The Foreign Service Journal, April 2009

New Focus on Public Diplomacy PD , a new magazine and the first to focus exclusively on public diplomacy, was released by the Association of Pub- lic Diplomacy Scholars at the Univer- sity of Southern California in February ( www.publicdiplomacymagazine. com ). Edited by graduate students, PD is published with support from the Center on Public Diplomacy and the School of International Relations at USC. It will appear biannually, with an accompanying webzine. The opening issue — “New Presi- dent, New Public Diplomacy?” — in- cludes memos and suggestions for President Barack Obama; an interview with former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Af- fairs James K. Glassman; a case study on the 2008 Beijing Olympics and whether or not they fulfilled Chinese PD goals; and a review of Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian’s new book, Dan- ger and Opportunity , an evaluation of U.S. diplomacy and public diplomacy efforts in the Middle East. “Because of the transformation of the world through communications and through democratization, publics have an increasingly significant role in the foreign policy process,” says Nicholas Cull, director of the Master of Public Diplomacy program at USC. “This magazine is a way of conceptualizing and documenting these changes” ( www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/16 327.html ). — Elizabeth Swift, AFSA Intern Undermining the Civilian Peacebuilding Initiative? Despite calls by senior military offi- cials to demilitarize U.S. foreign policy, and a 2008 funding appropriation to the State Department to build the planned Civilian Response Corps, the Defense Department has announced it is forming its own deployable corps of civilians. Whether the Pentagon is set- ting an example or throwing a spanner in the works of rebalancing the mili- tary-civilian presence abroad is a topic of debate. DOD Directive 1404.10, signed by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England on Jan. 23, directs the Penta- gon to begin organizing, training and equipping an “expeditionary work force” of volunteers from among De- fense Department civilian employees, as well as former and retired employ- ees, to support humanitarian, recon- struction and combat support missions ( www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/cor res/pdf/140410p.pdf ). According to a report from the American Forces Press Service, the various DOD components will desig- nate certain duty positions to partici- pate in the program ( http://smallwars journal.com/blog/2009/01/defense department-establishes/ ). Employ- ees in those position will be asked to sign an agreement to deploy if called upon. Should an employee not wish to deploy, efforts will be made to reassign him or her to a nondeploying position. Employees in deployable positions will be trained, equipped and prepared to serve overseas on tours limited to two years. Further, volunteers will re- ceive military medical support during their tours and their families will be supported and provided with informa- tion on benefits and entitlements. The Pentagon has been moving to- ward this program for months as part of an effort to fully utilize its civilian work force, as a Federal Times inter- viewwith Patricia Bradshaw, under sec- retary of Defense for civilian personnel C YBERNOTES 10 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 9 50 Years Ago... W hat is the great difference between “substantive” and “administrative” work? Why is it that our officers try to avoid administrative work? My contention is that admin- istrative experience is essential to an officer who aspires to become a principal officer or a deputy chief of mission, or, for that matter, to attain a key position in any embassy. — Glenn G. Wolfe, “Administration Is Substantive Work,” FSJ , April 1959.