Access is all that matters

A lot has been written about Donald Trump’s choice for the next ambassador to represent the United States in Greece. His selection says a lot about where America is heading, what the new standards are and how people are selected to fill top posts. In the previous phase, you risked being left out of the running for being a man and white; now you are chosen for being a crony, and that’s it.

This is America today and we might as well get used to it. There will be no ambassadors like Monty Stearns, Nicholas Burns, Daniel Smith, Geoffrey Pyatt etc, not just because such people are few and far between nowadays, but mainly because they have no place under Trump. But even if people of their caliber were around, they would never come to Athens. That post has gone from the category of embassies that were helmed by career diplomats to those that are used by the White House to make politically driven appointments.

But before we lose our heads, let’s take a look at where our interests lies. What is the main thing we want from the US ambassador to Greece? We want them to be able to pick up the phone to call the president himself or someone in their very close circle in the event of another crisis in the Aegean. This is something that the current Greek-American ambassador can certainly do for the very simple reason that he has President Joe Biden’s sister’s private number and could, through her, raise every red flag there is to raise in Washington.

What used to be important was having high-caliber career diplomats appointed to Greece who could speak directly to high-ranking officials in the American ministries and services. The closer they were to the so-called “deep state,” the easier it was to mobilize it in the event of tension in the region. This is simply no longer the case. A career diplomat will have no way of communicating directly with Trump or with a member of his family. To do so, they would have to have had contributed money to his campaign or bought a condo in Mar-a-Lago. Trump despises bureaucrats and the deep state, which he wants to strip of all essential powers.

So, if we think about the matter practically, it’s better to have an ambassador who knows the president personally and has a very comfortable relationship with his close environment. At least we’ll know she can pick up the phone in case of an emergency. What will be said and what will be done is a different story. Trump’s pick for Ankara is a strong player, a close friend of the president-elect and a campaign donor. Trump was on the phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan even before the elections and the two have all sorts of important deals in the offing. Turkey also has enormous geopolitical significance right now and is in a whole different league.

Israel is the only factor that can change the state of play, though it’s very unlikely that it will use political capital on someone else’s account, no matter how close a friend. Bob Menendez is not around anymore and we have, unfortunately, failed entirely in following Israel’s example to have any sway over the American political establishment.

But here we are – the times have changed and we need to adjust our expectations about what America represents and what kind of role it will play accordingly. In the current circumstances, Trump’s choice for US ambassador to Athens may be better for Greece than what our first, predictable, reactions would suggest. Perhaps in combination with a Trump Tower in Athens, we will see a new recipe for exercising influence.