The Foreign Service Journal, September 2011

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 19 One only has to read State magazine to see the trend. Such distractions continue to erode an already limited re- source base, which is likely to become even smaller in the near future as the department’s influence continues to de- cline. The upshot is that State simply does not have the ca- pacity to be effective in its former traditional role. Near- ing irrelevance, it almost appears to be a minor subsidiary of the Department of Defense. Bill Faulkner USAID FSO, retired Falls Church, Va. The Price of Security On Sept. 11, 2001, I was attending a Chamber of Com- merce luncheon with the deputy chief of mission in Douala, Cameroon, when the planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The DCM decided to let the lunch continue, but afterward we raced back to the U.S. branch office to get the news, phone the ambassador and map out a plan. Speaking as someone who entered the Foreign Service 20 years ago, I think our mission and those around the world coped extremely well with the attacks. I also be- lieve the Foreign Service is a stronger institution now than it was 10 years ago; but that strengthening is unrelated to the attacks or State’s response to them. The attacks occurred after several successive Secre- taries of State had focused more on policy than manage- ment. This emphasis adversely affected the department in many ways, from obsolete information systems to an erosion of the benefits that make the Service an affordable career for the middle class. Secretary of State Colin Powell understood this point and used his vast energy to improve the situation. His Diplomatic Readiness Initiative created a float of officers so we could be sufficiently trained before beginning new assignments. Likewise, Secretary of State Hillary Rod- ham Clinton has ably balanced policy and management C OVER S TORY