The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2010

J O U R N A L OREIGN ERVICE S F P RESIDENT ’ S V IEWS / 5 A Midterm Report Card By Susan R. Johnson S PEAKING O UT / 13 Latin America’s Latest Victim: The Free Press By Christopher Teal and Silvio Gonzalez R EFLECTIONS / 88 I Am a Girl By Theresa Alison Smyth L ETTERS / 7 C YBERNOTES / 9 M ARKETPLACE / 50 B OOKS / 55 I N M EMORY / 77 I NDEX TO A DVERTISERS / 86 Cover illustration by Shannon DeJong. This batik print, “The Three,” was among her entries to AFSA’s 2010 Art Merit Award Competition. 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 3 C ONTENTS July-August 2010 Volume 87, No. 7-8 F O C U S O N F S R e f l e c t i o n s T AI T AI : A D IPLOMAT ’ S W IFE IN THE M IDDLE K INGDOM / 16 The effort to keep one’s balance on foreign soil can be a complex and tricky business. By Donna Scaramastra Gorman A S PECIAL R ELATIONSHIP : T HE FSN-FSO B OND / 19 Being a Foreign Service National employee brings limitations and opportunities. The trick is to accept the former and explore the latter. By Galina Sabeva R ETURNING TO D ACHAU , 65 Y EARS L ATER / 22 A retired ambassador’s wartime experience was one of the main factors that propelled him toward the Foreign Service. By Alan W. Lukens T HE A MERICAN W ITHOUT A C OUNTRY / 26 Proving that where there’s a will, there’s a way, spirituality trumps consular procedures in 1970s India. By Ginny Young F S F I C T I O N T HE I NTERVIEW / 29 Fate plays a role in a Ghanaian girl’s quest for passage to America. By Amanda S. Jacobsen W HOLE L ADA L OVE / 34 An improbable birthday gift makes all the difference for a teenage boy feeling stranded in Central Asia. By John Maher F E A T U R E S A D ETERMINED O PTIMIST : L. B RUCE L AINGEN / 38 In June AFSA recognized the retired ambassador’s many contributions to American diplomacy and his lifetime of public service. By Steven Alan Honley A Y EAR AFTER I RAN : T HE R OLE OF I NTERNATIONAL E LECTION S TANDARDS / 45 Last summer’s Iranian elections have highlighted the fact that people want their votes honestly counted in a transparent process. By Elizabeth Spiro Clark