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The Layalina Review

VOL. V NO. 4, January 30-February 12, 2009

Reshuffling at the State Department

In a conversation with Amy Harder of the Lost in Transition blog about the skills the next Under Secretary should have, outgoing Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy James Glassman reaffirmed his ideas about what the position entails.

"What I dread, what I'm really worried about, is appointing somebody who essentially sees his or her job as an image-maker. That would be a huge mistake." Glassman argued that his successor should have "an orientation toward national security, not an orientation toward public relations. That's an imperative." Glassman also criticized the delay in naming his successor, labeling it a "mistake."

Glassman did praise President Barack Obama for his interview screened on Al-Arabiya, saying his words were sure to "resonate" with the Arab world, though he did remind Harder that former President George W. Bush had also appeared on Al-Arabiya several times.

Nevertheless, Glassman characterized Obama as "the best public diplomat America has." He concluded by reaffirming, "his deeds – that is to say his policy…is a lot more [important] than the president doing interviews."

However, early indications show that public diplomacy might not assume the high priority that Glassman had envisaged. Carolyn O'Hara, writing for Foreign Policy, details an office space issue on the 7th floor of the State Department's Foggy Bottom headquarters.

O'Hara reports that Bill Burns, a career diplomat and the highest ranking Foreign Service Officer in the country, has been moved from his office closest to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, due to the arrival of the Secretary's two new deputies.

As a result, the offices of the Undersecretary of Public Diplomacy and the rest of the public diplomacy staff could be moved to "the far-from-coveted 6th floor – hardly a good message about the importance of public diplomacy." According to O'Hara, diplomats have responded with the cynical "oh, so THAT's how they're going to treat us."

However, O'Hara's claim of "bigger egos" in the State Department may be offset by reports that Clinton has agreed to "bury the hatchet" with Samantha Power, according to Matthew Lee at the Associated Press.

Power was the former Obama aide who was forced to resign after she called Clinton a "monster" while working to elect Barack Obama president. Reports suggest Power could be set to become senior director for multilateral affairs at the National Security Council, a job that would require close coordination with Clinton.

The reorganization of the State Department is also still being debated. Christopher Bronk's idea to create "an entity to engage in digital public diplomacy" within the State Department is supported by the Tech Daily Dose.

In an article for the Washington Times, Michael O'Hanlon calls for a modest increase in the State Department budget.

To correct what O'Hanlon sees as long-term "neglect" of the DoS budget, $7 billion a year of additional funding would be required. Of the $7 billion, an expansion of diplomatic capabilities costing $1 billion, and increased public diplomacy efforts costing $800 million could be achieved. This would increase total staff numbers of core diplomats and allow for additional training.

However, writing for Foreign Policy, Christian Brose warns that "pouring more money into the State Department and USAID as they are currently constituted will not create better outcomes."

Brose sees the securing of extra funding as "the easy part." But, "real change requires institutionalizing the thinking behind "smart power," which Brose argues "requires creating an entirely new set of assumptions and expectations about what life today as a diplomat will be (hint: more dangerous, more lonely, and less glamorous)."

Brose concludes that only "fundamentally [changing] the incentives structure" of the State Department will improve outcomes. For Brose, this means creating a structure where "Foreign Service officers who had served their time stamping visas in Botswana or someplace," can progress professionally.