Insights on DOS / country team culture?

[Tom Odom]

Hey John,
I may have ever-so-slightly over exaggerated how inept a Charge could be
.

Not in the case you and I lived through....


Yep I am back....

Freed at last to post

Tom

[John T. Fishel]

As I said at the beginning of my post, I generally agree with Stan on Chargees. I thought it was, however, useful to point out that that some are quite good at taking charge. I admit that it's rare. Ran into one DCM (was Chargee while Amb was out of town) who was really afraid of his own shadow. the only good thing he did was to schedule an appointment for me with the AMB.

Back in the dark ages of the 1960s, when I was doing my doctoral research in Peru, my dissertation advisor who was in country on a research project (for the first year of my work) characterized the Amb, whom he knew, as someone who would never make an error of commission. This guy was a careeer FSO - probably had been a Chargee more than once...

Cheers

JohnT

[BronwenM]

I have not read this book but it seems to offer insights into the institution, politics and professionalism, section on Iraq DoS engagement, org chart.

Career Diplomacy: Life and Work in the U.S. Foreign Service
by Harry W. Kopp (Author), Charles A. Gillespie (Author) October 2008

Table of contents - http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1589...pt#reader-link

[Old Eagle]

Stan and I endured a coupla less than stellar Charges in Tallinn. I also know that Stan had issues with the Ambo, but I got along well (but then, I lived in Finland and commuted once or so a month.)

The main problem I had with career FSOs was that they were too beholden to the DoS bureaucracy -- "The desk doesn't think that's a good idea." For God's sake! A desk is an inanimate piece of furniture; I don't care what it thinks. Career guys always had one eye on follow-on assignments, so getting too full of themselves was not a great idea.

On the other hand, I had one politico who called the president's private secretary and scheduled an Oval Office visit that Main State had disapproved. Another called the Secretary of State AT HER HOME at 0500 to explain that her staff was misleading the leadership on a particular issue. Career FSOs aren't going to do that.

I also saw great FSOs who were out and about in adverse environments, acquiring ground truth and meeting with dissidents that would have been unaccessible otherwise.

So I guess the underlying lesson is that all generalizations are bad, even this one.

[John T. Fishel]

Of course, the politicos tend to remember that they are "the President's personal rep" and do not work for DOS or the SECSTATE. True for FSOs who resign to be amabassadors and then are reinstated but your point is well taken regarding the costs of going around former and future bosses.
OTOH, I knew a politico who thoght that because he was a Republican politician and had met Pres RR, he could ingnore DOS and rid roughshod over his FSO subordinates. He had a very short tenure as ambassador.

Cheers

JohnT

[Abu Jack]

At one time I was responsible for preparing military guys to work in embassies. Having also worked in an embassy, I thought this is the best thing that I have seen that lays out the differences in mind set.

www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ndu/dod_from_mars_state_from_venus.doc

[Tom Odom]

For anecdotal accounts I would offer my memoirs concerning life in around 6 dipomatic missions and inside two country teams, one disastrously dysfunctional and the other very well led. Journey into Darkness: Genocide in Rwanda reviewed on SWJ here

I would also point to Ambassador Robert Gribbin's work on Rwanda In the Aftermath of Genocide: The US Role in Rwanda

Another SWJ member's work is Contra Cross, which also offers insights on country teams. I reviewed it here

Best
Tom