The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2011

experience: how to negotiate, how to meet with people, how to write and speak effectively across a society, and how to develop contacts. You don’t just pick up knowledge and professional- ism and then leave. FSJ: Use of the State Department Dissent Channel has fallen consider- ably in recent years, as has the num- ber of nominations for AFSA’s four annual constructive dissent awards. Some people attribute those trends to a change in the culture of the Service, where people just give up on trying to change policy and suppress their dis- sent to get ahead. RR: That’s a shame. When you get to where you’re sitting with the presi- dent and the Secretary of State, and are asked your opinion, you don’t give them the answer you think they want. You’ve got to give them your opinion. You may lose the argument, as I some- times did when I was arguing for more engagement with East Germany. But I did my best. And then I went back and tried something else. Perhaps the Office of the Inspector General could take on the subject of dissent as they do their post reviews. Include it as a question when inter- viewing officers: “Have you ever dis- agreed with post management? How have you expressed the disagreement? How was it received?” And the team should ask ambassadors whether they feel their staff members are thinking carefully about problems and coming up with alternative approaches. FSJ: That sounds like a terrific idea. Any final thoughts? RR: I loved my career, and would do it all over again. It felt like 10 years, not 32. And when you look back on a career and can be warm-hearted about all the people you met, even those on opposite sides of issues, you know you’ve been part of something special. FSJ: Thank you very much. J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 65 With her husband, Captain Theodore Deming (ret.), USCG, 1987.