hillary holds first-ever mass meeting of US ambassadors

from politico: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called top envoys from U.S. embassies to gather in Washington on Monday (feb1) for a wide-ranging foreign policy meeting. Ambassadors from almost all 260 U.S. embassies, consulates and other posts in more than 180 countries are expected to convene at the State Department for what’s being billed as the first meeting of its kind. Officials say the meeting will include discussion of foreign policy priorities for 2011, The Associated Press reported, as well as an assessment of the fallout from the release of secret diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks. Clinton will meet individually with diplomats working in unstable countries...

The ambassadors will also hear from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen on civilian-military operations in the 21st century, and USAID chief Raj Shah will speak on results-based development. New Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Budget Thomas Nides will discuss the budget for 2011 and beyond. But on that point, one official questioned why “every ambassador in the world was required to come back to the States for a group of lectures when this could have been done virtually,” noting that almost every ambassador flies business class, so costs could quickly add up. The diplomatic powwow wraps up Friday (feb4), when the ambassadors fly back to their missions.