The Foreign Service Journal, June 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2021 19 SPEAKING OUT The Case Against Political Ambassadors BY EDWARD L . PECK Edward L. Peck, a Foreign Service officer from 1956 to 1989, served as chief of mission in Mauritania and Iraq. Other overseas assignments included Sweden, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt. On retirement, Ambassador Peck served as executive secretary of the American Academy of Diplomacy, where for three years he prepared assessments of the qualifications of noncareer nominees for ambassadorships using the background materials nominees sent to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which shared those materials with the academy. More recently, he has traveled the world on cruise ships giving lectures on topics such as “Thinking About Our World” and “Repre- senting a Superpower—What American Ambassadors Do, andWhyThey Should Be Professionals.” T he United States is the only developed nation clinging to a discredited practice of send- ing large numbers of novice ambassadors—chosen for their political donations or because of who rather than what they know. The following criticism of that concept should not in any way be read as ignoring or denigrating the character, achievements or abilities of political ambassadors—that is not the issue. Most countries no longer sell military rank, having learned that commanders tend to do better if they know the work. The same principle obviously applies to ambassadors; yet America ignores this otherwise universal truth. Lack of training and background in the complicated processes of advancing America’s interests abroad is nothing to be ashamed of, but it clearly disqualifies anyone for an ambassadorship. Want ads all show why. Except at the entry level, every job has one essential requirement: experience. At managerial levels, the fixed prerequisite to qualify is extensive, job-related experience. The rationale is clear: You must know the work yourself if, as ambassadors must, you are going to direct others who are doing it. The vast reach of our international concerns, amplified by instant communi- cations, has made ambassadors far more important—not less—than ever before, even if many Americans do not fully comprehend what the job entails. We have significant interests and objectives in virtually every country, including supporting and protecting Americans; political and economic developments; human rights and democratization; trade promotion; military and economic assistance; nar- cotics; science and technology; environ- ment; visas, refugees and immigration; internal stability; regional cooperation and multilateral affairs; intelligence; and the major management issues of staffing, budget and security for U.S. missions overseas. By law and by presidential directive, ambassadors are required to direct and To expect a nonprofessional to deal with all this is to fail to understand what “professional” means. coordinate the activities of every Ameri- can agency present in the country where they are serving. To do so effectively, they must have sufficient experience to super- vise and support all the agencies in car- rying out their responsibilities promptly, properly and efficiently. This requires a solid grounding in the highly complicated processes by which foreign policies are formulated in Wash- ington, as well as detailed knowledge and understanding of the mandates and objectives of the many agencies involved in implementation. To expect a nonprofessional to deal with all this is to fail to understand what “professional” means. Organizations spend months training people to serve capably at the bottom of an organization chart, decades for service at the middle and upper levels. Outsiders cannot pos- sibly serve effectively at the top, despite their abilities or desire; an apprentice ambassador is just that, and most issues will be handled by those who are familiar with the work. To understand, visualize an absolute beginner attempting to run a newspa- per, a machine shop, a payroll unit, an architectural firm or the organization where you are employed. It simply will not work. He or she may have a high level of intelligence and energy and accom- plishments in other fields, but all of it is