The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2014

42 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Beatrice Camp, a Senior Foreign Service officer, was on detail from the Department of State to the Smithsonian Institution as senior adviser to the under secretary for history, art and culture from 2011 to 2013. Since joining the Foreign Service in 1983, she has served in Shanghai, Chiang Mai, Budapest, Stockholm, Bangkok, Beijing and Washington, D.C. The potential for cultural and scientific diplomacy via the State-Smithsonian partnership is, as the Smithsonian brand states, “Seriously Amazing.” BY BEATR I CE CAMP SIDE BY SIDE BY THE SMITHSONIAN A s I was hanging pictures in my office at the Smithsonian Institu- tion at the beginning of my assign- ment there in 2011, a new col- league stopped by to welcome me. “Chiang Mai… Chiang Mai…” she pondered, as I placed photos from previous posts on the walls. “I think we have forest plots there.” And so I began to glimpse the extent of the Smithsonian Institu- tion’s international reach, far beyond the familiar museums on the Mall. Founded with a bequest from an Englishman, James Smith- son, the Smithsonian has always had a global perspective and international reach in its mission to advance the “increase and diffusion of knowledge.” In the words of former Secretary S. Dil- lon Ripley, “The pathways followed by knowledge and culture do not observe national boundaries.” Today, thanks to the establishment of a State Department detail position at the Smithsonian in 2009, State bureaus and posts are able to take greater advantage of its international pres- ence to reach foreign audiences. Whether pursuing conservation in Burma, building a Spark!Lab in Kyiv or bringing Hungarian FEATURE musicians to the Folklife Festival, the Smithsonian’s interna- tional engagement complements the State Department’s work in education, culture, the environment and scientific cooperation. I was fascinated to find that the position I held for two years has historical roots. Marc Pachter, who later became director of the National Portrait Gallery, served as the Smithsonian liaison to the U.S. Information Agency in the 1980s. And in 2002, the Bureau of International Information Programs detailed Martin Manning to the National Portrait Gallery to work with Smithson- ian Institution staff on the American Rooms Project, envisioned by then-Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Charlotte Beers as an interactive exhibit highlighting American themes. In my case, the detail provided lots of leeway, so I focused on helping State colleagues take advantage of Smithsonian resources for the benefit of overseas audiences. This mission set me on a path of discovery that ranged from jazz to mobile apps to wildlife conservation. From the Smithsonian side, I was regu- larly consulted on international issues, with my China experi- ence proving especially welcome. A Symbiotic Relationship The goals of the two institutions are often symbiotic. As the world’s largest museum and research complex, the Smithson- ian Institution is focusing on greater engagement with world audiences, particularly non-elite and youth groups, while the Department of State is eager to use the Smithsonian’s expertise to enhance the dissemination of information about the United States to overseas audiences. Here are just a few examples of such teamwork: • After the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the Smithson-