The Foreign Service Journal, October 2009

O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 33 even senior ones, really do not know much about public diplo- macy, although many think they do. Fortunately, just as a PD-cone of- ficer does not need to know how to issue a visa or write a report on the local military or economy, a politi- cal or economic officer or a defense attaché does not need to know how to process a Fulbright grant. These are all separate functions, and the PD officer can seek collegial sup- port without being able to do their work. Whenever a non-PD–cone officer is assigned to the public diplomacy section of an embassy as a cultural af- fairs officer, however, his or her supervisor, the PAO, must devote time and effort to training and mentoring an individual who is not really interested in public diplo- macy work — or, worse, is unhappy with the assignment because it seems to be a sidetrack- ing of his or her career. Similarly, if a political-cone officer who has never done PD work is assigned as a PAO, his or her subordinates will be in the awkward position of hav- ing to teach the boss the basics of the job. What has been lost, then, be- cause of the merger, and because of the notion that “every FSOmust do PD,” are the professionalism and efficiency that came with the specialization of PD work. It is simply a mistake to as- sume that every Foreign Service employee needs to be interchangeable with every other one. The best PD of- ficers are those who have come up through the ranks, carrying out increasingly responsible assignments. To protect and nurture the profession, the State Depart- ment should recognize that fact and cease trying to make F O C U S In fact most non-PD officers, even senior ones, really do not know much about public diplomacy, although many think they do.