Nicole Avant, US Ambassador to The Bahamas to Resign By End of Year

The US Embassy in The Bahamas announced on October 27, 2011 that U.S. Ambassador Nicole A. Avant will soon end her tenure as the thirteenth United States Ambassador to The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. According to the embassy, Ambassador Avant will depart The Bahamas by the end of the year to "return to private life and devote more time to her family."

From the embassy presser:

On October 22, 2009 Ambassador Avant presented her credentials to Governor General His Excellency Arthur D. Hanna.  Over the last two years, Ambassador Avant has worked closely with the Government of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas to further strengthen bilateral relations and advance five initiatives; Education, alternative energy, economic and small business development, women’s empowerment, and raising awareness about the challenges facing people with disabilities.  

Ambassador Avant described her tenure in The Bahamas as a rewarding experience. “For the last two years I have had the privilege of representing my country and President Barack Obama as the Ambassador of the United States of America to The Bahamas. It has truly been an honor to serve in this beautiful country and advance our mutually beneficial partnership, which is based on a shared commitment to regional security, democratic ideals, economic and social progress, energy security and stewardship of the environment.

I am tremendously proud of what the U.S. Mission has accomplished during my tenure, particularly in assisting local communities on New Providence, Grand Bahama and in the Family Islands.  Throughout my travels I have had the opportunity to meet so many Bahamians who are making a difference in society at all levels.  I applaud you for your leadership and your investment in the future of The Bahamas.  You are true Ambassadors.

On behalf of my husband Ted Sarandos and our children Sarah and Tony, I wish to convey my sincere gratitude to the Governor General, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, the government and the people of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas for your warmth, hospitality and friendship over the last two years.  We will always have a great affection for The Bahamas and will consider it our second home.”

US Ambassador to The Netherlands Fay Hartog Levin Resigns

Another political ambassador has called it quits. The U.S. Ambassador to The Netherlands, Fay Hartog Levin announced that she will be stepping down next month as chief of mission of the US Embassy in The Hague.

September 20, 2009 - Ambassador Hartog Levin and General Petraeus at the wreath laying ceremony at the Waalcrossing Monument. Photo: Gemeente Nijmegen.
Photo via US Embassy The Hague/Flickr

Below is the statement published by the US embassy:

Statement by Ambassador Fay Hartog Levin:

It is with the deepest regret that I have informed President Obama that I will be stepping down as United States Ambassador to The Netherlands in September. The great honor of being selected by the President and confirmed by the Senate to represent my country and its people to the Netherlands has only been matched by the warmth and hospitality the Dutch people have shown my husband and me since the day of our arrival.

To be American Ambassador anywhere is an honor. To be Ambassador to the country of my parents’ birth is a unique privilege. The thousands of Dutch men and women I have met from all walks of life who have welcomed me and supported my work have made me even prouder of that heritage. At this time, however, I feel the need to turn more of my attention to my family and to serving the public interest closer to my home in Chicago.

I thank the President for granting me the opportunity of a lifetime, and Secretary Clinton for her inspiring leadership. Special thanks to Prime Ministers Rutte and Balkenende, Deputy Prime Minister Verhagen and Foreign Minister Rosenthal with whom I have had the good fortune to work as well as with the many other officials throughout the Dutch government who are committed to maintaining and strengthening the bonds between our two nations.

I also want to thank my entire Mission staff without whom none of what we have accomplished together would have been possible. I know I leave the U.S.-Dutch partnership – one of the strongest and closest we have with any nation – in good hands for the future.

