The Foreign Service Journal, May 2010

E very day, Foreign Service officers file reports from the field, while others back inWashington work to get bureau issues noticed by agency management. Meanwhile, much of the general public has no idea what the Foreign Service does. AFSA addresses this by offering programs that reach out to people across the country. One of themost effective—and popular— is Exploritas, formerly known as Elderhostel. On a Sunday evening in early March, AFSA’s Exploritas pro- gram administrator, retired FSO Bernie Alter, along with AFSA Marketing and Outreach Manager Asgeir Sigfusson, greeted a group of about 45 people at the Savoy Suites Hotel inWashing- ton, D.C. A Week of Learning Sigfusson warmed up the crowd, encouraging stand-up introductions. ThenAlter kicked off the program with an overview of diplomatic history in preparation for a week of intensive learning. Both men have conducted dozens of AFSA Ex- ploritas programs; some of the participants were also “repeat offenders” who warmly greeted our staffers frompast programs on diplomacy and the Foreign Service. The March 7-11 program, “American Diplo- macy in Action: The Middle East, South Asia and Global Ter- rorism,” featured such distinguished speakers as Ambassadors PhilipWilcox Jr. and Edward“Skip”Gnehm. The five-day learn- ing experience also included visits to the embassy of Pakistan, the Foreign Service Institute and DACOR-Bacon House. Par- ticipants delved into such topics as “Saudi Arabia and the Gulf” and “Global Terrorism,” as well as more specific examinations of terrorist groups such as al-Qaida, the Taliban and the Revo- lutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. A Sampling of Programs AnotherWashington-based Exploritas program followed two weeks later. This one, called “The United States, China, and Other Challenges and Opportunities in Asia,” ran from March 21 to 25. It offered lec- tures and discussions on topics such as human rights in China, as well as a lecture by David Stein- berg called “Burma: The Asian Pariah.” Former AFSA staff member and author Dr. Alicia Campi gave a lively talk on Mongolia. March’s offerings were just a sampling of the AFSAExploritas programs that take place regularly throughout the country. For more information, please e-mail Bernie Alter at alter@afsa.org . ❏ T his year, AFSA’s annual survey of active-duty State mem- bers was longer than past ones, and touched on areas that AFSA has not asked about before. Specifically, we wanted to get a better idea of the composition of our membership and to shift the focus a bit from policy issues to questions of satis- faction with department processes and realities. The picture that emerged reinforced some things we had anecdotally understood (e.g., dissatisfaction with the availabil- ity of training) and challenged others (for example, respondents are happier with support for separated families than we thought they would be). Many of the comments informed us about is- sues of which we were previously unaware. The survey results will be shared with department management and individual bureaus. For reasons of space, this article contains only the highlights. 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 51 American Foreign Service Association • May 2010 AFSA NEWS MARCH SEMINARS FOCUS ON GLOBAL TERRORISM, ASIA Outreach and Teamwork: AFSA’s Exploritas Programs BY FRANCESCA KELLY Continued on page 53 Program Administrator Bernie Alter speaks to Exploritas partici- pants, March 7. FRANCESCA KELLY STATE ANNUAL SURVEY RESULTS Strong Opinions on Dissent, OCP and Specialist Issues BY DANIEL HIRSCH, STATE VP