The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2010

J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 21 ernment-funded Voluntary Visitor Programs. This not only raises the local staff’s profile but also achieves mission goals. While FSOs come and go, local staff are at the embassy for the long term, serving as institutional memory, provid- ing valuable knowledge about the domestic scene and act- ing as liaison between the mission and host-country representatives. Every three to four years, the FSNs have to prove themselves anew and get accustomed to a differ- ent leadership style. They never know what to expect of the new batch of officers, and vice versa; this poses another major challenge for both groups. The Human Factor Though it may sound like a cliché, working alongside American colleagues and watching them in action have been among the greatest benefits of my job. It is amazing to me how many of them have actually joined the Foreign Service to work for their country, believing in an ideal. I have worked with very interesting people, such as a for- mer financier for the New York office of Armani who left the fashion house to serve at the State Department, and a brilliant economic officer who used to act in movies and probably could have been a star if he hadn’t chosen to pur- sue a diplomatic career. There was also the deputy chief of mission who would stop by the FSN area “for a quick question” and end up giving us an hourlong lecture on politics — which we dreaded at first, but now actually miss. I have had the chance to work for career and political ambassadors who had radically different styles, yet actively sought local em- ployees’ opinions and were willing to listen. “There is hardly a better adviser on what is happening on local soil than the local staff,” one ambassador used to say. Local employees also become unwitting witnesses to FSOs’ ups and downs, their occasional frustrations with the State Department bureaucracy and their career advance- ment. The American employees and local staff are united by high professional standards and common values, but there are also human bonds, which sometimes last long after the FSO has moved on. The numerous cases of such collegial solidarity are institutionalized in the FSN Relief Fund, supported by American colleagues. A Special Relationship There are some 42,300 local employees working inmore than 250 overseas U.S. missions. What makes embassy work unique, from the local staff perspective, is the special relationship between the FSN and the FSO. Over the past several years, we FSNs have seen growing appreciation of our work, along with an increased focus on local staff training and long-term development. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell deserves special recogni- tion for acknowledging the locally employed staff’s contri- bution to American overseas missions and encouraging American employees to have positive attitudes toward us. But while the institutional framework is important, it is ul- timately up to individual FSNs and FSOs to take up the challenge and make their relationship work. A lot has changed since my first day in Embassy Sofia’s political-economic section. Over the past seven years, its local staff has doubled, and the Bulgarian employees like myself have taken on increasingly greater responsibilities. Being a foreigner working at an American embassy has not gotten easier, and the same limitations are still in place. But so are the growing opportunities. I haven’t for a minute regretted taking up the chal- lenge. ■ F O C U S Watch for the November FSJ ’s annual roundup of books by current and former members of the Foreign Service and their families. 2010 A NNUAL FS A UTHOR R OUNDUP