The Foreign Service Journal, April 2018

54 APRIL 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL DEFINING DIPLOMACY for YEARS Above inSILVERFOILonCover FSJ May 1952 The Soldier and the Diplomat At the beginning of World War II most civilians concerned with foreign relations were ignorant, not only of the strategic conceptions of military men, but of almost everything else of a practical nature connected with military operations. By the same token the organization and aims of the Depart- ment of State in foreign affairs seemed an utter mystery to the vast majority of officers and men in our armed ser- vices. That fabric was ripped wide open for the first time in American history by attaching political advisers to military headquarters. In their personal contact with the military staffs they imparted whatever information and advice they could about American political objectives. –Robert D. Murphy, ambassador FSJ January 1953 The Meaning of the Ruling in the Vincent Case for the National Interest and the Foreign Service No group of government servants is more convinced of the need for vigilant security procedures than the Foreign Ser- vice. Yet the Loyalty Review Board’s letter to the Secretary in the Vincent case, reprinted below, is causing bewilderment and misgiving in our ranks. It is disturbing not only because it recommends dismissal for a veteran officer who had already been cleared by the Department’s Loyalty Security Board, but because it implies doctrines which would prevent the Service from doing its full duty. …If officers stationed in China in the 1940s suggested the possibility that the Chinese Communists might prove too strong for Chiang Kai-Shek, was this reason enough to doubt their loyalty? What about our representatives in Korea? Could a man be pilloried because he warned of the growing strength of the Communists in North Korea at the time we considered withdrawing troops from South Korea? –AFSA Board of Directors October 1956 FSJ FSJ July 1954 The Path Ahead Just as the Journal went to press, the report of the Secretary’s Public Com- mittee on Personnel, better known as theWriston Committee, wasmade public, together with an endorsement by the Secretary of the two key recom- mendationsmade by the Committee. …The pages of the Journal are open to Service-wide discussion of the report. There will inevitably be differences of opinion over some of the Committee’s recommendations but there are twomatters on which we believe the Service will be unanimous. One is the Service’s appreciation for the determination shown by the Sec- retary and General Smith to strengthen the Service.The other is the whole-hearted support which will be given by the Service to whatever program the Secretary decides to carry out. –Editorial FSJ June 1955 American Diplomacy at Work As AmericanAmbassador to Italy, I have been in—deep in— the Foreign Policy business itself. And today this is the view I hold tomost strongly: If America is to preventWorldWar III, we must have not only a sound foreign policy, we must also have a sound Foreign Service. …Today, the field of diplomacy has broadened to cover every phase, every aspect, every activity of human society. Modern diplomacy has to concern itself with all of these things andmany more.Why? Because in these days of the interdependence of nations, all these aspects of the life of a nation affect the relationships between nations. –Ambassador Clare Boothe Luce December 1950 FSJ