The Foreign Service Journal, January 2013

30 JANUARY 2013 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FOREWORD The Foreign Service officers of the Department of State and the Agency for International Development are the foot soldiers of smart power. These men and women lead and staff our 195 embassies, 55 consulates and 85 USAID missions around the world. They are our nation’s first line of defense. America’s Foreign Service is permanently deployed. Its officers report on local developments, represent American views and values, and negotiate on our behalf. They oversee development projects, conduct public diplomacy, protect American citizens, issue passports and visas, and promote U.S. exports. They implement Washington decisions and rec- ommend changes in foreign policy, as well as further courses of action. And they execute these and many other missions, including supporting our military colleagues in stability operations, often under dangerous and difficult circum- stances, as tragically demonstrated by the recent assassina- tions of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and his colleagues in Benghazi, Libya. In conducting foreign policy, diplomatic and development personnel are—in Walter Lippmann’s apt metaphor—the “Shield of the Republic.” This shield is the outer layer of our multilayered national defense. It is employed daily to absorb international shocks, provide early warning and manage developing crises to avoid the use of the Sword, which inevi- tably costs the United States dearly in lives and resources. As U.S. military leaders frequently acknowledge, shield bearers are as important as sword wielders. For that reason, the Shield must be maintained. It should be axiomatic that our presidents and Congress would see the wisdom of lending equal support to the key ele- ments of military and civilian power. But that has not been the reality. Following the implosion of the Soviet Union in 1991, the foreign affairs agencies—like their military and intelligence colleagues—were reduced by 30 percent in personnel and resources. Then, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2011, our military and intelligence capabilities were I n October 2008 the American Academy of Diplomacy published its Foreign Affairs Budget for the Future under the chairmanship of retired Ambassador Thomas D. Boy- att. Many of the recommendations of the FAB report were implemented by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and her team. The Academy has just released a new report , Diplomacy in a Time of Scarcity, which analyzes the foreign affairs agencies’ personnel situations in light of significantly changed circumstances, and makes recommendations to deal with the new realities. The document is signed by Ronald Neumann, president of the Academy; Thomas R. Pickering, Advisory Group chairman; Ellen Laipson, Stimson Center president; and Thomas D. Boyatt, project chairman. In recognition of this report’s importance to our readers, The Foreign Service Journal has excerpted the document’s foreword and executive summary, with minor modifications to punctuation and capitalization to conform to the magazine’s traditional format and style. The report will be the basis for consultations with Congress designed to secure implementation of the Academy’s recommenda- tions. To read the full report, visit www.academyofdiplomacy.org/ publications/DTOS.html . —Steven Alan Honley, Editor