The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2014 53 AFSA NEWS Expert on Professions Kicks Off New AFSA Forum On May 29, AFSA welcomed Don Snider, a senior fellow in the Center for the Army Profession and Ethics at West Point and an adjunct research professor at the U.S. Army War College, for a pre- sentation on the concept of what constitutes a profession and how that might inform the professional Foreign Service and the Department of State. Snider’s presentation marked the launch of a new lecture series at AFSA, the Expert Speakers Forum. The new forum has been estab- lished in the spirit of the 90th anniversary of the Rogers Act. To promote the Foreign Service as a profession, AFSA will bring experts on profes- sionalism, ethics and leader- ship to speak. The events will all be shared online through the AFSA website for those who cannot make it to AFSA headquarters. Through a slide presenta- tion and subsequent ques- tion-and-answer session, Mr. Snider gave an excellent overview of the considerable research and implementation efforts undertaken to further the U.S. Army as a profes- sion. Much of this work was performed at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the seat of the Army’s Center for the Army Profession and Eth- ics, known as CAPE. What Makes a Profession? Snider pointed out that there are certain essentials to every profession. These include a moral founda- tion, self-discipline within the profession, the ability to utilize abstract knowledge in an expert manner and a career-long education sys- tem. He mentioned how he thought some of the Army’s work might inform other U.S. government organizations, including the Foreign Service and the Department of State. Snider addressed the differences between a pro- fession and a bureaucracy, and why we should care about those differences. He explained that professions offer unique benefits that bureaucratic organizations do not. “Professions provide a vital service to the society which it cannot provide for itself, but must have to flour- ish,” Snider said. “They are therefore granted relative autonomy in the application of their art and expertise.” A dynamic Q-and-A ses- sion followed his presenta- tion. To view Mr. Snider’s remarks and the discussion online, please visit www.afsa. org/video. The slides used during the event are available upon request; please email events@afsa.org for a copy. —Cecilia Daizovi, Communications Intern Don Snider speaking at AFSA on May 29. Below, a slide from his presentation lists the differences between a profession and a bureaucracy. ÁSGEIRSIGFÚSSON DONSNIDER