Even for the climate-friendlier Trump administration, this has been a dramatic shift in its diplomatic strategy. They are announcing the recall of almost 30 career diplomats from their ambassadorial and senior embassy posts around the world. This significant shift hopes to remake the entire posture of U.S. diplomacy. It will install shock troopers who are fully committed to President Donald Trump’s “America First” priorities.
The recall is of particular concern to African countries, with the ambassadors of 13 African nations being recalled. The countries impacted by these changes are Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Mauritius and Togo. Beyond them, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, and Uganda are affected. Beyond the U.S., four of Europe’s smaller countries — Armenia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Slovakia — will be experiencing changes in their diplomatic leadership. Sudan, Algeria and Egypt will be part of greater upheaval in the Middle East. Closer to home, Nepal and Sri Lanka will experience the impact in South Asia. The changes in Guatemala and Suriname will be significant for the Western Hemisphere. The Asia-Pacific region will soon experience an ambassadorial shakeup of its own. Fiji, Laos, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Vietnam will likely be impacted as well.
Ambassadors serve at the president’s pleasure, and often remain in place for three to four years. Foreign service officers will not be reprimanded or fired from their jobs. Instead, they’ll simply have the opportunity to go back to Washington for out-of-town work assignments.
To this end, the State Department defended this recall process as being routine and consistent with practices across any administration. They affirmed the president’s prerogative to appoint individuals who align with his administration’s goals.
“A personal representative of the president and it is the president’s right to ensure that he has individuals in these countries who advance the America First agenda.” – State Department
The move last week left chiefs of mission in at least 29 countries scrambling to avoid being notified that their tenures would abruptly conclude this January. This relatively unnoticed action exemplifies the Trump administration’s commitment to recruiting personnel to support the priorities of their administration. Additionally, it further crystallizes their vision for U.S. foreign relations going forward.