The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2003

by the best common judgment.” (Delivered in Oslo, Dec. 10, 2002.) “Constrained and inspired by his- toric constitutional principles, our nation has endeavored for more than two hundred years to follow the now almost universal ideals of human rights, freedom, and justice for all.” Carter notes that he was asked to discuss the greatest challenge that the world faces at the beginning of the new millennium. He decided that the most serious and universal problem is the growing chasm between the richest and the poorest people on earth. Citizens of the 10 wealthiest countries are now 75 times richer than those who live in the 10 poorest ones, and the dispari- ty is increasing every year, not only between nations but also within them. He believes that the results of this divergence are the root causes of most of the world’s unresolved problems, including starvation, illit- eracy, environmental degradation, violent conflict, and unnecessary ill- nesses that range from Guinea worm to HIV/AIDS. Carter’s solution? “War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn to live together in peace by killing each other’s chil- dren. The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divi- siveness of our fears and prejudices … We can choose to alleviate suf- fering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes — and we must.” Seems pretty clear to me — and about as sweeping and breathtaking as anyone could ask for. Francis Xavier Cunningham FSO, retired Arlington, Va. Conversion Frustration The AFSA News column by Kelly Midura, “Now Why Would I Want to Go There?” (October 2002) hit home with me. I joined the depart- ment 15 years ago as an Information Management Technical Specialist. After many unsuccessful years trying to convert from IMTS to IM Specialist to avoid having to spend some 80 percent of my time travel- ing, I took an excursion tour as a GSO. I chose a hard-to-fill post — Beijing — thinking it would be a good career move and expedite my conversion. But it took me almost four more years to convert, and I only succeeded after filing a grievance and obtaining support from the post admin officer, the ambassador and even Under Secretary for Management Grant Green. During those four years, I was unofficially ineligible for promotion. Why would IRM panels promote me when I was not competing with my peers serving in IRM jobs? They wouldn’t. They even low-ranked me while I was trying to enhance my career filling a hard-to-fill position based on the “needs of the Service.” Unfortunately, this leads me to believe all specialists should steer clear of out-of-cone, hard-to-fill hard- ship posts and take an “every man for himself” attitude, even though this contravenes the spirit of teamwork in the Foreign Service. John Smith IM Specialist, currently serving as a GSO Embassy Beijing ■ J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 9 L E T T E R S Pet-friendly