The Foreign Service Journal, April 2023

18 APRIL 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Sixty Years of Art in Embassies O n Jan. 31, the State Department’s Art in Embassies (AIE) office launched their “Democracy Collection” campaign, a yearlong art diplomacy initiative to promote democracy through art. The initiative includes “artist exchanges focused on rights, freedoms, and equality, hosted by U.S. ambassa- dors in various cities around the world; a traveling exhibition that reflects the story of U.S. democracy; a worldwide art competition for middle and high school students on the topic of democracy; and an expansion of the Art in Embassies repository of art.” The AIE programmarks its 60th anniversary this year. The anniversary will be celebrated on Sept. 19, 2023, at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Ninety Seconds to Midnight A t a Jan. 24, 2023, news conference, the board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that the organization is moving the hands on their “Doomsday Clock” for the first time since 2020. Updated annually since 1947, the clock gives a metaphorical sense of how Montgomery, who saw a need in the foreign affairs community to share information about how to navigate the next phases of their careers and lives. FS-Retirement Planning, with more than 6,000 members, was founded by former FSO Jaime Fouss, who started the group to educate himself on the retirement process. The group focuses on retirement benefits and regulatory issues (but often strays into other salient topics) and is moderated by former FSO Mark Mayfield. Colleagues Sandy Switzer and Joe Zadrozny manage the page. n This edition of Talking Points was compiled by Donna Scaramastra Gorman. “W hy go to the field this time of year?” demanded the inquirer when hearing that a Con- sul was about to leave for service abroad in the month of December, and with the destination having been referred to indefinitely as the field . … But then, real- izing that the expression had been taken literally, I enlarged upon the defi- nition, “I do not mean that he is going on a daisy- plucking expedition in the valley of the Yangtse nor seeking edelweiss on the wind-blown slopes of the Alps. That field … which sounds so calm and peaceful, … includes all the industrial and commercial centers in the whole world—the busy places on all continents. … “So when you see a Consular offi- cer starts off with his commission in one hand, in the other he may take, so to speak, the most luxurious of trap- pings or he may require his Delco plant, a collaps- ible bathtub and bouillon cubes in order to properly establish himself and pro- ceed to develop his romance of finding newmarkets and protecting old, and of learn- ing the why, how and whence of all that may pass within his observation.” That is a field , and the questions about it are sufficiently numerous to keep several hundreds of officers well occupied in every corner of the globe. — From an editorial by the same title in the April 1923 FSJ . 100 Years Ago What Is a Field? close humanity is to “self-annihilation.” This year, in large part due to the war in Ukraine, the hands on the clock were moved to 11:58.30—just 90 seconds to midnight, and closer than ever to “global catastrophe.” Facebook Groups Spotlight FS Transitions I f you ever doubted the strength of the Foreign Service community, you need look no further than the numerous Face- book groups dedicated to various FS life and work topics. Two related to career transitions stand out. Former & Transitioning FSOs, which numbers more than 2,900 members, was founded by former FSO Molly