Josh Rogin pens a finely tuned blog called "The Cable" which is all about the behind the scenes activities which help shape U.S. diplomacy. It is an excellent resource.
On September 1, Rogin disclosed that he had obtained a letter written by a Democratic Congressman from California - Rep. Brad Sherman - which was about to be sent to President Obama. The letter seeks to place former California Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante on the list of suitable and capable candidates to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to India.
See Rogin's complete post here -
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/09/01/brad_sherman_pushes_calif_politician_for_india_ambassador
Among other things, the letter calls attention to Bustamante's "extensive work on issues of international trade and economic development," but the letter says nothing - or at least Rogin makes no mention of it - about Bustamante's interest and track record when it comes to aerospace-related matters.
Of course, you would expect someone who was elected to the second highest office in a big traditional aerospace and hot "New Space" state like California to be fairly well versed in the details surrounding space-related developments. Bustamante hails from the state where the fast-paced launch venture SpaceX is headquartered, for example.
Bustamante never soared into space himself, but he did occupy a seat on the Executive Board of the Aerospace States Association (ASA) five years ago. The ASA is a dynamic organization, but not very loud. And in 2006, Bustamante served as one of the Vice Chairs of the ASA.
A press release on the ASA web site at the time described the organization's mission as follows -
"ASA is a bi-partisan representative of the grass roots of American
Aerospace. It is a scientific and educational organization of
Lieutenant Governors and appointed delegates from more than forty
states. ASA was formed to promote a state-based perspective in federal
aerospace policy development and to support state aerospace initiatives
that enhance student/teacher education outreach and economic
development opportunities."
“America is being challenged by many nations around the world that are
aggressively investing in their own aerospace industries and workforce.
Numerous Presidential and Congressional reports document this
challenge. I believe that ASA can and should work to rally America to
improve U.S. aerospace competitiveness,” said the ASA's Chairman back in 2006.
Five years later, the current state of U.S. aerospace competitiveness is a very big deal indeed, and the ASA's focus on it is not diminished. As a result, one ASA goal today - "Maintain global leadership in space and expand jobs by 20%" - might be construed as being on a collision course with India's efforts to increase its share of global space launch revenues, among other things. Maybe this is the wrong way to spin this ASA objective, but it would be deceiving to suggest that the ASA has somehow changed its tune in the past 5 years. If anything, the ASA was moving steadily ahead years ago to try and address many of the controversial and even painful issues which are swirling around the embattled U.S. space sector today.
See
http://aerostates.org/about-asa/goals
However, the point here is not to declare that Bustamante's viewpoint is the same as the ASA'S in all instances - this may be true or not true - or to say that he enjoys universal support from the entire California space sector or that he is going to automatically ascend to this specific post as the next ambassador to India. This writer is not prepared nor inclined to engage in speculation of this type.
Instead, the goal here is to draw attention to the notion that holding space credentials of any kind might matter more now than in the past especially when it comes to participating on the front lines of U.S. diplomacy - in India and elsewhere. For this reason, the fact that Bustamante went the extra mile at the ASA seems like more of an attribute than a deficiency regardless of what the ASA seeks to accomplish. At a time, when the U.S. wants India to act as a predictable partner, all the cards will have to be played openly on the table. That includes the space card as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment