Last Updated on 03/09/2024 by Arun jain
In the four and a half years she has served as Britain’s ambassador to the United States, Karen Pearce has overseen the expensive renovation of her baronial Washington residence and confronted an American political system in comparative need of repair. The house, at least, is finished.
With Ms. Pearce’s term due to expire early next year, Britain’s Labor government now faces a personnel decision that will test the greatest of diplomats’ skills: who to appoint as the next ambassador to a country that is a trusted ally but a vital one. Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald J. Different political trajectories depending on whether Trump is elected.
Prime Minister Keir Starr is expected to face uncertainty by not choosing Ms Pearce’s replacement until after an election in November. That hasn’t stopped the London papers speculating about who might get what is considered the plumiest post in the British diplomatic corps.
Names that have surfaced include David Miliband, the former foreign secretary who was once seen as a future Labor Party leader; Peter Mandelson, a Labor grandee who has held multiple cabinet posts; and Jonathan Powell, who served as Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Tony Blair.
“If Kamala Harris wins, she wants a high-profile political ally who can work closely with Democratic leaders,” said Peter Westmacott, an ambassador during the relatively quiet years of the Obama administration. “But Starmer tends to prefer substance over personality, so could he choose a low-key professional who doesn’t risk becoming a story?”
If Mr. Trump wins, however, an unconventional approach could make sense, he said, given the challenges of dealing with an undiplomatic president. “Why not ask Karen Pierce to stay on, because she has connections?” Mr. Westmacott suggested.
A career diplomat who has served in Afghanistan, the Balkans and the United Nations, Ms. Pearce, 64, is equally at home discussing Taliban insurgents, Russian military moves in Ukraine or swing-state politics in Pennsylvania. He is also, by all accounts, an influential party host, having cultivated relationships with high-level Democrats as well as people in Mr. Trump’s orbit.
“She manages to bring people from both parties together, sometimes in the same room,” said Sally Quinn, a journalist and longtime Washington socialite. And, Ms. Quinn added, “watch her on the dance floor.”
Francesca Craig, who was Mrs Pearce’s social secretary, said her hats and floral dresses were simply “plumage” for “one of the most intelligent, sensible, intelligent people I have ever worked for”. He knows how to wield soft power. “
British diplomats credited Ms Pearce with playing a role Brokerage of dinner In April, the then foreign secretary, David Cameron, accompanied Mr. Trump to his Palm Beach, Fla., home. estate, at Mar-a-Lago, during which Mr. Cameron pressed him not to urge fellow Republicans (Congress) to withhold military aid to Ukraine. later aid granted).
But she also has connections on the other side of the political aisle. Ms. Pearce and her husband, Charles Roxburgh, were invited by Ms. Harris and her husband, Doug Amhoff. party Celebrated last year 50 Years of Hip-Hop.
The vice president’s residence is adjacent to Mrs. Pierce’s Queen Anne-style mansion on Embassy Row in Washington; The ambassador described Ms. Harris and Mr. Amhoff as “very nice neighbors.” Panel discussion At the Democratic National Convention hosted by Politico last month.
Ms. Pearce was coy about whether she and the vice president were engaged on policy. “It’s very difficult to talk about foreign policy during hip-hop,” she said. “It doesn’t lend itself to discussion.”
Ms. Pearce, who declined to comment for this article, gets a lot of credit in Washington for her bipartisan approach, although some of her fellow ambassadors noted that she was simply doing the work of a professional diplomat.
Daniel Mulhall, who served as Ireland’s ambassador to Washington from 2017 to 2022, said that while Ms Pearce had “really made strides in Washington,” she exemplified Britain’s practice of sending career diplomats rather than political appointees to the United States. The last time it sent a political envoy was in 1977. Appointment of Peter JayA journalist and son-in-law of Labor Prime Minister James Callaghan.
The United States, by contrast, sends almost exclusively political appointees to London. They are usually heavyweight political donors, such as Mr. Trump’s ambassador, Robert Wood Johnson IV, the billionaire pharmaceutical heir and owner of the New York Jets, or the current ambassador, Jane D. Hartley, a well-connected Democratic fund-raiser who is. Close to President Biden.
Some British diplomats argue that in Washington’s polarized political and media culture, a seasoned political figure could be an advantage. Simon Macdonald, a former head of the British diplomatic service, said, “I would advise the foreign secretary that whoever you send needs to be good on Fox.”
But Mr Macdonald said the government would have to balance that expertise with the imperative not to antagonize the new president, especially if it is Mr Trump. “The appointment of a labor politician coming into office as a Republican president might be seen as a little in your face,” he said.
The last time Mr. Trump was in office, he suggested that his friend Nigel Farage, the right-wing populist who championed Brexit, would make a good ambassador. Mr. Trump fell out with de facto Ambassador Kim Darroch after the leak of a confidential cable in which Mr. Darroch wrote that the president was “spreading insecurities.” When an angry Mr. Trump said he would no longer deal with Mr. DeRoche, he resigned.
While his experience was unusual and extreme, Mr. Derroch said the ambassador’s job required delivering unwelcome news to foreign governments. He questioned whether any political figure could be counted on to do so.
A second Trump term would pose thorny challenges for any ambassador, Mr Derroch said, especially one representing a Labor government. But even Ms. Harris’s victory does not guarantee uninterrupted harmony. Ronald Reagan has plenty of examples Invasion of Grenada to NATO forces Intervention in KosovoLeaders of both parties are ideologically aligned, yet to disagree.
“It’s a bit better with the Labor government and the Democrats,” Mr Derroch said. “But this only goes so far. In the end, there is a little bit of ‘America First’ in every US administration.
Post UK succession drama: Who will be the next ambassador to the US? appeared first New York Times.