By AMY HARDER
On Tuesday, President Obama announced the nomination of Judith A. McHale as undersecretary of State for public diplomacy and public affairs. McHale is the former president and CEO of Discovery Communications.
In February, NationalJournal.com spoke with James Glassman, McHale's predecessor. "What I dread, what I'm really worried about, is appointing somebody who essentially sees his or her job as an image-maker," Glassman said then. "That would be a huge mistake."
Now, more than two months later, NationalJournal.com was able to catch up with Glassman to get his initial response to the McHale nomination. First, Glassman said he was "thrilled that there is a nominee after nearly three months. It's an extremely important position. I'm sorry it took this long."
Glassman emphasized that he did not want to prejudge McHale. In February, he said his successor must have an "an orientation toward national security, not an orientation toward public relations." McHale has no substantial national security or foreign policy background, but Glassman was quick to point out that neither did he. He said the important thing is to make sure McHale takes the proper approach to her new job.
On his blog, Glassman wrote that McHale's record shows she "certainly has the drive and talent to do the job. The bigger issue is what she thinks the job is. We will soon find out."
Both in his interview with NJ.com and his blog comments, Glassman took issue with Foreign Policy's Marc Lynch, who argued in a blog post that McHale would be a "terrible, terrible selection." "While I like Marc a lot, I think that was kind of unfair," Glassman said. Lynch and others have pointed out that McHale has been a longtime friend and donor to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. That fact alone should not discredit McHale, Glassman said. It's common for supporters of politicians to end up being brought into a new administration, and these people often serve admirably, he added.
Glassman has not met with his successor, but he said he would be more than happy to do so if approached. So, what advice does he have for McHale? "I would urge her to not simply talk to the people in the building," Glassman said. "She needs to understand how the office works within the State Department, but she should also get out and talk to the key players in the interagencies." He cited the Defense Department as the most crucial agency relationship.
After the jump, see McHale's full biography, per the White House.
Continue reading Glassman Weighs In On His Successor At State.
By AMY HARDER
At the United States Institute for Peace conference on media and diplomacy Tuesday, NationalJournal.com was able to speak for a few minutes with James Glassman, who succeeded Karen Hughes as undersecretary of State for public diplomacy and public affairs in the last year of the Bush administration. Glassman discussed the qualities his own yet-to-be-named successor should possess and how President Obama can use the media to improve relations with the Middle East. Edited excerpts follow:
NJ: What can the Obama administration do to enhance public diplomacy through new media and the Internet?
Glassman: Let me tell you the most important thing it should do. The administration needs to appoint a successor to me... who has an orientation toward national security, not an orientation toward public relations. That's an imperative. What I dread, what I'm really worried about, is appointing somebody who essentially sees his or her job as an image-maker. That would be a huge mistake.
NJ: Does this relate to the notion put forth in the [USIP] panel discussion that, when it comes to public diplomacy, action speaks louder than words?
Glassman: It's more than that. It's really a conception of the job as -- not as necessarily making everyone love us, but a conception of the job that is to try to achieve foreign policy goals of the United States in a sophisticated way, especially involving other parts of government, and that's what we tried to do. When I came to the job, or before I came to the job, I didn't understand it in that way.I am worried that the administration, for all its talk about the importance of public diplomacy in a broader sense, will see it in a narrow sense as being brand-building, image-building. So the person who gets appointed undersecretary of state of public diplomacy, whoever that is, that person's background and outlook -- that's going to tell you a lot about how truly serious this administration is. So far, we haven't seen much, and I think that's a mistake, too. They should have appointed somebody quickly.
Continue reading Q&A: Outgoing State Dept. Official Offers Diplomatic Advice.
