The Foreign Service Journal, April 2010

A P R I L 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 17 he American people’s humanitarian instincts rise to the occasion whenever disasters strike, whether here or anywhere in the world. Americans expect their government to act with dispatch, efficiency and compas- sion. When that happens, as it did in the response to the earthquake in Haiti, there is an added bonus: the world gains an appreciation for our values and for the competence of our government. A high-ranking official of the last administration recently described an encounter with a long-serving foreign minister F O C U S O N T H E F S R O L E I N H A I T I A C OMPASSIONATE AND C OMPETENT R ESPONSE T HE WORK USAID AND S TATE HAVE DONE IN H AITI AFTER THE J AN . 12 EARTHQUAKE SHOWS WHY THEY SHOULD TAKE THE LEAD IN DISASTER RESPONSE . B Y J. B RIAN A TWOOD Ben Fishman T