The Foreign Service Journal, December 2009

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 27 partment’s capabilities to carry out these functions will be revitalized to support this effort.” Steps to Revitalize T There is little chance that ACDA will be re-estab- lished. Accordingly, here are some proposals that would help strengthen the State Department’s leadership on arms control issues. A similar and more extensive set of recommendations is contained in the report submit- ted by Amb. Norman Wulf to the Akaka hearing dis- cussed above. That report was prepared by former nonproliferation and arms control officials of ACDA and State. First , State should create an administrative structure that optimizes opportunities for career civil servants to achieve career advancement and to remain for longer pe- riods than a typical Foreign Service rotation. This implies a personnel system different from that optimized for For- eign Service officers. State should permanently staff this structure with in- dividuals possessing strong technical backgrounds in the natural sciences and engineering disciplines, lawyers spe- cializing in national security, and specialists in economics and international security policy. FSOs on assignment within this structure and detailees from the departments of Defense and Energy and the intelligence community should also be included. Although Civil Service employ- ees would not typically rotate between foreign and do- mestic assignments, they should help staff overseas arms control positions — for example, those at the U.S. Mis- sion to International Organizations in Vienna. Leadership below the political level would be concen- trated in the Civil Service. This would include ensuring that an appropriate number of Senior Executive Service positions, to which lower-ranking civil servants could as- pire, are maintained or created. Personnel of exceptional caliber should be recruited and sustained, regardless of whether negotiations are ac- tive or in a lull — just as the military services recruit, train and retain officers whether or not a war is being waged. Rotation of Foreign Service personnel works well abroad, in regional bureaus and in some functional ones. But this model is not ideal for ensuring the continuity necessary to address the history, breadth and complexity of arms control. A Civil Service path permits officers to acquire essential technical, scientific and diplomatic experience as they advance to higher levels. In the Foreign Service, work in functional bureaus dealing with arms control should be viewed positively by promotion boards. Accordingly, FSOs should not be as- signed to open positions in the T Bureaus simply because they are at the appropriate grade, but because they have the appropriate knowledge. This means creating a career path for FSOs that includes training followed by assign- ments to arms control positions in T and at posts abroad. Another important factor was highlighted in an article by former Secretary of State George Shultz in the spring 2009 issue of the Yale Divinity School magazine, Reflec- tions . Addressing the challenge of achieving a world free of nuclear weapons, Shultz observes: “Almost all the steps involved will require a major scientific and technical component. Foreign ministries, with all due respect to their great gifts of persuasion and intelligence, are sel- dom able to grapple on their own with these issues.” Citing technical issues in the nuclear fuel cycle related to proliferation, and in guarding against cheaters in going to zero nuclear weapons, he continues: “These questions highlight the importance of a combined diplomatic and scientific approach for scoping out alternative public poli- cies. … Countries must consider ways of promoting this kind of diplomatic/scientific cooperation.” The structure of the T Bureaus should ensure this combination of diplomacy and science. Full Funding and Staffing Second , the national security role of arms control is of sufficient importance that options should be fully vetted at the highest levels. Given the breadth of the Secretary of State’s responsibilities and demands on her/his time, the under secretary for arms control and international se- curity should be present at meetings with the president, as well as at meetings of the National Security Council and other senior policy groups dealing with arms control. As discussed above, there is precedent in the role of the ACDA director and that of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Defense Department. The importance of arms control would also warrant consideration by the State Depart- ment of elevating the under secretary position to that of a third deputy secretary, thereby enhancing the bureau- cratic clout given to the issues. Third , full staffing and funding are required for: • The current highest-priority START negotiations; • The delegation to the Conference on Disarmament (for the cutoff treaty negotiations and discussions of outer F O C U S