The World Is Going Through a Difficult Position Right Now: An Interview with Ambassador Michael Guest
Michael E. Guest was born on October 26, 1957 in South Carolina. He graduated from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina (B.A., History and Political Science, 1979), University of Toulouse in Toulouse, France (Certificate, Development Economics and International Development, 1980), and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia (M.A., International Relations, 1981).
He worked for the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer (1981–1994), Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department (1994–1996), Deputy Chief of U.S. Mission (1996–1999), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs (1999–2001).
As a Foreign Service Officer, he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the “Two-plus-Four” talks which eventually gave rise to Germany’s reunification, in 1990.
In 2001, during the George W. Bush administration, Michael Guest was the first openly gay man to be confirmed by the US Senate to serve as an ambassador. It was to Romania. Guest was sworn in by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on September 18, 2001 and took up his duties on September 24, 2001. His appointment ended on July 8, 2004. Romania’s last anti-gay law, Article 200 of the Penal code, which criminalized public manifestations of homosexuality, was repealed shortly before Guest’s arrival as ambassador in 2001.
During his tenure he spoke out against corruption, which he said had impeded Romania’s development since the fall of communism. During his ambassadorship Romania committed troops to support U.S.-led efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2002, President George W. Bush made an official visit to Bucharest. In 2003, Guest was decorated by the Romanian government for his service. In April 2004, Romania was admitted into NATO and intensified negotiations that would eventually lead to the country’s accession into the European Union, in 2007. After his appointment as ambassador to Romania ended, he served as a dean at the Foreign Service Institute.
I met Ambassador Guest in 2006, while I was working for the Foreign Service Institute.
In November 2007, after 26 years with the State Department, he resigned because his partner had not been given the same rights as heterosexual spouses.
In 2008, he co-founded the Council for Global Equity (a coalition of human rights and LGBT advocacy organizations), for which he is a senior advisor. During 2008 and 2009, Guest was a member of the President-elect Barack Obama’s State Department Transition Team.
In early 2016, at a Council for Global Equity reception in Washington, DC, Guest spoke against the anti-immigrant “hateful rhetoric” that Republican candidates had been using on the campaign trail.
Currently, Michael Guest is an international strategy consultant and resides in San Francisco Bay Area, California.
On October 3, 2019, Michael Guest attended the annual ALIANŢA/The Alliance Gala, in Washington, DC, at the Conrad Hotel. With that occasion Ambassador Guest granted me an exclusive interview.
1. Mr. Ambassador Michael Guest, you served as a U.S. Ambassador to Romania in the past. How would you characterize the year of 2019 for Romania and Romanians?
Well, I think the whole world is going through a difficult position right now, the United States, as well as Romania. We are looking at forces of nationalism. I believe very strongly we need to look at globalism and how we relate to each other, how we pull together as individual countries and making sure that the world is a better place for our own citizens. And I think this year has been a very difficult year for us, in the United States and Romania, but I am hopeful for the future in both countries.
2. Thank you so much, Mr. Ambassador. How would you characterize, in short, the U.S. relationship with Romania during the current administrations, Trump and Iohannis?
Well, I am no longer in the diplomatic service. I work in the private sector now, in promoting more solid Romanian consumer economy, with its investments in the health care sector, the grocery sector and, in the final delivery, in the e-commerce sector. I would say that the current administration, my view is that the current administration is very self-focused right now. There are issues of possible impeachment of the President, and the focus, really, has been in other areas more than it has been on solidifying relations with our allies. I hope that will change in 2020.
3. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. The last question: what challenges will Romania face in the future, in your opinion?
Well, Romania will face all the challenges that we all face, which is making sure that globalization works for every citizen. I think Romania, particularly, needs to focus now on ensuring that there is an economy that supports strengthening good Romanian companies, bringing in good foreign investment to compliment that work, bringing Romanians back. With jobs that really support them, themselves and their families, I am really hopeful that that would start to happen. With some sound policies the government is interested in working to improve the business climate, that will happen. We all face the issue of Russian expansion and the interest of Russia in sort of destabilizing our economies, destabilizing our politics and that is something that we are facing in the United States, as much as Romania. So I think that we have reason to be working together, consulting together to ensure our own security and our own prosperity for each other in the future.
4. Thank you so much for this optimistic view, Mr. Ambassador.
Thank you very much.
