The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2017

22 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2017 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL ability to distill his decades of work in Russia into a new doctrine that guided the country through the Cold War. There are similarly talented individuals in State today whose deep experience abroad is matched by analytical capacity and who could be uniquely qualified to help develop your new strategy. • Eyes and Ears on the Ground: State Department reporting provides the broader context to round out the more targeted reporting you will get from the intelligence community and the military. It is often the most complete and clearest reporting you will receive on a situation. This reporting can especially provide warning signs when things are about to go sideways. The Foreign Service will need top-level cover to take the inherent risks to achieve this. • Your Personal Representatives: Ambassadors abroad are your personal representatives, and their credibility becomes your cred- ibility. You can enhance their effectiveness by choosing those with a clear capacity for complex interagency leadership, appropriate language and cross-cultural skills, and the ability to clearly convey our values and positions to a foreign audience. These traits are found across the career Foreign Service, and on limited occasions outside of the Foreign Service. • Getting to Yes: While there is a temptation to bring in the big names for negotiations, don’t forget that Foreign Service officers have conducted foreign negotiations for their entire careers. It is second nature to them, and they are very good at it. • Experts for Niche Issues: Today’s State Department is very different fromwhat it was 30 years ago, with experts on health, energy, arms control, oceans, biotech and a host of other issues. It can deliver the expertise to manage the increasing complexity of your global agenda. • Connecting with the Heartland: Your diplomats know their overseas beats well, but they also all come fromall over the United States.They can help build grassroots U.S. support for your interna- tional agenda through speaking tours and op-eds in local media. We are here for you, Mr. President, and we are in this together. We will often be the first ones to see the opportunities and help you avert the risks as we re-hinge the world, and re-establish our nation’s place in it. n