The Foreign Service Journal, May 2014

10 MAY 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL The Young African Leaders Initiative I’d like to highlight the Young African Leaders Initiative for Foreign Service Journal readers. This noble endeavor by the United States is a signature effort to invest in the next generation of African leaders. Nearly one in three Africans are between the ages of 10 and 24, and approximately 60 percent of Africa’s total population is below the age of 35. President Obama launched YALI in 2010 to support young African lead- ers as they spur growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance, and enhance peace and security across the continent. Since 2010, the State Department has held 15 exchanges for young African leaders and sponsored 1,283 sub-Saha- ran scholars through its educational and cultural affairs programs. U.S. embas- sies have awarded small grants totaling $750,000 to YALI alumni groups sup- porting youth development in Africa. The YALI programs could be emu- lated across the globe, especially in places where there is a lack of under- standing of basic governance and the rule of law. The Middle East would be a great place to start a similar program for emerging leaders in the areas of civic engagement, government and business. As a reader for the YALI program, I have seen many talented individuals who aspired to become leaders within their chosen fields. Sadly, however, due to a lack of resources and opportunities within their respective environments, they were unable to develop their true potential. So it is truly an honor to be part of the State Department’s innova- tive, creative efforts to address this problem. Programs like YALI are an investment in the future of those nations, and they promote the values that we hold dear in our own nation and those of us in the Foreign Service strive to impart in the regions in which we work: democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Krishna Das Foreign Service Specialist Embassy Baghdad Correcting Tydings “Telling Our Stories: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection,” as featured in the March issue of The Foreign Service Journal , was an excellent way to mark AFSA’s 90th anniversary. The excerpts from the ADST interviews with six diplo- mats who carried out their assign- ments with distinction, meeting many challenges from the 1940s through the 1990s, offer unique insights into the professional and personal aspects of serving our country abroad. These well-selected excerpts will surely encourage many readers to consult the website of the Association for Diplo- matic Studies and Training in search of “the rest of the story.” The ADST oral his- tory interviews are a valuable historical resource—and often a great read, too. Regarding the interview of FSO John S. Service, however, I would note that the chairman of the Tydings Commit- tee (formally called the Subcommittee on the Investigation of Loyalty of State Department Employees), which in 1950 summoned Mr. Service and others to tes- tify, was U.S. Senator Millard E. Tydings, D-Md.—not Joseph Tydings, as indicated in the excerpt. Millard Tydings served in the Senate from 1927 until 1951, following his defeat in the bitter 1950 campaign. His col- league on the committee, Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., became involved in the Maryland election and was alleged to have engaged in unfair and decep- tive campaign practices. That election itself became the subject of a Senate investigation in 1951, but the results were ultimately allowed to stand. Joseph D. Tydings, Millard’s son, represented Mary- land in the U.S. Senate from 1965 to 1971. Michael D. Orlansky FSO, retired Burlington, Vt. Recalling Anson Burlingame In reference to the March AFSA News article, “AFSA Memorial Plaque: The For- gotten, Found,” I believe that one other exceptional American diplomat omitted from the list should be honored and remembered: Anson Burlingame, Abraham Lin- coln’s first envoy to Imperial China (Qing Dynasty). While serving in Beijing (1861-1867), Burlingame often spoke up for ordinary Chinese whose voices were rarely heard. He articulated the issues of unfairness perpetuated by foreign powers seeking special privileges, extraterritori- ality, access to commerce in coastal ports and other demands. At the end of his China tour, the Qing Imperial Court asked him to serve as its envoy to help renegotiate the many unequal treaties Western powers had imposed following the OpiumWars of 1839-1842. The State Department autho- rized him to do so. (For the full story, see www.unc/edu/depts/diplomat/ item/2011/0912/ca/jue_burlingame). As part of his mission to help China, the envoy drafted eight articles to supple- ment the 1858 Treaty of Tientsin. These formed the Burlingame Treaty of 1868,