The linked, rather screedy, piece makes two worthwhile points:
1. Even if Tillerson divests himself of every bit of Exxon stock, pension, golden parachute, whatever, he's still going to be approaching the role of the US chief foreign policy guy and diplomat from a lifelong career as an Exxon employee and executive.
2. And aside from oil reserves and regime stability, his knowledge of world affairs (and our knowledge of his opinions) is pretty limited:
'There’s a hell of a lot of other stuff the secretary of State has to do. Let’s start with Israel and Palestine. What sort of grasp of Israeli politics does Tillerson have? Any? And the internecine battles within the Palestinian world?Syria? Factions upon factions upon factions! The history of the relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The roles played by the Muslim Brotherhood and Hezbollah and their histories. Does Tillerson know anything about any of this beyond the broad headlines? And that’s just one region of the world. There are several others, you know.
Then there are the issues that the State Department works on that go beyond state relationships. Potable water. Does he have a handle on that? The subjugation of women. Slavery and peonage. Malaria and other diseases. What’s he going to prioritize, and what’s he going to propose to do about those matters?
My point isn’t that he ought to be able to fix all these things. It’s that a normal pick would know a little something about all these matters, and have a sense of who to get on the phone when a crisis erupts somewhere. Tillerson will be learning on the job literally every day for his entire tenure, however long it lasts.
Except, that is, about fossil fuels and Russia.'
Just something to think about. Unless, of course, the message is that the only thing the US is interested in from foreign countries is oil & gas and other resources, and maybe overall stability to promote trade.
Four Reasons Tapping Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State Is a Terrible Idea
A global energy CEO would have been a totally unacceptable choice even a decade ago. Now, it’s happening.
