The Foreign Service Journal, January 2013

20 JANUARY 2013 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL The key question is how to preserve the unique competencies and results-driven culture that have made the Commercial Service respected and valued in the American business community. retain a degree of oversight, though responsibility for the budget would pass to the foreign affairs committees; •An advisory council to the Secretary of State, appointed by the White House and comprised of both large corpora- tions and small and medium-sized enterprises, would protect an entre- preneurial, client-facing and service- oriented focus. District export councils would be represented on the advisory council and continue to influence the product and promotional offerings of the overseas field through this channel. The Best of Both Worlds For a traditional State officer, the notion of an FCS acquisition is one thing, but a merger? A merger implies that the two entities respect each other’s cultures and competencies, even if one is vastly bigger than the other. But if State absorbs FCS and smothers its culture, the Ameri- can business community will suffer as a result. State is simply not geared to deliver the flexible, innovative, high value- added services that FCS has developed over the years. Just as large companies celebrate and value different subcultures in marketing, manufacturing, finance and engineering, so the State Depart- ment would do well to nurture rather than crush the FCS culture. There is a growing recognition that our economic security forms the founda- tion of our national security; thus, the wasteful overlaps between our functions make less and less sense. We have an opportunity to create something better for the American business community. A merger of the FCS international field into State is only one of several possible approaches to deliver greater value to the business community at less cost to the taxpayer, but it has obvious advan- tages. As Foreign Service officers, State and Commerce personnel have much in common. We share a deep dedication to protecting and advancing America’s economic security and our foreign policy goals, and we have worked well together over decades. Even the differences in cultures should be seen as positive and mutu- ally beneficial. Done well, the mission of creating jobs through exports and inbound investment would be strength- ened through a more rational integration of talent and resources. The key question is how to preserve the unique competencies and results- driven culture that have made the Com- mercial Service respected and valued in the American business community. n