As promised, here are the rules concerning the political activity of diplomats in the State Department. The main one is as follows:

A U.S. citizen employee, spouse, or family member shall not engage in partisan political activities abroad, other than authorized activities pertaining to U.S. elections. This provision shall not preclude a locally hired U.S. citizen employee, who also is a national of the country of residence, from exercising political rights deriving from that foreign nationality.

The regulation applies to the Foreign Service, Foreign Service National, and Civil Service, and anyone in State/USAID/Commerce/Foreign Service Corps-USDA. The rule comes from 3 FAM 4123.3 "Political Activities". FAM stands for the Foreign Affairs Manual, and it is our operational handbook. This information is all in the public domain, on the premise that the workings of government should be as transparent as possible. The FAM makes for interesting reading, especially for anyone interested in a diplomatic career. You can read it here. The Office of the Legal Adviser has prepared a memo explaining the rules in more detail. I provide that here. Before I joined the State Department, I remember reading about how in the election cycle of 2000, a Foreign Service officer in Mexico rigged the embassy/consulate webpage to take the visitor to the Bush campaign homepage (or the one for the GOP national committee). I don't know if that is an urban legend or not, but if it is true I wonder what the punishment was. The rules go into a lot of what 'you may not', but they don't explain what happens if you do.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 10/29/2004 10:10:00 PM| |

 
I returned my absentee ballot today, and here's hoping they get it in time. It was supposed to get here in mid-September, but it arrived over 6 weeks late. That's the great state of Texas for you. Not like my vote really matters one way or the other. Texas is one of those states that is lopsidedly learning towards a candidate, in this case to George Bush. In some state polls, he's up 30%. Political discussion is something I largely avoid now. It's not that I don't have strongly held political beliefs---I think anyone who knows me fairly well could deduce where I stand. But I'm not the traditional party type. In fact, I am a registered independent, which conforms well with my job description. The State Department is part of the Executive Branch, and as such we implement the foreign policy objectives of whomever is president. I think it's absolutely critical to maintain a public appearance of impartiality. I don't even like delving too deeply into these discussions with my colleagues. It's not illegal to do so, and most people in State are fairly open about their preferences. It's just a personal choice. Foreign Service officers are allowed to participate in political activity to a varying degree, and I think readers would find the rules quite interesting, so I'll post them tomorrow. The consulate is putting on an election special at a fancy hotel next Tuesday. We'll have tally boards, big screen TV, real-time results, the whole nine yards. The Indian public, other foreigners, and US expats are all invited. I guess it's a good exercise to showcase our democracy in action, but part of me is hesitant to go, just because I think there exists the chance that it might look like I am supporting one candidate over the other. Since it will be during normal duty hours, and it's a quasi-official event, I am somewhat apprehensive. I also would rather not be around if anyone starts gloating over their candidate. Friend and former UCLA Law School classmate Phil Carter has a good post up on his site Intel Dump in which he reveals who he'll be voting for Tuesday. His response is part of a larger canvas of Slate writers, and why they believe it is important for readers to know the political biases of their journalist staff. Compelling stuff. His response sure as heck surprised me, because I remember him being fairly conservative in a California way (meaning that he's not an ideologue). But he actually seemed to moderate quite a bit over time from when I first met him. Moving away from politics, I stumbled upon a cool site called Buko in Taiwan. It's written by a guy who went off to Taiwan in a mad quest to learn Chinese. It is a temporary blog, because it will only cover his entire junior year abroad from start to finish, and will end when he arrives back home in the US. I find it relevant because he is studying at my alma mater, the Center For Chinese Language and Culture Studies, National Taiwan Normal University. I spent a summer there, three months, way WAY back in 1988, right after I got out of the Army. I arrived not knowing a word of Chinese, but I worked my arse off, to the point that when I went back to the US to begin university, they put me in the third-year class after the first quarter. I have great memories of the instruction there, and I'm looking forward to reading of his impressions, and how the school has changed over the years.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 10/28/2004 12:00:00 AM| |

