The Foreign Service Journal, October 2010

Another issue we debate among ourselves is the role of the Depart- ment of State. Jack Zetkulic is one of several who observe the military emerging as the key player. “In the past few years I’ve seen the decades- long process of the Defense Depart- ment’s accretion of diplomatic and development responsibilities grow faster than ever before. It’s sad, and not very smart.” Robert Jackson agrees: “Access to information from other sources has made embassy reporting less impor- tant in policymaking.” Stephen del Rosso suggests that, “Given the prolif- eration of nongovernmental players in the foreign policy world, there has been a relative diminution in both the perceived and actual role of the For- eign Service.” Others see the Depart- ment of State still playing the central role, especially in the field. We members of the 9th A-100 class are generally proud of our con- tribution to a Foreign Service that ad- vocates effectively for U.S. values, defends principles as well as policies, and develops the next generation of leaders. But in times of unprece- dented challenge and rapid transfor- mation, there remains plenty to do. As Janet Bogue notes: “The world is changing so fast that the department risks irrelevance because it is so slow and stubborn about change. Many people tend to think the Foreign Service is whatever it was when they entered it. I wonder what I and my generation might have done to make it more diverse, nimble, technologi- cally adept, and able to institutional- ize change.“ In fact, the Foreign Service has be- come more diverse, more effective and more operational in recent years — but the world we work in has changed even more dramatically. In our early years in the Foreign Service we were actors in history. Now we have the chance to influence out- comes more directly by helping to build the State Department’s institu- tions, by developing new technologies and techniques, and by training new officers to anticipate and meet the evolving challenges of the coming years. ■ 42 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 1 0 Some of us stayed in touch — through actual handwritten letters, imagine!