In the multilateral arena, the relevance of Mexican diplomats on issues such as denuclearization, climate change, and international law is undeniable, as suggested by the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Alfonso García Robles in 1982 and the recurrent elections of Mexican judges to courts like the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
These contributions are partly explained by the professionalism of those trained within the Mexican Foreign Service (SEM), but the structural reason lies in the dedication and discipline of the Mexican State in building and maintaining a career civil service for over two centuries, focused on managing the national interest.
This diagnosis does not imply an immaculate circumstance for the foreign service, as revealed by the recent reprehensible incidents at the Mexican Consulate in Shanghai. The SEM must strengthen its ethical codes of conduct, expand sanctioning frameworks, and establish early psychological support mechanisms at all times for its members.
The global plan for the diplomatic career needs to be more dynamic, with refined mechanisms for promotion to ensure transparency and equity, regulated opportunities for all ranks of the Service, efforts to combat bureaucratic inertia among its members, and optimization of its service capacity and interaction with the political leadership that democratically exercises power every six years.
However, beyond isolated incidents, empirical evidence suggests a positive balance of the SEM’s contributions to public service in the country, as well as the benefits associated with maintaining a career civil service.
This is why the SEM’s contributions have materialized under governments of all political parties that have held the presidency in contemporary Mexico, from Lázaro Cárdenas' administration to that of President López Obrador.
Hence, as the author assumes, the central expectation of SEM members is to have the opportunity to assist incoming authorities in managing the country’s foreign policy, as this is the raison d'être of their institutional existence.
BY JOSÉ OCTAVIO TRIPP
CAREER AMBASSADOR OF THE MEXICAN FOREIGN SERVICE