The expanded openness will probably encourage that kind of behavior. Such efforts must be dealt with firmly, even if a former president or secretary is the person acting off the reservation. In any case, the secretary will have to expend tremendous intellectual energy to keep up with the flow, will have to bring more people into the analytical and decision-forming process earlier than ever. Consensus building skills will be needed. The information age should enhance accountability in diplomacy as well as most other activities.
Accountability is necessary in our fast-moving world of global finance.
I like the way Barings was handled by the Bank of England and Orange County by California Governor Pete Wilson. People and organizations who make large mistakes should have to live with them. In the field of diplomacy, what you do and say is increasingly in the public domain. The quality of your decisions and your capacity to effectively execute them is increasingly on display. This spotlight, unnerving to some degree, should result in improved performance.