The Foreign Service Journal, November 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2016 13 Foreign Policy Matters I n June, the Pew Research Center con- ducted a national survey to find out what issues have been most important to voters in this election season. Not surprisingly, the economy comes first. But 75 percent of the respondents said that foreign policy would be “very important” to their vote. This is a sig- nificant increase from the 2012 election, when just 60 percent said that foreign policy would influence the way they voted. In the 2016 race, both Democrats (73 percent) and Republicans (76 percent) regard foreign policy as a major consider- ation in their decision. —Gemma Dvorak, Associate Editor 220 Career Diplomats Sign Election Letter Opposing Trump A group of 75 retired senior Foreign Service officers, most of them former ambassadors, signed an open letter commenting on the presidential election, declaring that “None of us will vote for Donald J. Trump” and endorsing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. The letter, dated Sept. 21, was linked to a Sept. 22 Washington Post article by Karen DeYoung. In it, the diploma ts note: “We have proudly represented every president since Richard Nixon as ambassadors or senior State Depart- ment officials in Senate-confirmed posi- tions. We have served Republican and Democratic presidents with pride and enthusiasm.” Career diplomats serve whatever administration is in power and have a long tradition of nonpartisanship. They are also, while on active duty, subject to restrictions on political activity by the Hatch Act. So it is highly unusual when dozens sign their names to a political letter like this. Their explanation: “Very simply, this election is different from any election we can recall. One of the candidates—Donald J. Trump—is entirely unqualified to serve as president and commander-in-chief. He is ignorant of the complex nature of the challenges facing our country, from Russia to ISIS to nuclear proliferation to refugees to drugs, but he has expressed no interest in being educated.” This is the first time many of the signa- tories have publicly endorsed a candidate for president. The letter says that they are doing so “because the stakes in this elec- tion are so high.” The letter was one of a number of joint public statements signed by retired high- level government officials and military officers during this election cycle. Most of the letters and statements have focused on issues related to national security. The Trump campaign responded with a statement including the following: “How terribly weak and ineffective for a bunch of career overseas bureaucrats to send a letter or cable saying they want to keep things exactly as they are now, and they’re rallying around fellow insider Hillary Clinton. The world has become a more dangerous place on their watch, and they need to step up and own it.” As of Oct. 24, the group had created a website (https://ambsforclinton.word press.com/) , and the number of signato- ries had risen to 220—more than 120 of whom were appointed to their posts by Republican presidents. —Shawn Dorman, Editor Diplomats and Parking Tickets— A City’s Scourge I t seems that there is little any city can do to protect itself from diplomats who avoid paying parking fines and speeding tickets. In New York City, the total bill for parking tickets issued to diplomats at the United Nations was more than $16 million as of March 2016. This in spite of a drastic reduction in unpaid fines in 2002 after the city refused to re-register any car with a large outstanding debt. The worst offender among U.N. dip- lomats in New York is Egypt, with more than $2 million worth of fines, according to The Guardian . An even more serious problem than unpaid fines is diplomats who flout drunk-driving and dangerous driving laws abroad. In Ottawa, Canada, in January 2001, a senior Russian diplomat, Andrei Knyazev, lost control of his car on the way back from an ice-fishing party, killing one person and seriously injuring another. He couldn’t be prosecuted in Canada, but was eventually jailed in Russia. U.S. diplomats have also been involved in dangerous driving abroad, with inci- dents recorded in Lahore, Islamabad and Nairobi in the last five years. TALKING POINTS