The Foreign Service Journal, September 2022

20 SEPTEMBER 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL N amed after military slang for the simple black pen, Inkstick is a media outlet that aims for a pared down, jargon-free approach to foreign policy and national security coverage targeting a young and diverse audi- ence. The website includes reporting, commentary and essays on topics such as rebuilding U.S. credibility in the Middle East, NATO’s posture toward the Kurds, the roots of Sri Lanka’s current crisis and the growing need for international space law. Though Inkstick main- tains a staff of columnists and editors, many articles are submit- ted by international studies profes- sors and fellows at foreign affairs or national security think tanks. The outlet also hosts the podcast “Things That Go Boom,” which was featured as podcast of the month in the November 2020 FSJ . Site of the Month: https://InkstickMedia.com The appearance of a particular site or podcast is for information only and does not constitute an endorsement. Learning Agenda Launches I n an effort to institutionalize “evi- dence-based learning” in diplomacy, the State Department launched its Learn- ing Agenda on June 30. The virtual launch event was hosted by the Harvard Ken- nedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and featured a keynote address from Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland (ambassador, ret.). Although developing the agenda was mandatory—the Foundations for Evi- dence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 requires all federal agencies to develop a plan to gather evidence in support of policy—Director of the Office of Foreign Assistance Dafna Rand said in opening remarks at the event that “State has risen to the occasion.” Over the past two years, she said, more than 100 employees across almost every bureau met in groups to examine the department’s core objectives. The result, laid out in 40 pages, is a methodi- cal approach to answering eight ambi- tious questions over the next four years about how to increase the impact of U.S. foreign policy. U/S Nuland asked the audience, “How do you measure whether you’ve made a difference in diplomacy? Can we put more rigor into how we evaluate what we’ve done in the past so we can apply those lessons to the future? It’s key that we’re sure the investments we’re mak- ing in terms of people, time and money lead to better security outcomes for the American people.” A panel discussion followed, with the participation of Ambassador (ret.) Bar- bara Bodine, director and distinguished professor in the practice of diplomacy of the Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy; Dr. David Con- nolly, director of learning, evaluation and research at the U.S. Institute of Peace; and Eric Rosenbach, co-director of the Belfer Center and head of the Defending Digital Democracy projects at the Harvard Ken- nedy School. During the conversation, Amb. Bodine cautioned against overfocusing on data, which could lead diplomats to run short- term interventions rather than build long- term engagement. “Let’s not default to quantifiedmetrics that distort results and make us less intuitive, less relational, less wise going forward,” she added. Connolly raised the importance of cre- ating a system tomanage and share knowl- edge for the purpose of collective learning. “Organizations can’t learn; it’s people who learn,” he said. He believes bureaucracies need to share failure stories internally to close the gap between evidence-learning and decision-making. TSP Info Gone MIA A fter fielding complaints from a growing number of constituents, two members of Congress—Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) —sent a letter on July 25 to the Government Accountabil- ity Office requesting a comprehensive examination of the newThrift Savings Plan (TSP) online system. On June 1, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board launched a new systemwith the goal of modernizing TSP’s recordkeeping, improving customer ser- vice and bolstering cybersecurity. In a debacle giving many FS members payroll déjà vu, users have since reported problems ranging from inability to access their TSP accounts, incorrect account balances, missing or incomplete informa- tion in their accounts and hours-long wait times to reach customer service. As of December 2021, TSP had approx- imately 6.5 million participants and more than $838 billion in assets, making it the world’s largest defined contribution plan. This edition of Talking Points was compiled by Julia Wohlers. n