The Foreign Service Journal, December 2011

J O U R N A L OREIGN ERVICE S F P RESIDENT ’ S V IEWS / 5 Strategic Planning, Part II By Susan R. Johnson S PEAKING O UT / 13 FS Blogging: An Opportunity, Not a Threat By Matt Keene R EFLECTIONS / 112 Too Far Away from Everything By C. Robert Dickerman L ETTERS / 7 C YBERNOTES / 9 M ARKETPLACE / 10 I NDEX TO A DVERTISERS / 110 Cover illustration by Jeff Lau 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 3 C ONTENTS December 2011 Volume 88, No. 12 I N T E R V I E W C HARTING A P ATH THROUGH G LOBAL C HANGE : A N I NTERVIEW WITH P RESIDENT G EORGE H.W. B USH / 17 F O C U S O N T h e B r e a k u p o f t h e S o v i e t U n i o n E DITOR ’ S I NTRODUCTION / 21 By Shawn Dorman C OLD W AR L ESSONS / 23 The Reagan administration’s strategy of diplomacy backed by strength holds lessons for today. By George P. Shultz E MBASSY M OSCOW : O N THE F RONT L INES OF H ISTORY / 27 As the Soviet empire self-destructed, an intrepid Foreign Service team played a vital role in informing U.S. policy. By Jack F. Matlock Jr. T HE V IEW FROM THE T RENCHES / 34 Service in Moscow was a heady experience that is the stuff of every diplomat’s dreams. By Thomas Graham I N THE E YE OF THE S TORM : T EAM S OV / 39 At a critical moment, a generation of experienced Soviet hands came together at Embassy Moscow. By James Schumaker C ULTURAL D IPLOMACY IN THE C OLD W AR / 42 Three decades of U.S.-Soviet cultural exchanges helped pave the way for the end of the Cold War. By Yale Richmond P ICKING U P THE P IECES / 46 With the crumbling of the Soviet empire, the demand for economic reporting and commercial diplomacy in the NIS soared. By Michael A. Lally