag #HeroesofUSDiplomacy on social media. For general inquiries, send message to HeroesOfDiplomacy@state.gov.

 

American Academy of Diplomacy’s Sisco Memorial Forum: “Why Diplomats Need to Accept More Risk,” Friday, Sept 13

September 12, 2019 By in Ambassadors, Congress, Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Service, FSOs, Realities of the FS, State Department, Trends, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , ,

 

On Friday, September 13, the American Academy of Diplomacy (AAD) and Foreign Policy for America (FPA) will convene two similar discussions with four former U.S. ambassadors on how critically important it is for diplomacy that diplomats posted overseas are empowered to take a certain amount of risk. The forum is part of AAD’s Joseph J. Sisco Memorial Forum. “Joseph J. Sisco was the Chairman of the American Academy of Diplomacy from 1999-2004. When he passed away in the fall of 2004, he requested that gifts in his honor be made to the Academy. The Academy decided that the best use of the generous donations made by his friends and family was to stimulate public discussion on the foreign policy themes to which Dr. Sisco dedicated his career.”
This two-part event is free and open to the general public. The following former diplomats will be at the Forum:
Ambassador Anne Patterson, former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and North African Affairs, and former Ambassador to El Salvador, Colombia, Pakistan, Egypt, and the United Nations
Ambassador Charles Ray, former Ambassador to Cambodia and Zimbabwe,
Ambassador Richard Olson, former U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and former Ambassador to Pakistan, and United Arab Emirates
Ambassador Ronald Neumann, former Ambassador to Algeria, Bahrain and Afghanistan.

 

Part I
SENATE BRIEFING
Friday, September 13, 2019
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Dirksen 124

Coffee and light refreshments will be served.
RSVP FOR SENATE BRIEFING 

Part II
HOUSE BRIEFING
Friday, September 2019
12:30 pm – 2:15 pm
Rayburn 2075

Lunch will be served at 12:30 pm
Panel discussion at 1:15 pm – 2:15 pm

Sponsored by:
Rep. Gil Cisneros and Rep. Michael Waltz
RSVP FOR HOUSE BRIEFING

#

Elizabeth Warren’s Plan For Rebuilding the State Department

June 30, 2019 By in Diplomacy, Foreign Service, Political Appointees, Politics, Staffing the FS, State Department Tags: , ,

Help Fund the Blog | Diplopundit 2019 — 60-Day Campaign from June 5, 2019 – August 5, 2019

______________________________________

 

 

Click on image to see Warren's plan

Click on image to see Warren’s plan

#

Pompeo: “I wanted, too, to reaffirm the value of diplomatic expertise” … #batsignal

June 17, 2019 By in Diplomacy, Foreign Service, FSI, Huh? News, Mike Pompeo, Political Appointees, Realities of the FS, Secretary of State, Staffing the FS, State Department, Trends Tags: , ,

Help Fund the Blog | Diplopundit 2019 — 60-Day Campaign from June 5, 2019 – August 5, 2019

______________________________________

 

“I wanted, too, to reaffirm the value of diplomatic expertise. So at my recommendation, President Trump and the Senate recognized four individuals Career Ambassadors: David Hale, Phil Goldberg, Michele Sison, and Dan Smith, who is now running FSI. The rest of our team now knows these are senior leaders that they can truly look up to.” – Secretary Mike Pompeo

Remarks at the Department of State Foreign Affairs Day

The class of Career Ambassador was first established by an Act of Congress on Aug 5, 1955, as an amendment to the Foreign Service act of 1946 (P.L. 84-250; 69 Stat. 537). Under the 1980 Foreign Service Act (P.L. 96-465; 94 Stat. 2084), which repealed the 1946 Act as amended, the President is empowered with the advice and consent of the Senate to confer the personal rank of Career Ambassador upon a career member of the Senior Foreign Service in recognition of especially distinguished service over a sustained period. It is the equivalent of Four-star rank (O-10) in the military.

Ambassador David Hale , former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, Lebanon and Jordan is Under Secretary for Political Affairs. He is the highest ranking career appointee in the State Department.  He reports directly to the Deputy Secretary of State and the Secretary of State.

[Holy guacamole, why is the State Department’s biographies of senior officials alphabetized by first names?]

Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg previously U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines, Bolivia, and Chief of Mission in Kosovo, and most recently, Cuba, was also a former Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research (INR). He is now Resident Senior Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.  Until these four nominations, there was Ambassador Steve Mull, the one remaining career ambassador in active service in mid 2018 prior to being brought back briefly as Acting P before his retirement. By coincidence, Ambassador Goldberg is now a Resident Senior Fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Ambassador Mull’s assignment shortly before his brief appointment as Acting P and retirement.

Ambassador Michele Sison was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to Haiti on February 12, 2018. She previously served as U.S. Deputy Representative to the United Nations (2014-2018), U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives (2012-2014), U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon (2008-2010), and U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (2004-2008).

Ambassador Daniel B. Smith, previously Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research (INR) and former U.S. Ambassador to Greece is now the Director of the Foreign Service Institute.  They gave him a nice title of “Chief Learning Officer for the Department of State and the federal foreign affairs community.” According to the FAM, the Director of FSI is equivalent in rank to an Assistant Secretary and serves as the Department’s Chief Training Officer.  This is not a Senate confirmed position. FSI is one of 14 bureaus and offices under the Under Secretary for Management umbrella. Ambassador Smith does not report directly to the Secretary of State.  One could argue that training is crucial and that this assignment is similar to United States Army Training and Doctrine Command which is headed by one of the Army’s twelve four-star generals. Okay. Fine. Except that TRADOC is one of the four Army Commands, and  oversees 32 Army schools organized under eight Centers of Excellence, each focused on a separate area of expertise within the Army (such as Maneuver and Signal). These centers train over 500,000 soldiers and service members each year. The Foreign Service on the other hand has 13,770 officers and specialists. Even if FSI trains all Foreign Service, Civil Service (10,023), EFMs (2,302) and local staff (51,148) every year (it doesn’t), the number of trainees would only amount to 77,243 (PDF). 

Of the four career ambassadors, one is in Foggy Bottom, one handles training (away from Foggy Bottom), one is a resident fellow at a university (away from Foggy Bottom), and one is overseas (away from Foggy Bottom). Perhaps, that’s where they all want to be?

We’re also curious — how many career diplomats have been appointed to lead the geographic bureaus or the functional bureaus of the State Department?

According to AFSA, among senior official appointments in the State Department, only 5 or 9.1% appointees are career folks. Political appointees make up 90.9% or 50 appointments in real numbers.

Of the 151 ambassador appointments, 80 or 53.0% are career appointees, and 71 or 47.0% are political appointees.

Holy swagger guacamole! Is this what reaffirmation of diplomatic expertise looks like?

#