$2.00 November 1984

The History of the Service The History of the Journal Lawrence Eagleburger on Success in the foreign Service Visions of the Future by: George Shultz • Gegrge Kennan • Alexander Haig • Walter Stoessel Leonard Marks • Charles Percy • Frank Carlucci • Jodie Lewinsohn Dante Fascell • Malcolm Toon • Peter McPherson • Donald Devine Charles Mathias • William P. Rogers • Ronald Spiers • Bruce Laingen Charles Whitehouse • David .Newsom • Edmund Musjsie • U. Alexis Johnson Richard Helms • Hans Tuch • Thomas Boyatt • Daniel Mica • Claiborne Pell Alfred Atherton • Theodore Elliot • Jacob Beam • Richard Fox Jim Leach • Stepher&bw • Kenneth Dam • Michgel Armacost Jonathan Dean • Seymour Finger • Evan Galbraith • William Bacchus CONGRATULATIONS to the American Foreign Service Association and to the Foreign Service Jour¬ nal on your Sixtieth Anni¬ versary.

OPEN SEASON IS UPON US. If you are not already enrolled in the Foreign Service Benefit Plan follow the good example of seventy-five percent of your colleagues and sign up for the only Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) Plan that is designed SPECIFICALLY and EXCLUSIVELY for Foreign Service Personnel and their families. We offer more than good protection at reasonable cost. We offer the personalized services of a professional staff that knows and cares about the Foreign Service. With us you are more than a social security number. Look for our Brochure in your Open Season packet or write to us or call us at (202) 393-4221 for further information.

All AFSPA members and prospective members are cordially invited to attend our ANNUAL MEETING: DATE: November 15, 1984 TIME: 12:00 Noon PLACE: East Auditorium-Room 2925 D Department of State

Send suggested agenda items to: AFSPA, 1750 Pennsylvania Ave., N. W., Suite 1305, Washington, D.C. 20006 World leader / World beater.

In just three short years Ford Escort has become the best-selling car in the world. (Based on worldwide production estimates 1983 calendar year.) Maybe it’s because Escort offers the traction of front-wheel drive, the smooth ride of four- wheel independent sus¬ pension, and a choice of beautifully functional body styles. Whether you choose Escort wagon with its 58.8 cubic feet of cargo hauling room or Escort GT with its 1.6 liters of High-Output horsepower, you’ll be driving a car that’s a world leader and a world beater. Discounts for the Diplomat. Ford Motor Company offers Special Diplomatic Discounts that apply to any Ford and Lincoln/ Mercury car or light tr-uck. Just clip the cou¬ pon below, and send it to us for more details.

DIRECT MARKET OPERATIONS

Please send me full information on using my diplomatic discount to purchase a new Write to: Diplomatic Sales, Ford Motor Company 815 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006 Tel: (202) 785-6047

NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE

COUNTRY ZIP CONTENTS

Constant and Changing 26 Barry Rubin Since the Rogers Act of 1924, the modern Foreign Ser¬ vice has undergone many difficulties and reforms.

Remaining Effective 32

This month the FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL cele¬ Notables from the past and present speak out on where brates its 60th anniversary, as does the modern the Foreign Service should go and how to get it there. Foreign Service — established by the Rogers Act of 1924 — and the American Foreign Service Asso¬ ciation. Based on a theme of "Past & Future." we present articles on the history of the Service and of The Politics of Guts 41 the JOURNAL, then an interview with Lawrence Eagleburger on the changing meaning of success in An Interview with Laurence Eagleburger the Service, and finally a compendium of views on the future by three dozen notables in foreign af¬ The recently retired under secretary for political affairs fairs. discusses the changing nature of success in the Service.

A Foreign Service Filament 46 Smith Simpson

The JOURNAL has been both a forum and a link for the Service, but its mission has often been ambiguous.

