The Foreign Service Journal, December 2008

B y the time this column appears in print, AFSA will be busy briefing the president-elect’s transition team on a wide range of issues related to the U.S. Foreign Service and its pivotal role in managing our country’s foreign policy. We will, of course, want the new administration to understand the urgency of ending the neglect that the Foreign Service has suffered in recent years, which has left America’s relatively tiny professional diplomatic corps understaffed and lacking in the resources needed to address the growing challenges that our nation faces overseas. We will drive home to the new admin- istration the painful reality that many of our 260 embassies and consulates around the world have been stripped bare to sat- isfy the needs of our huge diplomatic missions in the two war zones. We will strive to sensitize our new bosses to the overseas pay gap and the critical importance of tak- ing care of the personal and family concerns of Foreign Service members who spend an increasing proportion of their careers in extremely difficult and dangerous, unac- companied posts. But there is a broader theme that wemust try to impress upon the new administration and the new Secretary of State: restoring the U.S. Foreign Service to its proper place in the stewardship of America’s international relations, enabling our diplomats once again to take the lead in nurturing the bilat- eral and multilateral relationships that our government maintains all over the world and in guiding the formulation of policies to deal with the complex problems beyond our borders. The past few years have witnessed a sad transformation in the perception of our professional career diplomats and in the way we are used by the elected leadership. We have seen a dramatic acceleration in the trend toward employing politi- cal-appointee ideologues tomake foreign policy inmost areas, without taking serious account of the opinions, recommen- dations andwarnings of the Foreign Service experts who spend the bulk of their careers living and working overseas. Most of ourmembers in recent years have felt as if they were treated not as thinking professionals whose input was valued, but as “foot soldiers” assigned the task of carrying out foreign policy decisions that were predetermined by the political lead- ership and dictated from the top by a small group of close con- fidants of the president. Relegating the Foreign Service to this limited, diminished function constitutes a departure from the long tradition of giving our pro- fessional diplomats a respected place in the foreign policymaking process. It has been harmful to U.S. national interests. The truth is that career diplomats acquire unparalleled exper- tise and insight by virtue of spending years living in foreign countries, speaking foreign languages, dealing on a daily basis with people fromall walks of life in foreign societies, and devot- ing their intellects to thinking about foreign policy. It is hard to overstate the value of having lived in several different coun- tries of the Arab world, Latin America, Africa, Europe or Asia in formulating sensible, workable U.S. policies for dealing with the issues of concern to us in these regions. As a Foreign Service professional assigned overseas, you quickly learn firsthand how foreign countries tick, how their people think, and what will and will not work there. Your policy rec- ommendations should be sought out and given the highest consideration by thosemak- ing final decisions about how the United States conducts itself abroad. But too often in recent years, the oppo- site has taken place. Sober, thoughtful advice fromdiplomats on the ground has been dis- regarded, the credibility of our people has been dismissed, and the focus of U.S. foreign policy has shifted to military action. Fortunately, just as we prepare to inau- gurate a newpresident, the winds of change are blowing. There has beenmuch public talk of the importance of diplomacy ─ of “soft power” ─ in helping to resolve problems and address crisis situations without immediate recourse tomilitarymeas- ures. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has been one of the most outspoken advocates of placing greater emphasis on the role that diplomats can and should play. U.S. Foreign Service professionals knowhow tomanage dif- ficult relationships with problem countries, to conduct tough multilateral negotiations, to find creative ways to resolve con- flict. We have experts on every region of the world and on every issue, including terrorism, nuclear proliferation, pover- ty, economic development, human rights, refugees, interna- tional migration, global climate change and theHIV/AIDS pan- demic. The career Foreign Service is a precious resource that the new president and the new Secretary of State can benefit from ─ if they are willing to listen to our advice. V.P. VOICE: STATE BY STEVE KASHKETT A Precious Resource DE C EMB E R 2 0 0 8 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 61 A F S A N E W S Career diplomats acquire unparalleled expertise and insight by virtue of spending years living in foreign countries.