 
Adventures in Shopping---India Style! Today we went shopping at Lifestyle. This is one of the more upscale department stores in Chennai. It's a chain that originated in Bahrain, and there are now around 15 branches all over India. Prices here are very high, comparable with those of the US, but the merchandise isn't of as high a quality. Still, very good for India, though. The truth of the matter is that most average Indians can't afford to get anywhere near the place, but it's fun to go here and check out the shopping trends of India's burgeoning middle class and nouveau riche. What first struck me on our maiden visit was the sheer number of employees. Take a look at the above photo. There are normally just three cash registers in operation, but behind the counter usually stand anywhere from 8-10 clerks. The men wear a uniform of purple shirt and tie. There's only 8 in this picture; the other two must have been on break. There are also 2 door guards. They are not there to keep anyone out, but to open car doors and such. The shoe section, where I took the picture, is on the second floor. It's not that large, only three aisles or so, but I counted 9 sales assistants. Same thing in housewares, furniture and clothing. In fact, I'd wager there is a helpful sales assistant for every 3-5 customers. In a country of over one billion people, they have to create as many jobs as possible to keep people off the streets. Take that cashier crew for instance: one fellow rings up the price, then folds up whatever you purchased and hands it to a guy behind him, who unfolds it, checks the receipt, then refolds it. He'll pass it to another bloke who wraps it up in a plastic bag. He delivers it to the final guy (the far right counter---he's waving!), who hands you the package with the receipt, after he initials it. The guard sometimes checks the receipt when he opens the door for you. I remember 1980s China had a similar set-up, but even they didn't take it to this extreme. And those were state-run stores unconcerned with profit. Lifestyle is a publicly traded company that has to eye the bottom line. Well, at least at Lifestyle it's one-stop shopping. I've been to the department stores where people of more modest means do their shopping; here, if you select an item on the third floor, the clerk there writes out the sales slip, then you take it down to ground level where another clerk writes out the receipt. You then take that over to the cashier where you pay the money and get your change. They stamp the receipt and you take that back to the receipting clerk to claim your merchandise. And don't even try to use a credit card. In the previous example, you'd have to give that to the third floor clerk to swipe and send through---on the second and ground levels, you can only use your credit card for the stuff they sell on those particular floors. This is all the same store owned by the same family, mind you. Inefficiency, thy name is India! About five months ago, Lifestyle had a big promotion where the grand prize was a week's vacation for a family of four to Disney World in Orlando, Florida USA. They kept announcing it over the store's loudspeakers. I remember thinking: "yeah, you may win the contest, but good luck getting the visa!" Wouldn't you know it, the grand prize winners came to my visa window not too long ago! They had originally gone up to New Delhi, because all our appointment slots were booked, but Delhi sent them back down to us. I remembered this contest, so I knew it was legit. Still, I called Lifestyle and asked for the marketing department. I spoke to the manager and verified the names, ages and addresses of the winners. He was actually kind of snooty about it, and tried to pressure me to issue. I told him even though the contest was a legitimate one, the applicants would still have to qualify for visas on their own merits, just like everybody else. I don't think he appreciated that answer, but there you go. Anyway, I'm not quite the ogre so many applicants probably think I am; yes, I did end up issuing the visas, and the kids got to go to Disney World.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 10/23/2004 09:35:00 PM| |

