The Foreign Service Journal, October 2009

34 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 everyone a PD practitioner. What about the argument that senior officials, including ambassa- dors and DCMs, need to under- stand public diplomacy to do their jobs well, so they should have PD assignments during their careers? Certainly every senior diplomat should have a few skills that PD- cone officers have already devel- oped, such as how to deal with the press, but those can be learned in a specialized training course. And while it is not necessary for a senior diplo- mat to acquire all the other PD skills, such as how to manage a Fulbright program, he or she should appreci- ate the purpose of such programs so they can cooperate with the PD professionals to carry them out. For all these reasons, it is a mistake to insist on as- signing non-PD officers to most overseas public diplo- macy jobs. Just as many political and economic officers are given rotational assignments at their first embassy — for example, a stint as a consular officer at the entry level — non-PD officers should be assigned to public diplo- macy sections only at the lowest levels in larger embassies, where they can learn about the work but not have major responsibilities for doing it. In short, public diplomacy practitioners need to be recognized and appreciated for their unique expertise, best learned via multiple on-the- job training opportunities — just like consular, political or other functions. Young PD-cone officers should be encouraged to work their way up the ladder in increas- ingly responsible positions, where they will learn to do the job well. American diplomacy will benefit greatly once the State Department revises its personnel policies to take these essential facts into account. ■ F O C U S The under secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs has little actual authority over personnel and budgets.