The Foreign Service Journal, April 2013

the Foreign Service journal | April 2013 15 low, depending on your point of view) for cultural exchanges. In an acerbic March 4 blog post- ing, Washington Post media analyst Eric Wemple draws from Rodman’s responses to questions from George Stephanopoulos of ABC News as “Five that you’re propping up the regime? DR: The kid’s only 28 years old. 3. GS: Do you really believe what you said about how they’re great leaders? DR: I saw people respect him and his family—that’s what I mean about that, great leaders there. 4. GS: [Kim Jong Un] wants a call from President Obama? DR: ‘I don’t want to do war’—he said that to me. 5. GS: What did he tell you about America, and what did you learn about him? DR: He loves basketball. And I said the same thing, I said, ‘Obama loves basketball.’ Let’s start there. As Wemple comments, “Never before has a single interview on ‘This Week’ so elevated the profession of diplomacy. On the other hand, Joel Witt and Jenny Town argue in a March 7 Foreign Policy blog posting (“A Very Special Envoy”) that President Obama should make “Dennis the Menace” his man in Pyongyang. Witt and Town concede that it “cer- tainly hasn’t helped Rodman's argument that North Korea is now threatening to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against American targets in response to new United Nations sanctions. Still, while there is a strong element of truth to these criticisms, Rodman may be onto something here.” After all, they note, the Obama’s administration’s policy of “strategic patience” doesn’t seem to be producing results. Moreover, North Korean leaders have a history of issuing ‘on-the-spot guidance’—pronouncements that instantly set policy. So “reaching out directly to Kim Jong Un might not be such a bad idea, particularly since he is still new on the job.” —Steven Alan Honley, Editor n 50 Years Ago T he following owes its inception to a cocktail party and a record of “The Pirates of Penzance,” and is respectfully submitted with apologies to Mr. Gilbert : I am the very model of a Foreign Service officer: A savant and a wit, an epicure and a philosopher; I know old Greek and Latin, and at Saxon I’m spectacular, I read at sight from Beowulf and speak in the vernacular. I talk of art and music with an air aloof and critical, And think it is in bad taste if the discussion gets political. But if you want a savant or a wit or a philosopher, I am the very model of a Foreign Service officer. I pass the tea at parties and my manners are incredible, I know a hundred kinds of cheese and just when each is edible. My palate is renowned and I’ve a flair for things sartorial; I make up splendid seating lists for fetes ambassadorial. I know a bit of India—I’ve been there for a stop or two. Now please don’t talk development—I think it isn’t proper to. But if you need an epicure, a sage or a philosopher, I am the very model of a Foreign Service officer. I’ve vaguely heard of Africa—it’s somewhere south of Sicily— And now that I have heard of it, I shall avoid it busily. All economic theories I deprecate with suavity, And feel administration is deplorable depravity. Our consular affairs are still to me a thing of mystery, And I know no diplomacy and even less of history. Still, if you want a savant or a wit or a philosopher, I am the very model of a Foreign Service officer. —“FSO Piracy” (Letters to the Editor), by Goodwin Cooke; FSJ, April 1963. Reasons to Thank Dennis Rodman for Canceling Media Appearances”: 1. GS: Were you aware of [Kim Jong Un’s] threats against the United States? DR: I hate the fact that he’s doing that. 2. GS: What about the perceptions