• notatoad@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    33
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    There’s two types of ambassadors: for countries you have tense relationships with, you send the professional diplomats who are really good at negotiating for things without starting wars.

    For countries who are friends and you aren’t going to have tough negotiations with them, you send somebody who has good connections to the president. The ambassador gets a cushy job for 4 years that’s basically a reward, and the foreign country gets the message that an ambassadorship there is treated as a reward for the president’s friends, which strengthens the relationship

    • xylogx@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      He was recently interviewed by Steven Dubner on Freakanomics. He said he was offered the choice of China or Japan and that he chose Japan.