Ambassadors to the United States require five core attributes: charisma, intellect, fluency in English, respect for American culture, and the ear of their home governments.
In that regard, the United Kingdom has made a very good choice selecting its new ambassador to Washington, Dame Karen Pierce.
Pierce comes to Washington after two years as her nation’s ambassador to the United Nations. She replaces Sir Kim Darroch, who departed last summer after allowing his ego to distract from his mission. As with the vast majority of British ambassadors, Pierce is a career foreign service officer. And having spent most of her career on Eastern European issues and as a representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, she is well-placed to fill Britain’s most prestigious foreign posting.
Yet it is Pierce’s personality and time at the UN that make her especially well-suited to her new role. That UN tenure proved Pierce to be a keen strategist and robust negotiator. Due to certain joint U.S.-U.K. intelligence efforts related to the UN, she is also well versed in one of the central foundations of the two nations’ special relationship: security and intelligence cooperation. This collaboration ranges across the spectrum of military-military engagement, human intelligence operations, and a vast joint signal intelligence program.
Pierce’s command of these issues and the respect in which she is held at the UN allowed her to galvanize world opinion in Britain’s favor following Russia’s March 2018 nerve agent attack on British soil. And working alongside then-British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, Pierce was able to form a positive working relationship with the current prime minister. That will give Pierce added voice in her Washington discussions.
The new ambassador is also well-versed in American culture. Rejecting the disdainful attitude of many European ambassadors toward President Trump, Pierce has shown a determination to engage effectively in serving British interests. Evincing as much, Pierce has impressed in a number of Fox News appearances. The intent here is to influence Trump officials and consolidate British favor.
So yes, this is a good choice for Britain and for America. As the two nations move to strengthen relations and reach a new post-Brexit trade deal, British diplomatic representation is in good hands.
