The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2010

Israel might be flagging. To deepen their understanding and reassure them, Forster invited a group to tour our country and hear those concerns for themselves. While posted to Japan in the late 1970s, Forster finally seemed to find the program balance he had been seeking throughout his career. He not only promoted Japanese trade liberal- ization but built a network of Japanese and American educational and cultural exchanges for the longer term. Using such examples, the author not only spins a yarn Foreign Service families will enjoy, but helps the gen- eral reader (and perhaps some career diplomats) understand more fully the workings of U.S. information and cul- tural programs abroad. A final note: The professional issues that concerned Clifton Forster are still, in the view of some knowledgeable ob- servers, not resolved. For one thing, the overseas programs and personnel of the now-merged Public Diplomacy Bureau could be more fully recognized and utilized by a not-always under- standing or sympathetic Department of State. ■ David I. Hitchcock is a retired Foreign Service career minister and a former senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The professional issues that concerned Clifton Forster are still not resolved. 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 57 B O O K S L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR Printed letters may be edited for space. E-mail to fsjedit@afsa.org or mail to FSJ, 2101 E Street NW, Washington DC 20037. E-C LASSIFIEDS www.afsa.org/classifieds M EMBERSHIP For changes of address and other questions about AFSA membership, e-mail member@afsa.org . A DVERTISING For details about placing either a display or classifed ad, e-mail fsjads@afsa.org, classifieds@afsa.org. C OPYRIGHTS & R EPRINTS To obtain permission to reproduce FSJ material, e-mail fsjedit@afsa.org. O NLINE www.afsa.org www.fsjournal.org Q UESTIONS ? Not sure whom to contact? FSJ FasTrax