The Foreign Service Journal, January 2010

Progress Within “T” In a June 2008 Foreign Service Journal article (“Rewarding Functional Policy Expertise”), I outlined steps that the Office of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Secu- rity had implemented to encourage and reward functional expertise in the Foreign Service and to make assign- ments to the T Bureaus a career-en- hancing option. (These measures were based on input from the “T Family Foreign Service Officer Working Group” and consultations with FSOs serving elsewhere in the State Depart- ment and the senior leadership of the T Bureaus.) At the same time, I noted that these steps alone were not sufficient to en- sure that America has a Foreign Serv- ice capable of playing a meaningful role in solving the national security and foreign policy challenges of the 21st century. I therefore outlined structural changes and other actions needed to achieve this end. While the T Bureaus continue to implement the ongoing activities de- scribed in my article, I’m pleased to re- port that during the last year, due to the leadership of Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Secu- rity Ellen Tauscher, the department has taken a number of important steps to expand, encourage and reward func- tional expertise and ensure that the Foreign Service has the expertise it re- quires: 1) It has elevated the Under Secre- tary’s Award for Excellence in Interna- tional Security Affairs to a depart- ment-level award. This is the first-ever award to recognize the significant con- tributions of department personnel to the achievement of the nation’s politi- cal-military, arms control, nonprolifer- ation, and verification and compliance agendas. 2) It has designated the under sec- retary for arms control and interna- tional security as a permanent mem- ber of the Deputy Chief of Mission Committee. T will now have a voice in the selection of individuals to serve in some of the most senior and important positions in the Foreign Service. 3) It has introduced the Consulta- tive Staffing Process for selection of personnel for certain overseas posi- tions that have direct relevance to the accomplishment of the department’s functional missions. This process, which was imple- mented for the 2010 Open Assignment Cycle, gives T (and other functional bureaus) an active voice in the assign- ment process for designated overseas positions where functional policy ex- pertise is essential for effective per- formance. In the long run, effective implementation of this initiative, which is consistent with the recommenda- tions in my article, can go a long way toward equipping the Foreign Service to address the problems our nation faces. These changes have the potential to be transformative. At a minimum, they constitute an important down payment on what still remains to be done to ensure that the Foreign Serv- ice has the right mix of skills and tal- ents to help solve the national security and foreign policy challenges of the 21st century. Sally K. Horn Senior Executive Service, retired McLean, Va. Changing the Culture After reading Susan Johnson’s No- vember President’s Views column on how to rebrand the Foreign Service, I was left with a feeling that we need to change howAmericans perceive “diplo- macy.” Speaking as an average citizen who is very interested in world events, I could not agree more that the For- eign Service does not get the recogni- tion, respect or funding it deserves. Because we are a nation that likes to carry a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. When there is a crisis somewhere in the world, the first thing the president usually asks is “Where is the nearest aircraft carrier?” instead of “Where are my best diplomats?” Yes, J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 7 L ETTERS