American Ambassadors The Past, Present, and Future of America's Diplomats

There are two ways to become an ambassador: a lifetime of dedicated civil service in remote, often life-imperiling locales, or to be a wealthy political benefactor. One route provides grueling work that may never result in this heralded position in the American political landscape, serving some of the world's most challenged nations as they undergo radical change. The other route is considered a gift for financial aid after a successful election campaign. The way in which people become ambassadors of the United States is the result of time-honored traditions and, in some cases, the most thinly veiled form of corruption in American government. American Ambassadors explains where ambassadors come from, what they do, where they go and why they still matter.

Former ambassador Dennis Jett offers an insider's look at the complex bureaucratic process that determines who becomes an ambassador and the different paths to the title that are taken by career diplomats and political appointees. Jett describes how an ambassador's effectiveness is measured and why at least four ambassadors in recent years have resigned because of poor performance. It demonstrates how the embassy to which as ambassador is sent can depend on a person's race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and the size of their campaign contributions. And it makes the case for why, in today's ever more globalized world, their work is more important than ever.

Dennis Jett is a former American ambassador and current professor at Penn State University's School of International Affairs. His career in the U.S. Foreign Service spanned twenty-eight years and three continents, and his academic expertise focuses on international relations, foreign aid administration, and American foreign policy. Immediately prior to joining Penn State, he was dean of the International Center at the University of Florida for eight years. Jett's previous book, Why American Foreign Policy Fails: Unsafe at Home and Despised Abroad (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) was called a "bracing read" that analyzes how "American foreign policy has become completely captive to American domestic politics" by Anne-Marie Slaughter, dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Jett has been interviewed on Jim Lehrer News Hour, CNN, NPR and other national news programs on a range of international issues including peacekeeping, democracy, Peru, Liberia, and terrorism. Additionally, he has written more than eighty opinion pieces for major newspapers including the International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Miami Herald.

Contents

Introduction
1. A Brief History of the Title
2. Who Gets to Be an Ambassador - The Traditional Route
3. The Nontraditional Route
4. The Last Steps - Clearance and Confirmation
5. What An Ambassador Does
6. Where Ambassadors Go
7. Why It Matters and How It Might Be Changed
Acknowledgements
Appendices
Endnotes
Index