 
I just returned from a week in New Delhi. I was there to attend the "Entry Level Officers Conference", hosted this year by the US Embassy in India. There were roughly 150 participants from the South Asia Affairs and Near Eastern Affairs bureaus, representing embassies and consulates for every mission in the region, including Baghdad. Attendees, like myself, were all untenured first or second tour officers. More on that later. Monday was a US holiday, so about 70 of us opted for a trip to the Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh (UP). It is slightly over 200 kilometers from New Delhi, and we left in three tour buses at 5:50am. It is only supposed to take 4.5 hours to drive there, but it took us over 6, because unbeknownst to us, it was a holy day, and a religious procession shut down the roads in Agra for several hours. The Taj Mahal is synonymous with India, and is easily the country's greatest tourist attraction, yet there is no express highway to the site. If you drive, you have to take the maddening local roads through the states of Haryana and UP---every time you cross a state line, you have to pay numerous taxes and tolls. The other ways to get there are by plane or train, both expensive options. India needs to take a page from the PRC's book and build a one-toll expressway like the one from Beijing to the Badaling section of the Great Wall. This would cut the trip in half, and would generate significant revenue. One way India reminds me of the China of old: the admission to the Taj Mahal is 750 rupees for foreigners, but just 20 rupees for Indians (1 USD= 46 INR). We found out later that those of us stationed in India could have paid the Indian price. D'oh! I remember that the two-tier pricing schemes in China used to really piss me off. For the most part, I don't think the PRC does this anymore, except maybe at the Forbidden City. My idea back then was that we should establish reciprocity based on what other countries charge us as compared to their own citizens. So if India charges foreigners 37.5 times what it does Indians to see the Taj, we should charge Indians 37.5 times the admission price to any US national park or attraction. Duck Mahal UO Graduates Go Places: Prince Roy, Class of 1992 The bench I'm sitting on is known as the "Lady Di Bench" because she took a famous photo here during her visit. After this, I went inside the tomb (the Taj is a mausoleum). Like at all Indian temples and Muslim mosques, you have to take off your shoes before you enter the main area, but if you are too lazy to do that, they have guys here who will tie red cloth booties around your shoes (no charge---unless that is what the extra 730 rupees are for). The inside isn't that interesting. There are two replica marble tombs at the top where the tourists go. The real ones are locked away below in the basement, but you have to be a president or some other comparable bigshot to see them... The area immediately outside the mausoleum is quite nice. You can walk all the way around the structure, and the vistas are superb. I especially enjoyed the rear, because the Taj rests on the banks of a river, the Yamuna: The riverbank directly opposite the Taj is completely undeveloped---no roads or buildings, though there were several people and cattle along the shore. My guess is that the view from there must be superb, but I don't know how you'd get there unless you waded across the river. It didn't seem too deep, and the water was not moving fast at all. For more pictures of my trip, visit my companion site. I'll try to get those up ASAP. UPDATE: Photos and commentary now up. Thoughts on the Conference: I think it is laudable that the State Department holds these annual gatherings for new officers in each of its bureaus around the world. The most useful aspect of it from my perspective was the chance to meet and network with colleagues serving in different posts. We shared experiences and contacts, both of which come in handy when considering future assignments. Furthermore, the US diplomatic community is small enough that chances are you'll meet someone with a mutual friend or acquaintance. I also got to see a few classmates from my A-100 class (the 116th). Last but not least, it was great to get off the visa line for a few days. I needed this break. The first two days were the best. We had a variety of guest speakers, including Secretary Colin Powell, who spoke to us live via digital video conference. Many panels seemed to regurgitate the same info we learned in A-100, but others focused more on regional issues. For the final two days, we took a 'basic level leadership course'. This struck me as little more than pop psychology, Stuart Smalley kind of sensitivity training, and I'm hard pressed to see its efficacy, but if it helps some people negotiate their workplace issues, more power to them. One thing I noticed is how obsessed many colleagues seem to be with tenure and promotion. I don't know if this is a reflection of personality types or what, but it's hard for me to relate. In the first place, 95% of junior FSOs get tenure and 90-95% of those tenured will rise to the highest ranking before they are eligible for the *Senior Foreign Service. Secondly, most of us have been in State for less than one year, and it seems awfully premature to be stressing about it now. One of our speakers, Ambassador Maura Harty, put it best: keep in mind why we became foreign service officers---namely because we have a commitment to serve the nation, do our jobs to the best of our abilities, and all that other stuff will take care of itself. Of course, a little luck helps, and she was upfront about that, but I think her larger message holds true, and I hope it sinks in to those people. *The Senior Foreign Service represents the absolute cream of the diplomatic profession. This is the pool from which the president appoints non-political ambassadorships, secretaries, under-secretaries, deputy chiefs of missions, etc. They told us at the conference that about 40-50% of us who stay in will eventually make this rank, but that seemed rather high to me. I believe the true figure is more likely 10-20%. Officers only have three tries if they choose to go for it; if unsuccessful after the third attempt, it means automatic, involuntary retirement.
- posted by Prince Roy @ 10/16/2004 07:40:00 PM| |

 
劳改之中的辣妹子 "Spicygirl Reforms Through Labor" Just kidding. But she is turning our backyard into a neo 'household responsibility system' 包产到户, Madras-style. She's not growing any cash crops, unfortunately, but Chinese staples like bok choy 小白菜, rape 油菜, and something called 'asparagus lettuce' (Spicygirl hit the hay so I can't ask her the Chinese term)[ UPDATE: the Chinese term is 莴笋]. You can check out her 'Poor Spicygirl's Almanac' here. My life is coming full circle now; here I am, a low-ranking official sent as an envoy to a far-flung corner of the earth, much removed from the court intrigues and centers of policy-making, living in a modest dwelling with a vegetable patch in the backyard. All that's left to do is raise my brush, and with cup of warmed 白酒 at the ready, compose verse: 你的菜长得小 不知何时吃得了 Tang Poetry post-modernists, feel free to deconstruct away...
- posted by Prince Roy @ 10/10/2004 01:30:00 AM| |

 
[click on photo for full image] October 1 was the 55th birthday of the PRC. Spicygirl alerted me to this picture in the local paper the other day, and it surprised both of us, because that's a huge portrait of Sun Yat-sen in Tiananmen Square. Normally when one thinks of China's National Day, lavish homages to Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) come to mind. Of course, even PRC Chinese consider Sun the father of the modern Chinese nation, but it's hard to say where Sun himself stood on the CCP, other than that he was eager for its assistance in combating the warlords, and did not spurn Soviet assistance in transforming the KMT into a viable political and revolutionary force. Nevertheless, this seems to be a fairly high pedestal. I don't know if this is significant or not. Maybe some of you in China can comment on what it might mean, if anything. Who knows, maybe they do this every year...
- posted by Prince Roy @ 10/08/2004 03:55:00 AM| |