Bolton's Nomination Is Questioned by Another Powell Aide

The New York Times article (Registration required.)

"I don't know if he's incapable of negotiation, but he's unwilling," Ms. Jones is quoted as saying. A. Elizabeth Jones stepped down in February as assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia. She also is quoted as having said she believed that "the fundamental problem," if Mr. Bolton were to become United Nations ambassador, would be a reluctance on his part to make the kinds of minor, symbolic concessions necessary to build consensus among other governments and maintain the American position.

Bringing this back to our theme of "Knowledge for Development", we know that "diplomatic knowledge" is negotiated. Having a person representing the United States in the U,N. Who is unwilling to negotiate would seem a major disadvantage to U.S. interests.

Moreover, the effectiveness of a representative in negotiating the diplomatic construction of knowledge depends in part on his personal "authority", in the sense that his representations appear authoritative to those with whom he negotiates. The authority of Bolton has been challenged repeatedly in the past weeks, in that he is charged with statements while representing the United States that are in fact not accurate statements of the Government's positions. His authority is also challenged by the number of senior officials who have publicly opposed his nomination, or spoken against it -- the authority we attribute to a person is largely derived from the authority others attribute to him publicly;

Thomas Friedman recently suggested that former President George H. W. Bush would be a better candidate for U.N. Ambassador. I suggest that this is true, and that it illustrates various aspects of authority. GHWB is a leader of global stature, whose name is known to all the diplomats at the United Nations. He would certainly be seen as well and accurately representing the Administration of his son. He is seen as an expert on the United Nations and its processes. And he is seen as a man who would honestly represent the positions of his government. Statements by GHWB, were he to be Ambassador to the United Nations, would be taken as much more authoritative than those made by John Bolton, were he to be Ambassador. Indeed, I think there are many other people for whom that could be said!