The Foreign Service Journal, March 2011

8 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A R C H 2 0 1 1 China Expertise Wasted I read with great interest and ap- preciation the FS Heritage article by Hannah Gurman in your November 2010 issue (“John S. Service: A Cold War Lightning Rod”). Mr. Service, along with his colleague John Paton Davies and many other China hands of that generation, was a true inspiration to me during my uni- versity years; indeed, their example was a significant motivation in my desire to embark on a career in the Foreign Service. The damage to our diplomacy and to Sino-American relations done by their forced removal from the State Department and China affairs is incal- culable, but it most certainly set us back several decades. One would hope the department would have learned from this experi- ence. But that does not appear to be the case. At a time when Beijing is re- asserting itself on the world stage, and will undoubtedly be our most impor- tant foreign policy relationship for the foreseeable future, the State Depart- ment appears to have blacklisted an en- tire generation of its current China specialists. It has done so by adopting a policy precluding service in China for my Foreign Service colleagues with PRC-born spouses, regardless of the spouses’ U.S. citizenship status. There are perhaps dozens of such officers with extensive China experi- ence gained before joining the Foreign Service, decades in some cases. They have developed expertise on China’s language, culture, history, economy and politics that the department des- perately needs. Yet State allows these critical human resources to go to waste, precisely when it requires them the most. I submit that we should have a more open and transparent dialogue about the consequences of this policy. How dispiriting it must be for these officers to be held under an unwar- ranted cloud of suspicion by the de- partment, simply for possessing the life experience that has prepared them help the State Department carry out our nation’s most important long-term foreign policy mission. Franc Shelton FSO U.S. Embassy Vientiane Mind the Caps I hope my fellow Foreign Service Journal readers will appreciate the fol- lowing comment I recently submitted to The Economist magazine: “The obituary of Ambassador Rich- ard Holbrooke in your Dec. 18-31, 2010, issue again erroneously refers to the U.S. ‘foreign service’ (sic). Please be aware that the Foreign Service is an organized career corps with its own entry, promotion, salary and retirement systems, separate from both the Civil Service and the armed forces. Thus, to write ‘foreign service’ in lower case is the equivalent of referring to the ‘royal navy’ or ‘black watch.’ Richard S. Dawson Jr. FSO, retired Uzès, France Remembering Maynard Glitman Ambassador Maynard W. Glitman died on Dec. 14, 2010. But “Mike” Glitman (no one who knew him for more than a Washington moment ever called himMaynard) died long ago, his mind stolen by dementia, a body- and consciousness-killing combination that destroyed one of the finest minds in the Foreign Service. There were no diplomats or global internationalists inMike’s family. Rath- L E T T E R S CHANGE OF ADDRESS Moving? Take AFSA With You! Change your address online at: www.afsa.org/comment.cfm To log in, use your AFSA membership number on the mailing label of your Foreign Service Journal . The number is on the top left corner of the label, right above your name. It may be 2 digits or up to 7 digits. The password is your last name. It is not case sensitive. Or Send change of address to: AFSA Membership Department 2101 E Street NW Washington, DC 20037