The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2023

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2023 9 foreign affairs agencies, I tell them that government service is sometimes like what Michael Corleone said in “The Godfather” (Part I): “It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.” I explain that it is very unlikely that career colleagues—or political appointee colleagues—will set out to ruin someone’s career or make the person miserable. But that can be the outcome, especially when you’re dealing with a vast, impersonal bureaucracy. So my plea to colleagues as I retire from the Foreign Service is: Take care of each other. Be nice to each other. Be supportive whenever you can. Always err on the side of being more helpful and more supportive, within the limits of law and regulation. And be sympathetic and empathetic: This is a tough career, and we all need each other’s help to get through it. We have spent the past 30 post–Cold War years cutting all the budgets for diplomacy and foreign assistance, with a few occasional plus-ups, and assuming that we did not have to get our game up to earn and maintain our leadership role in the world. But the end of the Cold War was not “the end of history,” and this set of realities is now being recognized as we open or reopen embassies in small island nations around the world. Acknowledging New Realities We still act as if the default setting is U.S. leadership, but without the need to staff it or fund it or earn it. History will not be kind to the way the U.S. and our allies have handled the past three decades. U.S. diplomacy and development have not been adequately funded or staffed during this time, and it shows. Ask anyone in any of our embassies and consulates overseas, especially but not exclusively those in Africa, and they will tell you that we are running on fumes. After a small plus-up last year and the passage of the first State Authorization bill in many years, we are now back to hoping for no cuts and for holding the line on spending. That is not good enough. Upping our game also means not assuming that we can send friends and donors overseas as ambassadors regard- less of whether they have the qualifica- tions to do the job well. I am not saying that there are no political appointee ambassadors who are superbly qualified and do a fantastic job. There are. But it is also not possible to say that they are all qualified. We also must be able to expect appoin- tees to complete their assignments. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to vet and confirm a presidential nominee. In the past two years, we have seen mul- tiple political appointees resign their posi- tions, in some cases only a fewmonths after arriving at post. We have seen it with ambassadors to major U.S. allies and with assistant secretaries of State. It rankles our career colleagues terribly when a political appointee says, “I did not realize how hard the job was and how hard it would be for my family.” We all know how hard it is. Give it to a career pro- fessional who will serve a full term rather than a political appointee who may leave in a matter of months. Thank You I would be remiss in not expressing my sincere thanks to the professional staff at AFSA. Their experience and wise counsel over the last four years have been crucial to the successes AFSA has achieved. I am grateful to all those who served on the Governing Board during both the 2019- 2021 and the 2021-2023 terms: You kept me on my toes, fighting the good fight. And thank you to all those who volun- teered their time as members of AFSA committees and the FSJ Editorial Board. Your dedication to the association keeps us going. Finally, thank you to outgoing State VP Tom Yazdgerdi, our incoming AFSA president. AFSA is in good hands. This career has helped define my life, and it has been the greatest honor to serve my country for 38 years together with the most impressive group of people I have ever encountered. I treasure the friend- ships I have made in the Foreign Service, and those will last after I step away from active duty. I intend to remain engaged with Foreign Service reform issues—and of course with AFSA. There is strength in unity at a very challenging time. Let me close by thanking all of you who have been such valued friends and colleagues, and once again saluting you and your families for your service, sacri- fice, and dedication. What we do matters, and fixing what is broken in our Service matters, as well. Diplomacy and interna- tional development work are the primary alternatives to war and destruction and suffering. We can and should be proud of our work. Let’s recommit to fixing what ails the U.S. Foreign Service and continue to work for a better world at a time of intense change and upheaval. And let’s take care of each other. n It has been the greatest honor to serve my country for 38 years together with the most impressive group of people I have ever encountered.