Week 11 - Haute
She hates her job sometimes, and now is legitimately one of those times.
-
"...engage immediately with the Egyptian people in implementing needed economic, political, and social reforms"
-
Her gaze passes over the wall of pictures, where she has the victory shots from the key times of her career. There are pictures of her shaking hands with President Mubarak of Egypt, presenting a trade agreement to Sultan Qabus ibn Sa'id of Oman, and even enjoying golf with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. As the ambassador-at-large for the middle east, she's met and negotiated with all of royalty and rulers, and the figures hanging on the hall illustrate not onlythe key players in the region, but also the warm relationship they share.
She looks at the pictures often, thinking about all the incredible diplomatic victories they've pulled off - and, with some regret, the near misses - but they give her less pleasure now than they used to, especially now.
She flips on the TV - MSNBC, at first, and then switches to Fox, and then CNN - and starts listening to the media drone on and on about topics that the 'experts' know little to nothing about; she watches as they casually, carelessly, make the State department's jobs so much harder. She finally sets it to BBC, and wonders for a brief moment when it was that America stopped producing news and started importing it - like everything else, her cynical self adds.
And then she goes back to staring at the picture of President Mubarak, and wondering how the hell they got into this situation. Oh, right. Diplomats never predict change. Given the situation in Egypt for the past thirty years, change was unlikely, so every day, the cables said the same thing. 'The police torture, the people are unemployed, and life will be as it was yesterday'.
-
"...the imperative for reform and greater openness and participation to provide a better future for all."
-
Until, of course, Tunisia happened, and the protests stated, and life was not like it was yesterday.
And now she gets to write the statement, the one that the SecState would probably read, the one that has to be the strongest response couched in the most diplomatic language - and essentially, gave Mubarak a free pass on, well, everything. Because if it's too harsh and Mubarak retains power, the United States loses. If it supports him too much and the protestors win, the United States loses.
She wonders for a moment, when her job changed to making statements that meant nothing, full of lofty ideals that would never get followed. And then she writes, because someone still has to do it, because those phrases may still mean something to someone, somewhere.
-
"They need to view civil society as their partner, not as a threat."
-
"...engage immediately with the Egyptian people in implementing needed economic, political, and social reforms"
-
Her gaze passes over the wall of pictures, where she has the victory shots from the key times of her career. There are pictures of her shaking hands with President Mubarak of Egypt, presenting a trade agreement to Sultan Qabus ibn Sa'id of Oman, and even enjoying golf with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. As the ambassador-at-large for the middle east, she's met and negotiated with all of royalty and rulers, and the figures hanging on the hall illustrate not onlythe key players in the region, but also the warm relationship they share.
She looks at the pictures often, thinking about all the incredible diplomatic victories they've pulled off - and, with some regret, the near misses - but they give her less pleasure now than they used to, especially now.
She flips on the TV - MSNBC, at first, and then switches to Fox, and then CNN - and starts listening to the media drone on and on about topics that the 'experts' know little to nothing about; she watches as they casually, carelessly, make the State department's jobs so much harder. She finally sets it to BBC, and wonders for a brief moment when it was that America stopped producing news and started importing it - like everything else, her cynical self adds.
And then she goes back to staring at the picture of President Mubarak, and wondering how the hell they got into this situation. Oh, right. Diplomats never predict change. Given the situation in Egypt for the past thirty years, change was unlikely, so every day, the cables said the same thing. 'The police torture, the people are unemployed, and life will be as it was yesterday'.
-
"...the imperative for reform and greater openness and participation to provide a better future for all."
-
Until, of course, Tunisia happened, and the protests stated, and life was not like it was yesterday.
And now she gets to write the statement, the one that the SecState would probably read, the one that has to be the strongest response couched in the most diplomatic language - and essentially, gave Mubarak a free pass on, well, everything. Because if it's too harsh and Mubarak retains power, the United States loses. If it supports him too much and the protestors win, the United States loses.
She wonders for a moment, when her job changed to making statements that meant nothing, full of lofty ideals that would never get followed. And then she writes, because someone still has to do it, because those phrases may still mean something to someone, somewhere.
-
"They need to view civil society as their partner, not as a threat."