Prague: All eyes on Albright

As Washington, DC prepares for the handover of power to the Obama administration, a substantial by-product of the process is the large level of customary personnel change in top government jobs and senior civil service positions.

While the re-shuffle of the cabinet and the appointment of the president's White House leadership team is the most prominent part of all the transitional procedures, the associated exchange of about 7,000 other high-caliber positions in the US government, based primarily on political affiliation, is just as relevant.

One component of this is also the withdrawal and exchange of all politically appointed overseas US ambassadors.

With the selection and announcement of Obama's cabinet complete, speculation over the remaining top-tier government jobs has moved to the forefront. Much of the speculation over possible appointments at the individual departmental levels has in turn been directly influenced and guided by Obama's picks of secretaries and ministers and their respective personalities and professional networks.

One of the more interesting or intriguing rumors surrounding sub-cabinet positions in the new US administration has subsequently involved former secretary of state Madeleine Albright.

With the choice of Hillary Rodham Clinton as Obama's secretary of state, Albright, a close friend and political ally of the Clintons, and herself the first female secretary of state during Bill Clinton's second term in office between 1997 and 2001, quickly became tipped by many as the next possible ambassador to the Czech Republic.

While normally it would be highly unusual for any former secretary of state to accept a nominally lower position in the same department after the conclusion of their career as secretary and corresponding head of the department, the case of Albright and Prague is a special one.

Albright was born in Prague and moved with her family to the US after the communist takeover in 1948. She has always remained fully fluent in Czech and returned to Prague several times for official visits during the course of her US government career. 

As such, Albright is very popular with the Czech public and the country's political establishment. Even former Czech president and playright Vaclav Havel considered Albright to be a viable option as a possible successor for the Czech presidency in 2003.

Tereza Kynčlová, an American studies scholar from Charles University in Prague told ISN Security Watch that  “Albright's possible return to Prague would be fascinating, in that it would symbolize, in one person, a direct bridge from the era of the First Czechoslovak Republic to the present-day, modern Czech Republic."   

Not surprisingly, the Czech ambassador to the US, Petr Kolář, became one of the first to mention the possibility of Albright's appointment as the next US ambassador to the Czech Republic in December 2008. This quickly caught the attention of the Czech media and a certain level of speculation ensued. Albright in turn told the Czech daily Hospodářské noviny, "I am not seeking any position of any type. I am very glad when I can help. I was secretary of state which, in my view, is the best possible post in the administration and I liked every minute of it. I will be glad to help but I have no plans."

Kolář also went on record around the same time in December, telling the Czech news outlet Pravo that Albright was satisfied with the work she did for her own consulting company and that she was not actively seeking out a diplomatic post, but that if offered a position by Obama, she would be prepared to accept it.

The informal interest of many elements in the Czech government is obvious and understandable. In case she would indeed be appointed, she would instantly become one of the most prominent of all the new US ambassadors around the world and bring a considerable level of political pedigree and diplomatic prestige with her and to the Prague post.

While most observers believe that the ambassador's job in Prague is Albright's to take or leave, many also think that she could reject the position if offered and focus instead on her consultancy work and her job as a professor at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. This could open the Prague position to one of Obama's more directly close associates and political allies, possibly someone from the prominent Czech-American community in Chicago, Obama's hometown.

The first announcements for newly selected US ambassadors are expected for March or April of 2009. Around the same time, Albright's future should become clearer.