The Foreign Service Journal, March 2010

who served as under secretary of State under Dean Acheson, devoted consid- erable effort to allocating additional re- sources to science and technology in diplomacy. But those pursuits took a back seat to the ColdWar. Outmaneu- vered by Paul Nitze, Webb abandoned this work and stepped down, eventually becoming President John F. Kennedy’s pick to lead NASA through the run-up to the Apollo moon landings. Now we are again at a pivotal point for diplomacy. The leaders of State and Defense recognize that soft power, en- gagement and options other than force are all vital to the U.S. position in the world. Sec. Clinton is not only firmly engaged in the business of diplomacy but attentive to the needs of the de- partment. She has, in the words of David Rothkopf, “defined a role for herself in the Obamaverse: often bad cop to his good cop, spine stiffener when it comes to tough adversaries and nurturer of new strategies.” The department’s IT leaders should do everything possible to see that ad- vances in State’s digital domain get a prominent place under the “new strate- gies” heading. To meet its most important strategic goals — on global warming, the con- tinuing economic crisis, nonprolifera- tion and a host of regional issues — the department will require a practical, pragmatic digital strategy of the sort that Barack Obama employed to win the presidency. ■ M A R C H 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 47 We must recognize that science and technology have a somewhat tarnished history at State.