Reply to Something “big” dropping this week ahead at Dept. State

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Getting rid of the exam is wild. The best people. [/quote]

There have long been complaints about the exam. A republican-tied career ambassador told me that he found it impossible to get his best people through it and they were limited to other functions. In general, the selection process does seem to favor bland personalities. [/quote]

Why would an ambassador’s best people suddenly be taking the foreign service exam?

And maybe there’s a reason why the adjective “diplomatic” is not synonymous with flamboyant, charismatic, etc?[/quote]

Not everyone in the State Department is in the foreign service. There are even ambassadors, such as this one, that are part of the career service.

His beef was more with the oral portion than the written part. He said it favored milquetoast personalities who are mostly comfortable asking everyone else at the table to share their opinion. He's right that we do need to be at least a *little* assertive to get anything done. I'd be fired if I refused to take a position on anything. [/quote]

You mean … a test for our jr diplomats assessed how diplomatic they are? Shocking! [/quote]

Diplomacy isn't about being pleasant.  It's about pushing America's agenda overseas. And neither the left nor the right has been particularly pleased with the way the State Department has done its job over the past couple decades. I don't think the democrats will push hard against this shake up. If t all. [/quote]

No, you're completely wrong.  It's about gathering information, to allow our policy makers to make better decisions, and gaining influence, to allow our policy makers to have more input on decisions.[/quote]

That's what intelligence does, not diplomacy. [/quote]

No, it isn't.  Intelligence is about gaining access to information that is being hidden.  
[/quote]

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