Association Views 3 Clippings 22 Letters 4 10-25-50 24 Books: Essay 8 People 53 Books: Reviews 16 Association News 58 Editor: STEPHEN R. DUJACK Associate Editor: FRANCES G. BURWELL Editorial Assistant: NANCY L. BARTELS

Editorial Board

Chairman: JOHN D. STEMPEL Vice Chairman: W. HAVEN NORTH Members: GILBERT DONAHUE “The Independent Voice of the Foreign Service" STEPHEN E. EISENBRAUN GEORGE GEDDA THERESA CHIN JONES The FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL is the magazine for and at additional post office. POSTMASTER: Send ad¬ CAROLINE MEIRS OSTERLING professionals in foreign affairs, published monthly dress changes to FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL, 2101 E TAIRA ST. JOHN except August by the American Foreign Service As¬ Street NW, Washington, D.C. 2003*7. LANGE SCHERMERHORN sociation, a private non-profit organization. Material Microfilm copies: University Microfilm Library Services. Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 (October A. STEPHEN TELKJNS appearing herein represents the opinions of the writ¬ ers and does not necessarily represent the official 1967 to present). views of the foreign affairs agencies, the U.S. govern¬ The JOURNAL welcomes manuscripts of 1500- Advertising Representatives ment, or AFSA. The Editorial Board is responsible 4000 words for consideration by the Editorial Board. for general content, but statements concerning the Author queries are strongly urged, stamped envelope JAMES C. SASMOR ASSOCIATES policy and administration of AFSA as employee rep¬ required for return. All authors are paid on publica¬ 521 Fifth Ave., Suite 1700 resentative under the Foreign Service Act of 1980 in tion. New York, N.Y. 10017. the ASSOCIATION NEWS and the ASSOCIATION VIEWS, (212) 683-3421 and all communications relating to rhfige., are the © American Foreign .Service Association, 1984. responsibility of the AFSA Governing Board. 2101 E Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20037. JOSHUA B. POWERS, LTD. JOURNAL subscriptions: One year (11 issues), S15. Phone (202) 338-4045. 46 Keyes House, Dolphin Square, Overseas subscriptions (except Canada), add S3 per London SW1. 01-834-8023/9. year. November 1984. Volume 61, number 10. I nternational Representatives Second-class postage paid at Washington, D.C., ISSN 0015-7279. ASSOCIATION VIEWS

AMERICAN FOREIGN Guiding our Destiny SERVICE ASSOCIATION Governing Board

President: DENNIS K. HAYS Vice President: ANTHF.A S. OF ROUVIEEF Second Vice President: CHARLOTTE CROMER ^^^^rganizations, like people and nations, must grow and adapt if Secretary': IRVING A. WILLIAMSON they are to survive and prosper. In the past, the stofy of the modern Treasurer: JOANN JENKINS AID Representatives: ROY A. HARRELL foreign Service and AFSA has largely been one of how well we have JUANITA L. NOFFLET been able to accomplish this. In the future, we can expect that the State Representatives: JAMES A. DERRICK pressures on us to redefine our mission will accelerate as technology THOMAS J. MILLER JAMES SPAIN and politics change the practice of diplomacy. JAMES WILLIAMSON This brings us to the choice which always faces us—adapt or be left USIA Representative: RICHARD ARNDT Retired Representatives: WILLIAM CALDERHF.AD behind. If you believe, as we do, that the professional Foreign Service ROGER PROVENCHER is something worth fighting for, then you will be concerned by the JOHN THOMAS vast array of challenges facing us—challenges to our ability to protect ourselves, to do our jobs effectively, to provide for our families, and Staff Executive Director: LYNNE IGIJTZIN to ensure an equitable retirement. If we as a Service refuse to meet General Counsel: SUSAN Z. HOLIK these challenges, then the Foreign Service will become an anachro¬ Members' Interest & nism long before another 60 years pass. Grievance Counselor: SABINE SISK Members' Interest & The time has come for all of us to join in a common enterprise—to Grievance Representative: BARBARA WILSON preserve, strengthen, and improve the diplomatic career. In the Comptroller: ALICIA BREHM pages of this magazine and through RHDTOPS and cables, we at AFSA Membership Coordinator: LEE MIDTHUN Admin. Assistant: WANDA DYKHUIS try to inform the Service of important developments on the horizon. Legal Assistant: GREGORY A. LEWIS We do so not to alarm but to mobilize. The record is clear—when¬ Executive Secretary: DF.METRA PAPASTRAT ever we in the Service have taken charge of our own future, we have Secretary: SUPAJF.E LAPCHAROEN succeeded in guiding change into directions that strengthened the Congressional Liaison Foreign Service. But on those occasions when we abdicated our ROBERT M. BEERS responsibility, we ended up meekly and bitterly accepting whatever Scholarship Programs came our way. DAWN CUTHELL Our task, though formidable, is relatively simple. We must dem¬ Face-to-Face Program onstrate our ability to do our job and make sure that the unique needs RONALD A. DWIGHT and requirements of the Service are recognized—in the White The American Foreign Service Association, founded in 1924. is the professional association of the Foreign House, by the Congress, and by the public. We must put our case Service and the official employee representative of all forward in a strong, clear voice; a voice that comes not just from a few Foreign Service employees in the Department of State and the Agency for International Development under of us, but from all of us. The challenges we will face over the next few the terms of the Foreign Service Act of 1980. Active decades are too important to be left to the few to decide; we must all membership in AFSA is open to all current or retired professionals in foreign affairs overseas or in the United play a part in determining the Service’s destiny. States. Associate membership is open to persons hav¬ This nation generally recognizes what is in its best interest, and for ing an active interest in or close association with for¬ eign affairs who are not employees or retirees of the that reason we look with hope toward the future of the Service. But a foreign affairs agencies. Annual dues: Active Mem¬ healthy and confident Service is not a favor that will simply be bers—$52-117; Retired Active Members—$40 for members with incomes over $20,000, $25 for under; granted by a grateful citizenry; it is an achievement that can only be Associate Members—$35. All dues include $7.50 al¬ obtained through diligence and perseverance. If history teaches us location for JOURNAI and ASSOCIATION NEWS sub¬ scription under AFSA Bylaws. All AFSA members arc- anything, it is that we will have the future we deserve. members of the Foreign Service Club, owned and op¬ erated by AFSA.

AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION 2101 E Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20037 DENNIS K. HAYS Membership inquiries, comptroller, scholarship programs, insurance programs. President JOURNAL offices: (202) 338-4045 Governing Board, general counsel, labor-management relations: (202) 632-8160 members' interests, grievances: (202) 632-2548 Foreign Service Club: (202) 338-5730 Finding the RIGHT HOME at the LETTERS RIGHT PRICE in the RIGHT PLACE and obtaining the Constructive Criticism RIGHT FINANCING EDWARD J. RANKIN FSO - RETIRED The evil of apartheid is not primarily the political and economic subservience it fos¬ ters but, as Steve Biko so eloquently de¬ scribed, the psychological and spiritual is what the real estate business is all about. harm it does to all parties affected by it. It is so easy, from our positions of comfort and distance, to prescribe patience to those who are oppressed, demanding Gandhian My associates and I will provide the personal, professional non-violence from a land which Gandhi service you need in purchasing or selling your home in the himself abandoned. The policy of “con¬ Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. structive engagement” as outlined by Chester Crocker in the February issue of the JOURNAL is extremely ethnocentric and is well deserving of the criticism Paul SHANNON & LUCHS Tsongas expressed. THE FULL SERVICE REALTORS® Steve Biko, an eloquent and qualified Shannon & Luchs has its own Mortage Company, Closing and spokesman for the aspirations of the black majority of South Africa until he was mur¬ Escrow Division, and Property Management Offices. dered by the Pretoria regime, outlined three steps that the U.S. could take to —-—, "Nice People To Do Business With" , show the sincerity of its professed solidar¬ ity with the struggle of Azanian blacks SHANNON-&• LUCHS (Azania is the true name of South Africa): 1 REALTORS* • Established 1906 1 ...the U.S. can and must influence the po¬ litical direction within South Africa—If the Carter administration means business in its human rights policy, it should put pres¬ sure on Pretoria to guarantee freedom of the Please send information on purchasing a home in: press for blacks and freedom of movement □ Virginia □ Maryland □ D.C. for blacks In the second place, Washing¬ ton can exert such economic pressures on Please send information on: selling my home □ South Africa that it will become consider¬ renting my home □ ably less profitable to invest in South Afri¬ can industries Thirdly, in the diplomatic arena it would be a tremendous psychologi¬ Name cal boost for the blacks in this country if the Address U.S. downgraded its diplomatic presence in City Pretoria State Zip Phone Regarding the subject of divestment from Present Post South Africa, Biko had this to say: Arriving Washington (approx, date) The argument is often made that loss of foreign investment would hurt blacks most. It would undoubtedly hurt blacks in the short run, because many of them would SHANNON & LUCHS stand to lose their jobs, but it should be 313 W. Maple Avenue understood in Europe and North America Vienna, VA 22180 that foreign investment supports the pre¬ sent economic system and thus indirectly Attn: Ed Rankin the present system of political injustice. Bus. (703) 938-6070 Res. (703) 845-0431 South Africa is the last bastion of Nazi

