Folks ,
This whole thing reeks of a heavy dose of spin-doctoring. My translation of Kansteiner's diplomat-speak
i.e. "I'm departing for a very good reason - my two children need a father in their lives," Kansteiner said.
goes something like this:
"Well, I am too embarrased to continue in this freakin' job! Not after Bush cynically wrote that massive $15 BILLION rubber check to Africa supossedly to help them combat the AIDS epidemic. He knew congress would never approve it, not with the economy in the tank, a huge tax-cut for the rich, and that expensive war to steal Iraq's oil, our non-involvement in the oil-challenged Liberia, ..."
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Subject: ugnet_: Kansteiner To Leave Top Africa Post, Key Embassies in Transition
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 07:03:55 EDT
Kansteiner To Leave Top Africa Post, Key Embassies in Transition
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allAfrica.com
October 1, 2003
Posted to the web October 1, 2003
Reed Kramer
Washington, DC
Walter Kansteiner, the Bush administration's senior African policy official,
is preparing to leave his post at the State Department after just over two
years as assistant secretary for African affairs.
"I'm departing for a very good reason - my two children need a father in
their lives," Kansteiner said. He confirmed that he has informed Secretary of
State Colin Powell of his intention to leave within the next few weeks. Charles
Snyder, who is currently the senior deputy assistant secretary, is expected to
step in as acting assistant secretary when Kansteiner leaves in early November.
"I am sorry to see Walter go," said Rep. Frank Wolf, a Republican from
Virginia who has been active on African issues and who chairs the House
Appropriations subcommittee that handles the State Department budget. "The effort he has
made with regard to Sudan, in particular, has been very impressive," said Wolf,
who has made four trips to rebel-held southern Sudan. "It's a feather in
Walter's cap," Wolf said, referring to the peace accord between the government and
rebels aimed at ending more than two decades of fighting.
In an interview Kansteiner listed several achievements of his tenure,
including environmental initiatives, progress towards peace in Angola, Sudan and
Liberia, and "how we've been able to help African countries court the private
sector."
During a conversation in his sixth floor office, he pulled out the September
issue of National Geographic and pointed out an article called "Saving
Africa's Eden," chronicling the decision by Gabon President Omar Bongo to designate
11 percent of his country as protected parkland. The assistant secretary
appears in the background of a photo showing Powell on a brief tour of Gabon's
Pongara National Park last year.
Speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York two weeks ago,
Kansteiner outlined a series of efforts that the Bush administration has launched
to boost African participation in capital markets, including a program to help
governments obtain what is called a Sovereign Debt Credit Rating. "You're not
going to get to play in capital markets if you don't have a credit rating," he
said. Four countries in Africa had ratings two years ago, he said. "Now we
have six with new ratings [and] we have ten more in the queue," Kansteiner said.
"He has done an enormous amount to integrate Africa into the world economy,
particularly through the Sovereign Debt Credit Ratings," said Steve Cashin,
managing director of the $110 million Modern Africa Fund, which has a portfolio
of nine companies involved in broadcasting, information and communications
technology, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and investment banking.
"Look at Ghana, which got a B+ rating from Standard and Poor's," Cashin said:
"This positions Ghana to secure loans at attractive rates," once certain
restrictions involving the International Monetary Fund are lifted. Cashin also
cited Kansteiner's role in "ramping up environmental concerns on the political
agenda," and the battles he has fought for U.S. engagement in the Liberia
crisis.
According to Mel Foote, who heads the Constituency for Africa, a
Washington-based grass-roots lobby group, Kansteiner has been open and responsive to
organizations working on African issues. "He hasn't always done what I wanted him
to do, but the point is that he has been accessible and willing to dialogue"
Foote said.
Kansteiner's emphasis on investment and trade is generally seen as his major
achievement. "Walter has brought a unique and valuable focus to the role the
private sector can play in promoting African development, in our mutual
interest," said Susan Rice, who served as assistant secretary for Africa during the
Clinton administration. Steve Hayes, president of the Corporate Council on
Africa, whose 165 member companies represent nearly 85 percent of total U.S.
private investment in Africa, calls Kansteiner "a good friend of business" and a
strong supporter of CCA. "He also needs to be commended for accomplishments in
the area of the environment, particularly the Congo basin initiative, and the
improvement in U.S. Angola relations, which is very important," Hayes said.
Kansteiner's approach has sometimes led to problems with Congress. During a
hearing on Sudan in June 2002, he angered some members of the House
International Relations Committee by dismissing their support for sanctions that would
have barred oil companies operating in Sudan from raising capital or trading
stock in the United States. "When you start interfering directly in your capital
markets, you are playing with fire," he argued.
