The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2011

T he Foreign Commercial Service tortuously continues the post downsizing process. Initially, the list of potential closures included up to 30 posts; but it is nowbelowadozen, as political realities enter the process. For example,Dublin was on the earlier list, but it wasn’t long before Irish-American forces weighed in and took it off the list (what were they thinking?). The Government AccountabilityOffice would like to think that downsizing can be a simple, straightforwardmanagement process. But they sometimes seemto lack a basic understanding of their own political environment. Meanwhile, as the days tick on, the failure of the budgetary process becomes compounded. The basic real- ity is that it takes up-front spending to wrestle any long-term savings fromcuts and closures, with little time left in this fiscal year to see any sav- ings. In addition, the closure of FCS posts will inevitably affect the budgets and workloads of our fellow Foreign Service agencies. We continue to debate howopen this process should be. Releasing information about FCS post closures too early can be very destructive to morale and functionality. But letting the process be dominated by the rumor mill can cause evenmorewidespread demoralization and paralysis. Therefore, the soon- er the specifics are made known, the better. This is an educationprocess for everyone involved, but especially for a newgroup of members of Congress who, frankly, have not had the time to fully understand the impact of their decisions. We talked to one staffer several weeks agowho seemed convinced that sending $70million in aid toRussia didn’tmake sense. That is, until we pointed out that the money could be going toward supporting the agreement to dismantle nuclear warheads now pointed at our homes, buildings and leaders. The great irony of this process is that the more you cut the budget to support exports, the more you will widen the deficit. As we have repeatedly told key mem- bers on theHill over the last severalmonths, FCS candocument $359worthof exports we helpedmake happen for every $1 appropriated. At an average corporate tax rate of 23 percent, each dollar generates over $83 in tax revenue. If you want to narrow the deficit, increase spending on export programs, don’t decrease it. This is an argu- ment Republicans should understand. We can only hope that this important and necessary educational process sinks in before it is too late. If you want to narrow the deficit, increase spending on export programs, don’t decrease it. This is an argument Republicans should understand. V.P. VOICE: FCS BY KEITH CURTIS Spending Money to Narrow the Deficit 38 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / J U L Y - A UGU S T 2 0 1 1 A F S A N E W S AFSA/FSJ PANEL: Work-Life Balance in the Foreign Service BY DONNA AYERST O n May 26, AFSA followed up the May issue of the Foreign Service Journal — which focused on work-life balance — by hosting a panel discussion on the topic. The panel, mod- erated by Faye Barnes, president of the Associates of theAmericanForeignService Worldwide, includedKathleenM. Lingle, executivedirectorofAlliance forWork-Life Progress; Judy Ikels, chief of the State Department’s Work-Life Division in the Bureau of Human Resources; StephenK. Morrison, a senior commercial officer on assignment to the U.S. Export Assistance Center; and Margot Carrington, Foreign Serviceofficer and recipient of a2010-2011 Una Chapman Cox Sabbatical Leave Fellowship toconduct researchon the chal- lenges facing working women. The term “work-life balance” was coined in1986and iswidelyused, butwhat does it mean? According to Lingle, it is about the juggling act everyonewhoworks does: “It’s the intersectionof the four balls we juggle: career, family, community, self.” “Balance is elusive in the Foreign Service,” saysCarrington, who is usingher CoxFellowship to look intoways toachieve balance to enhance the Foreign Service mission. “Workplace flexibility enhances employees’ lives and, in turn, their pro- ductivity and sense of accomplishment. But workplace flexibilitywhile at an over- Continued on page 50 Judy Ikels displays State’sWork/LifeDivision’s new logo at AFSA on May 26. DONNA AYERST