4 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL

philosophy on this planet. There is no oth¬ er country on earth in which citizens are denied the rights guaranteed by the Unit¬ ed Nations Universal Declaration of Hu¬ man Rights solely on the basis of their race. By allying ourselves with the govern¬ What do ment that perpetuates this injustice, as “constructive engagement” certainly does, we bring down upon ourselves the oppro¬ brium deserved by the vilest of racists. Ike, JFK This is not in the interest of the United States.

LEE ELBINGER Foreign Service officer & Nixon Muscat, Sultanate of Oman Vietnam Survey

A research study is being conducted at Cleveland State University on women who have in served in Southeast Asia in any capacity (i.e., officers, nurses, administrators, etc.) during the Vietnam War. This is an exten¬ sion of research and information that has common? been collected by others since the early 1980s. By means of a questionnaire, I want to learn more about your experiences in Southeast Asia and how you feel they They were moved by have influenced your life today. This could lead to possible networking for these wom¬ en veterans. In order for this study to be representative of the many women who FIDELITY STORAGE served in Southeast Asia during this peri¬ od, your help is needed. A prompt re¬ From presidents to outside of the Beltway, with sponse to my inquiry would be greatly ap¬ preciated and all replies will be held in super-secure vault storage for plenipotentiaries, strict confidence. Washingtonians choose Fidelity your silver and other valuables. Storage, the company with We are the only State MARGARET A. GIGOWSKI more than 75 years of Department contractor with Department of Psychology experience. Fidelity is one of both a quality control program Stilwell Hail the area’s largest moving and and fulltime inspector to Cleveland State University storage companies, with six ensure the highest standards. I960 E. 24th Street locations throughout the metro Cleveland, Ohio 44115 area—from the District to We have moved Patton, Virginia to Maryland. MacADhur and Doolittle. Subscription Rates From generals to general Fidelity’s warehouses are the Because of its recent increase in size, the largest and most advanced service officers, join a moving JOURNAL has raised its outside subscription containerized facilities inside or crowd. rates. The following rates now apply to all new subscriptions and renewals:

One-year (individuals and institutions) —$15.00 One-year (overseas, not FPO addresses) —$18.00 Single issue —$2.00

Members may purchase holiday gift subscrip¬ tions for $12 for one year (add $3 for overseas subscriptions). Checks should be made out to Inbound or Outbound, Storage or Air Freight, call Fidelity Storage AFSA and mailed to 2101 E Street N.W., (703) 971-5300 • PO Box 10257, Alexandria, Va. 22310 Washington, D.C. 20037. Offer good until December 15, 1984.

6 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AUTHORIZED EXPORTER GENERAL ELECTRIC Power Line Monitors

-U.S.A.- Sola Power Line Monitors Pinpoint Power Problems, Identify Causes, GENERAL ELECTRONICS INC. Specify Solutions

REFRIGERATORS • FREEZERS Selection of the most appropriate Sola Power Conditioner RANGES • MICROWAVE OVENS for each installation is dependent upon line voltage AIR CONDITIONERS • DRYERS conditions, type of equipment to be regulated and the WASHERS • SMALL APPLIANCES AUDIO EQUIPMENT • TELEVISION degree of protection necessary for smooth efficient DISHWASHERS • TRANSFORMERS operation.

