The Foreign Service Journal, December 2010

D E C 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 17 With the passing of the Cold War and the brief, heady “unipolar moment,” we now have ample evidence that our most productive path in the 21st century is to retool our institutions and retrain our people to succeed in a world where new regional powers are ascendant and are work- ing with each other, and with many other nations, to shape outcomes multilaterally — and not always in line with our interests. For those who opt to try multilateral diplomacy for a tour or two, here’s the silver lining: it is often the most re- warding work one can do as a Foreign Service profes- sional. Ask anyone who has worked to sway votes on a high-profile resolution in a multilateral body. The Rubik’s Cube of national interests, bloc politics, rules, precedent and personalities creates a diplomatic degree of difficulty greater than the task of dealing bilaterally with represen- tatives of a host government, even one riven by divisions of religion, language or brittle coalition politics. To ad- vance an issue in a multilateral context, the emphasis you will place in your approach to a Central African envoy will differ from that to a Central American colleague, or a Southeast Asian. I’ve come to see the importance of raising our game in the multilateral system during my time in Vienna, serving as envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency and United Nations agencies here. Let me briefly describe the scope of our work and, through the example of our ef- forts over the last year to counter Iran’s nuclear challenge, illustrate both the stakes and the rewards of multilateral work. Then I will deliver my pitch to up-and-coming For- eign Service professionals to try multilateral work on for size. We need you, and you’ll like it. Technical Mastery in the Service of National Policy The United States Mission to International Organiza- tions in Vienna, which I head, works with the organizations of the U.N. system based in Vienna. There are about a half-dozen of them, and I certainly didn’t know them all when fate first tapped me for this job (pop quiz: what do IIASA and UNCITRAL do?). But the key issues we han- dle are related to nuclear nonproliferation, arms control, organized crime, corruption and trafficking in drugs, and international outer space. While UNVIE’s portfolios support some of the highest foreign policy priorities — notably, advancing President Barack Obama’s goal of achieving a world without nuclear weapons — the work can be quite technical, requiring of- ficers to become familiar with both policy and the science underlying it. Those working on the Wassenaar Arrange- ment on Export Controls for Dual-Use Goods and Tech- nologies, for instance, must get a grip on what distinguishes civilian commercial use of remotely piloted vehicles or laser microphones from their military applications. Why is that Russian or French diplomat objecting to the language proposed for listing a controlled item? If you don’t know the physics underlying the gizmo in question, who makes it and what it’s used for (or, better yet, have contacts in the interagency community with deep technical background who can tell you what you need to know), you can’t repre- sent Uncle Sam’s interests properly in a negotiation. Another example of this is U.S. participation in the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization. To be effective, U.S. representatives must understand the scientific principles underlying the network of the commission’s monitoring stations. How do the seismic stations work? What the heck is a “noble gas” and why is measuring its incidence in the atmosphere im- portant? Of course, our work entails extensive interaction with other U.S. government agencies, where there is a vast reservoir of expertise on these issues. In addition to col- laborating closely with most of the State Department’s functional bureaus, we work with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of De- fense, to shepherd U.S. space policy priorities; with the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administra- tion, to support efforts to combat organized crime, traf- ficking in persons and the illegal drug trade; and with the Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commis- sion, the National Labs and other agencies, to shape our nuclear policy. I had great respect for the Civil Service be- fore coming to this job, but now I know even better how indispensable are the knowledge and talents of our col- leagues who devote their careers to key subjects. Let’s zoom out for a second and look at the broader challenge posed to officers considering entering the world of multilateral work. The Bureau of International Organ- ization Affairs manages the State Department’s missions to the United Nations, providing the link between the nu- merous U.S. government offices that contribute to the multifaceted policies discussed there. From its primary organs in New York to its subsidiary bodies, like the U.N. Peacebuilding Commission; programs and funds such as F O C U S