Ms. Gibbs, a tough and experienced bureaucrat who started with the Giuliani administration, gets a twinkle in her eye when she starts to contemplate the ways food issues might come together in the city.

Even hard-line Communists describe him as a tough, experienced bureaucrat who won't sell out Russian interests.

Mr. Rumsfeld, an experienced bureaucrat and corporate executive, had held the top Pentagon job a quarter-century and seven secretaries of defense ago, back when Gerald Ford was president.

"He's up against old, experienced bureaucrats, but he can swim upstream," said Mr. Hays.

Unable to find experienced bureaucrats from his own party, Chen and his inner circle of young law school graduates retained many of the KMT administrators and delegated considerable authority.

Mr. Rumsfeld is an experienced bureaucrat and corporate executive who had held the top Pentagon job a quarter-century back.

The Porfiristas were generally conservative, experienced bureaucrats (popularly known as cientificos or scientists) and soldiers of the Diaz regime.

As for Russia, experts on both sides say their greatest fear is that the Kremlin lacks the experienced and Western-savvy bureaucrats essential to the council's success.

The Arab League is infamous for its fractious gatherings, but even its most experienced bureaucrats described the cancellation as extraordinary.

But within months, Ahmadinejad replaced many experienced bureaucrats with his own ex-Revolutionary Guard cronies, and the impossible promises were being seen for what they were.