The Foreign Service Journal, January 2006

T HE M AGAZINE F OR F OREIGN A FFAIRS P ROFESSIONALS Foreign Service Journal (ISSN 0146-3543), 2101 E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037-2990 is published monthly with a combined July/August issue by the American Foreign Service Association, a private, non-profit organization. Material appearing herein represents the opinions of the writers and does not necessarily represent the views of the Journal, the Editorial Board or AFSA. Writer queries and submissions are invited, preferably by e-mail. Journal subscription: AFSAMembers - $13 included in annual dues; others - $40. For foreign surface mail, add $18 per year; foreign airmail, $36 per year. Periodical postage paid at Washington, D.C., and at additional mail- ing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Foreign Service Journal , 2101 E Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037-2990. Indexed by Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS). The Journal is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photos or illustrations. Advertising inquiries are invited. The appearance of advertisements herein does not imply the endorsement of the services or goods offered. FAX: (202) 338-8244 or (202) 338-6820. E-MAIL: journal@afsa.org . WEB: www.afsa.org . TELEPHONE: (202) 338-4045. © American Foreign Service Association, 2005. Printed in the U.S.A. Send address changes to AFSA Membership, 2101 E Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037-2990. Printed on 50-percent recycled paper, of which 10 percent is post-consumer waste. J O U R N A L OREIGN ERVICE S F Editor S TEVEN A LAN H ONLEY Senior Editor S USAN B. M AITRA Associate Editor S HAWN D ORMAN Ad & Circulation Manager E D M ILTENBERGER Business Manager M IKKELA V. T HOMPSON Art Director C ARYN S UKO S MITH Editorial Interns D ANIEL Z USSMAN C AITLIN S TUART Advertising Intern W ILLEM H OFSTEDE Editorial Board T ED W ILKINSON , C HAIRMAN K ENT C. B ROKENSHIRE S TEPHEN W. B UCK A NTHONY S. C HAN L ILLIAN DE V ALCOURT -A YALA J OSH G LAZEROFF W ILLIAM W. J ORDAN L AURIE K ASSMAN J OYCE W. N AMDE K AY W EBB M AYFIELD C HRISTOPHER L. T EAL F OCUS ON FS R ETIREMENT 17 / F OREIGN S ERVICE R ETIREMENT : E DITOR ’ S I NTRODUCTION By Steven Alan Honley 20 / O LD A GE I S N O P LACE FOR S ISSIES By Bonnie Brown and Norma Reyes 23 / FS R ETIREES F IND A ‘WAE’ B ACK TO THE D EPARTMENT By Roger Dankert 26 / P RACTICAL A DVICE FOR M ANAGING WAE P OSITIONS By Carolee Heileman 29 / W RITING AS A P OST -FS C AREER : A G OOD C ANE By David T. Jones 33 / A N NGO TO P ROMOTE M ULTI -T RACK D IPLOMACY By John W. and Christel G. McDonald 36 / S ORT OF R ETIRED IN S AN D IEGO By Millie McCoo 38 / S ERVING IN P ANAMA O VER AND O VER A GAIN By Robert Raymer 43 / M ANAGING I NTERNATIONAL P ROGRAMS IN A CADEMIA By Tibor P. Nagy 46 / E IGHT T IPS TO B REAK INTO A CADEMIA By Robert Fritts 49 / R ETIREES B UILD S UPPORT FOR THE F OREIGN S ERVICE By Tom Switzer C ONTENTS J a n u a r y 2 0 0 6 Vo l ume 8 3 , No . 1 M OVING TO A S ENIOR L IVING F ACILITY / 52 By Bill Harrop L IFE AFTER THE FS: R ETIREES S PEAK U P / 56 By Susan Maitra F EATURE T HE D OMINO E FFECT OF I MPROPER D ECLASSIFICATION / 69 A retired Foreign Service officer confronts false accusations that he was a central figure in U.S. assistance to Operation Condor while serving in Latin America during the 1970s. By James J. Blystone Cover and inside illustration by Susan Swan C O L U M N S P RESIDENT ’ S V IEWS / 5 Budget Crisis Redux: Have We Really Learned Anything? By J. Anthony Holmes S PEAKING O UT / 15 25 Years Later, Time for Dialogue with Iran By Bruce Laingen R EFLECTIONS / 88 The Mystery of the Missing Files By Kimberly Krhounek D E P A R T M E N T S L ETTERS / 6 C YBERNOTES / 11 M ARKETPLACE / 12 B OOKS / 76 I N M EMORY / 78 I NDEX TO A DVERTISERS / 86 AFSA N EWS / C ENTER I NSERT J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 3