The Foreign Service Journal, September 2016

32 SEPTEMBER 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL matic Readiness Initiative was extremely successful, increasing FS ranks by more than 40 percent after years of shortages. What was it like being Director General at that time, essentially in charge of the biggest hiring surge in decades? RAD: It was a very exciting time. The era of resource depriva- tion was replaced by a new set of challenges related to hiring, training and assigning the new recruits. We completely re- engineered the FSO hiring process, reducing the time to hire frommore than two years to less than one. It required intense coordination with Diplomatic Security and MED to speed up clearances, with FSI to provide orientation and training, and with the offices of Career Development and Assignments and Resource Management to ensure that adequate assignments and positions were available for the people we hired. We finally had sufficient personnel to create a training float, and from a human resource standpoint the picture was very positive. FSJ: Right after you became Director General, the events of 9/11 occurred. Can you describe what significant changes resulted in the aftermath of the attack, and the impact the “war on terrorism” has had on diplomacy? RAD: With the war on terrorism, the world has become much more unsettled, placing more demands for professional, smart diplomacy and requiring diplomats capable of dealing with com- plex, tumultuous, rapidly changing circumstances. The international challenges today are much more varied and seemingly more intense than when I joined the Foreign Service at the end of the 1960s. International terrorism, nuclear prolifera- tion, cybersecurity, regional conflicts and public health crises are among the issues that diplomats grapple with on a daily basis. The challenge for the State Department is to recruit, train and assign the right people to carry out the changing demands of today’s diplomacy. FSJ: What is the legacy of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on the Foreign Service and diplomacy? RAD: Regretfully, most of the increased hiring during the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative was absorbed by the demand for personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq. The State Department now faces increased demand to staff hardship posts and those that qualify for danger pay. State has created a wide range of measures and incentives to encourage officers to bid on these difficult assignments, with mixed results. The mere existence of this demand reinforces the need for a stronger State Department, better prepared to practice smart diplomacy. FSJ: How would you describe your level of optimism about the state of the Foreign Service today? RAD: There are numerous problems undermining the strength of today’s Foreign Service, but I am optimistic as long as orga- nizations such as the American Academy of Diplomacy, which recently produced the report “American Diplomacy at Risk,” and AFSA take an active role in supporting and working to improve the quality and professionalism of the Foreign Service. Diversity and Mentoring FSJ: You’ve done so much to help increase diversity in the Foreign Service. What is your response to those who say that after years of effort to diversify the Foreign Service, it still has “a diversity problem”? (An example is the May 22 Nick Kralev Foreign Policy magazine article, which cites State Department figures showing that 82 percent of career diplomats are white and 60 percent are male.) RAD: Section 101 (a) (4) of The Foreign Service Act of 1980 says that the Service should reflect the American population. Con- sequently, we must continue to strive to ensure that it becomes representative of the mosaic that is America. It has been my experience that unless there is clear and visible support from the highest levels of the department, very little effective action is taken to advance diversity interests. FSJ: What strategies do you recommend for increasing diver- sity in the Foreign Service both in recruitment and retention and promotion? RAD: Among the strategies I recommend are the following: ■The State Department should continue its strong support for the Pickering, Rangel and Payne Fellowships. These are a critical source of diversity and are bringing really outstanding candidates into the Service. ■ In terms of recruitment, Diplomats in Residence should step up their efforts to identify minority candidates, referring them to “ We completely re-engineered the FSO hiring process, reducing the time to hire frommore than two years to less than one. ”