Posted by In my previous post, So, Who Wants to be President?, I began to scope out the knowledge requirements to be President of the United States of America. Of the three Executive Departments considered, the Defense Department, the State Department, and the Treasury Department, let’s focus on the first one established, the State Department. Given the global chaos we are consumed in, we will definitely require continuous communications from the Secretary of State on the status of every chaotic crisis we claim to be able to stabilize. I imagine it will take a number of posts (I have no idea how many) to examine the State Department’s missions.
First, let’s examine the global community we are expected to lead. The world is broken into six regions. Each region is monitored by its own bureau.
| Bureau of African Affairs (AF) | 49 countries |
| Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP) | 33 countries |
| Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR) | 50 countries |
| Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA) | 19 countries |
| Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA) | 13 countries |
| Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) | 34 countries |
In order to begin to get a feel for the magnitude of this opinion problem, let’s focus on the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. Of the 50 countries in this group, Ukraine and Russia are at the forefront of our attention at this time. We should identify the communication on both countries from the State Department. Let’s restrict our attention to reports on February 26th of this year, my 70th birthday.
February 26th: Secretary Antony Blinken met with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. Spokesperson Matthew Miller posted the following synopsis. “Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Sikorski discussed deepening U.S.-Polish bilateral relations across a wide range of mutual interests, including defense cooperation, our shared democratic values, and energy security and civil-nuclear energy cooperation. The United States and Poland stand united as NATO Allies in support of Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself against Russia’s ongoing aggression.”
Key words/phrases which the President is assumed have knowledge: U.S.-Polish bilateral relations, defense cooperation, energy security, civil-nuclear energy cooperation.
With respect to U.S.-Polish bilateral relations, what background information should the President have? A good place to start is U.S. Relations With Poland on the State Department website. The following paragraph captures the essence of the current relations.
Poland is a stalwart ally in Central Europe and one of the United States’ strongest partners in fostering security and prosperity regionally, throughout Europe, and the world. The United States and Poland partner closely on NATO capabilities, counterterrorism, nonproliferation, missile defense, human rights, economic growth and innovation, energy security, and regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe.
Details of these relations are identified in the remainder of the text on this page. At the bottom of the page are a number of links to other sources of information. Among them, the CIA World Factbook Poland Page. This information is critical to have a minimal awareness of the nation politically, socially, economically, etc. A more detailed look at Poland is provided in Poland : a country study. This book is published by the Library of Congress. Federal Research Division, Washington, D.C. It provides a more detailed view of Poland. The table below contains the titles of the main chapters.
| Chapter 1 Historical Setting |
| Chapter 2 The Society and Its Environment |
| Chapter 3 The Economy |
| Chapter 4 Government and Politics |
| Chapter 5 National Security |
Too much? I think not. Reflect on the following paragraph from the Preface.
At the end of the 1980s, Poland, like the other countries of Eastern Europe, underwent a rather sudden shift away from communist rule and into an uncertain new world of democracy and economic reform. The events spurred by the repudiation of Poland’s last communist regime in 1989 demanded a new and updated version of Poland: A Country Study. Because the emergence of the opposition Solidarity movement in 1980 increased the flow of information from communist Poland, reliable coverage of the 1980s has been possible. Thus, this new treatment of Poland is based on a number of authoritative monographs and a host of scholarly articles. The most useful of those sources are cited in a bibliographic summary at the end of each chapter.
If, as President, we do not have this depth of knowledge on an ally, we cannot possibly avoid treating the opinions of the Secretary of State as gospel. If the opinions are not vetted by the President and become policy, the Secretary of State has defined the policy. This is not consistent with the legislated intent for the Department of State, which was originally named the Department of Foreign Affairs.
“The United States and Poland stand united as NATO Allies in support of Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself against Russia’s ongoing aggression.” This fact makes Poland an important ally today. Its importance to Ukraine is highlighted by the number of Ukrainians who have migrated to Poland. Data from the UN Refugee Agency, dated 12/15/2023, indicates that 956,635 Ukrainians have migrated to Poland since Russia invaded Ukraine. In fact, 1,640,510 have applied for asylum, temporary protection, or similar national protection schemes. [Note: The total number of Refugees from Ukraine who applied for Asylum, Temporary Protection or similar national protection schemes to date reflects the cumulative estimated number of refugees who have fled Ukraine since 24 February and have applied for Asylum, Temporary Protection, or other similar national protection schemes in European countries. Figures may include multiple registrations of the same individual in one or more European countries; or registrations of refugees who have moved onward, including beyond Europe. As of January 2024, the figures in the data portal will be updated on monthly basis.]
Clearly, we have a lot of work to do if we want to prepare a resume to be President of the United States; more posts to come.
So, in the words of Edward R. Morrow, “Good night and good luck.”
Joe Allen 