The Foreign Service Journal - March 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2018 25 I respond with diffidence, as anyone must, to your invitation to comment on PPBS [Planning Programming Budgeting System] in relation to foreign affairs. Foreign affairs is a com- plicated and disorderly business, full of surprises, demand- ing hard choices that must often be based on judgment rather than analysis, involving relations with more than a hundred countries diverse in their traditions and political institutions—all taking place in a world that changes so rapidly that memory and experience are quickly out of date. Coordina- tion, integration and rational management are surely desirable; but whether it is humanly possible to meet anything more than the barest minimum standards is a question to which an optimistic answer can be based only on faith. … The budget does not yet exist to which PPBS might be applied in the field of foreign affairs. When Secretary [of Defense Robert] McNamara assumed office he was at least 15 years ahead of where the Secretary of State is now in hav- ing a recognized budget. There is a “Defense Budget;” there is not a “Foreign Affairs Budget.” —Dr. Thomas C. Schelling, from testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on National Security and International Operations. (Note: At the time, Dr. Schelling was a professor of economics at Harvard University and a consultant to the Department of State, the Department of Defense and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.) 50 Years Ago PPBS [Planning Programming Budgeting System] and Foreign Affairs On Sept. 30, 2017, the State Depart- ment’s Office of Civil Rights (S/OCR) released data indicating that there have been six complaints of sexual harass- ment under the Equal Employment Opportunity law brought to them in Fiscal Year 2017—there were eight such charges in Fiscal Year 2015 and three in Fiscal Year 2016. However, those statistics do not include the other more common avenue for addressing harassment: namely, the administrative inquiry. Under the FAM, any allegation of sexual or racial harass- ment must be reported to S/OCR, which then conducts an investigation and writes a report that is forwarded to the relevant offices for possible disciplinary action by the department. Through this process, employees can be—and are being—disciplined for the inappropriate comments, bad conduct and poor judgement that characterize sexual harassment. On Feb. 12, speaking to U.S. embassy staff in Cairo (and in a Feb. 13 letter to employees), Secretary Tillerson urged employees to intervene if they witness sexual harassment. n This edition of Talking Points was compiled by Donna Gorman, Steve Hon- ley, Dmitry Filipoff, Asgeír Sigfussón and Susan Maitra. AFSA Online Marketplace afsa.org/afsa-marketplace AFSPA Ancillary Programs AFSPA.org AFSPA Disability AFSPA.org/Disability Clements Worldwide Clements.com/FSJ Greenway Funding Group dannylends.com Hirshorn Company Hirshorn.com Homewood Suites HomewoodArlingtonVA.com Jack Realty jackrealtygroup.com ProMax Promaxrealtors.com T-Mobile T-mobile.com/amplified WJD Management wjdpm.com When Contacting An Advertiser, Kindly Mention The Foreigh Service Journal