The Foreign Service Journal, February 2010

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 41 After all, isn’t it the journey — not the destination — that counts? (If you’re not convinced, read Constan- tine Cavafy’s great poem, “Ithaka,” written in 1911.) I’d Like to Be Around Aside from the vagaries of fate or bad luck, which none of us can control, life after the Foreign Serv- ice can be productive and fulfilling. As I look at today’s Foreign Service, I am impressed by the cal- iber of young officers I have met and gratified that at least half of them seem to be women. There are many things the FS needs right now, and it is unfortunate that to focus on those needs, we must first undo some of the destructive changes that have harmed our mission in recent years. The top priority for change should be to enable all FS employ- ees overseas to have better and more natural contacts, instead of hiding them away in armed fortress- es. Not easy, but it can be done, step by step. In addition, the excessive and costly outsourcing and subcon- tracting that have reduced effi- ciency and professionalism need to be cut back, with many functions returned to career Foreign Serv- ice and Civil Service employees. One of my biggest regrets is that some of the new is- sues I’ve become more familiar with are too complex to be resolved during my lifetime. They are challenging and vital to our world; and I’d sure like to be around to see how some of them turn out. ■ F O C U S Although seemingly disparate, these experiences enabled me to explore aspects of the world and myself that were previously not well known to me.