![]() All such positions are being filled on a temporary basis by bureaucrats who are afraid to make any decisions that will run afoul of their political masters. Meanwhile, the administration is trying to come up with a policy toward Afghanistan without an assistant secretary of state for South Asia, a policy toward Iraq and Syria without an assistant secretary of state for the Near East, a policy toward Venezuela without an assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, and so on. government is facing a nuclear crisis in North Korea without an under secretary of state for arms control and international security, an assistant secretary of state for East Asia, or an ambassador in Seoul. But Tillerson’s refusal to fill senior jobs means that the U.S. Granted, the State Department, like every bureaucracy, could use some pruning. ![]() To make matters even worse, he is refusing to fill important positions because, he claims, he is waiting to receive the results of a comprehensive management review. His failure to fight for his department has had predictably demoralizing effects. Tillerson has acquiesced in demands from the Office of Management and Budget to cut the State Department and foreign aid budget by roughly 30 percent for fiscal year 2018, and has already imposed a hiring freeze. ![]() His track record thus far suggests otherwise. You would think that as the former CEO of a giant oil company, he would know how to run an organization like the State Department. What is more surprising - shocking even - is that Tillerson has proven to be such an inept manager. All this is of a piece with the amoral approach to foreign policy pursued by this administration. Or his willingness to sell weapons to Bahrain in spite of its human rights violations. Or to see his refusal to personally unveil the State Department’s human rights report. So, too, it is no shock - if still a disappointment - to see Tillerson’s proposal to scrub democracy promotion from the State Department’s mission statement. But coming from a secretary of state with long-standing links to the strongman in the Kremlin and little evident appreciation for the power of public communication or the need to promote American ideals, it is far from surprising. Hammond suggested the money is unwelcome because any extra funding for programs to counter Russian media influence would anger Moscow.”Ĭoming from anyone other than Tillerson - or Trump - such sentiments would be incredible. Politico reported that “Tillerson aide R.C. Yet Tillerson apparently doesn’t see the need for a U.S. Russian bots are now working alongside alt-right activists in a campaign to fire National Security Advisor H.R. election and its continuing efforts to influence American politics through social media. This is obviously a pressing concern, given Russia’s interference in the U.S. Tillerson has refused to spend $60 million appropriated by Congress to fund State Department efforts to counter Islamic State and Russian propaganda. This is of a piece with Tillerson’s general approach to Putin, who once awarded him the Order of Friendship. The State Department put out a weak statement calling the downsizing “regrettable and uncalled for,” but Tillerson has been mum in public. Less noticed by the general public, but not by the Foreign Service, is the fact that Tillerson didn’t vociferously protest the expulsions either. Trump went so far as to thank Putin “because now we have a smaller payroll” and “we’ll save a lot of money.” “This is so incredibly demoralizing and disrespectful to people serving their country in harm’s way,” one senior diplomat told Politico. Embassy and consular staff in Russia by 755 people. Trump has gotten plenty of heat for not protesting - indeed, praising - Vladimir Putin’s decision to reduce the U.S. Those fears have been borne out - but they are only the beginning of Tillerson’s troubles. I called for the Senate to reject his nomination because I feared that his amoral approach to world affairs and his affinity for Vladimir Putin would reinforce Donald Trump’s worst instincts. Tillerson has actually been far worse than I imagined - and I was never a fan to begin with. It’s Rex Tillerson, and he is proving to be quite possibly the most ineffectual secretary of state since America’s rise to global prominence in 1898. ![]() The problem is that America’s top diplomat is not John Hay, Dean Acheson, Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, James Baker, or Madeleine Albright. President Donald Trump threatening to launch wars against North Korea and even Venezuela, now would seem like the time for strong diplomacy to achieve America’s aims while minimizing the risk of conflict. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |