10 NOVEMBER 2024 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL LETTERS Hope for Our Climate Thank you to the FSJ for September’s special section on the climate crisis and article, “How the U.S. Is Leading the Global Response.” While it is easy to despair in the face of floods, droughts, and wildfires around the world, the breadth and depth of action highlighted in the five articles and in the FSJ digital archive provide a strong basis for hope. Principal Deputy SPEC Sue Biniaz’s piece outlining the role of the U.S. in “conceptualizing and advancing the framework for global action” and building multilateral alliances provides evidence of the essential role of U.S. leadership in climate diplomacy. The articles highlighting the role U.S. technology and private sector engagement play in addressing climate issues demonstrate the benefits of a cross-sectoral, wholeof-government approach. And FAS Counselor Michael Conlon’s piece, “Fertilizer Diplomacy,” underscores the importance of addressing oft-neglected agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, as the U.S. is doing through the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils program. Of course, we’re still in the early stages of a multidecade journey. But FSJ’s highlighting what climate diplomacy can do is inspiring—and let’s hope it inspires continued U.S. commitment to this vital work. Ladd Connell FSO, retired Environment Director, Bank Information Center Washington, D.C. Introducing Tourists to Diplomacy The 100th anniversary of the Foreign Service is obviously an opportunity to celebrate our past but also an opportunity to provide for the future —by building on that past. One element of that past is the National Museum of American Diplomacy (NMAD) that is located on the 21st Street side of main State. NMAD is intended to become a tourist attraction, as the first and only museum in the United States devoted to telling the story of U.S. diplomacy and its diplomats. The museum’s location near two popular tourist sites—the Lincoln and Vietnam memorials—bodes well for its eventual success. The contents of the museum, however, may not show the high drama that the American public has become accustomed to seeing on TV and in movies, so the question becomes one of attracting tourists to the site. One possibility would be a daily show at the site that would attract the multitude of tourists who make the rounds between the capital’s many attractions. For instance, we could unashamedly copy the world-famous daily event at Buckingham Palace in London: changing the guard. The event could be structured as follows: Every day during the tourist season at a designated time, say 9 a.m., a detachment of U.S. Marines would assemble at the corner of Constitution and 21st Streets. In full dress and led by a color guard and a small military band, the Marines would parade up 21st to the front of the museum. There they would hold a formal flag raising and, perhaps, a small changing of the guard. (Two Marines having been installed in front of the museum doors in advance.) After a short ceremony (10 minutes?), the Marines would return up 21st Street, with the band playing the Marines’ Hymn. Consideration might be given to expanding the ceremony to conclude with a brief Taps ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and something appropriate at the Lincoln Memorial, thereby tying the State Department to two important tourist attractions in the district. Such an event could easily become popular with tourists, providing a dramatic beginning to each visitor’s day. Tour companies could schedule the event into their programmed tours. It would appeal to all ages and interests, lend glamour to the museum itself, and could easily become a popular film clip. The event should not be expensive or difficult to organize. The Marine Barracks in southeast Washington, D.C., exists to support ceremonial missions in the nation’s capital. The barracks is home to units appropriate to this proposed event, including the Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon, the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, the Marine Band, and the official Marine Corps Color Guard. The presence of the barracks only 20 or so minutes by car across the Mall makes it logistically easy and not very timeconsuming. The Marine Corps’ historic involvement with the State Department and our embassies makes the connection logical and enables the relatively unknown State Department and Foreign Service to benefit from its popularity with the American public. And the proposal may be attractive to the Marine Corps, a government institution known for its skill at public relations. Edward Marks Ambassador, retired Washington, D.C. n
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