Available for All Electric Sola Power Line Monitors help simplify selection by Currents/Cycles identifying dangerous or disruptive power line Immediate Shipping/Mailing disturbances that can cause sensitive electronic From our Local Warehouse equipment to malfunction, lose memory or even crash. The monitor pinpoints one or more power problems. After the We Can Also Furnish audible alert sounds, turn the monitor over to read the Replacement Parts for Most Manufactures probable causes and suggested solutions for the indicated problem. SHOWROOM General Electronics, Inc. The Sola Power Line Monitors can be used to examine 4513 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. potential sites for electronic equipment or to monitor power Washington, D.C. 20016 Tel. (202) 362-8300 already being fed to mini-computers, P.O.S. terminals, TWX 710-822-9450 medical and test equipment, word processors, or GENELECINC WSH communications systems. The unit is completely portable, simply plug into any standard power outlet. Choose either the Standard non-printer that indicates power failures, low line voltage, high line voltage, voltage spikes, voltage to TJ <5 o drops and high frequency noise with an L.E.D. or one of the |i printing models that also provides a permanent record of O © the type of disturbance as well as the time and date of < < $ SEND FOR FREE CATALOG Q- 25 N |1a> o co o General Electronics, Inc. o (0 *o z “ cm 4513 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. LU o> CO CO 2 co co co ® Washington, D.C. 20016 UJ cc a §1 (202) 362-8300 a = £ < O LU TWX 710-822-9450 (GENELEC INC WSH)

NOVEMBER 1984 7 Turn Your Home BOOKS Into Cash

You've probably accumulated considerable equity in your home as a result of rising property values and the regular mortgage payments you've Vietnam Redux been making over the years. By ROBERT M. HATHAWAY And if you’re a homeowner in Maryland, Virginia, or D.C., The Endless War: Vietnam’s Struggle for your credit union can help you put that equity to work with a Independence. By James Pinckney Harrison. Loanliner Home Equity Loan.’ McGraw-Hill, 1982. $8.95(paper). Peace With Honor?: An American Reports on Viet¬ nam, 1973—75. By Stuart A. Herrington. Presidio Press, 1983 ■ $15.95. Vietnam: A Special Advantages of a State Department Federal Credit Union History. By Stanley Karnow. Viking, 1983 ■ Home Equity Loan $20. Vietnam as History: Ten Years After the Paris Peace Accords. Edited by Peter Braes- • High credit limits • Replenishing line of-credit trup. A Wilson Center Conference Report,

• No "points"at closing • No annual membership fees University Press of America, 1984. $l6.75(cloth); $8.75(paper). Vietnam: • No prepayment penalty or balloon payments Nation in Revolution. By William J. Duiker. Westview Press, 1983. $18.50. Vietnam Reconsidered: Lessons from a War. Edited Home Equity loans are available NOW. Ask for details at any of SDFCU’s by Harrison E. Salisbury. Harper & Row, branches, or call one of our local or toll-free phone numbers. 1984. $17.50(cloth); $8.50(paper). The If you don't belong to SDFCU, call or stop by Vietnam War in Retrospect. By Martin one of our branches today to join. F. Herz. School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, 1984- $5,75(paper). The Wars State Department Courthouse Room 1827 2020 N. Fourteenth Street in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, 2201 C Street, N.W. Arlington, VA 22201 Washington, D.C. 20520 1945—82: A Bibliographic Guide. By Rich¬ ABC Ft. McNair USIA ard Dean Burns and Milton Leitenberg. War/ Building #39 330 C Street, S.W. 4th & P Streets, S.W. HHS South Building. First Floor Peace Bibliography Series. ABC-Clio Informa¬ Washington, D.C, 20391 Washington, D.C. 20520 tion Services, 1984- Without Honor: De¬ feat in Vietnam and Cambodia. By Arnold R. Isaacs. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983 ■ $19.95.

