The Foreign Service Journal, April 2007

Digital State We were gratified to see in the January issue several references to activities in which the Bureau of Information Resource Management’s Office of eDiplomacy is involved, and we would like to offer some addition- al background on each. The Cyber- notes column called attention to use of Wiki technology for Intellipedia , an online collaborative space for the intelligence community. Here at State, our office launched a similar product called Diplopedia (http:// diplopedia.state.gov) last September, following approval for wiki and blog software on OpenNet. Anyone with OpenNet access can contribute to Diplopedia and is invit- ed to draw on his or her experience, knowledge and expertise by con- tributing articles or comments, or by editing materials submitted by others. Eventually, eDiplomacy would like Diplopedia to become a reference and starting point for all topics of interest to the State Department. We are also using simple blogging software as the basis for our highly successful Communities@State pro- gram, with almost 40 Communities of Practice already established or in process. Cybernotes also called attention to the growing role of cell phones in the economic, political and social affairs of most developing countries. We have highlighted the idea of using “cellcasting” to leverage cell-phone technology for public diplomacy pur- poses. For more details, see “mobile computing” on our Transformations Web site at http://intelink.gov/com munities/state/transformations. We also recently sponsored a glob- al call for ideas on how to use IT for diplomatic work, and received a number of promising suggestions. One idea from Embassy Lima that we intend to support is the establish- ment of an “800” dial-in number for embassies to use for public diploma- cy purposes. Finally, we read with interest “Location, Location, Location …” by our former colleague, Science Fel- low Carol Christian. Carol was a champion for Geographic Informa- tion Systems applications and con- ducted the research for her article while here. We agree that the abili- ty to layer and present various types of information in map format has tremendous potential for reporting and analysis, security, disaster re- sponse and other areas of importance for State’s activities. While we recognize the resource constraints that have prevented a wider use of GIS software at State, we helped a coalition of offices and bur- eaus, headed up by Overseas Building Operations, win approval for use of Google Earth Pro, a commercial pro- duct, on OpenNet computers through- out the department. As an office charged with encour- aging innovative uses of IT at State, eDiplomacy continues to do its bit to digitize diplomacy. Thomas C. Niblock Director, Office of eDiplomacy Washington, D.C. Neocons and Butterflies In his February article, “A Sound Strategy,” Joshua Muravchik has per- formed a great service for readers of the Foreign Service Journal . He has shown us how the neoconservatives, unfamiliar with the realities of many countries around the world, have led the Bush administration to make so many mistakes in foreign affairs. On another note, Francis X. Cunningham’s fondness for Puccini’s opera “Madame Butterfly” (Letters, February) is shared by many Ameri- cans; it is the most-performed opera in the United States. But Cunning- ham is wrong to see an analogy between Puccini’s U.S. Consul Sharp- less and the Foreign Service today. Puccini’s opera, first performed in 1904, is based on a novel, Madame Chrysanthemum , written by Pierre Loti in 1887, which takes place in Nagasaki. The U.S. consul in Naga- saki in the 1890s was William H. Abercrombie, a physician whose sole qualification for the job was that he had good connections with the Republican administration in Wash- ington. (So what else is new?) A U.S. consulate had been opened in Nagasaki in 1859, and while I do not know its staffing, it is very unlikely that there was a political or economic counselor there. As for the two-timing Pinkerton, I cannot say whether there are any analogies with the Foreign Service today. Yale Richmond FSO, retired Washington, D.C. L ETTERS 6 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 0 7