The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2004

A nother successful ForeignAffairsDay was held May 7 at the State Department, where hundreds of retiredmembersoftheForeignServicecom- munity were welcomed back. Director General W. Robert Pearson and State Department SpokesmanRichardBoucher spoke at the opening session, the Foreign Service Cupwas awarded to Stephen Low, andtheSecretary’sAwardsforVolunteerism werepresented to thewinners byAssociates of theAmericanForeignServiceWorldwide President Terri Williams. Following the opening session, Foreign Affairs Day participants joined AFSA offi- cials and staff for the annual AFSA Memorial PlaqueCeremony in theCStreet lobby at the site of the memorial plaques. SecretaryColinPowell presidedover thecer- emony, which honored the 215 men and women of the Foreign Service who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving their countryabroad. Thankfully, nonewnames were added to the plaque at this year’s cer- emony, but the Secretary reminded those A mbassador Richard Parker has been selected as the recipi- ent of the 2004 AFSA Award for Lifetime Contributions to AmericanDiplomacy. (See the interviewwithAmb. Parker in this issue of the Foreign Service Journal, p. 49.) This award hon- ors a distinguishedAmericanwho has givenmany years of service in international affairs and has supported the work of the career Foreign Service. Recipients of the 2003 and 2002 awards were George Shultz and Tom Pickering, respectively. Amb. Parker’s 31-year ForeignService career (1949-1980) includ- ed three ambassadorships, toAlgeria,MoroccoandLebanon. Hewas the first non-native speaker to attain a 4/4 rating in Arabic, indicating full fluency in the spoken and written language, from the Foreign Service Institute. Following his retirement in 1980, Amb. Parker has remained active in foreign affairs, making lasting contributions to the field. He spent two years as a diplomat-in-residence at the University of Virginia, among many other teaching positions; served as editor of the MiddleEast Journal ; andwas the foundingpresident of theAssociation forDiplomatic Studies and Training, serving there from 1986 to 1989. He has published seven books dealing with theMiddle East, North Africa and Islam; his latest, Uncle Sam in Barbary: A Diplomatic History , was published in April. DirectorGeneralW.RobertPearsonpresentedtheawardat theAFSAAwardCeremony on June 24 in theDepartment of State’sBenjaminFranklinDiplomaticReceptionRoom. All of this year’s AFSA awards were presented at that ceremony. Articles about the dis- sent awardwinners and the exemplaryperformance awardwinners start onpage 5of this issue of AFSANews. Look for coverage of AFSAmember achievement winners and the June awards ceremony in the September AFSA News . ▫ American Foreign Service Association • July-August 2004 LIFETIME CONTRIBUTIONS TO AMERICAN DIPLOMACY Richard B. Parker This Issue in Brief: NEWS BRIEFS ......................................2 EXTREME DIPLOMACY .........................3 DAY ON THE HILL.................................4 AFSA AWARD WINNERS .....................5 VOLUNTEER AWARDS .........................9 AFSA SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS.........10 MANAGING A SHORTAGE..................12 BULLY IN THE PULPIT ........................13 AFSA NEWS FOREIGN AFFAIRS DAY AFSA Welcomes Retirees and Honors Fallen Colleagues MIKKELA THOMPSON Continued on page 3 ActingAFSAPresident Louise Cranemakes remarks and introduces Secretary Powell.