My friend, you mention 'mandate' -- does any MFA give this really? --- The only modern MFA that tells each Amb what they are to do, in specific terms, are the French, via their 'Ambassador's Instruction'....Each of these is customized, and written after full consultation with all ministries....As a 5-time Amb, the only time I received real instructions was from PM Indira Gandhi in the 5 minutes I spent with her, before leaving for Algiers, in August 1975...That became a guide for the final 20 years in the Foreign Service....My point: Today's Amb has to write her own instructions. Be bold and ambitious. The country's economic interests are one area where the Amb can really make a difference...Political ties are set in a framework that is almost unalterable.

Source author: Kishan S Rana kishanrana@gmail.com