The Foreign Service Journal, December 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2019 19 They represent the high integrity, capability and professionalism of career State Department officers, and we are proud to stand with them. —Statement signed by more than 320 former FSOs, Civil Service employees and political appointees who served with USAID, Oct. 22. A Brief Tribute to Our Foreign Service I can’t tell you how many times, in and out of uniform, I’ve been thanked for my service. But there’s another group of Americans who also deserve the thanks of a grateful nation and of a grateful people: our Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) and the other career and professional employees of the United States Department of State. American influence in this world, regardless of the era, had been shaped in large measure by the diplomatic underpinnings of our foreign policy. … In the last several years things have gone badly for the Service and for the institution. Hiring is down, the budget is down, and morale is down. We have called upon one of the most professional cadres of women and men in the service of United States, our FSOs and Ambassadors, to discharge a chaotic, incoherent, and inward-looking foreign policy that has confused and frightened our allies, abetted the growing numbers of autocrats, and aided our enemies. … From this quiet community has emerged one hero after another who have searched themselves, who have replayed their oaths of office over and over again and are resigning and/or are now speaking up to defend their Service, to defend their Depart- ment, and to defend our precious Constitution. Enter Ambas- sador Marie Yovanovitch: an immigrant whose family fled both the Soviet Union and the Nazis, who as a child was called Masha by her family, and whose uncommon service to our Nation landed her as Ambassador to Ukraine (a difficult posting by any measure). … All Americans … and much of the rest of the world … should be deeply grateful for America’s Foreign Service and for the likes of Ambassadors Yovanovitch and [Ambassador Bill] Taylor, and thousands of others just like them who’ve served quietly, often- times thanklessly, sometime fatally … but always honorably … at the outer edge of American influence. As these officers come forward now to speak, they are indeed doing their duty and honoring their loyalty to their oaths and to the precious principles of the American Constitution. … So, three cheers for Masha and for our Foreign Service. And for the American people, the next time you thank an American in uni- form, take another second and thank God for our diplomats. —Brookings Institution President John R. Allen, Oct. 12. A Most Damaging Attack on Diplomacy In my three and a half decades as a U.S. Foreign Service officer, proudly serving five presidents and ten secretaries of state from both parties, I’ve never seen an attack on diplomacy as dam- aging, to both the State Department as an institution and our international influence, as the one now underway. … Ambassador Yovanovitch is not the first professional dip- lomat to find herself in political crosshairs in the history of the State Department. Trump is not the first demagogue to bully career personnel. And Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is not the first secretary of state derelict in his duty. But the damage from this assault—coming from within the executive branch itself, after nearly three years of unceasing diplomatic self-sabotage, and at a particularly fragile geopolitical moment—will likely prove to be even more severe to both diplomatic tradecraft and U.S. foreign policy. —Ambassador (ret.) William J. Burns, “The Demolition of U.S. Diplomacy,” Foreign Affairs , Oct. 14. AFSA: Call to Respect the Nonpartisan U.S. Foreign Service At this time of great stress and rancor in our national political life, the American Foreign Service Association calls on all Ameri- cans to honor and respect the non-partisan, non-political work of the dedicated public servants of the U.S. Foreign Service. Our members have taken an oath to the U.S. Constitution, and do their utmost to support the foreign policy of the United States under the leadership of the elected leaders of our democ- racy. We urge that their service, which at times is under the most serious hardship conditions and security risks, not be politi- cized, and that they not be dragged into partisan political battles. Our country needs and deserves a professional, non-partisan Foreign Service. Our members pledge their lives to service to their country and its interests. Any attack on their integrity and commitment to non-partisan service does a great disservice to them, to their families and to our country. —American Foreign Service Association press release, Sept. 26. n