The Foreign Service Journal, September 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2015 29 policy process in Washington, in direct contravention of the letter and spirit of the Foreign Service Act. In this way, the formulation and administration of foreign policy is denied the benefit of actual diplomatic experience in the field. In this young century, the United States has already fought two savage, costly and inconclusive wars in Iraq and Afghani- stan. We have learned that the United States is not able to impose a new system of government on other peoples by force of arms, nor can our military intervention resolve deep-seated ethnic conflicts in unfamiliar cultures. We must rely more than ever upon diplomacy. So the national interest demands a major effort to better train, improve, prepare and strengthen America’s professional diplomatic service—not to downgrade it. The U.S. Diplomacy Center Let me turn to another subject. There are over 400 muse- ums in the United States celebrating the role and achieve- ments of our armed forces—but not one that recognizes what American diplomacy has done for our national security and well-being. That gap is now being filled. The United States Diplomacy Center, a public-private enterprise of the Department of State and the Diplomacy Center Foundation, is under construction at the 21st Street entrance of this building. More than a museum, it will be a hub of national educational outreach, informing the public about American diplomacy and the Foreign Service. The Diplomacy Center Foundation is now under the capable leadership of Ambassador Ted McNamara, who is well known to most in this room. I would like to salute the strong support of Secretary John Kerry, who hosted five illustrious predecessors for a ceremonial groundbreaking in September; and also the effective backing of Under Secretary for Management Pat Kennedy, who has been a mainstay of this vision from the outset; and Ambassador Eliza- beth Bagley, a most persuasive fundraiser—in fact, a fearsome fundraiser. We could not have succeeded without her. We anticipate that our host today—the American Foreign Service Association—will administer the docents program for the Diplomacy Center, I hope with the cooperation of DACOR, the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide, the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Council of Ameri- can Ambassadors, many of whose members have contributed generously to the cause. And now I thank AFSA for the great honor I have received today.