The Foreign Service Journal, May 2010

AFSA Inaugurates Series on FS Challenges Former Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte was the featured speaker at the first lecture in AFSA’s new series, “Promoting Excellence in Diplomacy.” Co-sponsored with Lock- heed Martin, the series is aimed at ad- vancing innovative ideas about the education, skills and tools the Foreign Service needs to achieve excellence and deepen its impact. The April 7 talk, conducted in the form of a conversation with former As- sistant Secretary for Near Eastern Af- fairs Edward W. “Skip” Gnehm Jr., focused on the challenges facing the Foreign Service today. The greatest of these, according to Ambassador Negroponte, is the need for officers who can speak the lan- guages of the world: “There is no sub- stitute for recruiting, training, deploy- ing, retaining and retraining” officers in languages and geography so that they “develop the contacts, the knowl- edge, the insight, the local and area ex- pertise” needed to help develop Ameri- ca’s foreign policy. Held at AFSA headquarters, the event was attended by more than 100 individuals. In a new departure for the association, it was also videostreamed to a broader audience. Remote partic- ipants were able to join the discussion by submitting their questions online. To view the discussion, please go to www.afsa.org/video.cfm . The series, titled “Promoting Ex- cellence and Deepening Impact: Re- sources and Skills for Diplomacy and Development in the Age of Smart Power,” is the product of a partnership between AFSA and Lockheed Martin. The next discussion, scheduled for Wed., May 12 at 11 a.m., will feature Alec Ross, senior adviser for innovation to the Secretary of State. If you are unable to join us in per- son, please participate online at www. afsa.org . Is the Stage Set for Gains in Nuclear Security? Agreement on the terms of the “New START Treaty,” the most com- prehensive arms control agreement in 20 years, is not only a milestone in the U.S.-Russia effort to “reset” a working relationship. It also adds momentum to the effort to move toward a world that is free of nuclear weapons — a goal that U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Med- vedev both endorsed in a joint state- ment one year ago. The new treaty was signed on April 8 in Prague, where a year ago Pres. Obama set forth his objectives for arms control and nuclear nonproliferation. The treaty limits each side to no more than 700 deployed strategic nuclear delivery vehicles and 1,550 deployed strategic warheads, which is 30 percent below the existing warhead limit. Just as importantly, New START would re- place the 1991 START verification regime, which expired last December, with a more effective and up-to-date system to monitor compliance for the 10-year life of the new pact. The START success bookends a se- ries of events and meetings through the end of May devoted to the problem of nuclear proliferation. The adminis- tration issued its “Nuclear Posture Re- view,” a legislatively mandated review that establishes U.S. nuclear policy, strategy, capabilities and force posture T he idea of political engagement with those who would directly or indi- rectly attack our troops is difficult. But dialogue is not appeasement, and political space is not the same as veto power or domination. Now is the time for the Afghans to pursue a political settlement with as much vigor and energy as we are pursuing the military and civilian effort. — British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, in a speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, March 10, www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/? view=Speech&id=21865587 10 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A Y 2 0 1 0 C YBERNOTES