Unlike some political ambassadors whose recent resignations were coupled with some controversies, this one doesn't seem to be associated with one. In fact, the OIG report of the US Mission in The Netherlands gave Ambassador Hartog Levin and her DCM, Edwin Nolan positive marks for their stewardship of the embassy:

The non-career Ambassador brings strong political instincts, high energy, a talent for public engagement, and personal warmth. Her legal background fits nicely in The Hague, which she has described as “at the center of the rule of law and the search for peace.” Her style and priorities blend well with those of the DCM, a career political officer. In her first year the Ambassador focused on public outreach and representation, while the DCM oversaw mission management, reporting, and  policy advocacy. This division of labor was appropriate.
[...]
Both the Ambassador and the DCM described poor mission morale as their first priority when they arrived in The Hague. From the team’s discussions and  observations of the Ambassador and DCM in interaction with American and local employees, the OIG team is convinced that a major improvement in mission morale has taken place since the arrival of this executive team. Both were instrumental in giving the final push to a Foreign Service national employee pension plan, which corrected a long-standing issue. Both have also used social events and participation in staff activities to establish a sense of community. Steady progress is being seen.
[...]
There are 15 separate agencies in 9 different locations operating under Chief of Mission (COM) authority in the Netherlands, which would provide a  coordination challenge even for a larger mission. The OIG team was impressed  with agency heads’ and section chiefs’ broadly positive assessment of country team and interagency relations. Agency heads told the team that the Ambassador was approachable and supportive. One agency head, who operates out of a remote facility, told the team how important it was that the Ambassador actually takes an interest in her agency’s work. Similarly, section chiefs and agency heads complimented the DCM as an interagency coordinator. Another agency head, with more than 25 years of experience, described the DCM as “the best I have ever worked with.”

Below is a video on the life of the Ambassador Hartog Levin. Students of Pace University's Department of Media, Communications and Visual Arts shot the documentary while on Spring Break 2010.

Related item:
OIG Report No. ISP-I-11-23A - Inspection of Embassy The Hague and CG Amsterdam, the Netherlands - February 2011

"R" for Resignation: U/S for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale to Leave Post Next Month

Image via WikipediaJudith McHale, the  Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs also known as "R" in Foggy Bottom is reportedly the latest State Department official to tender her resignation and the third of nine senior officials at State to do so. Ms. McHale was sworn in on May 26, 2009 : 

Via WaPo's Al Kamen, May 23:

Judith McHale, undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, is expected to announce as early as Tuesday that she will be leaving her post in June to return to the private sector in New York, sources said.

For the past two years, McHale, former general counsel and then president and chief executive of Discovery Communications, has overseen hundreds of employees in the department’s international information programs, in the educational and cultural affairs bureau, and in the public affairs operation at State, as well as in embassies overseas.

I have not seen the official announcement but I just saw the May 24 statement from the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy on the "Departure of Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale":

The Commission would like to express its appreciation to Judith McHale for her public service, her leadership and her contributions over the past two years as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. We recognize and appreciate that she has focused her efforts on raising the profile of her office and on enhancing the capability of the Department of State to effectively engage foreign public audiences across the globe. In light of the extraordinary events ongoing – and to come –around the world, public diplomacy has never been so vital to the national security interests of the United States. We look forward to having an equally productive relationship with Judith's successor as the Commission continues its mission to appraise the efforts of the United States Government to engage foreign publics.

Will there be anyone left by the end of summer?

Related articles

• U.S. Updates the Brand It Promotes in Indonesia (nytimes.com)
• Public Diplomacy Done Right with School Meals (blogcritics.org)
• John Brown: Public Diplomacy as a Linguistic Phenomenon (huffingtonpost.com)

 

 

 

Another Week, Another Resignation: Middle East Envoy George Mitchell Resigns Effective May 20

                               Image via WikipediaFrom Middle East Envoy George Mitchell's resignation letter addressed to President Obama dated April 6, 2011:

Dear Mr. President:

When I accepted your request to serve as U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace my intention was to serve for two years. More than two years having passed I hereby resign, effective May 20, 2011. I trust this will provide sufficient time for an effective transition.

I strongly support your vision of comprehensive peace in the Middle East and thank you for giving me the opportunity to be part of your administration. It has been an honor for me to again serve our country.

