The Foreign Service Journal, February 2004

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 51 mbassador W. Robert Pearson, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Career Minister, was confirmed as Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources in October 2003, following three years as ambassador to Turkey. Amb. Pearson has a broad background in European and security issues as well as wide management experience over- seas and in Washington. As Deputy Chief of Mission in Embassy Paris from 1997 to 2000, he closely followed the evolution of the European Union and defense and security issues within the Atlantic Alliance and the E.U. He also actively promoted business ties between France and the U.S. and helped in the opening of five new American offices in France’s regions. Before that, he served twice at NATO, from 1993 to 1997 as Deputy Permanent Representative to the U.S. Mission (during the Balkan cri- sis and NATO’s enlargement), and from 1987 to 1990 on the interna- tional staff as chair of NATO’s Political Committee. From 1985 to 1987, he served as Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Security Council, and was Executive Secretary of the Department of State from 1991 to 1993. He also served in Beijing as a political officer from 1981-1983, was staff assistant in the East Asia and Pacific Affairs Bureau, and began his Foreign Service career with a two-year assignment in Auckland. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Amb. Pearson grad- uated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1968, and served in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps from 1969 to 1973. He is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. He speaks French, Chinese and Turkish. His wife, Margaret, is also a career diplomat. The Pearsons have one son, Matthew. Foreign Service Journal Editor Steven Alan Honley conducted the following interview in Amb. Pearson’s office on Nov. 28, 2003. FSJ: What is your vision for the Foreign Service personnel system, Ambassador Pearson? W. Robert Pearson: Well, I would begin by saying that my vision draws on ideas and proposals many of us share, so I think I’m saying things that others are saying, too. Thanks to Secretary Powell’s initiative, the president’s commit- ment, and Congress’s support, we have brought the Foreign Service back to a state of health after many, many years. FSJ : You’re referring to the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative? WRP : Absolutely. And at the same time Iraq, Afghanistan, and other issues present us with as serious an array of problems as we’ve faced in several decades. I think that we need to take the asset we have — our people — and A C HAT WITH THE D IRECTOR G ENERAL : W. R OBERT P EARSON A MB . W. R OBERT P EARSON BELIEVES THE F OREIGN S ERVICE NEEDS TO DEVELOP ITS MOST VALUABLE ASSET — ITS PEOPLE — INTO AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPABILITY TO MEET THE MANY CHALLENGES OF THE POST -9/11 ENVIRONMENT . B Y S TEVEN A LAN H ONLEY A Steven Alan Honley is the editor of the Foreign Service Journal. An FSO from 1985 to 1997, he served in Mexico City, Wellington and Washington, D.C. Because we have been strapped for resources and personnel for so long, we’ve had to prepare people in the Foreign Service serially.