(October 09, 2019)
NOTE — Versions of the article were published in:
AMERICAN THINKER (El Cerrito/San Francisco, California) [+ comments]
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and
CARIBBEAN NEWS GLOBAL (Brooklyn/New York City, New York) [+ views, comments]
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and
CARIBBEAN NEWS NOW! (Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas) [ comments]
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and
CONSERVATIVE READ (Scottsdale/Phoenix, Arizona) [ comments]
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and
INTELLECTUAL CONSERVATIVE (Phoenix, Arizona) [ comments]
and
MARIANAS VARIETY (Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands) [ comments]
and
MEDIUM (San Francisco, California) [100+ views; comments; 100+ likes]
and
SAIPAN TRIBUNE (Garapan/Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands) [ comments]
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and featured in:
320ro.com (Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom) [ comments]
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and
ACCENT (Toronto, Canada) [in Romanian] [ comments]
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and
ACTIVE BOARD
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and
AFRO-CONSCIOUS MEDIA (Canada; Long Beach, California) [ comments]
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and
ALTERNATIVA/THE ALTERNATIVE (Toronto, Canada) (_________ 2018) [in Romanian] [NOTE = scroll down on the journal’s home page to get the article and then press OPEN on the article]
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and
ARMONIA/THE HARMONY (Hickory/Charlotte, North Carolina) [in Romanian] [ comments]
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and also
ARMONIA MAGAZINE/THE HARMONY MAGAZINE (Hickory/Charlotte, North Carolina) [in Romanian] [ comments]
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and
BLUNT FORCE TRUTH (Detroit, Michigan) [ comments]
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and
BURNING PLATFORM [ comments]
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and
CARIBBEAN POST (Santiago, Dominican Republic) [ comments]
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and
CLICK ROMANIA (London, United Kingdom) [in Romanian] [ comments]
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and
CURENTUL/THE CURRENT (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian] [ comments]
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and
CURENTUL INTERNAŢIONAL/THE INTERNATIONAL CURRENT (Sterling Heights/Detroit, Michigan) [in Romanian] [ comments]
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and
FIWEH (Okinawa, Japan) [ comments]
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and
FREE REPUBLIC (Fresno, California) [ comments]
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and
GÂNDACUL DE COLORADO/THE COLORADO BEETLE (Estes Park/Denver, Colorado) [in Romanian] [ + views; comments]
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and
GOP BRIEFING ROOM [ + views; comments]
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and
INVESTORS HUB (London, United Kingdom) [ comments]
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and
JURNAL DE CHIŞINĂU/CHIŞINĂU JOURNAL (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian] [ comments]
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and
LUCIANNE.COM (Cliffside Park, New Jersey) [ + comments]
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and
LUMEA ROMÂNEASCĂ/THE ROMANIAN WORLD (Grand Rapids, Michigan) [in Romanian]
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and
MENAFN (Amman, Jordan)
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and
MERIDIANUL ROMÂNESC/THE ROMANIAN MERIDIAN (Santa Clarita/Los Angeles, California) [in Romanian]
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and
MEXICAN OCCUPATION
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and
MIORIŢA USA (Sacramento, California) [in Romanian]
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and also
MIORIŢA USA (Sacramento, California), printed edition [in Romanian]
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and
MOLDOVA9/NEW MOLDOVA (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian] [ comments]
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and
MOLDOVA ŞTIRI/MOLDOVA NEWS (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian] (300+ views; comments]
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and
MORNING IN ARIZONA [ comments]
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and
NAŢIUNEA/THE NATION (Bucharest, Romania) [in Romanian] [ comments]
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and
NEW YORK MAGAZIN/NEW YORK MAGAZINE (New York City, New York) [in Romanian] [ comments]
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and
OBSERVATORUL/THE OBSERVER (Toronto, Canada) [in Romanian]
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and
OCCIDENTUL ROMÂNESC/ROMANIAN WEST (Madrid, Spain)
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and
OFICIAL/OFFICIAL (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian] [ comments]
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and
PARADIGMS AND DEMOGRAPHICS (Cleveland, Ohio) [ comments]
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and
PROTECTORS OF LIBERTY (Mount Pleasant, Michigan) [ comments]
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and
QOSHE (Netherlands & Turkey)
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and
QWIKET (Kingston, New York) [ comments]
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and
ROMANIA JOURNAL (Bucharest, Romania) [ + views; comments]
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and
ROMANIAN TIMES (Portland, Oregon) [in Romanian]
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and also
ROMANIAN TIMES (Portland, Oregon) (print edition, pp. and ) [in Romanian]
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and
SAVE AMERICA FOUNDATION (Clearwater, Florida)
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and
TAPATALK (Santa Monica/Los Angeles, California) [ comments]
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and
TIMP ROMÂNESC/ROMANIAN TIME (Bucharest, Romania) [in Romanian] [ comments]
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and
TRIBUNA/THE TRIBUNE (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [ comments]
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and also
TRIBUNA/THE TRIBUNE (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian] [ comments]
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and
TRIBUNA ROMÂNEASCĂ/ROMANIAN TRIBUNE (Chicago, Illinois) [in Romanian] [ comments]
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and
TRULY TIMES [ + views, comments]
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and
TRUMP’S MINUTEMEN (Fort Worth, Texas)
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and
UNIMEDIA (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian] [ + views, comments]
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and
US POLITICS 10z [ comments]
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and
ZIARUL DE GARDĂ/THE GUARD NEWSPAPER (Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) [in Romanian]
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and referenced in:
CENTRUL DE PRESĂ — PRESSPEDIA/THE PRESS CENTER — PRESSPEDIA (Bucharest, Romania) [in Romanian] [+ views]
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and
CURENTUL INTERNAŢIONAL/INTERNATIONAL CURRENT — FACEBOOK (Sterling Heights/Detroit, Michigan) [in Romanian]
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and
HUMAN RIGHTS QUARTERLY (Cincinnati, Ohio)
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and
LIBERAL FORUM
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and
MUCK RACK (New York, New York)
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and
OBAMA LIES
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and
PRESS RUSH (Turku, Finland)
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and
THY BLACK MAN [ comments]
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and
ZENITH NEWS (Duluth, Minnesota)
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NUMBER OF PUBLICATIONS = 3
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