How the U.S. Blew It at Shanghai Expo 2010 – China News
www.foreignpolicy.com — Adam Minter gets at the heart of why the U.S. pavilion for the Shanghai Expo 2010 has become such a disaster and an embarrassment for any American who takes pride in their country. This is the refined and published piece that was once written up on his blog and earlier submitted to HHR.
Foreign Policy should have had that article fact-checked better before publishing it. While there are minor mistakes in the article - eg. Ira Kasoff was a Commerce Department Foreign Commercial Officer in China not a State Department Foreign Service Officer. The biggest error in Adam's article is his lack of understanding about how the US government works. He insinuates that the award of the contract to Kasoff's wife was an inside deal but anyone that knows anything about government knows that people in the State Department are not going to do a Commerce Dept official a favor like that. If you could call it a favor.
Kasoffs wife had a long history in China as the top executive of a multinational media company and she doesn't need her husbands help in getting work.
Adam's blog is very good and he has otherwise done great work in journalism. I can understand his frustration with not getting answers from the State Dept but he is missing the main story here. If the US Congress would allow US funds to be spent on Pavillions as part of US foreign policy (like all other countries do) instead of begging from the private sector for support - most of the problems could be avoided.