The Foreign Service Journal, April 2014

16 APRIL 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 29 even though its score fell more than three points from last year, from 81.5 to 78.2 percent. And among agency subcomponents, job satisfaction at the Foreign Agricultural Service rose from 45.7 to 48.3 percent. As a whole, just 57.8 percent of federal government employees said they were satisfied with their jobs. Reflecting a three-point drop since the year before, that is the lowest level since PPS began reporting the rankings in 2003. The survey indicates that workers’ perceptions of their leaders are key to their job satisfaction, as shown by significant drops in satisfaction with agency management. Other factors leading to the overall decline in rank- ings include the federal pay freeze, constraints on opportunities for advancement and fewer rewards for good performance. Max Stier, president and chief execu- tive of the Partnership for Public Service, attributed the declines to budgeting uncertainty, furloughs and poor com- munication from management. “In an environment where you’re calling for more from your employees, leadership has to do a better job of sharing infor- mation, recognizing good work and empowering the workforce to succeed in a challenging environment.” — Steven Alan Honley, Contributing Editor Killing Several Birds with One Leak U krainian President Viktor Yanu- kovych’s Nov. 21 decision to abandon a proposed free trade agree- ment with the European Union, under heavy pressure from Russian President Vladimir Putin, immediately sparked mass protests and civil unrest in much of the country that led to his ouster in late February. European and American officials, led respectively by High Representative Catherine Ashton and Victoria Nuland, assistant secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs, joined forces at the negotiating table in an attempt to end the conflict, but have made no headway as we go to press in mid-March, just after the Russian annexation of Crimea. One problem is that Europe and the U.S. do not see eye to eye on the best way forward in Kyiv. That disagreement became public in early February, when a recording of a private conversation between Assistant Secretary Nuland and Geoffrey Pyatt, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, went viral on YouTube. In the undated audio clip, Nuland notes approvingly that United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is about to appoint a former Dutch ambassador to Ukraine, Robert Serry, as his personal representative in Kyiv. She then adds, “F--- the E.U.,” in reference to its less than helpful role in the peacemaking process. Presciently, Amb. Pyatt replies: “We’ve got to do something to make it stick together, because you can be pretty sure that if it does start to gain altitude, the Russians will be working behind the scenes to try to torpedo it.” Nuland apologized privately to her European colleagues for the comment and reiterated her personal commit- ment to working closely with them. (Sportingly, she even described the leak as “pretty impressive tradecraft. [The] audio quality was very good.”) State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki was less diplomatic, however, denouncing the leak as “a new low in Russian tradecraft.” White House spokesman Jay Carney went further, alleging that because the video had been “tweeted out by the Russian govern- ment, it says something about Russia’s role.” Though Moscow was careful to disavow any role in the leak, the episode promoted several of its foreign policy objectives. It publicly embarrassed Nuland, already a bête noire of the Rus- sian president long before December, when she went to Independence Square in Kyiv to support the demonstrators. And it also made it harder for the West to maintain a united front against Yanu- kovych. Der Spiegel notes that the leak stirred up simmering German anger over Edward Snowden’s disclosure last year that the United States has been eaves- dropping on Chancellor Angela Merkel. That, in turn, strengthened opponents of closer Euro-American ties. —Bret Matera, Editorial Intern n There are moments in the course of meetings over a year where you may be able to laugh at something, and there are moments where you disagree and disagree very strongly. We work professionally, both of us, to represent our countries, represent our points of view and try to get the work of diplomacy done. —Secretary of State John Kerry, discussing his relationship with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on March 6. Contemporary Quote