The Foreign Service Journal, September 2015

8 SEPTEMBER 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL LETTER FROM THE EDITOR FS Members Making a Difference BY SHAWN DORMAN S Shawn Dorman is the editor of The Foreign Service Journal. air quality readings fromU.S. equipment monitoring pollution in New Delhi, Mum- bai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. His article, “Clearing the Air in New Delhi, ” illustrates how greater transparency, while initially viewed as potentially harm- ful for U.S.-India relations, helped lead to greater cooperation on air pollution between the two governments. Profiles of Shaw and Kotis can be found in the AFSA News section, along with profiles of the other recipients: FSOThomas Duffy (Herter Award for Constructive Dissent by a senior-level FSO), FSS Jeffrey Bing (Harris Award for Constructive Dissent by an FS special- ist), Office Management Specialist Julia Harrison (Delavan Award for an FS OMS), Community Liaison Officer Alexei Trofim (Guess Award for a CLO) and Mary Beth Bechtel (Bohlen Award for an FS family member). This year marks the establishment of a new award, the Mark Palmer Award for the Advancement of Democracy. FSO Andrew Young was selected for the first Palmer Award for his democracy-promo- tion work in Mali, where he is currently the deputy chief of mission, and earlier work on Capitol Hill and in Burma. Two awards that had been dormant were revived in 2015. USAID FSO Charlee Doomwas selected for the AFSA Post Representative of the Year Award for her work at Embassy Nairobi. Longtime AFSA Treasurer Ambassador (ret.) Andrew Winter received the Award for Lifetime Contributions to AFSA. This month also marks the 35th anniversary of the passage of the Foreign Service Act of 1980. The act aimed to fur- ther unify and professionalize the Foreign Service, and discussion of and questions about its implementation—or undermin- ing—are ongoing today. In 1982, one year after the act became law, the FSJ asked for an assessment on how implementation was going—from Congress, State management and the AFSA Governing Board. Those responses offer three different relevant perspec- tives. We share them in this issue, with an introduction from former FSO Harry Kopp. (Kopp is the author of the recently released AFSA history, The Voice of the Foreign Service. ) The 1980 act has been in force longer than either of its predecessors, the acts of 1924 and 1946. We hope a look back at the law’s original goals, and the early challenges of its implementation, might inform discussion today. In this month’s Speaking Out, FSO William Bent offers a critique of the State Department’s use of the 360-degree review and suggests adjustments. This month’s FS Know-How by Anna Sparks is a guide for spouses on going back to work. In her inaugural President’s Views col- umn, Ambassador Barbara Stephenson lays out her vision for the way ahead for AFSA, and describes the new Governing Board’s first act—taking an oath of ser- vice, pledging to represent the members of the U.S. Foreign Service in accordance with the Foreign Service Act of 1980 and to work to strengthen the Foreign Service. Members of the new Governing Board are welcomed and introduced in AFSA News. n eptember is the month when The Foreign Service Journal celebrates and honors those in the Foreign Service com- munity who make a difference—through constructive dissent, by standing up for what they believe is right, and through outstanding performance and lifetime contributions to diplomacy. First we turn to the 2015 recipient of the Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy Award, Ambassador William Harrop. In his interview with Associate Editor Maria Livingston, “A Lifetime of Public Service,” Amb. Harrop reflects on his Foreign Service career and raises concerns about the state of the Foreign Service today, calling for stronger invest- ment in professional development. Then we hear from this year’s dissent award recipients. The dissent awards are unique in the U.S. government and, at their best, give inspiration to others to not just go along to get along. In “Decon- structing Dissent,” Harriman dissent award recipient and first-tour officer Amelia Shaw offers a frank assessment of what dissent means to her in the Foreign Service context and shares a how-to on dissenting within the system. She urges her colleagues to speak up when some- thing just doesn’t seem right. Next, Rivkin dissent award recipi- ent Samuel Kotis describes his ulti- mately successful efforts to convince the U.S. mission in India to share and publicize