The Foreign Service Journal, October 2014
THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2014 55 AFSA NEWS ance and the programmatic sides of assis- tance programs “one of the most powerful and disruptive tensions in the development field today.” He noted that some of the most transformative programs can be the hardest to measure, but warned that focus is being taken away from these programs in favor of more easily quantifiable eorts. Amb. Miller closed with encouraging words for those contemplating a career in government or international aairs. “[These problems] can be reversed,” he said. “To do so will take the eorts of your generation, preserving the focus of doing good that was the reason why so many of us came into this profession.” A question-and-answer session followed the address. The Adair Memorial Lecture program is part of AFSA’s national outreach to elevate the profile of diplo- macy and development. The series is endowed by the fam- ily of former AFSA President Marshall Adair through a perpetual gift to AFSA’s Fund for American Diplomacy, in memory of Charles Adair, a retired ambassador who spent 35 years in the Foreign Service, and Caroline Adair. AFSA partners with Amer- ican University’s School of International Studies and the School of Professional and Extended Studies to host the lecture at the start of each school year. To see the full recording of the Adair Lecture visit www. afsa.org/video. n – Debra Blome, Associate Editor ADA I R MEMOR I AL LECTURE : Exploring the Relationship Between Diplomacy and Development On Aug. 27, AFSA presented the Eighth Annual Caroline and Ambassador Charles Adair Memorial Lecture at American University’s School of International Service. Ambassador Thomas Miller spoke on “The Nexus Between Diplomacy and Development” to a packed hall at the Kay Spiritual Life Center on A.U.’s D.C. campus. During his 29-year Foreign Service career, Miller served as ambassador to Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as special coordina- tor for Cyprus with the rank of ambassador. He is now the president and CEO of the International Executive Ser- vice Corps, a nonprofit that furnishes business expertise to the developing world. Drawing on his experi- ence as both a diplomat and development professional, Amb. Miller explored the relationship between the two fields. He called for increased coordination, but cautioned the audience to understand the dierence between diplo- macy and development. “It is far too easy to launch into a criticism of either area without genuinely appreciating that we start from fundamentally dierent perspectives,” he said. He also criticized the tendency of administrations (from both parties) to “rein- vent the wheel.” Amb. Miller also dis- cussed the emergence of the “counter-bureaucracy,” which is responsible for oversight and compliance, calling the clash between the compli- Amb. Thomas Miller delivering the Eighth Annual Adair Lecture at American University. CHARLES ADA I R : A FORE I GN SERV I CE L I FE Ambassador Charles Adair, for whom the lecture series is named, joined the Foreign Service in 1940. He served as ambassador to Panama from 1965 to 1969 and as ambassador to Uruguay from 1969 to 1972. He also served in Mexico, India, Brazil, Belgium, France and Argentina. His son, retired Foreign Service ocer and former AFSA President Marshall Adair, notes that Amb. Adair did not have the typical background of a diplomat from that time. He was from a small town in Ohio—a place, Marshall Adair says, where most didn’t even know what the Foreign Service was, but “he made it his life.” The Foreign Service Act of 1946 was passed during Amb. Adair’s career, and he was a strong advocate for the profession- alization of the Foreign Service. “Having a lecture series that helps to tell about the Foreign Service and diplomacy is very appropriate,” says his son. Amb. Adair died in 2006. His wife of 49 years, Caroline Marshall Adair, died in 1996. AFSA/DEBRABLOME Caroline and Ambassador Charles Adair take part in a festival in Panama in the mid 1960s. COURTESYOFMARSHALLADAIR
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