The Foreign Service Journal, March 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2021 41 tious rethink of the way that America’s public servants work together. The timing is right. Our international affairs community, for instance, now has more alumni of whole-of-government programs than at any time in our nation’s history, and they’ve seen the light. One, Prosper Africa—developed by career public servants with bipartisan backing—is a fledgling example of a still-unrealized effort to permanently break down the institutional barriers of doing the business of government better. The initiative is not a project in traditional terms; rather, it endeavors to change the way that U.S. government officials and the private sector jointly streamline information sharing across common work platforms while mobilizing the power of 16 U.S. government agencies. Though limited in its vision, Prosper Africa is an excellent example of what needs to occur across the entire U.S. government to increase American competitiveness, effective- ness and relevance in the 21st century. Key aspects of a broader agenda to change the way we work together include realigned performance and promotion metrics and incentives; adaptive budgeting; more flexible human and financial resources that go beyond the equities of a single agency; greater accountability related to governmentwide strategic priori- ties; common working and technology platforms; cross-agency strategic management and accountability; and a recommitment to win-win public-private and international partnerships. Sean Jones is a member of the Senior Foreign Service with USAID in Addis Ababa. Put American Values Back in Foreign Policy American soft power is far stronger thanmilitary force, sanc- tions and strong-arm tactics.The United States needs to stand up for the dignity of all people around the world. Let’s strive for amore positive relationship with Iran and stop sanctioning its people for the actions of their government. Let’s reengage sincerely in pursuit of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement that affirms the uncon- troversial and fundamental notion that the Palestinian people are human beings who deserve the same rights as their Israeli cousins. Let’s stand up for the rights of people fromChina to Bahrain to Myanmar who deserve to live free. Let’s reaffirm that living up to the values that we profess as Americans, and advocating the preserva- tion of those values for people beyond our shores, is the singlemost powerful way to reestablish our credibility and influence abroad. FSO Ravi Kaneriya is a vice consul in Abu Dhabi. Personnel Is Policy: Fundamental Change Needed Changes are needed in structures, systems and processes in the Foreign and Civil Services to strengthen professionalism and advance diversity, equity and inclusion. Value and empower career employees. State has 1 percent of the federal civilian full-time, permanent workforce, but 10 per- cent of the government’s political appointees. Capping political appointees at 15 percent of ambassadors, under secretaries and assistant secretaries (with no political appointees at the deputy assistant level and below) will open the pipeline for professionals. Strengthen chief-of-mission authority and update National Security Decision Directive 38. It costs $400,000 a year to support one American posted overseas. The more people, the greater the security and safety risks and vulnerabilities. Agencies should use virtual meetings and periodic travel and designate a senior representative at post. Slash the number of special envoy positions to reduce juris- dictional ambiguities and time spent on internal coordination rather than on external goal delivery. Make overseas comparability pay 100 percent to put it on a par with other foreign affairs agencies and boost morale. Adopt a diversity, equity and inclusion program with achiev- able five-year benchmarks ; make State an attractive destination for minorities by rethinking recruitment. De-layer and push responsibilities downward. Scrap the Foreign Service performance management and assignment systems and adopt state-of-the-art models; make professional education and training integral by building in one year at the first rotation after promotion. Revamp the Foreign Service specialist program by ending the up-or-out model and adopting new salary structures that attract and retain high-value employees in high-demand tech- nical fields. ment oring C