The Foreign Service Journal, September 2004

10 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 L E T T E R S Powell to raise our profile, our worth and our funding have implicitly fed the assumption that diplomats are unworthy. Powell refers to us as “the front line” and as “his troops.” We have value only if we can be repainted as warriors in suits. It is demoralizing “me, too-ism” that may have gotten us more funding, but no respect ... and the funding will not last. Philosophically, everything we stand for — internationalism, multi- lateralism, consensus, negotiation, etc. — is scoffed at by elements of this administration. No wonder nei- ther staffers nor USAA takes us seri- ously. We know the dangers, commit- ment and sacrifice that are a daily part of the Foreign Service. We have stayed with the Service. State has the lowest attrition of any government agency, despite what we expect of our people day in and day out around the world. But until and unless who we are and what we do is valued in and of itself — consistently, publicly and as strongly as the foot-stomping support for the troops — then I am afraid that the efforts of those of us who serve in Iraq will fall as flat as efforts by others have over the years. When my brother was in the mili- tary he used to joke that he only had to do his job if I didn’t do mine. He assumed that I would, at least, get the chance to do mine before he was called upon to do his. Barbara Bodine Ambassador, retired Alexandria, Va. Africa’s Glass Less than Half-Full While I have a high regard for Ambassador Tibor Nagy and his many years of dedicated service in Africa, the facts make it difficult for me to share his optimism about encouraging trends on this long-suffering conti- nent (“Africa Can Make It — And How We Should Help,” May). The reality for most places in Africa is that the average family is worse off today than it was 20 years ago. Given my own strong commitment for more than 30 years to the betterment of Africa, this is not an easy thing to admit, but denying the truth about Africa’s serious development predica- ment is not helpful. Things in Africa would have been hard enough, but now, the heart- breaking HIV/AIDS pandemic makes reversing the downward poverty trend for the majority of Africans even more difficult. HIV/AIDS has become both a result and cause of poverty, and we are now witnessing a decline in key human development indicators in those countries with a high HIV prevalence rate among adults. It is undermining decades of progress in Africa and we probably have not yet fully grasped the disas- trous magnitude of the pandemic, which still has some years to go before reaching its peak. Sadly, the worst is yet to come in Africa. Yes, here and there we see some positive changes, and there are many unsung heroes in Africa. But overall the situation is more daunting than when I first arrived in Africa in 1970. New leaders are making some right moves, but these changes are coming when the poverty reduction chal- lenges are much greater and, in the meantime, the rest of the world has moved on. Africa was dealt a bad hand from the start and the leader- ship played this hand poorly, thereby making it more difficult to move ahead today. No matter how well managed and governed, it will take even the better-off countries in Africa decades at best to graduate from the ranks of low-income countries. I do not want to be labeled an Afro-pessimist, but we need to con- sider what the facts tell us. My arti- cle, “Thirty Years in Africa and Still Looking for Answers,” in the March 2002 edition of the FSJ, is perhaps my best reply to the May 2004 arti- cles. I am working hard to find as many positive things to say when I write the “35 Years” version of my article. But for now, I am left look- ing for answers and the happier times like those described in my May 2004 FSJ reflection, “My First Christmas in Africa.” Before I get on the plane in Maputo to go to Addis Ababa, I would like to salute the Journal for dedicat- ing the May issue to Africa. I hope we can count on seeing at least one edi- tion per year devoted to Africa. Mark G. Wentling USAID Senior Foreign Service, retired Maputo, Mozambique Pay Attention to Proxy Wars Thank you for the articles about Africa in your May issue. They were uniformly of high quality. Professors Ottaway, Herbst and Mills (“Africa’s Big States: Toward a New Realism”) have done an excellent job of propos- ing a new approach to the majority of Africa’s big states that are dysfunc- tional politically, economically and socially. I agree with most of their policy recommendations. However, I am deeply disappointed by their curt dismissal of proxy wars as a major impediment to the state-building that they so fervently advocate. When the authors state that the international community should not try to offer a guarantee of survival to countries threatened by internal forces, they are missing the main point. There are no purely internal forces in Africa. All internal insur- gents, rebels, bandits or whatever one calls them, have external partners. These partners are always sovereign regimes. Sure, the giant Congo (Kinshasa)