The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2008

foreign affairs agencies. The CRS report cites the claim of many that DOD is doing too much while State is doing too little, noting that often the latter has the authority while the for- mer has the resources. The process by which executive branch agencies and presidential advisers present and prioritize issues for presidential decision has also come under criticism. Proposed reforms include creation of a body specifically devoted to inter- agency coordination of national securi- ty operations, one that includes a new position of “presidential adviser;” cre- ation of a national security budget; reorganization of congressional over- sight; and strengthening of the guid- ance of national security. One recom- mendation calls for the White House to coordinate missions, instructing the appropriate agencies with clear direc- tion on roles, resources and responsi- bilities. There seems little question that a change is in store, whether significant or slight. For as the CRS report notes, “Almost entirely missing from the debates, to this point, are counter- arguments about the strengths of the status quo.” — Ariana Austin, Editorial Intern Terrorism in Decline, Says New Study A report issued in May challenges the expert consensus that the threat of global terrorism is increasing. The Human Security Brief 2007 , pro- duced by a research team at Simon Fraser University’s School for Inter- national Studies in Vancouver, docu- ments a sharp net decline in the inci- dence of terrorist violence around the world ( www.humansecuritybrief. info/ ). According to the report, fatalities from terrorism have declined by 40 percent, while the loose-knit terror network associated with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida has suffered a dra- matic collapse in popular support in the Muslim world. Further, there has been a positive, but largely unnoticed, change in sub- J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 8 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 11 C Y B E R N O T E S u I think that a big problem the State Department has had both with respect to training and to planning is that the [Foreign] Service is too small to have a sizable enough float of people ... We have thousands of people involved in planning in DOD. And tens of thousands of people in training at any given time, in advanced training, not just basic training. — Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, addressing the American Academy of Diplomacy, May 14, www.defenselink.mil/ transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4230. 50 Years Ago... T here never seems to be much trouble about getting appropriations for our military forces ... [Yet] when it comes to getting money to promote peace … there is always a tough argument. — U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Henry Cabot Lodge, quoted in the July 1958 FSJ .