This kind of personality is very common at State. Their arrogance is unparalleled.
They (many, not all fortunately) have a tendency not to listen to the people overseas deeply imbedded in the the front lines and go against reality and common sense when dealing with foreign cultures and situations, even though they pride themselves on being so globally "tuned in"
It gets the US in a lot of trouble. Vietnam debacle immediately comes to mind. Some of these people are called the best and brightest, but I am often not impressed.
You could put Chris "Jong" Hill in the same category as Nicky Burns, if you want my opinion. Between the both of them, they give away the US to islamofascists on the one hand, and the North Koreans on the other. Endemic, institutional corruption and incompetence at State.
Although about Nick Burns, it relates to the DPRK-Nuke-Appeasement debacle with Bush-Condi engineered by State these days.
“They (many, not all fortunately) have a tendency not to listen to the people overseas deeply imbedded in the the front lines and go against reality and common sense when dealing with foreign cultures and situations, even though they pride themselves on being so globally “tuned in””
There is also the opposite who “go native” so to speak and become not representatives of the U.S. and its interests but rather of the country they are posted to. Back in the Clinton days we had an Ambassador out in Laos named Wendy Chamberlain. She went native, right down to eating with her hands when lunching with visiting “firemen” from the States. I specifically remember her dirty fingernails. Anyway, if any American sought to legally vindicate American interests out there that in any way called into question the reliability of Pathet Lao regime for honest business dealings, she was right there, along with the local World ank rep. to make sure no one “hurt” the Lao commie genocidal government. Her job was to protect the Lao regime from Americans so far as I could see. Anyway, she went on to make a fool of herself in Pakistan. In fact she was recently bloviating in the NYT about Musharraf.
As you say, however, there are some very good people at Foggy Bottom, but they are, sadly, few and far between. In my travels I have had occasion to deal with personnel in a number of foreign ministries across the globe. Only at our State Dept. have I met bureaucrats not committed to the policies of the government in power but rather to some personal ideology.
Their frame of mind is "Rednecks vs Enlightened Ones." The tough realistic sobering attitude toward foreign countries is so confrontational and backward. Sensitivity and accommodation will solve most of the international problems. It was all faults of our suspicious and paranoid mindset. So goes their thinking.
This kind of mindset only appeals to domestic audience who will influence their career prospect. It never appeals to the hostile foreign elements and invites scorn.
These hostile foreign powers could see them in two ways:
(1) These hapless appeasers are nice packaging which contains the deadly bomb inside. If you fall for packaging, you will be blown up.
(2) These appeasers reflect the symptom of decadent and dying society. It only shows that, with a little more dedication and sacrifice, you can really bring them down.
Since their understanding of foreign culture and society is ridiculously out of place, they don't get respect even if these appeasers are doing all nice things for them.