The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2008

that in mind, it makes the transition a lot easier. Of course, the basis is totally dif- ferent. The private sector is very objective: You either make a profit or you don’t. The way of keeping score is not an efficiency report but the bot- tom line. So people coming into that world from the government have to adapt their skills and talents to fit those requirements, not the other way around. FSJ: In 1995 you founded the Foreign Affairs Council, comprised of the CEOs of 11 foreign relations advo- cacy organizations, including AFSA. How did that come about? TDB: It came about because I’d already held senior positions in about half of those organizations: AFSA, of course; the Cox Foundation; the Association of Diplomatic Studies and Training; and Diplomatic and Consu- lar Officers, Retired. And I was a member of most of the rest, such as the American Academy of Diplomacy. One day a light went on and I thought: All of these organizations address the process of diplomacy and are concerned with the people who carry it out, the Foreign Service. What we really need to do is get our forces all under one roof to make our efforts more powerful and persuasive, and make it that much easier for us to deal with the rest of the world. And because the groups don’t take posi- tions on foreign policy, there wouldn’t be any divisions among us along those lines. And so we started doing that. We traded information among our 11 organizations about what each group was doing and pursued serious coop- eration. And beginning with Colin Powell, we’ve been making the case that the Foreign Affairs Council could be a formidable force multiplier for the State Department, interacting with the political system at the very highest levels. FSJ: What would you say have been the council’s chief successes? TDB: We helped promote the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative and other steps to address the Foreign Service’s resource problems. We also defended the Foreign Service against critics like Newt Gingrich. When he wrote an article for Foreign Policy magazine denouncing the Service several years ago, we responded in those pages. When he gave an inter- view to National Public Radio, we got our views aired there. And when he went to the Hill, we went to the Hill. Beginning in 2001, as Colin Powell took office, the Foreign Affairs Council started issuing a biennial report card assessing each Secretary 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 21 * per night, single or double occupancy subject to availability Y our search is over, choose a hotel where the federal per diem rate is available year-round. * t Luxurious Suites t All rooms with full size kitchen & stove tops t Fitness center t Complimentary in-room coffee t Full service restaurant t Parking available t Across fromMain State t White House, The Mall, and Metro Foggy Bottom station (blue & orange lines) within walking distance Accommodations State Plaza Hotel 2117 E. St. NW Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: (800) 424-2859 (202) 861-8200 Parking Available Rated HHH 1 / 2 by AAA www.stateplaza.com E-mail: reservationsagent@ RBpropertiesinc.com