t=JEQUAL HOUSING Thirty years after Dien Bien Phu, twenty OPPORTUNITY ItNDI R years after the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, and nearly a decade after the ignominious collapse of South Vietnam, Americans seem obsessed with discovering the mean¬ ing of their unhappy experience in Indo¬ china. In the late 1970s, the publishing Rochelle Jaffe industry confidently pronounced that is pleased to announce there existed no audience for books on the opening of Vietnam. Today, however, we cannot con¬ Travel Books Unlimited sume enough books about America’s mis¬ 4931 Cordell Avenue (Off Old Georgetown Road) adventure in Southeast Asia. Monographs Bethesda, Maryland 20814 by the score have appeared during the past 301-951-8533 several years. Happily, some are quite SPECIALIZING IN: good. • Maps from the world's leading cartographers • Travel Books and Guides — The most extensive selection available Certainly one of the best is Stanley Kar- • History Books — Background reading for the serious traveler now’s Vietnam: A History, written as a com¬ • Language Dictionaries — All levels panion to the recent public television se¬ • Travel Narratives — For the armchair traveler ries. Sweeping in scope, measured in tone, • Language Cassettes — Most foreign languages Karnow’s is a big book: 670 pages of text, MAIL ORDERS ACCEPTED PUBLIC PARKING followed by a chronology, useful thumb¬ SPECIAL ORDER ANY BOOK IN PRINT MONDAY—SATURDAY 10:00-9:00 ACROSS THE STREET nail biographies of the principal Vietnam-

8 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL “Chrysler Corporation extends its warmest congratulations to the Foreign Service Journal, the U.S. Foreign Service and the American Foreign Service Association in honor of their 60th anniversaries. Since 1984 also marks Chrysler’s 60th anniversary, I can honestly say, ‘We’ve been with you all the way’”

Lee A. Iacocca Chairman

>Af Chrysler Corporation ese, French, and U.S. actors, and brief won. He finds U.S. involvement in Indo¬ competent to cope with the challenge of notes on his sources. Karnow’s extensive china a sorry record of one mis judgment recovery.” The nonspecialist seeking one experience in Asia enables him to under¬ after another. There is little of the "noble book on the war could do no better than to stand what Washington decisionmakers cause” remembered by Ronald Reagan. settle down with Karnow. It replaces all could never acknowledge: that the war But at the same time, Karnow’s history is earlier studies as the standard account. would ultimately be won in Asia, by remarkably free of the passions that long Complementing Karnow in a number of Asians, for Asian reasons. Once this funda¬ clouded consideration of the war. He suc¬ respects is a volume by another American mental reality is recognized, Karnow’s de¬ cessfully eschews oversimplifications and journalist, Arnold Isaacs of the Baltimore cision to allot more than 150 pages to stereotypes, and while admiring the skill Sun. Isaacs’s Without Honor explores exact¬ events before 1955, when the United and determination of the communists, ly the period to which Karnow gives least States began to supplant the French, seems avoids romanticizing or idealizing them. attention: the years of denouement, 1972— eminently sensible. His portrait of conditions in Vietnam since 75. And, where Karnow is distant and The American war in Vietnam, Karnow the fall of Saigon is damning. By 1981, he even-handed, Isaacs is angry and appalled writes, was a misguided endeavor, a “trag¬ judges, the Hanoi government had shown by the human tragedy of war. He directs edy of epic dimensions,” which nobody itself “an inept and repressive regime in¬ his ire at the leadership of both sides for causing and perpetuating such pain, but particularly at those in Washington who displayed “a morally obtuse willingness to spend Asian lives forever for nothing more UTILITY STOCKS than a vague concept of American pres¬ tige.” Check-A-Month Plan This is not, however, simply another splenetic attack on the United States. Receive a Dividend Check Without Honor carefully explores the proc¬ ess by which “peace with honor” disinte¬ Every Month! grated under the twin burdens of Saigon’s incompetence and Hanoi’s determination. Phone — Write — Visit The policies of the Thieu government after For new research report the signing of the Paris accords, Isaacs be¬ lieves, reflected neither political nor mili¬ tary realities. Thieu’s insistence on defend¬ ing every inch of South Vietnam, whether A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. militarily feasible or not, simply dissipat¬ ed Saigon’s strength. The belief that the Members New York Stock Exchange United States would eventually return in force to rescue its ally was equally ill- THE INCOME SPECIALISTS founded. Washington, Isaacs believes, en¬ 240 Branches Nationwide couraged Thieu in these fantasies. This was not realpolitik; nor was it moral. And it certainly was not in Thieu's interest nor ' 1 the United States’. Please send A.G. Edwards research report Isaacs focuses almost exclusively on on Selected Utility Stocks — Check-a-Month FSJ | events in Indochina, where he was as¬ signed (he was evacuated from Tansonnhut Name airfield just before Saigon fell). He ignores Address i the Washington side of the story and makes no attempt to understand the com¬ ! City | munists; they are but a shadow here. What State Zip I he lacks in scope, however, he compen¬ Bus. Phone Res. Ph [ sates for in style. His description of a I I group of Cambodian women—“backs I I am a client of A.G. Edwards Yes □ No □ l hunched under their thin sarongs like lit¬ I I tle punctuation marks of sorrow and de¬ | A.G. EDWARDS & SONS, INC. spair”—vividly evokes the ultimate costs I Mrs. Ruth G. Adler, Vice Pres. of war. ] Certified Financial Planner Like Isaacs, Stuart A. Herrington leads us through the period between the Paris l Spring Valley Center accords and the collapse of South Vietnam. 4801 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. His Peace With Honor? is a highly personal¬ Washington, D.C. 20016 ized memoir of his service as an Army in¬ I 202/364-1600 I telligence officer in Vietnam from 1973- 75. As an analysis of South Vietnam’s de¬ mise, it suffers from a fundamental mis¬ ANG 125 EDC SIPC conception: that by 1973 a different U.S. course could have altered the ultimate out-

