The Foreign Service Journal, October 2010

Over the past year or so we have heard more and more talk about mid-level Foreign Service staffing gaps in the State Department and U.S. Agency for International De- velopment. The problem has been amply documented in Government Accountability Office re- ports, discussed in congressional hear- ings, and addressed in the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. These concerns are now reflected in language included inHouse and Senate authorization and appropriations bills, as well as in recommendations emerg- ing from the QDDR process. At the same time, we have seen bipartisan at- tention, spearheaded by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sec- retary of Defense Robert Gates, de- voted to the pressing need to strengthen our long-neglected foreign affairs agen- cies, and a new recognition of the im- portance of diplomacy and development as key tools of American foreign policy. How can we close the mid-level staffing gap in a way which promotes rather than undermines the long-term goal of building strong and effective civilian foreign affairs agencies? The Senate’s ForeignOperations Fiscal Year 2011 appropriations bill, S. 3676, re- ported out of committee at the end of July, includes language calling on the Secretary of State to implement a mid-career pilot program. Briefings on the QDDR process suggest that various options along those lines are already under con- sideration, including a lateral entry program, possibly supplemented bymore contractors. But is this the best or even a desirable approach? I would like to suggest a better course for the “pilot program” called for in the bill. It would give the Secretary of State the authority to: (1) bring back good retirees for three to five years; (2) use qualified Department of State civil servants more flexibly; and (3) make it easier for Foreign Service personnel to move fromone foreign affairs agency to another without harming their career prospects. This sort of pilot program could start us on the way to making the Depart- ment of State the institutional home of a “unified” United States Diplomatic Service. That said, this should be seen as a temporary expedient, one that should be leveraged to strengthen the institution and the professional career Foreign Service. Lateral entry would have the opposite impact. By under- mining morale and motivation among career Foreign Service members, and failing to address the “experience gap,” it would actually weaken the ability of the institution to deal with challenges and attract talent at the entry level. In the long term, the “agile and flex- ible” institution that the times demand, as Sec. Gates lays out in his May/June Foreign Affairs article, “Helping Others Defend Themselves: The Future of Se- curity Assistance,” requires offering in- centives to recruit the right people with the right set of expectations, education, talent and temperament to handle the challenges of today’s diplomacy. It also entails well-conceived profes- sional education and training, including exposure to environment, science, tech- nology and health issues (generally known as ESTH), counterterrorism, economics and finance, conflict resolu- tion and stabilization, multilateral diplo- macy and negotiations, program man- agement, budget, strategic planning and complex operations — in addition to traditional bilateral diplomacy. We must change current practices that keep people professionally narrow and one-dimensional, through the use of incentives which develop 3D (strate- gic, tactical and operational) thinkers who understand the interagency pro- cess and can tap into expertise on a case-by-case basis. We should also take a fresh look at the cone system. In short, it means developing, managing, recognizing and promoting talent and professionalism. I invite you to share your thoughts on this important issue at President@ afsa.org . ■ Susan R. Johnson is the president of the American Foreign Service Association. P RESIDENT ’ S V IEWS Address Mid-Level Gaps to Strengthen Our Institutions B Y S USAN R. J OHNSON O C T O B E R 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 5