The Foreign Service Journal, September 2014

12 SEPTEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Where Is Our Ambassador? A FSAmembers are very familiar with the frustrating Senate logjam that has held up career Foreign Service members’ ambassadorial nominations for more than a year in some cases. The problem has been well documented in the pages of The Foreign Service Journal and on AFSA’s website. One new twist in the story is that for- eign media have started paying attention, particularly news outlets in countries where there has not been an ambassador for as many as 20 months. A slew of articles have come out this summer, complaining loudly about the absence of a Senate-confirmed U.S. ambassador. Many have wondered out loud whether the absence means the U.S. is not concerned with its bilateral rela- tions with that country—i.e., “Country X doesn’t really matter, so there is no rush to nominate a new ambassador.” The Irish have been the most indig- nant, and for good reason. Ambassador TALKING POINTS Dan Rooney left Dublin in December 2012, and his replacement—political appointee Kevin O’Malley—was not nominated until June 5 of this year. With the foot-dragging going on in Congress now, he may not show up in Ireland until November or December, meaning that the U.S. embassy will have been without an ambassador for two whole years. Both the Irish Times and the website Irish Central have been vocal about their displeasure with this unusual gap in representation. Irish media are not alone. The Tico Times, a Costa Rican newspaper, has w rit- ten articles speculating about when the Obama administration would nominate a new ambassador; campaign bundler S. Fitzgerald Haney was finally nomi- nated to the post on July 9. And the Jamaica Gleaner has onmore than one occasionwonderedwhy it has taken so long to replace Ambassador Pamela Bridgewater. Her successor was nominated in September 2013, but as of this writing he is still awaiting confirmation. Media in Russia, Egypt and Romania have also raised questions about the unusually long wait for new ambassa- dors. In the case of Romania, the previ- ous incumbent departed Bucharest in December 2012 and, as of this writing, no nominee has been put forward. An interesting exception here has been media in Norway, where there seems to be little enthusiasm for confir- mation of the nominee for Oslo, cam- paign bundler George Tsunis. AFSA will continue to pay close attention to ambassadorial nomina- tions. Please see this month’s AFSA News section (p. 55) for a chart showing how many ambassadorial nominees await confirmation and how long they have been waiting. — Julian Steiner, AFSA Staff Ferguson: Through a Foreign Lens “N ope, this is not Egypt or Turkey. This is in the USA.”That was the comment, with a picture from Ferguson, “A former director of the American Foreign Service Association (1957-1959) is going to Norway as ambassador. Margaret Joy Tibbetts, only 44, does not pretend to be stunned by the news. She doesn’t imagine that the idea never even popped into her head, but says with engaging direct- ness, “Of course I thought of it! Isn’t being an ambassador the aim and the hope of every Foreign Service officer?” She does not profess to be an expert on Norwegian geography, but she has visited the country twice. As a tourist, she took, in 1951, a cruise from Oslo northward. Since most of the bigger Norwe- gian towns are situated on the sea, she got a rather comprehensive view of urban life, to say nothing of the rugged 2,110-mile coastline. Her next visit, in 1958, was a business trip. On the subject of language, Miss Tibbett is not going to relax just because so many Norwegians know English. “Not knowing the language of a country means you don’t understand what’s going on around you, and that’s a distressing state of affairs.” She has already plunged into the study of Norwegian and, having spent several hours a day with instructors and alone, believes she has made good progress. In all likelihood the Norwegians will call her “Madame Ambassador”—the title they gave to an earlier ambassador, Miss Frances Willis. —From“Washington Letter” by Loren Carroll; FSJ , September 1964. 50 Years Ago