The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2016

36 JULY-AUGUST 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL eign Service. We face global warming, resource competition and demographic shifts, the unexpected consequences of computer and bio technology, as well as strained relationships with China, Russia and countries in the Middle East, and non-state violence. Having the best high-tech military in the world won’t be enough by itself to address these and other challenges—diplomacy and development are just as essential, or more so. What Makes FS Personnel Unique? I spent a third of my career in countries with active wars and terrorism, including ironically named “low-intensity conflicts.” Those years were definitely conducive to reflection. Operating in extreme conditions gives you insights into how institutions and people succeed or fail. In the 2007 Iraq surge, when I supported tribal and municipal engagement “on loan” to a Marine Regi- mental Combat Team, I started analyzing what makes certain Foreign Service officers and specialists so valuable in such situ- ations, and why the military and other agencies are usually so eager to work with State and USAID Foreign Service personnel. I pursued this inquiry in Afghanistan, and drew also on my time in the Peruvian and Salvadoran wars. Here’s my list of the unique attributes of Foreign Service per- sonnel that enable them to add value to the foreign policy and national security process—and where, if we do not maintain this expertise, other agencies and the military will fill the vacuum: • Deep knowledge of the region, the country and its society, religion, history, geography, culture and language based on experience overseas. The ability to state not only why things happen, but also their relevance for the U.S. and what our next steps should be; the ability to relate specific issues and responses to broader U.S. interests, such as democracy and human rights. The ability to assess our policy critically even as we implement it. • The ability to understand foreigners—even those from sec- tors opposed to us, or trying to kill us—and comprehend what makes them tick and what their contradictions and limits are under normal conditions and extreme stress, avoiding “mirror- imaging”; and the ability to work with foreigners and influence them, or to oppose and defeat them, to advance U.S. objectives. • The ability to think and work “interagency”—based on knowing what State and the full range of agencies present in an embassy (especially USAID, law enforcement and intelligence) can do to advance U.S. policy, in concert with Washington and, as appropriate, with the U.S. military and other partners. The ability to go the “last three feet” to turn policies into actions. • A shrewd sense for using diplomacy across the spectrum from peace to war—from the tactical to the strategic levels, from the short to the long term, and using elements of soft, hard and smart power—on issues shaped more by intense emotions and history than by cold logic. • The ability to thrive in an environment of contradictory and ambiguous information and policy guidance. • Leadership, including the ability to work with people under extreme stress; a positive attitude; and the ability to cope with hostile security conditions and their consequences. While work at expeditionary and critical-threat posts tends to put these attributes into stark relief, they are just as relevant at less dangerous posts—not to mention the fact that today any post can turn hot very fast. Not all Foreign Service personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan met these standards—we had some duds and the odd toxic leader—but most rose to the challenge, as did Civil Service members and limited-term hires such as State’s “3161s” and USAID’s Foreign Service Limited appointments. (Language was a major challenge—but that is another story.) How to Get There In the following 30 points, I discuss how to develop and hone these attributes. Some points can be absorbed quickly; others take years to master. Here is my roadmap. Geographic, Policy and Language Expertise 1 Keep learning about the host country—find a part that interests you and become as expert in it as possible. Read its literature, listen to its music, discuss its politics, history, religions and economics; attend cultural and sports events. Within your security constraints, travel widely outside the embassy “bubble.” (Carrying a nine-pound, 2-year-old girl from a farm to a USAID child malnutrition feeding station in Guatemala, for example, and listening to her parents’ survival strategy—feed the older brothers, not the baby girl—taught me what no briefing paper could.) Figure out what makes the society work the way it does, and what its contradictions and dynamics are. 2 Meet and build relationships with host-country people from as broad a range as possible—our profession is ultimately about people, not policy papers. Reach out across invisible barriers of race, class, sex and region, and get outside the embassy. Don’t hang out just with those who speak English or who are from the ruling class or who always agree with the United States. Local elites are important, but are often discon- nected from the reality we need to understand and influence. Don’t emulate those who always disparage the host country or local groups; foreign partners will pick up on the conde-