The Foreign Service Journal, February 2007

at what sections should comprise the new embassy. With the proliferation of globalization, do absolute and sepa- rate concepts such as politics and eco- nomics still exist? And even if they do, does there need to be a formal organi- zational division between them? Combining such sections into one would also be a financially prudent measure by permitting the bulk of the analysis to be performed back in the U.S. Perhaps there can even be em- bassies based on regions in lieu of countries. The Department of De- fense has been very successful in using this type of format for its combatant commanders, whose views are not limited to national boundaries, but apply to entire regions. As a bonus, this approach appears to give those commanders a more global view of the ramifications of their representations and correspondences. In relation to this concept, the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review Report states that: “Moving toward a more demand-driven approach should reduce unnecessary program redun- dancy, improve joint interoperability, and streamline acquisition and bud- geting processes. The department is continuing to shift from stovepiped vertical structures to more transparent and horizontally-integrated struc- tures. Just as the U.S. forces operate jointly, so, too, must horizontal inte- gration become an organizing princi- ple for [DOD’s] investment and enter- prise-wide functions” (italics added — Ed.). The purpose of experimentation is not necessarily to change the way we do business, but to learn first and then, if it is advantageous, change. The Department of State is ahead of many others in its movement toward technology. We now need to move our management style in that same direction. It may very well turn out that our present embassy configura- tion works the best; but only after we ask new questions, and investigate other methodologies and approaches, can we be sure of that. And we need to be sure, for there is just too much at stake not to be. Michael Bricker, an FS-2 information management officer in Seoul, joined the Foreign Service in 1990. He has served in Warsaw, Monrovia and the U.S. mission to the United Nations, and is currently in the class of 2007 of the Army War College’s master of strategic strategy program. 18 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 7 S P E A K I N G O U T