The Mitchell resignation letter was posted on the White House website, as well as the statements of appreciation from President Obama and Secretary Clinton:

President Obama:

George told me when he took this job that he would put in a couple of years, and I’m so glad he did. He is – by any measure – one of the finest public servants that our nation has ever had. Even though he already had an extraordinary legacy – serving the people of Maine, leading the Senate, and bringing peace to Northern Ireland – he took on the toughest job imaginable and worked grueling hours to advance the interests of the United States and the cause of peace.

As he returns to his family, George leaves behind a proud legacy of dedicated public service and the country owes him a debt of gratitude for his extraordinary commitment.

Secretary Clinton:

It has been an honor to work alongside Senator Mitchell over the past two years.  He represents the best traditions of American diplomacy.  Throughout George’s distinguished career he has taken on the hardest challenges with determination, talent and old fashioned Maine common sense.  From the Senate to Northern Ireland to the State Department, his work has brought peace and increasing prosperity to millions of people around the world and made our own country stronger and more secure.

Read the full statement here.

Related articles

• George Mitchell to step down as Middle East peace envoy (thehill.com)
• George Mitchell to Resign (thepage.time.com)
• US Middle East envoy George Mitchell resigns (telegraph.co.uk)

Officially Moved: Amb. Carlos Pascual to be Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs

On May 6, 2011, Secretary Clinton appointed Ambassador Carlos Pascual as the Department of State Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs. Ambassador Pascual will assume his duties on May 18. According to the media note:

He will advise the Secretary on implementing international energy policy. One of his first tasks will be to design and establish a new Bureau for Energy Resources that will elevate and unify energy diplomacy within the Department of State.

Most recently, Ambassador Pascual served as the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. As both a diplomat and former vice president of the Brookings Institution, he has more than two decades of diplomatic, public policy, and academic experience in addressing the centrality of energy issues to our national interests and the conduct of U.S. foreign policy.

Special envoys do not need Senate confirmations, so he should be off and running as soon as he gets back to the mother ship.

He would succeed David L. Goldwyn, the Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs from August 2009 to January 2011.

Mr. Goldwyn was appointed by Secretary Clinton and was sworn in on August 17, 2009. On August 30, 2010, Secretary Clinton announced that Mr. Goldwyn will carry the concurrent titles of Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs.  Prior to his appointment, Mr. Goldwyn was President of Goldwyn International Strategies LLC (GIS), an international energy consulting firm from 2001-2009.

Upstreamonline.com reported in late April that Mr. Goldwyn has joined ex-head of the UK’s secret intelligence service MI6, Sir John McLeod Scarlett and Hassan Marican, former boss of Malaysia’s Petronas in Statoil's newly created Strategic Advisory Committee, that will advise the Norwegian state oil company's ventures in the international arena.

Related articles

• US Ambassador to Mexico sets date to depart (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• U.S. ambassador to Mexico resigns after public spat (reuters.com)
• Ambassador to Mexico quits in Wikileaks spat (msnbc.msn.com)

First Geographic Bureau Resignation: WHA's Arturo Valenzuela to Return to Georgetown

Image via WikipediaDuring the DPB today, the State Dept spokesman was asked about the resignation of Arturo Valenzuela, the Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA): 

QUESTION: Okay. (Inaudible) reports that Assistant Secretary Valenzuela is resigning. Is there a policy thing going on there?

MR. TONER: Is there a what?

QUESTION: Is it a policy matter or --

MR. TONER: Look, no, this is very straightforward. He did announce that he’ll return this summer to Georgetown University. And simply put, he was on a two-year leave of absence, and he’ll resume his duties there as a professor of government. We are certainly appreciative, deeply appreciative of Assistant Secretary Valenzuela’s service in two administrations, and he’s going to apply his four decades of academic experience and service to – back into higher education, but we’re certainly appreciative of all that he’s accomplished during his tenure here. And certainly, we’ll have more to say. I believe he’s going to – he’s obviously announced his resignation so that we can work on finding a successor, but I don’t believe he’s going to actually leave until sometime this summer.

