The Foreign Service Journal, February 2013

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | FEBRUARY 2013 19 The Design Excellence initiative appropriately addresses what are often exaggerated complaints about the appearance and accessibility of U.S. diplomatic facilities. of today’s Foreign Service. And yes, there are several countries where getting past the walls to do so is particularly difficult. But blaming the appearance of these facilities for such restrictions makes no sense. Secure embassies are not a direct obstacle to conducting U.S. foreign policy with a host country. Rather, those barriers originate in the post’s security policy. Perhaps there is an argument to be made that enforcement of such restric- tions at certain embassies is too strict, just as it might be overly permissive at other posts. But in and of itself, I don’t believe that the outward appearance of an NEC is a meaningful obstacle to the ability of diplomats to conduct U.S. foreign policy. A deficit of off-compound travel should not be used to argue for weaker buildings. Some observers speculate that our embassies are not just frightening to look at, but deter visitors. But it is impossible to know howmany contacts decline meetings in our facilities simply because of their appearance. Moreover, such con- cerns ignore the reality that some of our most secure facilities are in places where members of the local population are already accustomed to stringent security measures. I once watched a former host-country official being stopped at a checkpoint while entering our embassy. As I started to apologize for the inconvenience, he interrupted me: “I went through four roadblocks to get here today—at least you have air conditioning!”