The Foreign Service Journal, April 2013

the Foreign Service journal | April 2013 7 ot for the first time in the nearly 90 years since the Rogers Act established the Foreign Service as a profes- sional career cadre and the backbone of the United States diplomatic service, our Service faces an existential crisis. But we also, to borrow from the Chinese, have an opportunity for renewal. After two terms as AFSA president, I use the term “existential” because support for the very concept of a profes- sional career diplomatic service, with a disciplined and agile personnel system based on merit, rank in person and worldwide availability, seems to have eroded significantly. This is true not just at the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development and other foreign affairs agencies, and in Congress, but within our own ranks. In the “State of the Union” article on p. 27 of this issue—part of The Foreign Service Journal ’s coverage of AFSA’s 40th anniversary as a union—four of my predecessors reflect on AFSA’s role and responsibility to advocate for a profes- sional career Foreign Service. They argue persuasively that carrying out that function is not a typical defense of “union” turf, but represents a commitment to the higher purpose of strength- ening America’s diplomacy. Against this backdrop, I see the following main challenges for AFSA. First, we must rebuild sup- port for the professional Foreign Service by increasing awareness of its unique value. Second, AFSA should continue to call attention to the importance of fostering institutional leaders imbued with long- term perspective, Service discipline and a commitment to producing broad-gauged senior diplomats able to provide sound foreign policy advice and to lead its implementation. Finally, AFSA needs to strengthen its own institutional capacity for advocacy and negotiation to push this ambitious agenda. The Foreign Service Act of 1980 says a professional, career Foreign Service “must be preserved, strengthened and improved in order to carry out its mission effectively in response to the complex challenges of modern diplomacy and international relations.” Are these challenges not much more complex today? Between 1924 and the 1970s, the Foreign Service presence within the leadership of the State Department and USAID grew slowly but steadily. But since 1980 its share of top positions has steadily declined (from about 60 percent to 24 percent today) while political patronage has increased. For the last four decades, more than 70 percent of ambas- sadorial appointments to key posts in Europe and Asia have been political, undermining the very concept of a nonpartisan, professional diplomatic service. This disheartening trend is just one, albeit significant, feature of the decline of the professional character of the Department of State and USAID—and its stature. The Foreign Service can no longer claim a lead role in the formulation and implementation of American foreign policy; instead, it is being relegated to a secondary function of staff support to an outside elite that sets and manages policy. To help rebuild a strong, effective For- eign Service and increase public appre- ciation of its important role, AFSA must pursue efforts in three directions. First, we must identify the factors that under- mine the Foreign Service as an institution, highlighting areas that require attention to reform the Service. This will be the subject of my next column. Second, AFSA must devote serious thought to defining the requirements of diplomacy as a profession and how they apply to the individual American diplo- mat today. And third, AFSA must expand its advocacy on behalf of the Foreign Ser- vice with the Secretary of State, the White House and Capitol Hill—for example, by working with members of Congress to establish a Foreign Service caucus. In order to accomplish these objec- tives, especially strong and effective advocacy, AFSA will have to build its own institutional capacity. Among other things, this may necessitate restructuring its professional staff and clarifying the role of its elected governing board. As always, I welcome your input. Please write me at Johnson@afsa.org. n AFSA and the Foreign Service: The Road Ahead By Susan R . Johnson President’s Views N Susan R. Johnson is the president of the American Foreign Service Association.