The Foreign Service Journal, January 2007

F or 46 years, the State Depart- ment sponsored and ran the most senior long-term foreign affairs education program in the fed- eral government: the Senior Seminar. About half the 25 to 30 students each year were Senior Foreign Service officers; the rest came from each of the military services and intelligence agencies, as well as USAID, Com- merce, Agriculture, FBI, Treasury and other agencies. In addition to a broad focus on for- eign policy formulation and execu- tion, the course featured a major seg- ment on the domestic roots of foreign policy, with visits throughout the U.S. to understand the concerns of the general public and various interest groups. While interagency coordina- tion was not the major focus, expo- sure to leaders of many agencies and working with colleagues from other departments inevitably facilitated such cooperation in future assignments. And, as a bonus, the program was intentionally long enough to give offi- cers a break between high-stress assignments to recharge their batteries and concentrate on ways to improve their future effectiveness. Despite these benefits, in 2004 State discontinued the Senior Semin- ar to concentrate resources on short- term training, make some instruction available to all personnel and expand language training. Those objectives are, of course, worthy. But since the program’s demise, the Senior Semin- ar Alumni Association, an organiza- tion of some 325 graduates, has been advocating re-establishment of long- term senior education, with an in- creased focus on interagency coordi- nation and leadership. The SSAA believes such senior interagency education is so important for future U.S. security that if State is unwilling to take the lead, the initiative should be taken by private organiza- tions with at least initial financial sup- port from the private sector. The National Security Council has the responsibility for foreign affairs coor- dination at the most senior level, but no organization has assumed the responsibility for preparing career interagency leaders to implement for- eign policy and contribute to its for- mulation. As the world has be- come more complex and U.S. interna- tional programs and interests more ex- tensive and diverse, preparing senior officials to coordinate overseas federal activities is a high national priority. For many years FSOs have been the single largest group of career interagency leaders — on the NSC staff, as ambassadors and DCMs, and as assistant and deputy assistant secre- taries, in State and even in other agen- cies. If FSOs are to continue to pro- vide such senior leadership, they need preparation on entering the senior ranks to expand their interagency knowledge and their coordination and leadership skills. In the immediate future State may not be able to provide enough FSOs to fill half the seminar, as it once did. But in the 21st century the international importance of intelli- gence, law enforcement, economics and science probably indicates a larg- er role for other agencies, in any case. The proposed seminar would be particularly valuable for the Department of Homeland Security, as a new agency where coordination with other departments and among such components as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Immigration and Customs En- forcement Division and the Coast Guard is crucial. To justify the expenditure of pri- vate and public funds on senior edu- cation, the officers benefitting from the proposed program should gener- ally serve a decade or more in senior government positions after gradua- tion. Thus, high-achieving officers, who had been promoted more rapid- ly than average, should be assigned soon after (or in some cases just Long-Term Senior Interagency Education Could Be Privatized B Y J OHN B USHNELL J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 13 S PEAKING O UT As the world has become more complex, preparing senior officials to coordinate overseas federal activities is a high national priority.