THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2024 11 A “Creating Unity” Precept I was glad to read that AFSA remains engaged in discussion and negotiation of Foreign Service core precepts, as State VP Tina Wong stated in her AFSA News column in the April 2024 FSJ. Much has been made about the newest core precept for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the past few years. We have seen a strong focus in the State Department on recognizing that we all come from different backgrounds and that everyone needs to be included. DEIA committees were created in Washington and at many overseas posts. And, of course, every FSO now needs to find ways to showcase their efforts to support DEIA when bidding or drafting their annual evaluations (EERs). These are all steps in the right direction, but I believe we are missing the mark. Having a core precept that in large part is focused on diversity merely glorifies our differences. We should instead focus this precept on a skill—like creating unity—that will help us accomplish our mission. DEIA should be a subset of a newly named core precept: Creating Unity. We should establish a unified diplomatic corps where everyone feels needed and wanted. All the other five core precepts— Leadership, Interpersonal Skills, Communication, Management, and the combined Intellectual Skills and Substantive Knowledge—focus on skills we need as diplomats in the 21st century. Put bluntly, DEIA is not a skill. Learning how to create unity with foreign governments and cultures is, and it will better help us achieve our foreign policy and national security goals. While recognizing our diversity highlights our differences, creating unity with others will actually make a difference. DEIA should be a subset of a wider focus on a skill that will translate into success. To create unity, you need to recognize the diversity of a group, its varied backgrounds, experiences, and its value as the group moves toward a common goal. In fact, every aspect of DEIA is a precursor to creating unity in any organization or diplomatic relationship. Creating this kind of “unity” culture at State will reap great benefits in our work. The threats to our national security and to the world are only growing in number and complexity. The need for skilled diplomats to match these challenges has never been stronger. Diplomats focused on creating unity, not merely recognizing our differences, can help create longer-lasting, sensible solutions to these challenges that truly make the world a better place in which to live and thrive. Jessup Taylor FSO U.S. Embassy Bucharest Documenting Nonpartisanship Recent press reports about Republican congressional staffers investigating allegations that Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, sought to gain the support of a U.S. ambassador for a foreign investment project remind me of a similar situation 30 years ago and illustrate how much the Foreign Service’s strictly nonpartisan stance matters. I was serving in a G-7 country when the career U.S. ambassador asked me to sit in on a meeting with an American business executive and major donor to the political party in power. The businessman sought the ambassador’s support for a sensitive investment, and the ambassador gave a noncommittal reply. After the meeting, the ambassador twice reviewed my draft memorandum of conversation (memcon) and added more detail. Eight years later, a congressional staffer with the political party not in power telephoned me to discuss that meeting, asking whether the U.S. embassy had inappropriately intervened with the host government on behalf of a political donor. I insisted, truthfully, that “everything substantive that was said is in the memcon.” Finally, the disappointed staffer gave up. Wise ambassadors know that these sorts of efforts often attract later congressional interest, and they take appropriate action to prevent future problems. Because of the well-drafted memcon, that congressional inquiry was stopped in its tracks. Frederic Maerkle FSO, retired Vallabrix, France n Share your thoughts about this month’s issue. Submit letters to the editor: journal@afsa.org
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