The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2015 29 As part of an effort to expand the important conversation about the state of the Foreign Service and diplomacy and to bring in more active-duty FS voices, The Foreign Service Journal sent out a message to AFSA active-duty members requesting feedback on the recently released American Academy of Diplomacy report, American Diplomacy at Risk . We shared the summary statement from the report, the 23 recommendations and links to the abridged and full versions of the report (http://bit.ly/ADARlong and http://bit.ly/ADARshort ). For this issue of the FSJ , AAD President Ronald Neumann provided his overview of the report and the concerns and recommendations it offers for discus- sion. What follows is a compilation of the feedback comments received by the Journal in May. We wel- come and encourage further discussion, so please send your letters to journal@afsa.org. Disclaimer: The contributors to this compilation are writing in their private capacities, not on behalf of their agencies. Details about their FS positions are for information only. — Shawn Dorman, Editor Major Unanswered Questions I can’t say I disagree with any of the key recommendations in this study, which, like most recent reviews of how to fix our diplomatic architecture, starts with more money, more person- nel and fewer politicos in key positions. But I do wonder if it doesn’t miss some of the major unanswered questions we are facing as an institution, issues which would require some stra- tegic decisions before we get to the additional people and cash. Two issues seem to me to loom large. First, what is our mission abroad, and are we organized to accomplish it? I had a debate with a mentor once, in which I argued for activist microposts that pushed our personnel out as broadly as we can to match a flatter world (think Parag Khanna and Thomas Friedman), while developing the capacity to partici- pate actively in institution-building in fragile states. He argued that the business of diplomacy is to influence governments, which is done in capitals. We are just coming out of a period of incredible diffusion of personnel across several war zones, having even formed a bureau to ostensibly support these kinds of operations, and seem to be parked somewhere between the demarche-laden capital and the operation-laden field. Do we intend to continue FOCUS ON DIPLOMACY: THE PROFESSION THE STATE OF THE FOREIGN SERVICE Continuing the Conversation