Changes in the Foreign Service essays

Changes in the Foreign Service essays Since February 8, President Clinton has appointed nine foreign ambassadors. The countries included in these appointments are Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, Australia, Bangladesh, Poland, Kyrgz Republic, Mongolia, and Laos. These individuals have degrees from Yale, Harvard, the University of Alaska, Emory, George Washington University and several others (U.S. Newswire). In some cases, these individuals can speak as many as five different languages. There seems to be a very real public perception that ambassador's role in other countries is more ceremonial than a reflection of America's foreign objectives. The perception is that this group of individuals and their appointments are a remnant of the Jacksonian spoils system. On February 10, Clinton made a statement on embassy security initiatives and increasing their funding. Not only a simple increase, but a doubling of the federal funding of embassies abroad. More than $1.1 billion will be included in the 2001 budget to reduce further loss of life from terrorist attacks on our overseas diplomatic missions. Over $200 million will go into actual security measures (perimeter barriers, alarms, etc.) to defend these individuals from those individuals who desire no intervention from the United States. One might ask if all these measures are necessary to view ourselves as a humanitarian superpower. If terrorists attack an American embassy, there is a greater message to be heard. Foreign policy and the ambassador system represent an agreement between the host country and the United States. The host is just as responsible for insuring the security of our diplomats as we are, but if there is no cooperation then there is no diplomacy. Terrorist acts upo n United States embassies could be viewed as a growing animosity towards our interventionist style and now there are nine new targets. In the Rosati text, there is an essay on the "tradition of 'political ...