The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2009

14 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 9 T he strength and capability of the State Department as an in- stitution usually receive less at- tention than the more visible power game among the key players in foreign policy — the secretaries of State and Defense, the national security adviser in the White House, and sometimes the vice president and other depart- ment heads. These figures constantly vie for the ear of the president, a con- test that often makes for high drama. Although the Secretary of State is limited in defining this equation, which is heavily dependent on personalities and relationships, he or she has a great deal of control over the department’s institutional effectiveness. State’s peo- ple and overseas establishment should be a major source of strength, not —as too often happens — a dead weight dragging down its leaders’ efforts. Here are five steps Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton should take to improve State’s capabilities as an organization, and an assessment of progress to date on each. 1. Rebuild State’s Competence There is widespread agreement that State is currently badly understaffed and underfunded for its traditional re- sponsibilities, and in even worse shape for new ones required by the broader emphasis on diplomacy and develop- ment that is the stated goal of the Obama administration. One compre- hensive recent study, “A Foreign Affairs Budget for the Future: Fixing the Cri- sis in Diplomatic Readiness,” issued by the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Stimson Center in October 2008, concluded (conservatively) that by Fiscal Year 2014, 4,735 additional people and an extra $3.3 billion will be needed just to carry out core diplomatic functions, training, public diplomacy, foreign assistance (for USAID) and the reconstruction/stabilization of failed or failing states. Not included in that fig- ure are administrative and manage- ment needs, which State believes can be met through increased efficiency and internal reprogramming, and the work of the Bureau of Consular Affairs, almost entirely funded from fees rather than appropriations and thus excluded from the study. These figures represent a 46-per- cent increase in U.S. direct-hire per- sonnel in the included categories, and about a 21-percent increase in funding, including both program costs and per- sonnel, compared to the FY 2008 Con- gressional Budget Office Baseline. This is not the best time to obtain addi- tional funding for foreign affairs, but the needs are modest compared to other expenditures, and would provide important improvements out of pro- portion to the cost. As Defense Secretary Robert Gates noted in testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee on April 30, 2009: “I believe that the challenges confronting our nation cannot be dealt with by military means alone. They in- stead require whole-of-government ap- proaches — but that can only be done if the State Department is given re- sources befitting the scope of its mis- sion across the globe.” Initial executive branch and con- gressional reactions allow for cautious optimism. For FY 2009, State and USAID sources conclude that the re- cently passed Omnibus Appropriations Act provides for up to 1,267 new posi- tions for State, up to 487 of them For- eign Service officers, and around 300 new FSOs for USAID. Moreover, the Obama administra- tion’s initial budget document (“ANew Era of Responsibility,” Feb. 26) states that “The 2010 budget includes fund- ing for the first year of a multiyear ef- fort to significantly increase the size of the Foreign Service at both the De- partment of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development.” Regaining Relevance: Five Steps to Strengthen State B Y W ILLIAM I. B ACCHUS S PEAKING O UT Secretary Clinton must not let pressing policy matters limit her personal efforts to obtain needed resources.