10 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Call from FOREIGN anywhere in thU SERVICE United States toll free or write our Overseas PERSONNEL Department for information' WORLDWIDE about our low rates, our broad coverage, our new option PERSONAL which provides replacement] PROPERTY cost without depreciation, and our ON THE" SPOT INSURANCE claims service by repre¬ FLOATER sentatives posted in^ every major city^

underwritten by HUNTINGTON T. BLOCK INSURANCE the world. London insurers 2101 L Street, N.W. and exclusively administered by Washington, D.C. 20037 Telephone 202/223-0673 Toll free 800/424-8830 Telex 892596 foreign affair/ recreation a//ociation

THE ALTERNATIVE TO A HOTEL ROOM Housing by FARA — For the Members of FARA • Tastefully furnished: efficiency, one and two FARA's Apartment Alternative is Located in the bedroom apartments (Completely refur¬ Columbia Plaza, One Block from the Depart¬ bished in June 1983) ment of State. IN THE PLAZA: Pharmacy, specialty food cen¬ • Color television in every apartment ter, liquor store, an elegant • Full kitchens Chinese restaurant, dry clean¬ er, beauty parlor, and a tailor • Weekly maid service shop. • New centrex telephone system with secretar¬ WALK TO: The Kennedy Center, the Watergate ial service complex (with shops, restaurants and malls), George Washington • Off-street parking available University Medical Center. • Coin operated laundry room in the building METRO TO: Downtown DC and museums, northwest DC, Virginia, and Na¬ • For your convenience, American Express, tional Airport. Master Card, and VISA accepted All of the Above Services and Conveniences for • Children free the Best Rates in the Neighborhood. FOR RESERVATIONS: FARA Housing, room 2928, Department of State, Washington, DC 20520. Call: (202) 463-3910. Hours: 8:00-4:30, Monday-Friday.

