The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2014

8 JULY-AUGUST 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL BY SHAWN DORMAN UNCLASSIFIED Reporting Matters MRN: 14 FSJ 72956 Date/DTG: JUL 13, 2014 / 132301Z JUL 14 From: AFSAFSJ WASHDC Action: TRIPOLI, AMEMBASSY ROUTINE; MINSK, AMEMBASSY ROUTINE; ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS COLLECTIVE ROUTINE E.O.: 13526 TAGS: POL, ECON, APER Subject: IS ANYONE READING? IS ANYONE THERE? LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 1. BEGIN SUMMARY: AT ITS BEST, EMBASSY REPORTING IS READ IN THE RIGHT PLACES AT THE RIGHT TIME BY THE RIGHT PEOPLE, WHO USE IT TO CONSTRUCT AND CON- TEXTUALIZE FOREIGN POLICY. AT ITS BEST, REPORTING CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. A BIPOLAR WORLD HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A MORE COMPLEX ONE, SATURATED WITH VAST AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION FLOW- ING AT LIGHTNING SPEED. DOES EMBASSY REPORTING STILL MATTER IN SUCH AN ENVIRONMENT? DOES ANYONE HAVE TIME TO READ BEYOND THE SUMMARY PARAGRAPH, OR EVEN TO READ THE FULL SUMMARY? THIS MONTHWE TRY TO FIND OUT. ARE YOU STILL READING? IS ANYONE THERE? END SUMMARY 2. LOOKING BACK TO LOOK AHEAD. ON TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT TO CONGEN LENINGRAD’S OVERBURDENED CONSULAR SECTION IN 1989, I WAS TASKED WITH DETERMINING WHETHER A PERSON ON “THE LIST” OF REFUSENIKS DENIED PER- MISSION TO EMIGRATE WAS, IN FACT, STILL ALIVE. THE LIST MATTERED. SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE SHULTZ PRESENTED IT TO HIS COUNTERPART AT HIGH-LEVEL MEETINGS AS PART OF AN ACTIVE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN. UNDER GORBACHEV, ALMOST EVERYONE ON THE LIST WOULD EVENTUALLY BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE. 3. I SET OUT BY TRAIN, NOTEBOOK IN HAND, TO THE TINY TOWN OF URDOMA, REACHABLE THROUGH THE BUSTLING REGIONAL CENTER OF SYKTYVKAR. AS FAR AS ANYONE COULD REMEMBER, NO AMERICAN HAD TRAVELED TO THESE PLACES, AS THEY WERE IN AN OFFICIALLY “CLOSED” PART OF THE USSR. BUT IT WAS THE GORBACHEV ERA, AND “CLOSED” DIDN’T NECESSARILY MEAN CLOSED ANY- MORE. AT THE END OF A LONG DIRT ROAD, I FOUND THE HOUSE OF THE MAN I WAS SEEKING. HE HAD PASSED AWAY THE YEAR BEFORE, BUT I FOUND HIS SON. I VISITED THE GRAVEYARD, SURVEYED THE LOCAL ECONOMY AND LEARNED ABOUT LIFE IN THE KOMI REPUBLIC. 4. I STILL RECALL THE STRANGE EXHILA- RATION THAT CAME WITHWRITING REPORTING CABLES LONGHAND BACK AT THE CONSULATE, RIPPING PAGES OUT OF YELLOW LEGAL PADS TO BE HAND- CARRIED TO FINLAND FOR TYPING AND TRANSMISSION THROUGH EMBASSY HELSINKI. THE CONSULATE DIDN’T HAVE SECURE COMMUNICATIONS AT THAT TIME. WE WROTE ABOUT POLITICS, ECONOMICS, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LIFE BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN. 5. END USERS AT THE STATE DEPART- MENT AND OTHER U.S. AGENCIES SEEMED TO HAVE AN INSATIABLE APPETITE FOR REPORTING FROM THE SOVIET UNION. ON-THE-GROUND IMMERSION, LEARNING AND CONTACT WORK LED TO REPORTING THAT WAS USEFUL, WAS READ IN WASH- INGTON, AND IN SOME CASES, COULD EVEN INFLUENCE POLICY. 6. REPORTING TODAY. AIMING TO SHINE A LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT, FSO DAN LAWTON (PROTECT) LOOKS AT “THE ART” OF EMBASSY REPORTING. THOUGH HE IDENTIFIES MANY CHALLENGES—TRY- ING TO REACH HARRIED WASHINGTON AUDIENCES WITH SHORT ATTENTION SPANS AND INFORMATION OVERLOAD, AND COPING WITH THE FALLOUT FROM THE UNPRECEDENTED ASSAULT ON THE INTEGRITY OF CLASSIFIED COMMU- NICATIONS—LAWTON BELIEVES THAT “REPORTING FROM THE FIELD IS STILL THE INDISPENSABLE INGREDIENT OF ANY MEANINGFUL FOREIGN POLICY DISCUS- SION.” 7. NEXT, FORMER CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DIRECTOR FOR EUROPEAN ANAL- YSIS JOHN GANNON (PROTECT) HIGH- LIGHTS THE WAYS THAT EMBASSY REPORT- ING IS UTILIZED, OFFERING EXAMPLES FROMHIS OWN EXPERIENCE. A COMPILA- TION OF SHORT PIECES OFFERS PERSPEC- TIVES ON REPORTING FROM SEVEN FSOS IN THE FIELD. A REVIEW OF RAY SMITH’S BOOK, THE CRAFT OF POLITICAL ANALYSIS FOR DIPLOMATS, HIGHLIGHTS A VALUABLE PRACTITIONERS GUIDE THAT FEATURES, AS A CASE STUDY, EMBASSY MOSCOW’S PREDICTIONS OF THE FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION. 8. IF YOU ARE STILL READING, LET ME ALSO REPORT THAT THE CHIEF-OF-MISSION QUALIFICATIONS DISCUSSION CONTIN- UES. IN HIS SPEAKING OUT, AMB. DENNIS JETT MAKES THE CASE FOR MEASURING COM PERFORMANCE SYSTEMATICALLY. IN THIS MONTH’S RELAUNCH OF THE “AFSA ISSUE BRIEF,” AMB. CHARLIE RAY LAYS OUT THE EVOLUTION OF THE AFSA COM GUIDELINES. IN HIS PRESIDENT’S VIEWS COLUMN, ROBERT J. SILVERMAN EXPRESSES CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM ABOUT THE NEW QDDR EXERCISE. AND WE OFFER TWO VIEWS OF THE WESTGATE TRAGEDY IN KENYA, ONE FROM A KENYAN JOUR- NALISM STUDENT, THE OTHER FROM AN AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT. 9. BEGIN COMMENT: REPORTING IS ALIVE AND WELL. NO MATTER WHERE TECH- NOLOGY TAKES US, THERE IS NO SUBSTI- TUTE FOR REAL, LIVE, ON-THE-GROUND REPORTING OFFICERS. SO PUT DOWN THE BLACKBERRY AND PLEASE READ ON. END COMMENT 10. MINIMIZE CONSIDERED. Drafted By: FSJED: SDORMAN n