The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2017

36 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2017 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL We Are Stronger for Our Diversity The Foreign Service is stronger for our diversity. The State Depart- ment has worked hard to reduce barriers to LGBT diplomats and their families serving overseas. And in countries where the government won’t accredit the families of LGBT diplomats, many still choose to serve, willingly facing the risk to work where being gay is criminalized, street harassment is prevalent and LGBT activ- ists are regularly jailed. It is in these places that the governments and society most need to see our faces, to work alongside us in the missions and to sit across the table from us in bilateral meetings. This is how we make change, one diplomat at a time. GLIFAA President FSO Kerri Hannan and The GLIFAA Board Washington, D.C. Diverse Foreign Service Talent Is Essential The recruitment, promotion and retention of diverse Foreign Service talent is essential to advancing our national security and prosperity. The Foreign Service benefits from advanced capabilities in interagency, intercultural and intergenerational planning and decision-making, allowing it to be a leader in tackling the most pressing global issues, even in the most complex environments. Morgan McClain-McKinney USAID FSO Washington, D.C. We Are Your Foreign Policy Marketing Team Your foreign policy team will have a marketing department of 3,125 people based in Washington, D.C., with branches in 188 other locations in the United States and abroad. Their job is to get out information and to leverage personal relationships in other countries that number in the millions. This marketing arm is called public diplomacy, which is a function of the Department of State. Use it right and it will serve you well. • It is illegal for these folks to target Americans in the United States. They focus on foreign audiences. • A lot of them are very talented, and to advocate our interests they use every means of communication from Twitter to tours of the U.S.A. • Promoting study in the United States is a big priority for them, because foreign students brought about $30 billion into the U.S. economy in 2016. • They do a lot of listening, and not just through polls. Some of the local employees are connected to very prominent people in their countries. • At present, public diplomacy is focused on President Barack Obama’s foreign policy and on the issues of importance to his administration, as it should be. After Jan. 20, it will need to pivot quickly. Foreign leaders depend on public support, just as you do. The earlier your appointees focus on public diplomacy, the more success and influence you will gain with foreign leaders. Joe B. Johnson FSO, retired Public Diplomacy Instructor, Foreign Service Institute Arlington, Virginia Reassure the World of America’s Role As diplomats, we have been asked innumerable times over the past year to explain the rhetoric emanating from this presidential campaign. It has not been easy reassuring people that the United States is the same country it has always been—welcoming of immigrants, a safe harbor for the poor and oppressed looking to build a better life, a nation holding as a core value that its strength is found in diversity. As official representatives of the United States, we believe this. Our interlocutors believe that we believe this. But the deep uneasiness I see in their eyes reveals skepticism that the new presidential administration believes this. The degree to which we, as the Foreign Service, can help you advance U.S. interests abroad correlates directly to your administration’s ability to develop and effectively communicate a vision of America’s role in the world that does not feed into a narrative of xenophobia, unilateralism and intolerance. As the inauguration approaches, we—and the world—look forward to hearing directly from you in a way that reassures all that America will continue to play the productive, promi- nent, indispensable role it has historically played on the global stage; that it will remain committed to its alliances, champion human rights and work with allies on the very real threat of climate change; and that it will remain a force for peace and stability.