The Foreign Service Journal, May 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2017 7 t is easy at times like this, in the midst of a political transition that includes proposals to cut foreign affairs fund- ing by 30 percent and undertake a sweeping reorganization, to overlook the opportunity that change on this scale presents for addressing issues that have plagued us and undermined our effectiveness. I know. As a regular speaker on “Leading Change” in FSI courses, I have become over the years a cheerleader for making the most of transitions to reexamine priorities and ask what we could drop or cut back to make room for new priorities. Yet even I have found the scope and scale of the changes currently under discussion a bit daunting, and I fully understand if you have, too. I suspect that writing a column like this will invite criticism that I, as AFSA president, should be fighting to stop the cuts and rallying the membership to oppose reorganization. But AFSA’s record-high membership levels and the response and feedback from our “struc- tured conversations” (now in their sec- ond year) and other communications tell me that many members are open to a sophisticated approach by AFSA that draws on our core competencies as diplomats. We have, of course, been advo- cating for ade- quate funding for the foreign affairs budget. In this we have joined forces with the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, which fights for full funding of the 150 account that covers foreign affairs, and I have been making multiple pilgrimages each week to speak to Hill supporters about why this is not the time to weaken America’s global leadership by starving the Foreign Service of funds. How, I ask during Hill meetings, would we explain to voters a decision to pull the American Foreign Service team off the field and forfeit the game to our adversaries? Nine in 10 Americans favor strong American global leader- ship, which is unthinkable without a strong, professional Foreign Service deployed around the world protect- ing and defending America’s people, interests and values. I see no signs of a mandate to weaken American leader- ship; rather, I see a hunger for American diplomacy to deliver wins. How then do we, the professional career Foreign Service, work to ensure that we are fielding a diplomatic team capable of delivering the wins the American people want? We need to field a Foreign Service team trained, equipped, resourced and structured to play at the top of its game. I propose that we seize the oppor- tunities presented by this transition to make the Foreign Service stronger as a key instrument of American global leadership. For starters: Let’s recast the conversation on risk. As I argued in the March FSJ , to lead, we must be present; and to be present, we must effectively manage the risks that are inherent in our deploy- ment to 270 posts around the world, most of them in difficult environments, and many in dangerous ones. An effective risk management policy does not guarantee that everyone comes home safe and sound. It means we manage risk smartly, according to established best practices, to weigh and document risk-benefit trade-offs in the decisions we make as we go about our priority work advancing America’s inter- ests abroad. In his interview with me during our new “Continuing the Conversation” series, former Diplomatic Security Assistant Secretary Greg Starr talked to a packed house at AFSA about taking the next steps to adopt a comprehensive risk management framework at State. Ambassador Barbara Stephenson is the president of the American Foreign Service Association. Seizing Transition Opportunities BY BARBARA STEPHENSON I PRESIDENT’S VIEWS We need to field a Foreign Service team trained, equipped, resourced and structured to play at the top of its game.