The Foreign Service Journal, December 2014

12 DECEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL TALKING POINTS New DS High Threat Directorate Struggles to Gain Traction T he State Department’s O ce of the Inspector General has released its report on the Bureau of Diplomatic Secu- rity’s High reat Programs Directorate, the new unit established in the wake of the Benghazi attack investigations. In the September 2014 report, the OIG found that the two-year-old directorate “su ers from signi cant sta ng gaps and position shortages,” and that while it advocates for high-threat posts in the department, “it does not have the author- ity to cause peer bureaus to implement its recommendations.” e report was not all bad news, how- ever. e IG also found that the director- ate was successful in creating a culture of shared responsibility for security within the department. It had “forged strong partnerships with regional security o cers and counterparts in regional and functional bureaus.” e High reat Programs Directorate was established in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. facility in Benghazi, and is consistent with recom- mendations made by the Accountability Review Board assembled by then-Secre- tary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding that event. e directorate is responsible for 30 high-threat posts in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. e other 190 posts where embassies operate are still under the supervision of the Diplomatic Security Bureau’s International Program Directorate. “No formal mechanism exists for realigning sta responsibilities between the two directorates,” the OIG report found, and the fact that the department has not published the directorate’s For- eign A airs Man- ual chapter has led to confusion as to the two director- ates’ respective authorities. Overall, according to the Homeland Secu- rity Policy Institute at e George Washington Uni- versity, the report “paints a picture of an o ce whose leadership is doing the best that it can,” as it tries to address ongoing threats to U.S. missions overseas while “working within a large and often slow-moving bureaucracy.” e institute says it is “critical” that the high threat directorate gets the sup- port that it needs, “in terms of person- nel, authority and intra-departmental coordination.” e State Department is working on implementing the IG’s recommenda- tions. As spokesman Alec Gerlach told e Washington Post , “ is is a timely snap- shot of the progress being made, and we welcome and agree with the IG’s further recommendations for diplomatic security.” —Editorial Intern Trevor Smith and Associate Editor Debra Blome What Do You Need to Know About Ebola? T he 2014 Ebola epidemic is the largest since the deadly virus was identi ed in 1976 and is primarily a ecting a num- ber of countries in West Africa. Informa- tion, and misinformation, on the crisis and the virus can be found all over the Internet. We’ve compiled a directory of useful and credible resources to consult when looking for answers and guidance. State Department Alerts and Warn- ing. e Department of State issues trave l alerts at its travel.state.gov site, which, among other things, warn travelers of the potential implications for U.S. citizens of screening procedures, travel restrictions and reduced ights due to the outbreak of the disease. e site’s “Ebola Fact Sheet” o ers detailed information and updates. USAID: Fighting Ebola. In response to the Ebola outbreak, USAID has deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (known as DART) to West Africa to coordinate the U.S. government’s response to the outbreak. e agency’s “Fighting Ebola” web pages contain the latest news, fact sheets on care and infor- mation on ways you can help. e USAID Impact blog, “On the Front Lines of the Epidemic,” features stories and photo- graphs that highlight how the United States is mobilizing to ght Ebola. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . e Ebola pages on the C DC site aim to educate people on basic facts about the virus. It explains what to look for if you think you may have contracted Members of USAID’s Disaster Assistance Response Team Josh Kearns and Doug Ebert with one of the hygienists at Island Clinic in Liberia. USAID