The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2022

18 JULY-AUGUST 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL TOLOnews broadcaster Tahmina Usmani shared a photo in May showcasing her male colleagues’ solidarity in the wake of the Taliban’s edict ordering female TV news anchors to cover their faces while on air. STRINGER/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK tenets of the Islamic faith and has instead taken tribal village traditions, where girls often marry at puberty and rarely leave their homes, and labeled them religious requirements. In late May, as Afghans continued to grapple with food shortages that left half the population facing acute hunger and a worsening economic crisis, the country was also rocked by a series of explosions. Blasts in Kabul and in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif resulted in at least 12 deaths and dozens of injuries, NBC reported. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Mazar-e-Sharif attack. As conditions deteriorated within Afghanistan, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction issued a new report to two congressional committees in May concluding that the collapse of the country and its takeover by the Taliban are direct consequences of decisions made by two successive U.S. presidents. The report states: “SIGAR found that the single most important factor in the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces’ collapse in August 2021 was the U.S. decision to withdraw military forces and contractors from Afghanistan through signing the U.S.-Taliban agree- ment in February 2020 under the Trump administration, followed by President Biden’s withdrawal announcement in April 2021.” According to SIGAR, these events destroyed the morale of ANDSF, which had long relied on the U.S. military presence to protect against large-scale losses and as a means of holding the Afghan government responsible for paying their salaries. The report notes that the ANDSF lost a key advantage in keeping the Taliban at bay when, as a result of the U.S. agree- ment with the regime, Afghan forces were obligated to limit airstrikes. Compounding the ANDSF’s woes: it was designed by the U.S. as a mirror of American forces, which created long- term ANDSF over-reliance on capabilities borrowed from U.S. troops. Y ou are a rare man indeed if you have even noticed how few women enter your conference rooms, except to take notes or serve coffee. Bad news! A“movement” is invading the sanc- tum sanctorum. …Women of the Foreign Service— whether secretaries, staff personnel, or officers—are making it clear that they will not let what one FSO calls “the last bastion of male elitism” stand unchallenged. … But … not enough and not fast enough. The role of women in the Foreign Ser- vice remains minimal. …The percentage of female FSOs has actually decreased . In 1957, women constituted 8.9 percent of the FSO corps. By 1972, there were only 152 women among 3086 men. Less than five percent! Virginia Slims not- withstanding, who has “come a long way, baby?” …The answer lies apparently in those few but significant changes that have occurred and which are just beginning to make an impact. …The Board of Exam- iners cannot ask a woman candidate whether she isn’t really plotting marriage after a short fling abroad at Uncle Sam’s expense. Largely because of the well- publicized Alison Palmer case, the machismo factor cannot bar women from assignment to any post. …There is still much to be done. How better to “tell America’s story abroad” than by showing that women can speak for America, too? Ms. Secretary of State?! Official and popular detractors notwithstanding, why not?We could and have done a lot worse. —Excerpted from an article of the same name by former Foreign Service Information Officer Sandy Vogelgesang in the August 1972 FSJ . 50 Years Ago Man’sWorld,Woman’s Place?