The Foreign Service Journal, October 2012

A USAID democracy and governance officer who recently served in Afghanistan says that the most discouraging ele- ment for him is “the creeping threat of greater centralization in USAID through the greater emphasis on policy and a flawed belief that more bodies in Critical Priority Countries [Afghani- stan, Pakistan and Iraq] will make us more effective.” USAID’s focus on the CPC is “leading us away from our true mission,” he believes. “Senior policymakers push this surge idea without thinking of what people can do and not trying to measure their value versus cost.” Overall, USAID officers are displeased by the inequities with their State colleagues, from lower entry salaries to unequal benefits. AFSA USAID Vice President Francisco Zamora con- firms that concerns about inequities are raised all the time by new hires. One inequity raised by a USAID FSO that could be easily fixed is that USAID has no “Flag Day” comparable to State’s. (That refers to the day assignments are given to a new THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2012 33 Vice Consul Marita Lamb and commissary staff at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Embassy Dhaka. Public Diplomacy Work Needs to Be Done at Home T here should be more opportunities to work at home—in the States—to be like a diplomat-in-resi- dence without having the seniority that is required. There is a lot of PD work to do in the USA. Ninety-nine percent of Americans have no idea that Foreign Service officers are the diplomatic corps. The vast majority do not know what the Foreign Service does. Education is critical if we hope to ever build support for diplomatic initiatives. Everyone knows the military, but do they know the military is used only when diplomacy has failed? Do they know what diplomacy is? We need to teach them. Why lose good officers if they need a break when they could be doing important work back home? —First-tour State FSO Bob Perls Alexious Butler