It looks like Mr.Valenzuela is actually the first Assistant Secretary to tweet his leaving.

WHAAsstSecty Arturo A. Valenzuela
Announced this week my return to @Georgetown faculty sometime this summer. Have been delighted to serve. http://tinyurl.com/3tlgnug

Dr. Arturo Valenzuela assumed responsibilities as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs on November 10, 2009. He was previously Professor of Government and Director of the Center for Latin American Studies in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is a specialist on the origins and consolidation of democracy, the institutional dimensions of democratic governance, Latin American politics, and U.S.-Latin American relations. Prior to joining the Georgetown faculty he was Professor of Political Science and Director of the Council on Latin American Studies at Duke University. He has been a Visiting Scholar at Oxford University, the University of Sussex, the University of Florence (Italy) and the Catholic University of Chile.

Dr. Valenzuela holds a Doctorate and a Master’s degree in Political Science from Columbia University, and a B.A. summa cum laude in Political Science and Religion from Drew University.

The Department has grouped countries of the world in areas of responsibility under six bureaus. With the  departure of Mr. Valenzuela, that leaves two career and three political appointees in the remaining five bureaus. If Mr. Valenzuela departs at the end of summer, his term served would be approximately 21 months, three months short of two years.  But this presumably would allow for the nomination and confirmation of a successor in the next 3-6 months; with still about 18 months of tenure for the incoming assistant secretary before the next administration is elected/reelected and takes office.    

Bureau of African Affairs (AF) | Carson (Career FSO recalled from retirement)

Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP) | Campbell (Non-career)

Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR) | Gordon (Non-career)

Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA) | Feltman (Career FSO)

Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA) | Blake (Career FSO)

Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) |

Related articles

• State departure - Senior diplomat resigning (politico.com)
• Top US diplomat for Latin America resigning (sfgate.com)
• Senior US diplomat for Latin America to resign (alternet.org)
• Cargo sparks dispute between Argentina, U.S. (cnn.com)

US Ambassador to Sweden Matthew Barzun Resigns, Announces New Obama Mission

Today, Ambassador Barzun of the US Embassy in Stockholm announced he is leaving post to take on a new mission as Chair of the National Finance Committee for President Obama's reelection campaign.  As far as I could tell, no embassy statement has so far been posted about his resignation.  But Ambassador Barzun, who blogs regularly in BlogOm Sweden, posted the following announcement in his blog. Republished in full below:

Blog Om: My New Mission

Two years ago, President Obama asked me to serve in this great and globally connected nation of Sweden because I understood and believed in his vision for America and its role in the world.  All of us at U.S. Embassy Stockholm have worked hard together to carry that out, expressing to Swedes that America doesn’t seek to command respect through power but to earn it through leadership and friendship. In a variety of ways, including this blog, we have sought to connect with citizens throughout Sweden in a direct and personal way.

But now President Obama has asked me to take on a new mission. He is seeking reelection and has asked me to help steer that effort by serving as Chair of his National Finance Committee. I am honored to be asked to serve in this new capacity, and am accepting the president’s call. However, because of the nature of American presidential elections, it means I will have to leave this post all too soon -- at the end of May.

The president sent me to Sweden with one word of advice: “Listen.” That’s what I have tried to do. I have been traveling throughout the country since I arrived, listening and learning. From Sweden’s leadership in sustainability and clean energy to its deep sense of international responsibility, as we have seen most recently in Libya, to the sense of balance embedded in the Swedish national character, I have soaked it all up and become forever enriched.

Brooke, our children, and I have lived a Swedish life together here – one that will always be precious in our memories. At the same time, we look forward to continuing the wonderful relationships we’ve forged with the many Swedes we count as friends. As we move on to the next mission, Sweden comes along as part of who we are. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Ambassador Barzun known for his American Road Show, and for flipping American-style pancakes for host country guests in embassy in a box events in Sweden, recently took the road show to Linköping:       

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
Photos from US Embassy Stockholm/Flickr