Categories: Daniel Serwer

Laconic to a fault

Tomasz Zalewski of the Polish magazine Polityka asked some questions about Secretary of State Tillerson. I replied:

Q: What is the role of Tillerson in making of US foreign policy? Is he its architect, or just an executor of Mr. Trump’s (or other peoples’) orders?

A: If he has any role at all, it appears to be minimal. He hasn’t even been an “executor.” More like a hanger-on.

Q: How valuable are his skills of the former Exxon’s CEO in the US diplomacy?

A: I have seen no value so far. [Maybe I should have added: other than his initial statement to the State Department personnel, which was well received.]

Q: How significant are the 28 percent cuts in the Department of State budget proposed by the White House – and the fact that Tillerson has agreed with them?

A: 28% is a devastating cut in a single year. It won’t happen, but the fact Tillerson agreed to this ridiculous number suggests he has no interest in defending the department he heads.

Q: What to make of the fact that Tillerson does not take the media on his trips and generally says very little in public?

A: He has no understanding of the Secretary of State’s role in public affairs and doesn’t care to learn.

I might add this, the State Department statement on the latest North Korean missile test:

North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment.

That’s laconic to a fault, unless there is further action taken. 

Daniel Serwer

Share
Published by
Daniel Serwer

Recent Posts

People are not pleased but it will get worse

He wants an America swollen with racial prejudice and isolated from the world. Half the…

15 hours ago

Okay, but still a long way to go

Is this a revival of the 1920s and 1930s America that tried to limit immigration,…

2 days ago

Hope is where the wild things are

Hope lies wherever the restraining and suffocating writ of the Trump Administration does not extend.…

5 days ago

America made a giant mistake

It will take more time for Americans to fathom the mistake they have made. But…

1 week ago

Serbia is going backwards

I received this plea today. The issues are not new but now the situation is…

2 weeks ago

Might doesn’t make right, but it’s winning

Trump can't get anything out of Putin because the American President has already given too…

2 weeks ago