The Foreign Service Journal, April 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2014 11 AFSA Chief-of-Mission Guidelines Sound a Note of Common Sense O n Feb. 25, when the issue of “pay-to-play” ambassadors was commanding media attention and stir- ring public discussion of the American tradition of appointing political ambas- sadors, AFSA unveiled a set of guide- lines for successful performance as a chief of mission. Much of the media coverage welcomed AFSA’s proposal as a common-sense solution. Please see AFSA News for the full text of the “Guidelines for Successful Performance as a Chief of Mission” and the background to this initiative (p. 45). Close scrutiny of ambassadorial nominees kicks into high gear every four years, at the beginning of each presidential term. In the spring of 2013, pundits and government watchers made some noises as President Barack Obama began naming the political ambassadors for his second term. Having tracked these nominations for a long time, AFSA stated its concerns about the rise in the number of political appointments throughout 2013. Public focus on the issue was set off by the Senate Foreign Relations Com- mittee’s Jan. 16 confirmation hearings for Colleen Bradley Bell and George Tsu- nis to be ambassadors to Hungary and Norway, respectively, followed by the Feb. 6 hearing for Noah Bryson Mamet to be ambassador to Argentina. During the hearings, the unusually blunt line of questioning from Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., brought significant media atten- tion to what many interpreted as bungled answers to fairly basic inquiries. As a result, some major media outlets started asking questions about these individuals’ qualifications. Noting that all three were major bundlers of campaign donations for the president, CNN called them “pay-to-play ambas- sadors.” The Washington Post suggested they were not qualified, and The PB S Newshour hosted a debate on the issue between former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns and Bard College Professor Walter Rus- sell Mead. Bloomberg’s Margaret Carlson was particularly harsh, calling the current crop of political nominees “scrapings from the bottom of the barrel.” On the “Daily Show,” Jon Stewart quipped: “Is there a rule that ambas- sadors can’t have set foot in the coun- try they’re going to? Would it ruin the surprise?” In February alone, AFSA found 1,136 articles on the subject, including cover- age from at least 31 foreign countries. The media in Norway and Hungary have been unusually attentive—hardly a surprise, given that two of the three most contro- versial nominees will reside in Oslo and Buda- pest should the Senate confirm them. After the official rollout of the AFSA Guidelines, Government Executive credited the association with seek- ing to raise the bar on nominees, while the Center for Public Integrity wondered what the qualifica- tions of a good ambassador might be. ABC’s “Good Morning America” fea- tured the topic on Feb. 26; and U.S. News & World Report spoke of AFSA’s efforts to “embarrass-proof” future nominees. On March 10, independent of the AFSA Guidelines initiative, 15 former AFSA presidents called on the U.S. Senate to oppose confirmation of the ambassadorial nominees to Hungary, Argentina and Norway. The group cited as their reason- ing that these nominees “appear to have been chosen on the basis of their service in raising money for electoral campaigns, with minimal demonstrated qualifications for their posts, [which] has subjected them to widespread public ridicule, not only in the U.S. but also abroad.” They added: “Their effectiveness as U.S. representatives therefore would be severely impaired from the start.” In addition, AFSA’s website—particu- TALKING POINTS Brian Aggeler’s image of the “pay-to-play” ambassador is reprinted from the November 2012 FSJ , where it illustrated a column by Dennis Jett, “Psst! Hey, Buddy, Wanna Buy an Ambassadorship?” Brian Aggelar