The Foreign Service Journal, September 2008

C Y B E R N O T E S u 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 8 contain any section specifically devot- ed to public diplomacy outreach. The commission urges the depart- ment to make a concerted effort to recruit PD candidates. It recom- mends that the FS exam process in- clude questions and tasks directly ger- mane to the conduct of public diplo- macy. It also advocates building spe- cific PD requirements into the EER form for all FSOs, with one or more specific tasks of directly engaging and influencing foreign publics as work requirement objectives for PD offi- cers. Concerning training, a number of “conspicuous and serious blind spots” are identified. The commission rec- ommends that the Foreign Service Institute develop courses comparable to graduate-level university courses in the area of communication theory, with special emphasis on political communication and rhetoric, adver- tising and marketing theory and pub- lic opinion analysis; and that the department establish a nine-month, in-depth public diplomacy course for mid- to senior-level PD officers, mod- eled on that currently offered to rising economic officers. The commission’s last three recom- mendations have to do with the inte- gration of PD into the State Depart- ment. To determine the extent to which department officials are taking PD into consideration in actual for- eign policy decision-making, the com- mission recommends a zero-based review of the PD area office staffing structure. Further, observing that the overseas staffing structure has remained unchanged since the 1999 consolidation of USIA into the depart- ment and that public affairs officers are largely viewed (and view them- selves) as managers and administra- tors rather than communicators, the commission recommends a zero-bas- ed review of the overseas PD staffing model. Finally, to right the “persistent under-representation” of PD officers in the department’s senior-most ranks, the commission urges they be pro- moted to senior positions at the same rate as other career FSOs. — Susan B. Maitra, Senior Editor AFRICOM Architects Lower Expectations Excitement over the pioneering U.S. Africa Command has been muted in the weeks and months lead- ing up to its scheduled Oct. 1 standup by concerns about Pentagon domi- nance, a lack of civilian agency re- sources and incompatible personnel systems. The difficulties came to light in a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcom- mittee on National Security and For- eign Affairs on July 15, “AFRICOM: Rationales, Roles, and Progress on the Eve of Operations” ( http://nation alsecurity.oversight.house.gov/ story.asp?ID=2080 ). Witnesses admitted that the goal of staffing at least a quarter of the command with experts from State, Treasury, Agricul- ture and USAID was “not realistic,” as John Pendleton, director of defense capabilities and management issues at the Government Accountability Of- fice, put it. Instead, interagency positions have been reduced to 52, or about 4 per- cent of the staff. Incompatible per- sonnel systems may well put even that number out of reach. By Sept. 30, the Defense Department expects to fill only 13 of the 52 slots, though Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates, the AFRICOM deputy commander for civil-military activities, testified that hiring is being done “through a delib- erate process that is progressing well.” The Africa Command’s creation represents a shift in Defense De- partment thinking, acknowledged Lauren Ploch, an African affairs ana- lyst at the Congressional Research Service. But Ploch also testified that concerns about the “militarization” of American foreign policy have sur- faced. Theresa Whelan, the deputy assis- tant secretary of Defense for African affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, sought to allay concerns Site of the Month: www.realclearpolitics.com Though John McIntyre and Tom Bevan founded Real Clear Politics in 2000, the site has picked up traffic this year as people flock to find independent data on an historic election. 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