The Foreign Service Journal, May 2010

M A Y 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 39 asked to meet on the budget issues. In that meeting, we made the strongest possible case for the recommenda- tions in the FAB calling for dramatically increased per- sonnel and financial resources. We also urged our interlocutors to support outgoing Secretary of State Con- doleezza Rice’s robust 2009 budget request and not to set- tle for a continuing resolution — advice that they followed. Recent legislation, including the Fiscal Year 2008 sup- plemental, the 2009 budget and supplemental, and the FY 2010 budget, have collectively authorized and appro- priated funds for about 4,500 new Foreign Service posi- tions at State and USAID, as well as substantial resources for the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization. (About 1,000 of these positions are for spe- cialists and should not be counted against the target of 4,700 mission-specific positions.) Such increases over such a short timeframe are unprecedented. Building on this momentum, Sec. Clinton’s Fiscal Year 2011 budget request seeks 400 more Foreign Service po- sitions for State and 200 for USAID. FAB has been suc- cessful beyond our wildest hopes. Through their respec- tive Foreign Service cadres, State and USAID will soon have the manpower to accomplish both the missions of traditional diplomacy and expeditionary nationbuilding in the 21st century. Having the bodies is not enough, of course. They must be appropriately trained, integrated, deployed and kept trained throughout their careers, both as diplomats and program managers. The management side of the house has made a brilliant start on these heroic challenges, but there is much more work to do. Today’s reform efforts are asking the right questions and answering them with action. In that spirit, the peo- ple of the Foreign Service are reforming themselves. After all, who knows more about the realities and chal- lenges they face? A few decades from now a future Foreign Service member will analyze the reform efforts of the early 21st century. I hope and expect that he or she will report that today’s efforts were successful. If not, dear colleagues, “The fault lies not in our stars, but in ourselves.” ■ F O C U S