The Foreign Service Journal, September 2012

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 39 My Good Fortune It’s moving to be so recognized. But it is I who should be thanking our government for giving me the opportunity to serve it and the American people for the past 50 years — nearly 40 of these in the Foreign Service, almost a decade with the United Nations and, for the past four years, with the leading global agency for migration. None of this would have been possible without consistent support from the Kennedy administration through nine oth- ers, including that of President Obama, who has just nomi- nated me for a second term as director general of the International Organization for Migration. My good fortune, much like yours no doubt, has been the opportunity to serve our country and people — in an admit- tedly very modest manner and in very minor roles. Throughout my career, the Foreign Service and this depart- ment have been unfailingly generous to me. Without our government’s continu- ing support, for example, I would never have been able, after retirement, to head two United Nations peacekeeping operations, one of these the largest in U.N. history — or later, as Washing- ton’s candidate, to be elected by IOM’s 127 member-states to lead an intergov- ernmental organization with a $1.5 bil- lion budget, 2,000 active projects and 8,000 staff in 400 locations around the globe, serving mi- grants and our member-states. So I would like to use the few remaining minutes to renew my gratitude to our government for its support — support that has allowed me to do things and to represent our people in places I never dreamed of as a young farm boy growing up in the South. Washington has consecutively opened a series of doors before me, one after the other — the Foreign Service, U.N. peacekeeping, and now the world of immigration, in which more people are on the move than at any other time in recorded history amidst a countercyclical wind of anti-mi- grant sentiment. Were I to be asked, “Would you do it all over again? That is, join the Foreign Service and devote your adult years to U.S. diplomacy,” the answer would be a resounding “yes!” I say yes for many reasons, but would cite only three here very briefly — and these three points represent a sort of personal homage to the Foreign Service. The Opportunity to Serve Globally In the 1980s, just after the U.S. Civil Service Commission was renamed the Office of Personnel Management, a col- league quipped in regard to OPM that “service used to be our middle name.” Jokes aside, we must never forget that diplomacy is all about service. And we forget at our own peril that we are in the Foreign Service to serve, first and foremost. Some three years ago, in this same building on a similar occasion, I referred to diplomacy as “the indispensable pub- lic service.” I still believe this to be the case. It surely has to be a consolation for us all that, amidst globalization and the digital revolution, diplomacy has not only survived, but is being revalidated daily as an indispensable discipline and art in managing relations among peoples and nations. Diplomacy places an accent on dialogue. Diplomacy ex- plores options. Diplomacy creates un- derstanding and promotes tolerance and appreciation for cultural and other differences that get in the way of progress. Diplomacy is all about sus- tainable engagement. Diplomacy is about building policy consensus, and developing a supporting constituency that will ensure the necessary resources for effective policy implementation. Diplomacy is our last best hope for peaceful settlement of conflicts. But given government’s investment in the vital capital of diplomacy — in com- parison to government outlays on other instruments of influence — one has to wonder just how widely this view of diplomacy’s indispensable nature is shared. The Opportunity for Lifelong Learning Second, a career in the Foreign Service, at the U.N., or at an international organization such as IOM introduces one to an unparalleled lifelong learning experience — continuous learning that is vital if one is to survive and essential if one is to advance our national interests. Formal learning, such as language learning and history, yes. But there is also the learning that comes from drawing lessons from experiences, the good and the bad, as well as best practices — practices that improve our game and our score. We learn from our failures as well as from our successes. And I have had more than my share of defeats. Yet while failure may discredit us as diplomats on particular occasions — as it did me — such shortcomings cannot ultimately dis- credit diplomacy. Failure merely highlights our own limita- tions, both as diplomats and human beings. A Foreign Service career offers many opportunities, including the chance to live history.