The Foreign Service Journal, September 2014

8 SEPTEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Celebrating AFSA’s AwardWinners BY SHAWN DORMAN T his month, AFSA celebrates and honors our own: members of the Foreign Service community who stand up for what they believe to be right, even when it’s not the easy path; those who have made lifetime contributions to diplomacy; and those whose performance has been so out- standing that their colleagues single them out for recognition. Every June, AFSA presents its annual dissent and performance awards in the grand Benjamin Franklin Diplomatic Reception Room on the State Depart- ment’s eighth floor. AFSA and State Department officials (including, this year, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy, and Assistant Secre- tary for Economic and Business Affairs Charles H. Rivkin) serve as presenters. The State Department co-sponsors the ceremony, highlighting the unusual but powerful message that dissent is not only tolerated in the Foreign Service, but respected and perhaps even welcomed. Or is it? We hear such disparate views today on the state of dissent and the inclination and ability to speak up and be heard—without retribution—when you disagree with a policy or see a better way forward. This month we bring views on dissent from AFSA award winners, past and pres- ent. In “Integrity and Openness: Require- ments for an Effective Foreign Service,” three- time AFSA dissent award winner Ambassador Ken- Shawn Dorman is the editor of The Foreign Service Journal. neth Quinn reflects on his experiences speaking out over the course of a long and successful Foreign Service career. And Ambassador Jonathan Addleton, the 2014 Herter Award winner, shares the story of his challenges with restrictions on local outreach efforts in Afghanistan in “A Reflection on Bravery.” Profiles of Amb. Addleton and all the other AFSA award winners can be found in the AFSA News section. David Holmes, winner of the Rivkin dissent award for a mid-level FSO, called for a more strategic approach to U.S. South Asia policy. Nick Pietrowicz, winner of the Harris dissent award for a Foreign Service specialist, raised con- cerns about a border security program. William “Ed” O’Bryan, winner of the Har- riman dissent award for an entry-level FSO, pushed for an embassy presence at human rights trials in Saudi Arabia. Carol Backman, winner of the Delavan Award for exemplary performance by an office management specialist, used her IT expertise and management skills to improve life at Embassy Ankara; Mary Kay Cunningham, winner of the Guess Award for an outstanding community liaison office coordinator, lifted the spirits of the embassy community in Kabul in a big way. And Kari Osborne, winner of the Bohlen Award for an FS family member, made a real difference to embassy com- munity life in Mexico City. It was my distinct pleasure to “turn the tables on Stu Kennedy,” this year’s winner of AFSA’s prestigious Lifetime Contribu- tions to American Diplomacy Award, by interviewing the interviewer about his work creating and growing the Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection, and his life and work in the Foreign Service. The oral histories are a national trea- sure, capturing U.S. diplomatic history of the 20th and 21st centuries through the voices of the practitioners who were there. Kennedy is quick to point the microphone away from himself, praising others and most especially the Associa- tion for Diplomatic Studies and Training, which is home to the oral history program today. He says, “Remember, I’m not the For- eign Service oral historian.” But truly, he is precisely that, and I can think of no one more deserving of the Lifetime Achieve- ment Award than Stu Kennedy. Elsewhere in this issue, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman outlines “A Diplomacy for the 21st Century: Back to the Future?” He explores how the quest for “new” diplo- macy might just bring us back to some traditional values—optimism, justice, honesty and realism. In his President’s Views column, Bob Silverman reflects on Foreign Service advocacy and pitches a new career track for expeditionary diplomacy. And finally, as a preview to our December focus on Afghanistan, we offer FSO Bill Bent’s first- hand account of what it’s like to live and work on the U.S. embassy compound in Kabul today. Spoiler alert: It’s no picnic. We want to hear from you, about what you read in these pages, and especially what you think about the state of dissent today, or anything else on your mind. n