The Foreign Service Journal, June 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2016 23 ment will look for more opportunities to support these preven- tive approaches. Second, the State Department is going beyond law enforce- ment to unite a wider range of anti-corruption tools and actors. Two dozen embassies in Eastern and Central Europe have con- vened political and economic officers, public diplomacy spe- cialists, defense attachés and development experts to develop comprehensive national anti-corruption plans. The department has also launched an internal anti-corruption toolkit to provide officers with a one-stop-shop for jumpstarting their anti-cor- ruption work. Third, the department is striving to identify and seize narrow windows for reform, recognizing how important national politi- cal will is for successful anti-corruption efforts. These windows of opportunity may include public outrage about a new corrup- tion scandal, as we have seen in Guatemala and Moldova, or the election of reformers promising to end corruption, such as President Joko Widodo in Indonesia or President John Magufuli in Tanzania. By focusing U.S. efforts on such “ripe” opportunities, we can help reinforce progress that might otherwise take generations to achieve. A recent report on anti-corruption tradecraft from the Foreign Service Institute cited the example of Paraguay, where U.S. Embassy Asunción responded to the election of a reformist government by quickly developing an International Visitor Leadership Program for new ministers focused on anti- corruption. Lastly, we are tying these bilateral efforts to the emerg- ing global architecture around anti-corruption. To date, 178 As the voice of our government around the world, U.S. diplomats will be the ones to raise the tough conversations about corruption and security with foreign officials. countries have ratified or acceded to the 2005 United Nations Convention against Corruption, and its norms have since been embedded in regional agreements by the Arab League and African Union. In the last few years, the Group of Seven, Group of 20 and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have also elevated anti-corruption as a priority. These developments underscore the global support in principle for anti-corruption efforts, and they empower U.S. diplomacy by undercutting claims that the anti-corruption agenda is simply Western finger-wagging. The reporting mechanisms baked into many of these agreements also give diplomats new tools to hold govern- ments accountable for their anti-corruption commitments and empower civil society to provide oversight. Another tool is the Open Government Partnership, a multilateral platform that convenes governments and citizens to strengthen transparency through dialogue, exchange and new technologies. Some of the most important work ahead does not involve launching new efforts, but simply examining how our existing operations and foreign assistance may affect corruption around the world. We will be developing a “first do no harm” policy to ask, for example, how we can better prevent the diversion of resources and equipment we provide to foreign security forces. Efforts like the U.S. Security Governance Initiative, which part- ners with foreign militaries to strengthen their institutions of accountability, suggest ways we can adapt existing partnerships to fight corruption and promote security. The Foreign Service’s Role As the State Department looks to prioritize anti-corruption, our success will depend on the efforts of Foreign Service officers: political officers persuading foreign counterparts to strengthen accountability for graft, public affairs officers giving voice to citizen activists fighting for transparency and consular officers denying visas to known kleptocrats. FSOs remain some of our best resources in the fight against corruption. As the voice of our government around the world, U.S. diplomats will be the ones to initiate the tough conversations about corruption and security with foreign officials. Their reporting will continue to strengthen documentation about corruption in the annual Human Rights Report and Invest- ment Climate Statements, and help to identify “ripe” opportu- nities to advance reform. And in doing so, U.S. diplomats will not only strengthen governance and the rule of law for billions around the world, but also help make America safer and more secure. n