I believe that State has the perennial problem of not conducting its affairs as if it has testicles. There are reasons for DoS to act that manner, but for many people, myself included, it has too many shades of Munich to be comfortable. After running into various State people and reading and listening to articles or speeches by others, there is also a danger with "country experts" identifying too closely with the country with which they are affiliated. I was in a meeting a little while ago with a political-military expert on France, and she came across as an apologist as much as an expert.
The key question is how do you draw the line between understanding a foreign country's position and allowing yourself to be unduly swayed by that position because of your affinity for that foreign country and its people?