The Foreign Service Journal, September 2012

The Opportunity to Live History My third point in paying homage to a Foreign Service career is the oppor- tunity it provides to live history. Nelson Mandela once said in my presence, just after leaving prison, that he felt at that moment as if he were in “physical contact with history.” I have never forgotten these lines, which are etched in my memory. And I’ve never heard a more expressive description of the Foreign Service experience. You and I are, indeed, the privi- leged few, called to this noble task — often as observers, reporters, wit- nesses; sometimes as actors — at the epicenter of world events. Those events, more often than not, affect the lives of many people — as, for exam- ple, when, with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the IOM evacuated and repatriated 250,000 migrant workers from danger in Libya to 54 countries. And, for this privilege, while rarely recognized or applauded, we receive an enormous “psychic” income — one that contin- ues to accumulate interest over time. This unique experience which is the Foreign Service also carries with it enormous responsibilities — responsi- bilities relative to our sense of profes- sionalism, the institutional admonition to provide exemplary leadership and to be accountable for all that we do, de- cide and say. My Love Affair with Diplomacy My half-century love affair with diplomacy — bilaterally at State, and multilaterally at the U.N. and IOM— leads me to the following conclusions: Diplomacy remains a noble under- taking of public service to which we fortunate few have been called. The Foreign Service embarks us si- multaneously on a lifetime of continu- ous learning. Our admission to this remarkable career offers us unprece- dented opportunities to live history and, at the same time, imposes heavy responsibilities on us to be at all times worthy of our calling. Thank you. 40 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 1 2 Diplomacy has not only survived, but remains an indispensable discipline and art in managing relations among peoples and nations.