A good move by Rice with State
Thursday, January 19, 2006 at 4:43PM ARTICLE: "Diplomats Will Be Shifted to Hot Spots: Rice Also Plans to Elevate USAID Chief," by Glenn Kessler and Bradley Graham, Washington Post, 19 January 2006, p. A1.
Hundreds of diplomats shifted from Europe and DC to the Middle East, Asia, and Gap locations galore, as Rice goes for her own brand of "transformation," picking up that word just as the term falls out of favor (OBE) in the Pentagon. You want different leaders, you make them climb different ladders, which now seem to run through the Gap more and more for foreign service officials.
"The greatest threats now emerge more within states than between them," she says.
Hmmm, a familiar line.
"The fundamental character of regimes now matters more than the international distribution of power."
Now THAT is a bold and original statement! One that separates Rice from the neocon structuralist view of the world.
"As part of the change in priorities, Rice announced that diplomats will not be promoted into the senior ranks unless they accept assignments in dangerous posts"--read, the GAP!
So the State Department, which has as many diplomats in smaller core states like Germany as it does in huge New Core states like India, is shifting jobs.
Rice also elevates the new USAID boss to the equivalent of deputy secretary of state, which is a number 2 rank--another bold step.
The talk of "rock star" is cool, but pointless. The photo ops and oohing and aaahing by the press abroad is cute, but pointless.
These changes have a point, and Rice is to be congratulated on that.
Reader Comments (4)
Remember, Tom, that I told you, several weeks ago, that Condi was a closet fan of yours. Warren Roche, Topanga, CA
Glad to see you writing about Secretary Rice's speech at Georgetown. I watched that event live on C-SPAN, and was amazed by what seemed to be Tom Barnetts words leaping from Condis lips. I would say she has read the books. I see more and more evidence that plenty of folks in Washington (political and military) have been reading PNM and BFA, and are applying the concepts to far reaching policy decisions. At the very least the books have provided a new framework for contextualizing world events.
Rice's success as Sec of State shows how wrong the pundits-and Tom-can be. She was roasted for doing a bad job as NSC advisor, and predictions were that she couldn't handle State. So far, outstanding!
And everyone was right to slam her for her horrendous role as NSC advisor. She is easily most responsible for Iraq the postwar, and she'll live with that in history.
That doesn't mean she can't be a good SECSTATE. But she has to move beyond the atmospherics of being a rock star and make some real things happen. The best news is, as we long knew, Bush really trusts her. Watching State go very carefully on the Iran sanctions is heartening. Rice has the chance to repair much during these three "quiet" years--include her status in history.