Foreign service association urges non-political ambassador appointments The American Foreign Service Association is urging policymakers to curb the practice of naming political appointees to top diplomatic positions, saying the posts should instead go to Foreign Service officers. The association notes that in the last three decades, 85 percent of ambassadorial appointments to major European countries and Japan, and nearly 60 percent of appointments to a wider group of emerging global powers such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, have been political. "(U.S.) military combatant commands, USAID missions and CIA stations are all headed by professionals serving in those… Read More