The Foreign Service Journal, October 2014

14 OCTOBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL It is a great privilege to be here with four other former secretaries of State. We have shared common experiences of the indispensable role of the United States in working for peace and progress in the world, the privilege of working with the Foreign Service—the most distinguished group of public servants that I know—and we also know that we will never do anything more challenging in our lives than to serve these objectives. … The essence of diplomacy is to build permanent relationships. It is essential to create confidence so that when the di‡cult issues come up and the close decisions have to be made, that it’s a basis on which the minds can meet. It is essential for diplomacy to deal with people before you need them, so that they have faith in what you’re saying when you do need them. —Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, speaking at the U.S. Diplomacy Center groundbreaking ceremony at the State Department on Sept. 3. Contemporary Quote of natural disasters,” USAID Administra- tor Rajiv Shah said. UNICEF, WFP, UNFPA, UNHCR, CARE USA, World Vision USA, Save the Children, Oxfam America and many other NGOs are currently operating in these four countries. ousands have been saved from death, and millions of individuals have been helped to get back on their feet. e U.S. government alone has sent more than $2.8 billion in assistance to these four countries; but there is still more to be done. With places like Gaza, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo also heading toward a Level 3 designation, humanitarian aid is needed now more than ever. — Trevor Smith, Editorial Intern USAID Caught in Cuba Policy Crossfire I n August, for the second time this year, USAID found itself the focus of controversy as a result of an Associated Press exposé of agency programs in Cuba between 2009 and 2012. ough the agency is merely a whipping boy in the larger ght over U.S. policy toward Cuba, the revelations have given some pause. AP reported on Aug. 4 that, begin- ning in 2009, young Latin Americans were secretly dispatched to Cuba under the cover of health and civil programs to organize political change as part of a USAID project. USAID contractor Creative Associates International hired nearly a dozen young people from Venezuela, Costa Rica and Peru for as little as $5.41 per hour to undertake the potentially dangerous operation. Working clandestinely, often posing as tourists, the visitors in one instance held an HIV-prevention workshop that project memos called “the perfect excuse” for advancing the mission: to recruit Cuban political activists. As in April, when AP spotlighted another USAID project—the non- declared creation of a “Cuban Twitter” network—the agency has defended the projects as part of its congressionally dictated mandate, stating that they are Take AFSA With You! Change your address online, visit us at www.afsa.org/address Or Send changes to: AFSAMembership Department 2101 E Street NW Washington, DC 20037 Moving?