The Foreign Service Journal, December 2012

14 DECEMBER 2012 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL TALKING POINTS Meet the Foreign Service Through FS Blogs E very so often, we are reminded of just how little most Americans know about the Foreign Service and its work. The evident public shock and surprise following the tragic Sept. 11 Benghazi attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods was such a moment. While there has been much talk of blame and questions about security in the media and political storm that followed, more Americans now know that the Foreign Service is at work in challenging, sometimes dangerous locales around the world. As part of AFSA’s mission to raise awareness of the Foreign Service within the United States, we’ve expanded our Foreign Service Blogs Web page t o include nearly 200 blogs by members of the FS community, who use them to share personal stories, perspectives and photos from their posts around the world. These blogs offer a unique window into Foreign Service life for students, candidates and the general public. They also highlight the creative talent within the Foreign Service community and keep followers up to date on the whereabouts and activities of their friends and colleagues. Almost all of the blogs are unof- ficial and personal, and do not represent the views of AFSA or the U.S. government. The Journal ’s effort to track and highlight this resource began with our March 2008 articl e, “Welcome to the FS Blogosphere,” by editorial intern Marc Nielsen. He included helpful information on starting a blog, some of which is still quite relevant today. A follow-up piece by intern Mark Hay in the November 2009 issue not only offered a new snapshot of the increasing variety of such sites, but offered readers more information on how to set up their own. Editorial Intern Danielle Derbes’ June 2011 article , “The FS Blogosphere in 2011,” marked the debut of AFSA’s online list of Foreign Service Blogs . Updated regularly, the FS Blogs page has become one of the most popular destinations on AFSA’s Web site, averaging between 4,000 and 6,000 visits a month. In addition to facilitating the process of finding these blogs, we also plan to add a new section of related foreign affairs blogs. AFSA’s blogs page got a boost in late September when the State Department’s high-traffic careers site (www.careers. state.gov ) ad ded a link to it from State’s Forums page, which all Foreign Service candidates must visit to sign up for the exams. State’s site already gives the public a vehicle for interacting directly with Foreign Service personnel and getting firsthand answers to questions about SITE OF THE MONTH : The Iran Project W e reported in March that retired ambassadorsWilliam H. Luers and Thomas R. Pickering have been promot- ing direct dialogue betweenWashington and Tehran. Toward that end, the two are among the founders of The Iran Project, an initiative to encourage direct discussions betweenWash- ington and Tehran. Founded in 2002, the Iran Project became an independent nongovernmental entity in 2009. Since then, the organization has concentrated on presenting various strategies for con- taining Tehran’s nuclear program and engaging the regime in dialogue on regional issues. Its latest effort in that campaign, “Weighing the Benefits and Costs of Military Action Against Iran,”was co-signed by 35 regional experts and former senior U.S. government officials, including many retired career ambassadors. As the study’s executive summary states, the paper deliberately draws no conclusions and offers no recommen- dations. But it does aspire to provide “an objective descrip- tion of some of the prerequisites for thinking about the use of military action against Iran,”while remaining consistent with current U.S. policy: “maintaining pressure on Iran while holding open the possibility of reaching a political solution, without ruling out the use of military force.” —Steven Alan Honley, Editor