Speculation about Kansteiner's successor is focused on Snyder and two other
officials who have held the job of "principal deputy" in the Africa Bureau.
Nancy Powell, who served under Rice and then became acting assistant secretary
before Kansteiner took over in June of 2001, and Johnnie Carson, who has just
completed three years as U.S. ambassador to Kenya and also served under Rice.
Powell became U.S. ambassador to Pakistan only 15 months ago and may be unlikely
to leave.
With the president's term ending in 15 months, Snyder's tenure as acting
assistant secretary could be extended or he could be nominated for the post.
"I hope that the successor will be able to maintain the private sector focus
Walter has had while giving energetic attention to issues on conflict
resolution, democracy promotion and transnational security threats," Rice said.
Donald Payne, the ranking Democrat on the House Africa subcommittee and point
person on Africa for the Congressional Black Caucus said: "It is pivotal that
Mr. Kansteiner be succeeded by someone with strong Africa experience, someone
who can provide continuity and strong leadership."
Vivian Lowery Derryck, senior vice president at the Academy for Educational
Development who heads the Africa Bureau at the U.S. Agency for International
Development during the Clinton administration, said Kansteiner has had a
"thoughtful and strategic" approach to the job and his successor should be someone
with the "same kind of commitment to the continent."
"The Africa Bureau faces challenges from Sudan to Liberia, and they need to
have an experienced Africa hand at the top," said Ted Dagne, an African analyst
at the Congressional Research Service. "Charlie Snyder has the background to
do the job."
Snyder is a retired colonel in the U.S. Army, where he was an African
specialist before joining the civil service in 1991 and serving as National
Intelligence Office on Africa from 1992 to 1994. He was political/military advisor and
director of regional affairs before being named a deputy assistant secretary
of State in 2001. He became principal deputy earlier this year after William
Mark Bellamy became U.S. ambassador to Kenya.
Foote says he hope consideration will be given to Jendayi Frazer, senior
director for African affairs on the National Security Council (NSC) staff. "I'm
hoping that Jendayi might want to switch jobs and do this one for a while,"
Foote said.
Relations between the NSC and Africa Bureau have been rocky, administration
sources report, and this has been noticed on the outside. "It is unfortunate
that the NSC and State Department have not been able to work more effectively
together," Cashin said. "They would have been able to accomplish more of what
they set out to do."
According to the Corporate Council's Hayes, the next assistant secretary
should give priority to Africa's regional groupings, such as the Common Market for
Eastern and Southern Africa.
Hayes would also like to see increased focus on seeking better relations with
two of the continent's big powers, Nigeria and South Africa. Kansteiner's
departure coincides with turnovers in the ambassadorial posts in both Abuja and
Pretoria.
Howard Jeter returned from Nigeria over the summer after a tour that won
praise from many who had dealings with the U.S. embassy there but was marked with
tensions between himself and officials in Washington. Donald Steinberg, former
ambassador to Angola, was named to the post before health problems made him
ineligible to serve. He is now expected to take a position serving under
Randall Tobias, who President Bush has named as his HIV/Aids czar. The Nigeria
ambassadorship has been filled on an interim basis by Roger A. Meece, who was
ambassador to Malawi for the past three years and was named a diplomat in residence
to Florida International University before his reassignment to Nigeria.
State Department sources say John Campbell, deputy assistant secretary of
State for Human Resources, is expected to be the president's nominee. He served
as political counselor in Nigeria from 1988 - 1990 and in South Africa from
1993 to 1996 during the transition from apartheid to majority rule.
The next ambassador to South Africa is expected to be Katherine H. Peterson,
who currently directs the Foreign Service Institute and was formerly
ambassador to Lesotho.
Within the State Department and outside, there is surprise and anger that
Carson wasn't chosen for the South African post. "It's such a shame when an
experienced and respected diplomat of his caliber gets passed over for such a key
post," said one former official who asked not to be named. "I just don't
understand how that happens. Where can you point to a greater diplomatic success
than the U.S. role in helping with Kenya's transition (from President Moi to
Kibaki), and Johnnie was key to that success."
Carson was also on the shortlist for the assistant secretary post at the
beginning of the Bush administration, when Kansteiner was tapped for the job. He
is believed to have run into opposition because of his service as chief of
staff to the Democratic-controlled House Africa subcommittee in the 1980s.
RELATED:
Panel Begins Reexamination of U. S. Policy Options
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