The Foreign Service Journal, December 2011

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 11 good governance inAfrica—comment- ed: “It is wonderful to see an African leader who has served his country from the time of colonial rule through to multiparty democracy, all the time re- taining the interests of his people as his guiding principle. The fact that Cape Verde, with few natural resources, can become a middle-income country is an example not just to the continent but to the world.” Diplomatically, Ibrahim refrained from noting that his foundation has de- cided not to award the prize for the past two years because so many African leaders have refused to leave office after losing elections, tried to alter con- stitutions to ensure their continued tenure, or gone back on pledges not to run for re-election. By contrast, President Pires serv- ed two terms, 10 years, and then stepped down in September. During that period, the foundation notes, Cape Verde became the second African na- tion to move up from the United Na- tions’ “least developed” category. Mr. Ibrahim also publishes an an- nual index scoring African countries on how well they govern. This year’s as- sessment, the fifth, is widely considered one of the continent’s leading tools for citizens, public authorities and partners to assess progress in governance. It compiles 86 indicators that are grouped into 14 subcategories and four overarching categories to measure the effective delivery of public goods and services to African citizens. The index brings together more than 40,000 raw data points drawn from 23 providers. — Steven Alan Honley, Editor Calling All Moscow Veterans! All individuals who served at Em- bassy Moscow, Consulate General Leningrad or Consulate General Kyiv during the Soviet period, as well as members of their families and other members of the American community in the USSR (e.g., journalists and ex- change scholars), are invited to share memories and impressions on theWeb site www.moscowveteran.org . The site is still under development as we go to press and needs volunteers to act as authors and moderators to document the history of U.S. missions in the Soviet Union. There will also be forums to discuss recent developments there. — Steven Alan Honley, Editor United Nations, United Support At a time when fierce partisanship dominates the headlines and funding for many foreign assistance projects and organizations is in jeopardy, a group of 30 eminent U.S. foreign policy and national security leaders from both political parties have joined forces to declare that the work of the United Na- tions provides real national security benefits to the United States. C Y B E R N O T E S 50 Years Ago... T hose of you who work for the State Department may frequently feel relatively unappreciated. I must say presidents sometimes have that feeling also. — President John F. Kennedy, speaking to staff at Embassy Ottawa; FSJ , December 1961.