He’s a former Chief of Staff to Obama and the former mayor of Chicago. From what I know about him, which granted isn’t a ton, he has zero experience in international diplomacy aside from whatever he might have seen second-hand as Chief of Staff.
True, it’s one of the most powerful positions in American government, but I guess I’m still a naive idealist when it comes to global diplomacy. I just really wish there was an expert on Japan in the job. East Asia is only getting more complicated for the US, and Rahm Emanuel is famous for his extreme temper and lack of poise in high pressure situations.
It’s been my observation that ambassadorships are often given out as rewards or for other domestic political purposes. The career foreign service people whose job it is to do the real work of diplomacy aren’t political appointees
He’s not ambassador to China. An ambassadorship to Japan is relatively low pressure, mostly revolving around organizing and attending social events.
American embassies are usually underfunded and ambassadors often have to pay for social events out-of-pocket, which is one reason why the job often goes to wealthy people.
There’s two types of ambassadors: for countries you have tense relationships with, you send the professional diplomats who are really good at negotiating for things without starting wars.
For countries who are friends and you aren’t going to have tough negotiations with them, you send somebody who has good connections to the president. The ambassador gets a cushy job for 4 years that’s basically a reward, and the foreign country gets the message that an ambassadorship there is treated as a reward for the president’s friends, which strengthens the relationship
He’s a former Chief of Staff to Obama and the former mayor of Chicago. From what I know about him, which granted isn’t a ton, he has zero experience in international diplomacy aside from whatever he might have seen second-hand as Chief of Staff.
TBF, chief of staff gives you a lot of experience in everything
True, it’s one of the most powerful positions in American government, but I guess I’m still a naive idealist when it comes to global diplomacy. I just really wish there was an expert on Japan in the job. East Asia is only getting more complicated for the US, and Rahm Emanuel is famous for his extreme temper and lack of poise in high pressure situations.
It’s been my observation that ambassadorships are often given out as rewards or for other domestic political purposes. The career foreign service people whose job it is to do the real work of diplomacy aren’t political appointees
Yikes. Being famous for not being able to operate under pressure doesn’t seem good for a job under which you have to deal with high pressure…
He’s not ambassador to China. An ambassadorship to Japan is relatively low pressure, mostly revolving around organizing and attending social events.
American embassies are usually underfunded and ambassadors often have to pay for social events out-of-pocket, which is one reason why the job often goes to wealthy people.
There’s two types of ambassadors: for countries you have tense relationships with, you send the professional diplomats who are really good at negotiating for things without starting wars.
For countries who are friends and you aren’t going to have tough negotiations with them, you send somebody who has good connections to the president. The ambassador gets a cushy job for 4 years that’s basically a reward, and the foreign country gets the message that an ambassadorship there is treated as a reward for the president’s friends, which strengthens the relationship
He was recently interviewed by Steven Dubner on Freakanomics. He said he was offered the choice of China or Japan and that he chose Japan.