The Foreign Service Journal, April 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2018 73 AFSA NEWS AFSA NEWS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION AFSA President Asks Retirees to Speak Up for the Foreign Service In January, AFSA President Ambassador Barbara Ste- phenson was invited to speak to the membership of two large Foreign Service groups in the D.C. area. At both events Amb. Stephenson shared her concerns for the future of the Foreign Service given the substantial loss of senior leadership over the past year and the lack of hiring at the entry level. “This year State will bring on just 101 new officers, including our Pickering and Rangel Fellows,” she told the audience. “Even in the bad old days of the 1990s, 110 new officers in a year was the lowest we ever got.” The hiring freeze of the 1990s caused problems a decade later, when seasoned leadership was needed, but not always available, for Iraq and Afghanistan, Amb. Ste- phenson said. But there was a strategic argument being made at the time for cutting funding for diplomacy. “In the 1990s,” she explained,“we’d won the ColdWar.”That’s why some strategists believed we could afford to shrink our diplomatic corps. But, she emphasized,“there is no similar strategic argument today.” Amb. Stephenson reflected on the new National Security Strategy, which “makes it clear that threats have not declined” and speaks to the indispensable role played by American diplo- macy and development to confront these threats.What then, she asked, is the stra- tegic argument being made today for cutting funding for diplomacy? Amb. Stephenson said AFSA has worked through Congressional Budget Justi- fications to track the actual size of the budget for core diplomatic capability, which has declined over the past decade. Each dollar spent on core diplomacy in 2008 was, by 2016, reduced to 76 cents (in nominal, non-inflation- adjusted terms). Amb. Stephenson outlined the work AFSA has been doing with lawmakers to stop that slide. She offered a ray of hope, pointing to the bipartisan support shown for the Foreign Service on Capitol Hill, as well as the dedicated work of retired members of the Foreign Service. Many FS retirees have been active in local and national efforts to make the American people aware of the impor- tance of diplomacy in main- taining U.S. global leadership, which nine in 10 Americans support. Amb. Stephenson asked attendees to “be a part of the conversation” about the future of the Foreign Service by learning the hiring and budget numbers and being able to defend them to friends, col- leagues and journalists. She also noted that many retirees make the effort to call their representatives on the Hill to convey both their con- cerns and their praise when deserved. n AFSA/CHRISTINEMIELE AFSA/DONNAGORMAN Amb. Barbara Stephenson speaks at DACOR. The audience at FARNOVA. INSIDE w T ax T une -U p What’s in the New Law CALENDAR April 1-5 AFSA Road Scholar Program Washington, D.C. April 17 Tax Day: Your Tax Returns Are Due Today April 18 12-1:30 p.m. AFSA Governing Board Meeting May 3 Time TBD “Advocating for the Foreign Service in Your Local Community” May 4 Foreign Service Day May 4 4:15-4:45 p.m. (TBC) AFSA Memorial Ceremony May 4 5:00-6:30 p.m. AFSA Foreign Service Day Reception May 16 12-1:30 p.m. AFSA Governing Board Meeting May 25 Deadline: AFSA Dissent and Performance Award Nominations June 3-8 AFSA Road Scholar Program Chautauqua, N.Y.