The Foreign Service Journal, May 2022

AFSA NEWS 64 MAY 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Book Notes American Ambassadors On Feb. 17, Ambassador (ret.) Dennis Jett joined AFSAPresi- dent Eric Rubin for a virtual discussion about the updated and revised edition of Jett’s book, American Ambassadors: AGuide for Aspiring Diplomats and Foreign Service Officers (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) . The U.S. Constitution does not provide clear parameters regarding how ambassadors are to be appointed, Jett pointed out, beyond Article II’s statement that “the president shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint [them].” During the 20th century, this ambiguity led to what Jett calls “the 70-30 era,” the tradi- tion of allocating 70 percent of ambassadorships to career diplomats and 30 percent to political appointee ambas- sadors. “The problem I have with the American system is how it monetizes representation,” he says. “And we’re unique in the world for having an open market on political appoin- tees who buy their way to an ambassadorship. People com- ing in from the outside have no significant experience in international affairs.” In Jett’s view, the practice of naming political appoin- tees to key posts purely as a reward for supporting the president is detrimental to America’s standing in the world. “The essence of soft power is good diplomacy,” he observes. “And if you debilitate that, when you’re confronted with a challenge your only options are [to] ignore it or to use your hard power: economic sanctions or sending in the Marines.” He argues that money has thoroughly corrupted the political process. Because of the proliferation of “bundlers,” political fundraisers who col- lect contributions from donors on behalf of a presidential campaign,“elections have become a $6.6 billion industry and it will be hard to change that,”Jett says. But he hopes insisting on transparency, candidate qualifications and accountability can improve the performance of political ambassadors. He also believes the Office of the Inspector General should measure the perfor- mance of every ambassador annually: “The job of IG is to root out waste, fraud and mismanagement, but those priorities are backward. I care if the ambassador is managing the embassy well.” Dennis Jett is a founding faculty member of the Penn State School of International Affairs. During his 28-year For- eign Service career, he served as ambassador to Mozam- bique and Peru and worked in Argentina, Israel, Malawi and Liberia. View the complete book talk at youtube.com/ AFSAtube. n Ambassador (ret.) Dennis Jett. AFSA Speaks to Job Search/Transition Program On March 15, AFSA President Eric Rubin joined FSI’s Job Search/Transition Program participants virtually to discuss what the association offers Foreign Service mem- bers as they transition into the next phase of their profes- sional and personal lives. After thanking the class members for their years of service, Amb. Rubin high- lighted AFSA’s ongoing work to advocate for current and retired FSOs. By remaining a part of AFSA, he said, members stay connected to their unique community, support the asso- ciation’s advocacy work and ensure that their voices are heard across critical issues. They’ll also stay abreast of the diplomacy and develop- ment matters in which they’ve invested their careers. He reminded the class that they must take action to remain a member. Those approaching retirement should contact Member Ser- vices (member@afsa.org) to let AFSA know and to secure all the benefits of being an AFSAmember. The March 2022 JSTP class consisted of just over 100 participants: 83 percent from the State Department, 16 percent from USAID and 1 percent from the Foreign Commercial Service. The majority of those enrolled hail from the Foreign Service, with 19 percent from the Civil Service and 28 per- cent members of the Senior Foreign Service. n