The Foreign Service Journal, April 2018

64 APRIL 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL DEFINING DIPLOMACY for YEARS Above inSILVERFOILonCover FSJ May 2001 Are State Employees Ready for Reform? One indicator that many State employees—both Civil and Foreign Service—are ready to support change is “SOS for DOS: A Call for Action.” SOS for DOS is a loose-knit group that circulated a petition calling for “the leadership needed to undertake a long-term, bipartisan effort to modernize and strengthen the Department of State.” More than 1,600 State employees and retirees signed the letter, which was presented to Secretary of State Colin Powell on Feb. 2. –Shawn Dorman, AFSA News editor FSJ December 2001 The Taliban-Bin Laden-ISI Connection In hindsight, these arrangements among the Taliban, Pakistan and bin Laden were a perfect fit: the ISI was using its Afghan connection to wage a Pakistani guerrilla war in Kashmir against India. In return, the Taliban gained volunteers from Pakistani madrassas, as well as weapons and ammunition, in their quest to extend their obscuran- tist Islamic beliefs over all of Afghanistan. And bin Laden’s al-Qaida network had quietly gained a base to train its forces for cowardly attacks against peaceful civilians in my country: a deadly collaboration, meticulously planned and executed with elegant timing and simplicity. –Arnie Schifferdecker, FSO retired FSJ April 2004 The DRI Rides to the Rescue The State Department work force that welcomed Secretary Powell on Jan. 20, 2001, had huge gaps in its ranks, with bureau- cratic Band-Aids trying (and largely failing) to cover them up despite valiant efforts to “do more with less.” Facing inad- equate budgets through most of the 1990s, State had not been able to hire enough personnel to make up for attrition, even as it stretched to open several dozen new posts, fromAsmara to Yerevan. …In 2001 we had a deficit of over 400 mid-level generalists, and were also short over 300 mid-level Foreign Service specialists. In Washington, we had over 600 vacant Civil Service positions. –Niels Marquardt, FSO and special coordinator for diplomatic readiness at the State Department FSJ May 2005 China’s Economic Growth: Source of Disorder? Not surprisingly, China’s rapid rise has also raised concerns about its ramifications for the region and the rest of the world. In 2004 alone, China’ foreign trade grew by about 35 percent, reaching $1.15 trillion in combined two-way trade. The U.S. takes about 21 percent of China’s exports, and runs a large trade deficit with China. The PRC was the second- largest recipient (after the United States) of foreign direct investment, attracting a total of over $60 billion last year. –RobertWang, FSO and economic minister-counselor in Beijing FSJ May 2006 Onward and Upward?—The FS Specialist Career Development Program FSJ December 2006 The Holy Land: Can Peace Be Rescued? The Israeli-Palestinian struggle over the Holy Land, which has attracted more obsessive attention and defied a solution longer than any major conflict of the past century, is the story of two victims. …AU.S. peace initiative, with a firm commitment by the president, that sponsored new negotiations based on solutions already proposed by Israelis and Palestinians could have a dramatic effect on the politics and psychology of both sides. –Philip C. Wilcox Jr., retired FSO and president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace