Hearing our ambassador in Geneva, Therese Baptiste-Cornelis, speak and looking at her antics make me wonder what qualifies her for the title "Her Excellency." Several of America's earliest presidents served their political internship as ambassadors: second president John Adams was ambassador to England, third president Thomas Jefferson was assigned to France and John Quincy Adams was ambassador to France. The point here is that early America sent out to meet and greet the world some of its very best minds-understanding that first impression is often permanent, and that via one's representative a country's reputation is at stake.
Somebody once said that diplomacy is thinking twice before saying nothing. Baptiste-Cornelis obviously did not think and so ended up saying a lot of nothing. She could, however, redeem herself by offering the PM this one-line letter that speaks volumes: Honourable PM, I hereby tender my resignation effective immediately. If Baptiste-Cornelis does that she would go a long way in clearing up the conundrum of how she ended up in Geneva in the first place.
L Siddhartha Orie
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