The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2015

26 JANUARY FEBRUARY 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL develop a su cient appreciation of the historical context of the bilateral or regional issue and the domestic political and economic dynamics, as well as an understanding of the policy players; the di erences between a policy, a strategy, an initiative, a program and a project; and how they relate to each other. A critical component of this format, and one that plays directly to a diplomat’s expertise and the student’s wonkish aspirations, is the requirement to produce a joint policy report that incorporates the class’s collective judgment on the issue, relevant background and context, and a single set of recommen- dations that must be presented and defended before a panel of senior (albeit often retired) practitioners. Not for the Drive-by Practitioner-in-Residence ese exercises are admittedly far more labor intensive than regular lecture-based teaching. Both the individual and joint papers demand considerable guidance and editing as the students shift from pure research/academic writing to policy analysis and recommendations. ey grapple not only with unfamiliar subject matter, but new writing formats (framing a three-sentence “issue for decision” is a particular challenge). ey come to understand the role of both history and policy organizations and players, and learn to develop complex, inter- related and innovative, yet practical, recommendations. Most students start out with policy from 30,000 feet: “ e president needs to give a speech.” ey have a very declaratory and directive approach to diplomacy and international relations. Initial recommendations often begin: “ e United States must tell the host government to do…” and end with a coercive diplo- macy approach of “… or else.” As the semester works toward the joint report, there is an increased appreciation of the responsibility of each participant to the collective product. ey face the reality of negotiated policy, of balancing between competing or con icting recom- mendations or even assessments of core issues to produce a coherent report. e satisfaction each experiences with the nal, collaborative rst-rate joint report and its successful presenta- tion to a panel of practitioners is exceeded only by that of their director. en again, if diplomacy is a long, iterative process, an art to be re ned and a skill to be honed with practice, we cannot expect to competently and credibly teach diplomacy with any less commitment. We are our stories—but we are more than a collection of our stories. n