The Foreign Service Journal, September 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2020 33 Besides the moral imperative, there are compelling reasons to have a Foreign Service that looks like America. Here are some suggestions for how to get there. BY PETER F. ROMERO Peter F. Romero, a retired FSO and former ambassador, is co-host/producer of the podcast “ American Diplomat. ” He adapted this article testimony he delivered to the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on June 17. The author can be reached at amdipstories.org; leave a message. I n these unprecedented times, we ask ourselves how we went from a beacon of freedom and justice in the world to the faintest glow of an ember. We wax nostal- gically about the glory days of U.S. diplomacy, when we were the “Indispensable Power,” and then sink into near despair about what we see today. We may think about how to get back to the kind of political con- sensus and unity of purpose that defined our policies for the 50 years following World War II. With so many daunting challenges, where do we even begin? A first step is to accept responsibility for where we now find ourselves. For a long time, we Americans have seen, but not read, the writing on the wall. Whole swaths of our fellow citizens have been systematically excluded and left behind. The perva- sive politics of victimization, zero-sum thinking and resentment complicates a comeback. As I see it, we have two choices. We can either recommit to our diversity and inclusiveness as a nation, the “American Idea”; or we can avert our eyes and hope that somehow the country will snap back to its senses. FOCUS ON ADDRESSING RACE, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION But whichever way this goes, let’s remember: We are a piece of every part of the world. Every foreign leader knows that multitudes of their brethren call the United States home. It is not only guns and dollars that brought us to past heights. It is the American Idea. A Stark Reality I was always delighted, when walking into the office of a new contact, that I was regularly mistaken for my Foreign Service National assistant and the FSN for me because of his fair com- plexion. This American Idea not only inspires but has provided me and others with the ability to walk into a foreign authori- tarian’s office and demand the release of unjustly imprisoned Americans or people tortured simply for exercising their rights. But after more than 40 years of efforts, when it comes to racial, ethnic and gender inclusion throughout the ranks of the Foreign Service, we, as part of the State Department, have not succeeded in making the Service representative of who we are as a nation. The reality is stark. The January GAO report paints a dismal picture, with thinning numbers of diversity officers starting at the mid ranks and just three Black and four Hispanic career chiefs of mission worldwide. In some cases (read Hispanics) the wheels have been thrown into reverse. There are now fewer Hispanic officers in the Foreign Service than when I entered in 1977. Bias, discrimination and a callousness toward staff continue to plague the State Department. This represents leadership shortcomings in supervisory ranks. Regrettably, the appoint- ment of Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, LivingUp to the AmericanIdea