Rather than conduct one very large conference call, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has ordered all U.S. ambassadors home to Washington for a first-of-its-kind, face-to-face policy meeting that began on January 31.

 

The week-long Global Chiefs of Mission Conference, involving the top enjoys from all 260 U.S. embassies, consulates and other diplomatic posts, is addressing foreign policy priorities for the coming year, as well as assessing the fallout from the WikiLeaks release of classified State Department cables.

 

Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley said in a press briefing the meeting will take up the State Department’s Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, which discusses the “changing role and the changing demands of our ambassadors” overseas.

 

The State Department received some criticism for not conducting the meeting virtually, given the costs required to fly so many diplomats home via business class. However, taking into account the controversy over the release of the classified State Department cables, the personal interaction is probably considered safer.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Hillary Clinton Calls Historic Meeting of Ambassadors (by Jennifer Epstein and Laura Rozen, Politico)

Daily Press Briefing (State Department)