The Foreign Service Journal, November 2010

Do the Department of State and its fellow foreign af- fairs agencies have clearly ar- ticulated professional ethics and a related code of profes- sional conduct for diplomacy and development? If so, are these standards conveyed to employees at all levels? And how can these guidelines be further developed and made an integral part of profes- sional education and training? Let me propose some definitions at the outset to frame this discussion. A professional is a member of a vocation founded on specialized educational training. (For traditionalists, Webster defines “professional” (adjective) as “characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a pro- fession.”) Professional ethics concerns the moral issues that arise from the special- ized, in-depth knowledge that members of a particular occupation attain and how the use of this knowledge should be governed when providing a public service. Codes of conduct are usually established by a cohort of members of a given field of endeavor to govern ethical behavior in that profession. In 1958 Congress passed a resolu- tion outlining a “Code of Ethics for U.S. Government Service.” It calls on all federal government employ- ees to put loyalty to moral principles and country above loyalty to person, party or de- partment, to uphold the Con- stitution, never to discrimin- ate unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges, never to make private promises of any kind binding on the duties of office, and never to use information coming confi- dentially in the performance of govern- mental duties as a means of private profit, among other provisions. (You can find the entire text at www.USgov info.about.com .) In addition, the U.S. armed forces have well-defined codes of conduct. As for the Foreign Service, the For- eign Affairs Manual addresses ethics and conduct in 3 FAM, the section on personnel policy. 3 FAM1332 says that it is “the policy of the [State] Depart- ment that our employees must treat each other as well as our external cus- tomers with proper respect and cour- tesy at all times.” 3 FAM1210 says that the personnel programs of the foreign affairs agencies shall be administered without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicapping condition, marital status, geographic or educational affili- ation, or political affiliation…” And 3 FAM 1216 is a short paragraph titled “Ethical Standards,” which says that “employees at all levels are expected to exhibit the highest standards of charac- ter, integrity and conduct…” (In addi- tion, many Foreign Service employees may have taken online “ethics” training, but this focuses on conveying general federal regulations.) These standards are a good start, but still far from a developed code such as many professional associations apply to ensure that their members understand their mission and the importance of conducting themselves ethically. An ef- fective code of conduct requires a range of stakeholders at all levels to take it se- riously and be involved in its formula- tion, after which the code should be disseminated broadly to convey what is valued by a particular organization. For elaboration, I suggest checking out www.humanresources.about.com, where you can read Google’s or Apple’s codes of conduct, among others. Lawyers, doctors and teachers have all established their professions as well- defined fields with certifiable standards of conduct and professional ethics and codes of conduct that are specific to each, though they share many common ethical principles. Is it not past time for diplomacy and development profes- sionals to do the same? I believe AFSA can and should play a role in facilitating this process, bring- ing together members from all agen- cies, all cones, all specializations and all levels. Please let me know what you think at President@afsa.org. ■ Susan R. Johnson is the president of the American Foreign Service Association. P RESIDENT ’ S V IEWS Professional Ethics and Codes of Conduct for Diplomats B Y S USAN R. J OHNSON N O V E M 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