The Foreign Service Journal, January 2009

28 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 9 into the existing bureaucracy. And at a consulate covering an APP city, you’re one more link away in the chain.” (Note: That comment, which does not seem particularly controversial, was given anony- mously so the FSO would not “commit career suicide.” This was not an atypical response, and one has to wonder why simply describing the situation feels like such a risk.) “The APPs were a joke,” explains one FSO who served in a large mission that gained positions under GRP. “The host country rightly pointed out that the Vienna Conven- tion does not mention anything like an APP, so they must, in fact, be consulates. When we agreed, they asked for reciprocity. That was not forthcoming, so the APP idea withered away.” APP assignments are still appearing on current bid lists, even though plans to actually open any new ones have been put on hold. In a late-2008 message responding to inquiries about APP positions still listed on the bid list for that country, one post was saying: “In early 2008, theMan- agement Bureau placed a moratorium on opening addi- tional American Presence Posts through the end of the current fiscal year. This moratorium included APP ___. The future status of APP ___ is unclear at this time and may not be known until a new administration is in office.” Sure, go ahead and bid on that job! Does this mean that the APP program failed? Not ex- actly, or at least not everywhere. Circuit Riders and Virtual Posts The most common solutions for reaching APP cities without actually setting up such a post have been the “cir- cuit riders” and the Virtual Presence Posts, where the FSO is not based in the designated city but covers it remotely through Web-site connections and travel. The circuit rider approach has been successful in Indonesia, where a missionwide travel program has been established and more frequent visits to more islands have become possible with the addition of GRP staff. (See sidebar on Indonesia, p. 26.) When plans for the GRP were announced, the Secretary called for both APPs and VPPs to be established in many countries. As described by the eDiplomacy Office of the State Department, under which the VPP program falls, Vir- tual Presence Posts “help the de- partment broaden its engagement with key cities, communities, re- gions and countries without an American embassy or consulate building. For example, most Virtual Presence Posts have a Web site and diplomats in nearby embassies or consulates may use travel, public outreach programs, media events or online Web chats to create a ‘virtual’ presence that is quite real to local popula- tions.” The success of the VPP program has varied widely from country to country, depending in large part on whether re- sources and personnel were available to manage the con- tent and to travel to the locations as a component of the program. “A joke. A Web site, nothing more,” says a Washington-based FSO. “And the quality of the Web site depends on whether the public affairs section has any staff or time to devote to it. With the staffing shortages all posts are facing, it is unrealistic to think we have time to do this.” “The Virtual Presence Posts were a great idea to start with, but there were no positions available to maintain the content,” says the FSO who served at a large gaining post. “Eventually, due to a lack of resources — everybody was fully occupied doing their regular jobs — this [idea] also withered away.” But in some countries, such as China and Indonesia, the VPP model does serve as a substitute for the APP. China gained 24 positions under GRP, the largest for any mission. One of these positions was designated “transfor- mational diplomacy coordinator.” MaryKay Carlson is the second FSO to hold this position, which is now in the pub- lic affairs office. Her predecessor was based in the politi- cal section and spent most of his time negotiating the opening of Consulate Wuhan and trying to get permission for the APPs. Carlson primarily focuses on the new Virtual Presence Post program, with 10 VPP teams covering major metropolitan areas. Embassy Beijing requested five APPs and was ap- proved for four: Wuhan, Xiamen, Zhengzhou and Nanjing. Wuhan was officially opened as a consulate general in No- vember 2008, while the other three APPs have not yet been established. The opening of Wuhan was possible be- cause the 1981 bilateral consular convention allows the U.S., based on reciprocity, to open a consulate there. The Chinese authorities would not entertain posting single of- F O C U S A great example of big thinking, it was not matched by big — or even minimal — resource support.