The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2004

of world energy production increases beyond a quarter of the world supply in coming years, the G-8’s strategic inter- est in Africa may follow suit and force a more attentive policy. In the meantime, NEPAD may be the best method for moving toward Africa’s development goals. That ini- tiative has encouraged African coun- tries to work toward better gover- nance, market-based economic trans- parency and broader support for pri- vate sector development. It also insti- tuted a peer-review process between African countries in order to promote good economic management and hon- est government. While NEPAD has shown its inadequacies in countries such as Zimbabwe, African leaders defend the plan as a “building-block process” that will evolve over time. G-8 members still face an uphill task on the issue of the debt burden. While several G-8 countries have advocated an extension of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative ( www.world bank.org/hipc ), w hich has helped some of the worst-off countries in the world, many African countries still pay more in debt than they receive in for- eign investment. To address this issue, Southern African leaders and business representatives met in Maputo from June 2-4 for the World Economic Forum ( www.weforum.org ). T he forum ensured a new focus on NEPAD by the private sector — a development that may provide a need- ed complement to the G-8’s equivocal efforts in promoting African develop- ment. — Kristofer Lofgren, Editorial Intern C Y B E R N O T E S 16 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 4 50 Years Ago... [The] public impression of the Foreign Service is most important for the Service itself to realize. … If the average voter or constituent has a fixed opinion of our diplomats and consuls, there are few congressmen who are willing to take the time, trouble and risk to correct this stereotyped opinion. The best way to influence the Congress in a favorable manner is to work on the “folks back home.” — Hon. Alvin M. Bentley, “Congress and the Foreign Service,” FSJ , July 1954.