The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2009

know something about information and intelligence, the Foreign Service was dominated by others … and that was the beginning of its decline.” Underlying whatever personal feel- ings may have motivated Battle and Henderson in this testy exchange, the real dilemma they were trying to ad- dress — preserving or redefining a strong ethos and professional standards for the Foreign Service in the face of rapidly changing external demands — is as acute today as it was in 1946 or 1962. Readers of recent articles on the Foreign Service — such as J. Anthony Holmes’ “Where Are the Civilians? How to Rebuild the U.S. Foreign Serv- ice” (in the January-February issue of Foreign Affairs ) or the three articles as- sessing transformational diplomacy in the January issue of this publication — will not find those earlier arguments quaint or outdated. While many of Luke Battle’s other professional ac- complishments have received due at- tention and praise, his role as a symbol of and advocate for change in the For- eign Service itself has been underap- preciated. Epilogue Following his assignment in Cairo, Battle served from April 1967 until his resignation from the Foreign Service in October 1968 as assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian affairs. Although his next job was in the private sector, as vice president for corporate relations at the Communi- cations Satellite Corporation, it should come as little surprise that the Ache- sons were again involved — the initial approach to Battle had been made by Dean’s son, David. Thereafter, Battle served with dis- tinction with a variety of private, edu- cational and advocacy organizations, such as Diplomatic and Consular Of- ficers, Retired; the School of Ad- vanced International Studies at The Johns Hopkins University and the Middle East Institute, among many others. He died in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2008; his Foreign Service Journal obituary ran in the July-August 2008 issue (www.afsa.org/fsj/julaug08/ inMemory.pdf). ■ 46 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 9 Throughout his career, Battle demonstrated fortitude, stamina, organizational talent and drafting ability.