Transformational Diplomacy

Some countries might view this as official spying.

Politics News Article | Reuters.com: "In what she has termed 'transformational diplomacy,' Rice outlined initially modest plans to boost the U.S. presence in the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia in a realignment that recalled a similar, albeit larger, shift at the Pentagon.

'To advance transformational diplomacy, we are and we must change our diplomatic posture,' Rice told university students in a speech in Washington.

'We will begin this year with a down payment of moving 100 positions from Europe and, yes, from here in Washington, D.C., to countries like China and India and Nigeria and Lebanon, where additional staffing will make an essential difference,' she said.

Over the next few years, several hundred diplomats -- from a total of more than 6,000 worldwide -- would move to the new areas, with Europe being the main area to lose officials.

The shift also coincides with a new emphasis that diplomats should have a higher profile abroad to sell America's image, including its democratic values, senior State Department officials, who asked not to be named, said."

Democratic values. We take everything you have, you live under our archane rules and you like it.
Or such are the administrations dreams.

Tags: transformational diplomacy, rice, moving diplomats