The Foreign Service Journal, December 2012

22 DECEMBER 2012 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL designs. “Inman” projects included Sanaa (1986), Santiago (1987) and Lima (1996). But plans to build more than 75 new embassies were not realized because the department encountered difficulty acquiring suitable sites. With delay, the urgency dis- sipated. A year after terrorists destroyed U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in August 1998, however, Congress rallied to fund a multiyear $21-billion Capital Security Construction Program that supplied the means to build some 201 new embassies and consulates. Congress also enacted the Secure Embassy Con- struction and Counterterrorism Act that codified the 100-foot setback and a co-location requirement. Both these requirements contributed directly to the need for larger sites, which were often only attainable at remote locations. Gen. Charles Williams, a protégé of former Secretary of State Colin Powell, took the helm at OBO in 2001 and launched a vastly expanded building program. To control costs, save time and meet congressional expectations, he turned to design-build production and adopted a rigid standard model. His aim was to put the same structure, with minimal modification, in Ouga- dougou and Oslo. Dismissive of design, he also abolished the architectural advisory panel that had reviewed embassy plans since 1954 and relied instead on approval from construction industry experts. Critics Fault “Fortress Embassies” Pushback against the “fortress” embassy concept originated even before Williams embraced the Standard Embassy Design. Senator Daniel P. Moynihan, D-N.Y., a former U.S. ambassador to India, was among the first to call attention to the already growing tension between openness and security and the fear- some attitude expressed by heavily fortified embassies and other public buildings. Speaking at a symposium co-sponsored by the General Services Administration and State in 1999, Moynihan advocated the idea of “acceptable risk” for buildings meant to mirror American values. The April 1983 terrorist attack on Embassy Beirut, shown at right, and the bombing of U.S. Marine barracks there six months later prompted efforts to improve embassy security. Above, demonstrations at Embassy Tunis on Sept. 14, 2012, turned violent. Such protests put all U.S. facilities at risk. FrancoiseDeMulder,RogerViollet/Getty Images Fethi Belaid, AFP/Getty Images