Make the UN Ambassador a Cabinet Level Position
A short post from me this morning but I have noticed a few commentators asking whether the U.S. Ambassador to the UN will be a cabinet level position (see here and here). I must say that this is an idea I support. I really hope that the President-elect and his team chooses to strengthen the position of UN Ambassador and elevate its profile by making it a cabinet level position. After eight years of eroding U.S. credibility at the UN, we need a public signal that the country is returning to multilateralism and if President Obama were to make a move of this type, it would be noted at the various country missions in NYC. Additionally, I think that there is a case to be made for giving the next Ambassador a portfolio of critical issues to manage and really own – in times such as these we need to have an active and agenda setting posture at the UN and an “all-hands-on deck” approach to foreign policy.
As an aside, I also like the idea of Dr. Susan Rice filling the position.
Related posts:
[...] According to Politico, the rest of the National Security roster is shaping up as well, with Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, Jim Steinberg as Department Secretary of State, General Jim Jones as National Security Advisor, and Susan Rice as Ambassador to the United Nations. Some, including Raj Purohit at Across the Aisle, seem to believe that the position of Ambassador to the U.N. will become a cabinet-level position. [...]
Pingback on November 26, 2008 @ 10:04 am
Dr. Rice is certainly qualified. As for making the UN Ambassador a cabinet post, it was something that came up in our conversations in developing the PSA-UNF statement on the US-UN relationship. The feeling among many senior former officials was that it could interfere with the effectiveness of the Secretary of State as the President’s top diplomat, and that was why no other country’s UN representative sits in the cabinet.
For those who haven’t seen it, click here for the final statement that ran in last Thursday’s New York Times:
http://www.psaonline.org/article.php?id=434
Comment on November 27, 2008 @ 12:36 am