The Foreign Service Journal, September 2013

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2013 61 have criticized us as “elitist” for publicizing this reality demon- strates the extent of this friction. To point out that the Foreign Service is losing positions to the Civil Service, including many civil servants who began their government careers as political appointees, is to state a fact. Whether it is a problem is a matter for discussion. We contend that it is a problem for creating the truly exceptional Foreign Service the nation requires. The practice also hampers efforts to assemble the best possible mix of Civil Service and Foreign Service appointments, each with their specific needs and management requirements. We also believe the Civil Service should enjoy more flex- ibility and mobility in carrying out its professional develop- ment. Some overseas experience is clearly a plus for those civil servants wishing to advance their careers. We are grateful to our many Civil Service colleagues who have volunteered for difficult and dangerous assignments, even in the absence of any requirement to be worldwide available or serve in hard- ship posts. A Call for Review and Reform Finding ways to strengthen both the Civil Service and the Foreign Service is excruciatingly difficult. That is why we believe these issues need to be addressed carefully and sys- tematically, not simply by converting Foreign Service jobs into Civil Service ones that are very hard to convert back. Perhaps it is time to consider setting up a specialized National Security Civil Service to better utilize the talents of current civil servants, while respecting the value of a Foreign Service that serves overseas and brings the knowledge it gains there back into the Washington policy process. Only a truly merit-based, representative, professional Foreign Service can carry out American diplomacy and grow the broad leadership “bench” required to meet future needs. The Foreign Service’s structure, cone system and, especially, its professional education, training and assignments systems all warrant review. So, too, do the department’s twin personnel systems. The board of the American Academy of Diplomacy is moving to develop a broad study of these subjects. Secretary of State John Kerry combines the understanding of having grown up in a Foreign Service family with the broad political perspective of his years in the Senate and his new stature as American’s most-senior diplomat. We believe he is well placed to lead a fundamental re-evaluation, and trust he will do so expeditiously. n