The Foreign Service Journal, March 2020

18 MARCH 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL the objectives intended to be achieved by the hiring freeze caused some to be con- cerned about losing their jobs,” according to the report. In its response, the department agreed with the OIG that it is “critically important” to staff at adequate levels and claimed that the department has made progress: “Under Secretary Pompeo’s leadership, currently the department is just 1 percent shy of its goal to have over 13,000 Foreign Service employees by January 2020, with nearly 12,800 FS staff on board as of October 2019.” Yovanovitch: We Will Persist and Prevail O n Feb. 5 the U.S. Senate, voting along partisan lines, acquitted President Donald J. Trump on two charges—abuse of power and obstruction of Congress— 50 Years Ago The Dynamics of Growth in Developing Nations M y conviction in 1966 when I sponsored the Title IX legislation of the Foreign Assistance Act was that our foreign aid programs depended too much on a faulty bit of conven- tional wisdom; the hypothesis was that developing nations most urgently need economic assistance, which promotes a better standard of living, which in turn eases social tension and fosters the growth of democratic institutions. The assumption that economic aid actually does enhance living conditions for the peoples of emerging nations is challengeable on two grounds: first, that the total amount of U.S. eco- nomic aid to emerging nations is often too small to accomplish any general miracles, and second, that economic assistance seldom has any very direct or massive effect on the most impoverished citizens of the third world. The first point can be sub- stantiated by comparing the amount of our economic aid with the Gross National Prod- uct in Latin America, where we have expended more than in most sections of the world. The amount of our assis- tance has not equaled one and one half per cent of their GNP. Economic transfusions at that rate might keep the patient alive, but they can hardly be expected to send him quickly on his way to full recovery. … Thus Title IX seeks to broaden AID’s mandate from an unquestioning reli- ance upon the conventional wisdom to a more searching, critical appraisal of the interaction between our external aid and the dynamics of change and growth in a developing nation. … New nations need to develop skills for self-management if they are to become stable and responsible members of the international community. Yet too much of our foreign assistance has pro- ceeded on the myth that if only we suf- ficiently bolster the material resources of the emerging nations, they will discover within themselves the innate capacity to manage their own affairs. —Congressman Donald Fraser (D-Minn.), excerpted from his article with the same title in the March 1970 FSJ . bringing a five-month impeachment pro- cess to an end. Focusing on foreign policy toward Ukraine, the impeachment inquiry put a spotlight on U.S. diplomats. Ambassador (ret.) Marie Yovano- vitch, who became a central figure in the inquiry after she was pulled suddenly fromUkraine and later called to testify before the House Intelligence Committee as a witness, retired from the Foreign Ser- vice in late January after a 34-year career that included three ambassadorships. In a Feb. 6 op-ed in The Washington Post , “These Are Turbulent Times. But We Will Prevail,” Amb. Yovanovitch reflected on her experience: “It was an honor for me to represent the United States abroad because, like many immigrants, I have a keen understanding of what our country represents. … “Unfortunately, the last year has shown that we need to fight for our democracy. ‘Freedom is not free’ is a pithy phrase that usually refers to the sacrifices of our military against external threats. It turns out that same slogan can be applied to challenges which are closer to home. We need to stand up for our val- ues, defend our institutions, participate in civil society and support a free press. “Every citizen doesn’t need to do everything, but each one of us can do one thing. And every day, I see American citizens around me doing just that: reani- mating the Constitution and the values it represents. We do this even when the odds seem against us, even when wrong- doers seem to be rewarded, because it is the right thing to do.” n This edition of Talking Points was compiled by Cameron Woodworth .