The Foreign Service Journal, June 2008

26 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 0 8 he environment in which the Foreign Service operates has darkened dramatically in recent years, making it more challenging to represent America abroad. Some observers date the change from the August 1998 East Africa embassy bombings or the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, blaming foreign actors. Others cite the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, assigning partial responsibility to the Bush administration’s response to foreign challenges. Whatever the case, it has clearly become more difficult and more dangerous to represent America abroad. Events such as the worldwide publication of photos of the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq have undermined America’s standing in world opinion and have made it more difficult for U.S. diplomats to win the “hearts and minds” of foreign governments and publics. At the same time, the work of diplomacy has become increasingly dangerous, as evidenced by attacks and threats against diplomatic missions. At some posts, our diplomats are venturing out less frequently beyond the fortress embassy walls. The deterioration can be seen in statistics on the number of posts that are too dangerous to permit employees to bring their families along. After 2001, the number of unaccompanied and limited-accompanied Foreign Service positions doubled, and then doubled again. It has now surged to 900 positions at two dozen posts. That is a dramatic change for an institution that had fewer than 200 such slots to fill at the start of this decade, and had perhaps just 50 such slots to fill 20 years ago. Moreover, many of the new unaccompanied posi- tions are at extreme danger posts that would not have been staffed at all under traditional State Department security policies. This surge has placed unprecedented strains on Foreign Service members and their families. Because most unaccompanied posts are, understandably, filled by assignments lasting one year, they have to be completely restaffed every 12 months. As a result, more than 20 percent of Foreign Service members have served in an unaccompanied position within the past five years. Indeed, more than 11 percent of the Foreign Service has served in war-zone Iraq. F O C U S O N T H E F S P E R S O N N E L S Y S T E M A C AREER O UT OF B ALANCE I NADEQUATE STAFFING , EXPANDING COMMITMENTS , INSUFFICIENT BUDGETS AND POOR MANAGEMENT ALL THREATEN THE F OREIGN S ERVICE ’ S FUTURE . B Y J OHN K. N ALAND T John K. Naland, a Foreign Service officer since 1986, is the president of AFSA. His overseas tours include service as principal officer in Matamoros and seven years at hardship posts, including a danger-pay assignment. A 2006 graduate of the U.S. Army War College, he was an Army cavalry officer in the early 1980s.