The Foreign Service Journal, January 2009

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 25 Out of 18 proposed APPs, only two have been opened: Wuhan in China, and Busan in South Korea. Both were established as consulates. In early 2008, Washington put all plans to establish new APPs on hold. Smoke and Mirrors Take Brazil, where three officers were assigned to es- tablish APPs, in Porto Alegre, Belem and Belo Horizonte. None of those officers has been able to set up a post, and they have had to recreate their positions. “Embassy Brasilia thought that the department would provide extra funding for the costs involved,” an official involved in the OIG inspection of Brazil said. Most embassy travel funds went to support the ambassador’s travel. APP officers do visit the cities in which they were supposed to take up res- idence, but officers were visiting those cities before the APPs were designated, so there has been little actual change on the ground there. In Malaysia, the APP officer assigned to Kota Kinabalu arrived in Kuala Lumpur in December 2007. According to the embassy, “Early in January 2008, post received no- tification that a hold had been placed on additional APP openings until further notice. Uncertain how long the hold would last, post management wrote new work require- ments that provided for travel to EasternMalaysia as a cir- cuit rider based in Kuala Lumpur. Drawing upon post travel funds as well as funds from other sections designated for specific projects, the APP officer traveled to Eastern Malaysia on eight separate occasions over the past 11 months. … Until the APP situation is resolved, the APP officer will attempt to accomplish from a Kuala Lumpur base many of the same goals that were originally established for the APP position in Kota Kinabalu — developing re- gional expertise, establishing local contacts and conducting public affairs outreach. The Kota Kinabalu position re- mains on the open assignments list.” “Everyone thinks the APPs are a great idea,” one offi- cer tells us, “but the problem has come in the execution. You feel like the third wheel. Institutionally it’s tough, be- cause you don’t have support or a budget. You don’t fit F O C U S