The Foreign Service Journal, September 2017

24 SEPTEMBER 2017 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL The Indian Example India is particularly active in using the Indian Foreign Service Institute to engage foreign diplomats. New Delhi main- tains cooperation agreements with 59 countries. The institute, which has been preparing Indian diplomats since 1986, has trained approximately 1,500 foreign diplomats since 1992. While on the India desk, I worked with South Asia Area Studies Chair Dr. Kiran Pervez at our own FSI and the Embassy of India inWashington, D.C., to build connections and share best practices with India’s FSI. Even without a formal agree- ment, we were able to build some familiar- ity between the two institutions. We exchanged syllabi from courses such as A-100, the ambassadorial semi- nar and economic tradecraft. We learned, for example, that during their equivalent of A-100, Indian diplomats travel to army bases to experience military culture and are assigned a home state to stay in touch with during their careers. We arranged reciprocal visits by instructors and diplomats. Under Sec- retary of State Tom Shannon delivered a speech at India’s FSI to a graduating class of Indian diplomats. The head of the Indian FSI’s economics depart- ment visited us in Arlington, Va., while on a personal trip to the United States. He was impressed by the amount of economic theory taught to U.S. officers, and expressed an interest in digital video conference (DVC) lectures by U.S. instructors. The cooperation was helpful enough to the bilateral relationship to be publicized in the 2015 Strategic and Commercial Dialogue by Secretary of State John Kerry and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. After a year of coordinating these exchanges, I was invited by India’s FSI to join 30 other diplomats in its 61st Profes- sional Course for Foreign Diplomats. I was the first American in the course, as India traditionally invites participants from developing countries. It was an incredible opportunity to learn about the country and gain new perspectives on tradecraft and international relations. What FSI Can Do So what can the department do? To start, FSI could designate a point person to answer initial queries fromposts or bureaus about cooperation with foreign counterparts. At little cost, it can share syllabi and best practices with other dip- lomatic academies, including those from the Center for the Study of the Conduct of Diplomacy. FSI can also encourage introductory visits by foreign diplomats in Washington and officials fromoverseas. Foreign diplomats could join simula- tion exercises in person or by DVC, follow- ing the example of FSI’s Crisis Manage- ment division. FSI instructors can visit counterparts during international travel. Posts can engage host-country academies, offering to speak in courses or arrange DVC sessions with FSI instructors. Posts could use public diplomacy tools such as IVLP or Voluntary Visitor programs to help diplomats visit FSI. Eventually, the department might establish dedicated training programs at FSI. This will require dealing with funding, security and other concerns, of course. The primary mission of FSI is to train U.S. offi- cials, but Congress has already authorized State to train foreign diplomats in a 1994 amendment to the Foreign Service Act. In fact, FSI has run limited programs for diplomats from Iraq, Afghanistan and the former communist countries. FSI could send staff to foreign capitals for assessments or short courses, the way the military deploys trainers. Staff can also be detailed to counterpart academies, the way FSOs are posted to foreignministries as Trans-Atlantic Diplomatic Fellows. Although the current fiscal environ- ment is difficult, the FSI budget could accommodate such programs if they were a priority for the department. Regional bureaus and foreign governments could share some costs; the Egyptian govern- ment, for example, has sent several classes of new diplomats to visit FSI. Outreach to Diasporas A second area where FSI could domore is in engaging diasporas within the United States. As Americans who care deeply about foreign affairs and who are often active in engaging Congress, diasporas are dependable allies. They are also important bridges to their countries of origin. The department can empower them to expand trade and tourism, clarify U.S. consular and immigration rules, and improve opin- ion about the United States abroad. Historically, the department has been cautious about domestic outreach, wary of the Smith-Mundt Act, among other factors. I would argue that the department has paid a price for this in terms of missed opportunities to partner with other Ameri- cans and to raise its profile in Congress. The Office of Global Partnerships and regional bureaus have started to engage diasporas, and department officials occa- sionally travel domestically for meetings and speeches. But FSI could expand these efforts. I saw firsthand the benefits of diaspora engagement while in Hindi-language training. During our time in Washing- ton, the Hindi students and instructors engaged religious leaders and appeared on an Indian-American TV talk show via Skype. Our main outreach, however, was through an immersion trip to New Jersey and New York. These trips are primarily intended for language practice, but we