The Foreign Service Journal, May 2015

32 MAY 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL This, then, is the dilemma the Foreign Service faces: Does modern security make diplomacy too difficult, if not impossible? RSOs were committed to meeting the needs of chiefs of mission and their staff members to conduct diplomatic business, and I am confident that is still true today. To be sure, sometimes complex special procedures were in place which imposed delays, but at the end of the day most officers acknowledged and supported the security policies. These arrangements were not perfect, but the essential business of diplomacy carried on even in circumstances where there were very real dangers. Not an Impossible Task That said, there is an unavoidable price to be paid for enhanced security measures. Some foreign contacts are turned off from visiting what they sometimes call “fortress embassies,” and even those willing to run the security gauntlet have a hard time creating the easy and open relationships of the past. Lim- ited resources can make staff travel more difficult. One should not be Panglossian about the situation. There are tensions. There are resentments. And there can be unnec- essary rigidity. However, protecting our diplomats must be our top priority. We can never eliminate all threats, but we can minimize them. Several U.S. ambassadors have been kidnapped and murdered, and numerous embassies rocketed and bombed. As the attack on Amb. Lippert demonstrates, our diplomats will remain targets. Security officers and diplomats are all in the diplomacy business together, and must work for the collective good and safety of our missions. Diplomats must accept some restric- tions, just as security officers must accommodate mission requirements. Diplomatic security triage will be needed to balance risks and requirements in a world where America’s active role remains crucial. In short, we must manage risks in a dangerous world. Fortunately, this is not an impossible task. n