The Foreign Service Journal, February 2007

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 47 expressed support, but said that it would oppose any changes that might allow partisan political consid- erations to creep into the hiring process. Several Washington Post bloggers opined that the change to a more subjective process could allow race, ethnicity or gender to become deciding factors. The Future This article began by asking whether the recent dramatic changes in the Foreign Service personnel sys- tem at State represent a sustainable, long-term vision or short-term im- provisations. The answer is not yet clear. Much will depend on Iraq. What happens there will do much to determine whether the current 800 unaccompanied overseas postings represent a temporary, aberrational situation or if they foreshadow the shape of things to come. If service at diplomatic “firebas- es” in war zones and multiple unac- companied tours in other dangerous locations remain commonplace, then the Foreign Service career will have changed dramatically. Even more personnel system reforms may be needed in the future in order to attract and retain people amenable to such a career. If, however, there is less call for war-zone service in the next few years, then there should be a scaling back in the cur- rent focus on staffing for “extreme” diplomacy. Either way, Sec. Rice has two more years to continue to “lay new diplomatic foundations” as she pledged in her January 2006 “trans- formational diplomacy” speech. Hopefully, those new foundations will include filling worldwide staffing gaps, creating a training float to permit expanded language and functional training, and ending the overseas pay disparity. The Foreign Service will be watching with its fin- gers crossed. Many of the new unaccompanied positions are at extreme danger posts that previously would not have been staffed under traditional security policies.