THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2024 15 are fascinating places, and the people who work there are bright, and committed, and interesting, and don’t get a lot of ink.” Coll said he tries “to keep diplomats alive in my stories, if I can find someone who is in an interesting place in an interesting time, but also to convey some understanding and respect about what the profession is—and what it isn’t.” Watch the full discussion at https:// bit.ly/ADST_Steve-Coll. Preserving Overseas Pay You said something about the overseas comparability pay authority. ... I completely agree with you. We need to continue this. If we let it lapse, State Department, the Foreign yervice oÒficerĝ, are ÓoinÓ to Òace Ĭē to a 22 ēercent cĬt. That will certainly hinder our ability to recruit and retain these professionals. … Another thing that presents a challenge for us in Africa is the diplomatic presence there on the continent. There are currently six U.S. missions … in Africa that do not have a yenateƪconfirmed am¶aĝĝadorƔ "ĝwatini, Leĝotho, Li¶Ła, Ualawi, Mauritania, and Sudan. —Representative Dina Titus (D-Nev.-1) to Under Secretary for Management John Bass in a Sept. 11 House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on Great Power Competition in Africa. Family Sacrifices And to all our nominees today, I want to thank you for your service to our country, and especially our Foreign Service career professionals, that you ĝacrifice a lot oÒ time awaŁ Òrom ŁoĬr ÒamilŁ and Òriendĝ reēreĝentinÓ oĬr Óreat nation overĝeaĝ. And ; reallŁ aēēreciate thoĝe ĝacrificeĝ that ŁoĬ and your families make. So, thank you very much for what you do for us. —Senator Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) in a Sept. 11 Senate Committee on Foreign Relations nominations hearing. Global Consequences You [nominees] have spent your careers serving our country. We have a strange way in America of fetishizing, in a disproportionate manner, wealth and celebrity. But the values that have made this nation as strong as it is are values of service, ĝacrifice, and hĬmilitŁ. he ìo¶ĝ that ŁoĬ all are here ¶eÒore Ĭĝ Òor, have enormous world-affecting consequences, and on the global scale of importance. I am humbled by the dedication you all have. ... And I would be wrong if I did not point out that you don’t do it alone. You all have in your introduction spoken of the families that support you, and they too are evidencing those great American valĬeĝ oÒ ĝervice, and ĝacrifice, and ïnowinÓ the coĬntrieĝ that ŁoĬ ĝerve. —Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in a Sept. 11 Senate Committee on Foreign Relations nominations hearing. Heard on the Hill JOSH could send a powerful moral message, akin to the global response to South Africa’s former racial apartheid system, which ultimately led to its classification as a crime by the International Criminal Court. For Afghan women, the codification of gender apartheid could offer hope in the face of their worsening plight under Taliban rule. Lessons from a Foreign Policy Journalist On Oct. 1, as part of its Distinguished Speaker Series, the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) invited journalist Steve Coll to give a talk, “From Ghost Wars to the Achilles Trap: Lessons from a Foreign Policy Journalist and Scholar.” Coll shared his thoughts on what went wrong in the lead-up to the Iraq War, the importance of oral histories, and the problems with relying on SIGINT— signals intelligence—in conducting research. He shared sometimes-amusing anecdotes about what was happening in Saddam Hussein’s inner circle and what the U.S. government got wrong in its analysis at the time. Coll told the crowd he used ADST’s oral histories to research his most recent book, The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq (also featured in “Of Related Interest,” page 40). Through researching this and other books, Coll became interested in diplomats and the embassies in which they work. “I think [embassies] are a neglected part of the way America lives in the world,” he said. “They Author Steve Coll at DACOR–Bacon House on Oct. 1, 2024. COURTESY OF ADST
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