The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2013

26 JULY-AUGUST 2013 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL The Eternal Dilemma Diplomacy in modern terms focuses on the political and bureaucratic process and institutions by which political enti- ties—traditionally nation- states, but also non-state actors and international organizations—establish and manage their official rela- tions. Writing in the May 1961 Foreign Service Journal on “Diplomacy as a Profession,” George Kennan declared: “This is the classic function of diplomacy: to effect the communication between one’s own government and other gov- ernments or individuals abroad, and to do this with maximum accuracy, imagination, tact and good sense.” The diplomat is thus charged with a double task: studying and comprehending the nature of the outside world, and com- municating with other governments concerning his or her own government’s interests and aspirations. As Kennan puts it, the diplomat’s job is to be “the bearer of a view of the outside world.” These sometimes con- flicting obligations between the amorality of the state— especially when consciously practicing realpolitik—and the professional morality of the diplomatic agent create a murky, ethically ambiguous situation. In a fundamen- tal sense, the professional diplomat cannot effectively perform the agent’s task without acting with at least a modicum of professional ethics. Ironically, even an immoral government is badly served by an immoral agent. Herein lies the ethical dilemma which often faces the individual diplomat. n Because political leaders tend to value personal loyalty, career officials who introduce opinions and information at variance with the official policy line risk adverse consequences.