The Foreign Service Journal, February 2006

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 15 Asia. The list goes on, but you get the idea. None of these accomplish- ments got me promoted — despite being recommended twice. Even my previous service in hardship posts like Yerevan and Belgrade, both at FS-1 rank, appar- ently couldn’t overcome the preju- dice against Austria, and other Western European posts, that clear- ly obtains among the panels and HR managers who decide our fate. I can only conclude that regard- less of the position held or the job performance, someone serving in places like Baghdad or Kabul, or indeed anywhere in the Muslim world — or even in a small Central American or African country — is far more likely to get promoted than a peer serving in Leipzig or Vienna. To be sure, other factors are obvi- ously present in promotions as well, and they include gender and race. Beginning during the Clinton admin- istration and continuing to this day, both USIA and State have made con- certed efforts to promote women and minorities. USIA’s last senior list of promotions back in 1999 was so star- tling in this regard that even one of the more deserving individuals noted she was embarrassed to be among the group promoted. Let me hasten to add that cor- recting historical imbalances is com- mendable; women and minorities deserve every opportunity to become senior managers. But the opportunity, in my judgment, should still be based on merit. Work Is Hard in Europe, Too Anyone who thinks that putting together a multinational conference (to name one kind of program) is easier in Western Europe than any- where else is simply mistaken. Logistics may often be simpler, but the scale of work is enormous, espe- cially since officers are expected to accomplish more in non-hardship posts than in more “difficult” work environments. I organized a day’s conference in Graz on European Union expansion with speakers from seven countries, including an assis- tant secretary of State. I received an award for my efforts, but no promo- tion. Dealing with the press in West- ern Europe is also especially chal- lenging, unlike countries where there is no real press — i.e., most of the rest of the world. I took every key foreign editor in Vienna to lunch before the U.S. invaded Iraq, and got hammered by all of them. One even told me that her opinion of me had reached a new low. She then lit a cigarette and called Secretary Powell a liar. And I paid for the pleasure of those comments, which I wouldn’t have heard in Yerevan. Moreover, the importance of the country and its relationship to the U.S. in terms of security and eco- nomics (to name only two spheres) should also be weighed. And I would submit that America’s rela- tionship with Austria, however small a place it is, is more important in these spheres than, let’s say, our rela- tionship with most Caribbean island countries. (For instance, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is still mad at Austria for prohibiting U.S. troop movements over the country en route to Iraq.) This may all sound like sour grapes, and no doubt to some extent it is. But I nevertheless left the Foreign Service with the belief that I had done good work and that I enjoyed a solid “corridor reputation” for my efforts. We all know a host of senior officers about whom this sim- ply cannot be said. In fact, in my last domestic assignment I listened to numerous conversations among senior officers that clearly under- scored the disdain they had for many of their rank. Of course, I harbor no illusions that the department will alter its predisposition regarding promotion practices, notably as pressure to staff Baghdad, Kabul and other high-pro- file but undesirable posts mounts. Even backwater, low-profile assign- ments beg for bidders despite the department’s efforts to reward peo- ple who go to these places. But I would still like to voice the opinion that the promotion process is not really merit-based, that it is the proverbial “crap shoot” in which many individuals are given handi- caps while others of comparable or perhaps greater merit are the vic- tims of prejudice, and that service in non-hardship countries deserves far S P E A K I N G O U T After hearing countless talks about competing against one’s peers for promotion, I think it’s time to talk turkey.