What Qualities Does the Next Assistant Secretary of State Need?
What does Arturo Valenzuela’s departure mean for the state of US diplomacy in Latin America?
On July 28, Ambassador Tom Shannon, former under secretary of state for political affairs, participated in a virtual briefing organized by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) to discuss a new report by SFRC Democratic Staff. The report is titled Diplomacy in Crisis: The Trump Administration’s Decimation of the State Department.
The report presents a comprehensive examination of the Trump Administration’s assault on US diplomacy. Through an analysis of the senior-level vacancies plaguing the Department, repeated nominee vetting failures, and attacks on career employees, the report recounts the impact on morale and resulting damage to US foreign policy, and issues a set of recommendations for rebuilding and retaining diplomatic expertise.
Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), ranking member of the SFRC, opened the meeting with introductory remarks. Other panelists in the briefing included: Ambassador Barbara Stephenson, former American diplomat and former President of the American Foreign Service Association; Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, former Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation US Department of State; Elizabeth Shackelford, former member of the Foreign Service; and Margaret Taylor, former SFRC Chief Democratic Counsel, who moderated the discussion.
Tom Shannon serves as Co-Chair of the Dialogue's Board of Directors.
What does Arturo Valenzuela’s departure mean for the state of US diplomacy in Latin America?
Although improvements will be necessary, the US and Latin America have experienced a period of mutual learning and growth unlike any other.
The agreements of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and COP21 in Paris put Latin American governments in a crucial stage to take action by developing adequate policies to scale up investments in renewable energy and making alliances to receive capacity-building and technological support.