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 59 revolutionaries who had taken over the bottom floors of the embassy. During his time in captivity, Lim- bert, a Persian-language speaker, con- tinually tried to establish a relationship with the hostage-takers. “I felt I knew something about these young people,” he explained. “I tried to reach out, achieve little victories, and at least es- tablishmyself as a person rather than as a subhuman enemy.” This effort, over many months, taught him not only pa- tience but the value of communication, on many levels, between two opposing sides. “When we and the Iranians finally end our 30-year estrangement, how do we do it?” he asked the audience, which included foreign affairs experts, diplo- mats and journalists. He acknowledged that his bias as an historian, clear in the subtitle of his book, guides his negotiating strategy. “Whenever we deal with the Irani- ans, there are going to be ghosts in the room. We’re going to have to be aware of them, and we’re going to have to deal with them.” He admitted that the pro- cess will take patience, and that it would be necessary to “put aside our negative assump- tions and preconcep- tions.” Limbert answered several questions from audience members before signing copies of the book. To a query about how to change policy, he answered, “You change policy from below,” allud- ing to making one’s case to the general population rather than the higher lev- els of government. “That’s why I love AFSA.” ❏ A F S A N E W S P roficiency in foreign languages is one of the most valuable and important skills in today’s Foreign Service. AFSA’s Sinclaire Language Awards program honors language students for outstand- ing accomplishment in the study of a difficult language and its as- sociated culture. AFSA established this language-award program based on a bequest from Matilda W. Sinclaire, a former Foreign Service officer. The purpose of her bequest was to “promote and reward superior achievement by career officers of the Foreign Serv- ice of the United States while studying one of the ‘hard’ languages under the auspices of the Foreign Service Institute of the Depart- ment of State.” The guidelines were amended and updated in Oc- tober 2001 to expand eligibility for the awards to any career or career-conditional member of the Foreign Service from State, USAID, FCS, FAS or IBB. Candidates for the award are nominated by the language-training supervisors at the FSI School of Language or by language instruc- tors at the field schools. They are selected by a committee com- posed of volunteer AFSA members, a member of the AFSA Governing Board and the special awards and outreach coordinator. Each of the winners receives a check for $1,000 and a certificate of recognition signed by the AFSA president and the chair of the Awards Committee. AFSA congratulates the 11 winners of this year’s Sinclaire Lan- guage Award, and commends the School of Language Studies at FSI for its dedication in preparing students of hard languages for the intense challenges of modern diplomacy. This year’s winners are: Joshua Baker Arabic Alfred Boll Serbian Laura Brown* Arabic Alan Clark Mandarin Chinese WilliamM. Coleman Japanese Scott Hansen Mandarin Chinese AdamHantman Thai Zachary Harkenride Dari Meredith Rubin Icelandic Denise Shen Mandarin Chinese Vincent Traverso Dari *Laura Brown was a Sinclaire Language winner in 2003 for Serbian. AFSA President Susan Johnson (left) and author John Limbert at AFSA HQ, Jan. 26. FRANCESCA KELLY Limbert Book Signing • Continued from page 49 AFSA NEWS BRIEFS JOSH AFSA Announces Sinclaire Language Award Winners BY SPECIAL AWARDS AND OUTREACH COORDINATOR PERI GREEN