Interviews > Jeffrey DeLaurentis

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Who was your best diplomatic coach? Why and what did you learn from them? 

You have coaches for different skills and experiences. In my second tour, I had an office director (Kevin McGuire, subsequently Amb to Namibia) who was the best manager I ever had. He was open, engaged, and enthusiastic. He knew how to build a team, how to extract the best from his officers, and how to delegate responsibility based on what he thought people could do rather than what their rank was.

My best coaches for multilateral diplomacy were Cameron Hume and Bill Wood, for whom I worked at my first posting to USUN. They taught me the ethos of the UNSC and how to operate effectively as a multilateral diplomat.

I learned from Madeleine Albright how to conduct oneself with an adversary. When she was Ambassador to the UN, I was often her notetaker during meetings with then-Russian Ambassador to the UN Sergei Lavrov (now Russian Foreign Minister). She was confident and savvy. She was always prepared and knew what the White House wanted. She used some tough talk but also humor. She made it clear what the expectations were and when to give and take. Often when we achieved our initial goal, she would not be satisfied and push a little further to obtain an even better outcome. These lessons stayed with me throughout the service.

You served in several politically and diplomatically charged postings, most notably Cuba during the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States. Could you share a couple lessons you drew from the experience in Cuba?

Cuba is a unique issue, so you need to understand the U.S. domestic political environment as well as U.S. policy and the dynamics on the island. I had an advantage because I had two previous postings in Havana and understood the place, knew the interlocutors better than most. I also developed strong allies in the relevant agencies back home who were invested in moving the relationship forward and could provide the necessary expertise for the technical issues when needed.

In terms of the Embassy, you need to build a great team. It is critical. I probably had the best group of FSOs in Havana than I had in my entire career. Each one was better than the next and we were able to do a lot with a small number of people.

Two other things: don’t take yourself too seriously. Remember to maintain a sense of humor and a sense of balance. Second, engage the media very carefully and remember your different audiences. I had three audiences: Washington (the most important), Havana, and also Miami. Around the time that President Obama and President Castro announced that we were going to turn the page on our relationship, within a couple of days 60 Minutes was knocking at my door for an interview. I had to conduct a balancing act. I tried to reinforce the President’s message and the new U.S. policy, while not shutting down the folks in Havana, and in a way that folks in south Florida would not go off the rails. 

What has been your biggest regret, if any? What would you do differently?

I think I hid from the media for far too long in my career. I would often prefer to not be in the media spotlight and felt I could do my job more easily without having to deal with our friends in the press. This was a mistake. I wish I had been forced to do media engagements much earlier.

The second regret is not being able to make my case in a Senate confirmation hearing after President Obama nominated me to be the first U.S. Ambassador to Cuba in 55 years. Even though I had developed good relationships with the Hill in a variety of jobs, a few Senators blocked the nomination from moving forward because they were opposed to the normalization process with Cuba. It did not have much to do with me, but more about significant policy differences between the White House and a few Senators.

What advice would you give someone who is considering joining the foreign service? What skills are most important to develop?

I would say that it is not rocket science. You need to learn how to listen and how to put yourself in the shoes of interlocutors or adversaries. Acknowledge that policy choices have lots of shades of gray. Decisions are rarely binary. Know your own strengths and weaknesses, remain curious and engaged, and recognize that there is always more to learn. You do not need to be an extrovert, I certainly am not. But you do have to be able to communicate effectively. Make sure you absorb as much information as you can and then contribute to the policymaking conversations in DC.

Did you ever dissent? If so, how?

I never used the formal dissent channel. I certainly expressed opinions to supervisors on policy disagreements, but never to the press. Part of the reason I didn’t have to officially dissent is that up until this Administration, there has always been a general consensus on most foreign policy issues (maybe 80% of issues from one Administration to the next) with some differences and nuances depending on who is in the White House. My trick was always to work on an issue on which I more or less agreed with the policy approach by the Administration in office so that I would not have personal difficulty advocating for that U.S. position. In my case, you would never find me working on Cuba policy with a Republican Administration.

You need to rely on your instincts, on your judgement when to dissent. A general rule is to follow the chain of command but sometimes, that won’t work. In my last job overseas in Cuba, the Embassy generated a number of policies and initiatives that were ultimately approved in Washington in part because we had developed a good relationship with a lot of the key players. I committed a cardinal sin once because I called the WHA front office about a policy initiative I thought was important. They disagreed with my proposal and so I went around them to the NSC which agreed with what I wanted to do. Honestly, I did it more than once. You have to sometimes.

Any best practices for working with the United Nations and multilateralism? How can FSOs be more effective in negotiations?

The FS culture itself is changing with regards to multilateralism. When I joined, I was told directly that multilateral diplomacy and more broadly, functional bureaus were not career enhancing, that you needed to identify with a regional bureau. That began to change when Ambassador Albright became Secretary Albright and officers became keen to learn about the UN and multilateral diplomacy. I was interested in multilateral diplomacy and pursued it anyway. 

During my three tours at USUN, I developed negotiation skills that you would not necessarily get in another job. I learned how to read the room, studied the ins and outs of procedural rules, and tracked the different set of allies and adversaries on each issue. You learn to watch the dynamics in the room because they can change quickly.

Knowing the rules of procedure is critical. There are certain foreign services around the world (i.e. often the more authoritarian systems) whose officers specialize in multilateral diplomacy and stay with it their entire careers. They know all the rules and how to maneuver, etc. I took particular pride in learning the rules and being able to outmaneuver them when I needed to.

Most important thing is relationships - relationships - relationships. At the UN, for example, the informal lines of communication are very important either in the UN Secretariat or in the missions to the UN. Develop an informal network as extensive as possible. 

Any best practices for working with the NSC and the interagency? How can FSOs be more effective in driving the policy formulation process?

The reality of foreign policy is that it involves lots of agencies—I like to see State conducting the orchestra, but many others are involved in negotiations. NSC is the apex of policymaking and when you are working there as an FSO, you have to remember that you are representing the point of view of the National Security Advisor or the President. Sometimes you will find that you are instructing people of higher rank within your own home agency from the NSC. You can (and are expected to do it) but don’t overplay your hand. You’ll return to your home agency one day. Be humble when you can.

Working in Washington as a DAS I had to do a lot of interagency work. It is important to prepare for the interagency meetings beforehand, have solid relationships with the other interlocutors, and know who has the biggest interest on a particular issue. These relationships across agencies are very important and trying to satisfy everyone takes a lot of care and feeding.

One thing Bill Burns notes in his book is that there is no manual or guide for diplomacy. What would be the most important skills or items to include if there were a guide for diplomacy in the 21st century?

You have to understand that the world around us is changing, the geopolitical chessboard is moving, and we need to prepare for the challenges of tomorrow. Current and future diplomats need to make the case to the American people about the wider relevance of foreign policy. My generation of officers has not done that sufficiently. It still feels like there is a gap in understanding how diplomacy and diplomats affect the daily lives of Americans. If we focus more on filling that gap, it will generate additional support and respect for what I believe is a critical profession and public service.

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