By Wayne Sayles – Ancient Coin Collecting Blog

In an earlier blog, I referred to the U.S. State Department as the “Hydra of bureaucracy.” The Hydra was, in Greek mythology, a multi-headed sub-terranean creature with a poisonous breath. If some adventurous soul managed to cut off one of the heads, two more would spring up in its place. That is, I will be the first to admit, a harsh metaphor to describe government employees serving “the people.” In other posts on this blog, I have provided some examples of why I personally feel that service to the people has not always been the primary motivation at DOS, or at least not at the Cultural Heritage Center of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Today, I found online a new State Department “Organization Chart” that I initially presumed was part of the DOS website. The fact that the site had a Blogspot URL did not strike me as odd at first because DOS has widely advertised its new interest in blogging. However, when I clicked on “About Me” it quickly became apparent that this was a copycat and likely a rather creative advertising scheme. In checking all of the posts to date on this private blog, I was able to find nothing but very generic descriptions of the State Department and its functions—nothing controversial or objectionable. But, the thought occurred to me, what if some website creating the impression of an official DOS medium started posting ideological views? Would that not be another head of the same Hydra? Call me paranoid if you like, but in a world where a superpower like China will openly sanction sabotage of a legal auction in another country, I harbor no illusions about the lengths to which ideologues will go in pursuit of their objectives.

Actually, the organization chart posted by this anonymous blogger was enlightening since I have never really looked at the entire DOS structure like this. I don’t doubt that it is accurate. A reading of the list of offices within DOS makes it very clear that the structure, as one might expect, is pyramidal and there does seem to be an office for everything imaginable. Beneath the Secretary of State are six Undersecretaries heading a plethora of agencies and functions. One of those Under Secretaries is the “Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs: The senior economic advisor for the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on international economic policy. This position is responsible for bureaus, headed by Assistant Secretaries, dealing with trade, agriculture, aviation, and bilateral trade relations with America’s economic partners.” These are obviously the people who know about business and trade.

Another Under Secretary is the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs: “This position manages units that handle the department’s public communications and seek to burnish the image of the United States around the world.” Some might say that these are the “Spin Doctors”. Beneath this Under Secretary is the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. I’m not sure how effective that Bureau has been in recent years as Americans are not viewed these days in the most favorable light. Be that as it may, the thing that seems peculiar to me is that the people who know about trade and business are not the people who evaluate requests for trade restrictions on coins. In fact, those people do not even seem to be in the loop. The decision on requests for import restrictions comes under the purview of an agency geared not to trade and business issues, but to enhancing public image overseas. Is it any wonder that the Cultural Heritage Center consistently finds in favor of foreign diplomacy over the interests of domestic trade?

These two divisions, with opposed interests in this case, converge only at the Deputy Secretary position, the number two person at DOS. Consequently, unless an issue is of grave consequence, it is not likely to receive inter-departmental attention. Thus isolated from broad departmental oversight, and traditionally operating under a shroud of secrecy, the Cultural Heritage Center has essentially had a free rein when it came to advocating and implementing its own ideological views. We can probably not expect any change in that situation until a greater and wiser power intervenes. But, hope springs eternal—now that change has arrived in Washington, maybe we will see this stone wall in Foggy Bottom torn down.

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4. The “illicit” antiquities trade
5. FOIA Suit Filed Against US Dept of State
6. Coin Collectors to Challenge State Department on Import Restrictions
7. Ethics, Law and Globalization
8. Questions and Truth
9. Lawsuit pries loose documents, more being contested
10. IAPN Comments on FOIA law suit