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[-] BertramDitore@lemmy.world 70 points 1 year ago

Holy crap. This is how I find out that Rahm Emanuel is the US Ambassador to Japan? How is he possibly qualified for that job?

[-] hddsx@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago

Who is he and why is he not qualified? I have never heard of him

[-] BertramDitore@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

He’s a former Chief of Staff to Obama and the former mayor of Chicago. From what I know about him, which granted isn’t a ton, he has zero experience in international diplomacy aside from whatever he might have seen second-hand as Chief of Staff.

[-] wahming 45 points 1 year ago

TBF, chief of staff gives you a lot of experience in everything

[-] BertramDitore@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

True, it’s one of the most powerful positions in American government, but I guess I’m still a naive idealist when it comes to global diplomacy. I just really wish there was an expert on Japan in the job. East Asia is only getting more complicated for the US, and Rahm Emanuel is famous for his extreme temper and lack of poise in high pressure situations.

[-] DonnieDarkmode@lemm.ee 12 points 1 year ago

It’s been my observation that ambassadorships are often given out as rewards or for other domestic political purposes. The career foreign service people whose job it is to do the real work of diplomacy aren’t political appointees

[-] hddsx@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago

Yikes. Being famous for not being able to operate under pressure doesn’t seem good for a job under which you have to deal with high pressure…

[-] FlowVoid@midwest.social 14 points 1 year ago

He's not ambassador to China. An ambassadorship to Japan is relatively low pressure, mostly revolving around organizing and attending social events.

American embassies are usually underfunded and ambassadors often have to pay for social events out-of-pocket, which is one reason why the job often goes to wealthy people.

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this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2023
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