(credit: U.S. Department of State) Linda Thomas-Greenfield is a career diplomat who will serve as President Biden’s U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
UNITED NATIONS – NEW YORK – The Senate today confirmed career diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield as US ambassador to the United Nations serving in the Biden administration. The Senate vote was 78-20. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield brings a resume of deep diplomatic experience and will help restore the U.S.-UN relationship that was strained after four years of President Trump’s administration which resisted multilateralism. President Trump did not hide his scorn for the UN and took a strong-arm unilateral “America First” diplomatic posture in global affairs. A long-time diplomat, Thomas-Greenfield has previously served as an ambassador to Liberia and the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 2013-2017.
Today’s Senate confirmation of Linda Thomas-Greenfield as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations reinforces President Biden’s commitment to restore and expand American leadership on the global stage. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield is a seasoned diplomat, deeply committed to American values, and the right choice to rebuild our nation’s standing at the UN and in other multilateral venues. I congratulate her on her confirmation, and eagerly anticipate our partnership in serving the American people and their interests.
-U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield Has Recipe for “Gumbo Diplomacy”
The Louisiana native who enjoys cooking is set to bring her recipe for what she calls “Gumbo Diplomacy” to global affairs at the UN. In her introductory remarks after Biden nominated her to the UN post, Thomas-Greenfield recounted how, wherever she was posted, she would invite people over to help make a roux and chop up the holy trinity for a homemade, homestyle feast.:
“In my thirty-five years in the Foreign Service across the world, I put a Cajun spin on it. I call it Gumbo diplomacy. Wherever I was posted, I’d invite people of all walks then make homemade gumbo. Thats how you break down barriers, connect, and see each-other as humans.”
-Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield
Thomas-Greenfield, an African American, was born in Baker, Louisiana, in the early 1950s and attended segregated schools as a child
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield a Strong Advocate of Diversity in U.S. Foreign Service
Credit: Gary Raynaldo / © Diplomatic Times / Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield , an American diplomat who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the United States Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs from 2013 to 2017, was the moderator of Honoring Dr. Ralph J. Bunche at the NMAD in Washington D.C. Feb. 27, 2020.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield has acknowledged there currently remains a critical need for more diversity in the State Department and International Affairs nearly 40 years after she began working at the Department. “We have to redouble our efforts,” she recently said in order to have a State Department that reflects the diversity of America.
Thomas-Greenfield has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (2004–2006), Ambassador to Liberia (2008–2012) under President Obama; Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources (2012–2013). In 2017 she was pushed out by the Trump administration amid a purge of many career diplomats at the State Department.
Thomas-Greenfield Replaces U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft at United Nations
Credit: Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times / Kelly Knight Craft, Trump’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, speaks with reporters at UN world headquarters in New York Dec. 6, 2019.
South Africa Ambassador Says Biden’s UN Envoy will lend support to African Issues
Credit: Gary Raynaldo / ©Diplomatic Times / Ambassador Jerry Matthews Matjila, Security Council President for the month of December 2020 and Permanent Representative of the Republic of South Africa to the United Nations (File)
As along-time diplomat, Thomas-Greenfield has previously served as an ambassador to Liberia and the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 2013-2017. Africa by its sheer numbers of nations is extremely significant at the UN Security Council. According to data, in 2018, more than 50% of Security Council meetings, 60% of its outcome documents, and 70% of its resolutions with Chapter VII mandates concerned African peace and security issues. African states comprise nearly 28% of the UN’s overall membership, providing significant regional political backing to the A3-bloc of African countries on the Council. South Africa, Niger and Tunisia are the A3 members in 2020. The big world powers don’t respect the A3 on the UN Security Council. Perhaps Linda Thomas-Greenfield will help the African nations become a united powerful trio on the Security Council.
“Linda is a friend of mine. I think the African view, the A3 plus one will get additional support on African-related issues. We think that the (US) administration will look differently. With Linda being here it will be a very big injection, a new spirit, building on predecessors. You know even our friends (current US Ambassador to UN) Kelly Craft and before her were not very cooperative with our coalition on some issues. It doesn’t mean when Linda arrives here everything will be resolved. No. But you know, I would think that she brings to bear a vast experience, over three decades of diplomacy. That is what we need now. Now we need a diplomatic skills, maturity and knowing, on a common cause whether we discuss a situation in Latin America , Columbia , Venezuela, Cuba, whether it is Burundi, Rwanda, Syria, Libya, Yemen- we all need one another. We all need to work together and we can succeed.
-South Africa Ambassador to United Nations Jerry Matjila