NOVEMBER 1984 11 come of the war. But as a memoir, it flour¬ ishes. In particular, Herrington's first¬ People Moving Abroad Ask hand account of the final month of Saigon’s death throes is the real strength of this DISTRICT MOVING & STORAGE book. The evacuation of U.S. personnel and several thousand of their Vietnamese How Can I Make Moving Easier? employees, Herrington makes clear, took place in the face of foot-dragging resistance from the Thieu government and even the Dear District Moving & Storage: before the packers arrive; American embassy. The retelling of this We’re changing posts, again, suggests what to do during the dramatic rescue reflects credit on the U.S. and I’d like to be as organized as packing phase; provides tips on military men involved, for they, almost possible, this time. As many airfreight inclusion and what to alone, appear not to have forgotten the times as we’ve moved, I still find bring in the accompanied Vietnamese who believed Nixon’s promise myself forgetting some of the baggage. I suggest you send never to abandon them. His judgment details. Last time, for instance, I away for the free “Checklist” about the Paris agreement and the events forgot to stop our utility service today by calling us at (301) of the succeeding 27 months parallels until we were at our new 420-3300 or sending in the Isaacs’s: there was precious little honor to location. We didn’t need that! coupon below. be derived for the United States. I’ve heard you have a checklist Roland Kates Whereas Karnow and Isaacs occasional¬ that makes moving easier. Can Vice President ly threaten to smother their readers in de¬ you fill me in? tail, Martin F. Herz’s The Vietnam War in Waiting with Baited Breath Retrospect is a model of economy. In the fall of 1982, Herz presented a series of four lectures on the war at Georgetown Univer¬ Dear WWBB: sity. This slim volume now offers these The checklist you refer to is addresses to a wider audience. Unfortu¬ the District Moving & Storage’s nately, brevity in this instance has not en¬ “New Assignment Abroad ''DISTRICT couraged incisiveness. Checklist”. With it you can MOVING 6= STORAGE , INC. Herz provides a spirited defense of U.S. organize your move and make it 3850 Penn Belt Place policy and intentions in Vietnam. But his smoother—and many times Forestville, Maryland 20747 essays reflect little appreciation of the easier. The “Checklist”, with 301 • 420 • 3300 complexities inherent in the Indochinese more than 60 valuable tips, conflict. They exhibit no sense that the organizes what needs to be done consequences of U.S. actions might betray U.S. objectives, no matter how noble. Nor If you’re interested in receiving District Moving & does he demonstrate any greater under¬ Storage’s FREE "New Assignment Abroad Check¬ list”. Please call (301) 420-3300 or fill out this coupon standing of the other side than most of us and send to: District Moving & Storage possessed twenty years ago. Lacking this 3800 Penn Relt Place Forestville. MD 20747 comprehension, he is unable to elucidate We’re right on the beltway! Address the forces that so effectively thwarted CH Yes. please send me the free “Checklist” de¬ Washington policymakers. scribed above. I will be moving soon, and am anxious to make my next move as easy as Herz’s interpretations are misleading -Zip- possible. and one-sided, his language at times in¬ □ Send me labels I can use to assist me in my move. temperate. Many—and not just doves— will wonder, for instance, at his unquali¬ □ i am interested in more information about District Moving & Storage. Please have your fied assertion, “I would say with no exag¬ representative call me at the number below. The best time to contact me is: geration that Diem was essentially done in by the American press.” Perhaps the less said about this volume the better, for these essays do a respected student of interna¬ tional affairs little credit. WASHINGTON, D.C. BOUND? Herz might well have profited by a close reading of William J. Duiker’s Vietnam: RENT-A-USED CAR RENT-A-NEW CAR Nation in Revolution. Duiker’s small vol¬ from $12.95 per day from $17.95 per day ume is a welcome addition to the growing number of serious accounts designed to in¬ FREE MILEAGE ALLOWANCE troduce Vietnam—albeit forty years too late—to U.S. audiences. The author gives Ideal When Shipping POV or on Home Leave us, in barely 150 pages, a brief overview of contemporary Vietnam. The first half of Call DRIVE-A-BARGAIN (703)683-6400 his book contains a short description of 2850 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Arlington, VA 22202 Vietnam’s land and people, followed by a For Fast Pick-up at Crystal City Metro whirlwind march through ten millennia of Vietnamese history, culminating with Sai-

12 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL gon’s fall in April 1975. Duiker then offers sketches on politics and government, the economy, culture and society, and foreign affairs, with an emphasis on the Socialist Republic of Vietnam since formal unifica¬ tion in 1976. Duiker suggests that the U.S. failure in We are moved Vietnam lay not so much in political or military shortcomings in Washington or Saigon, but in conditions arising out of the to congratulate southeast Asian past. When considering why Vietnam’s Confucian tradition made it more receptive to Marxist nationalism than to western liberalism, he describes The U-S. Foreign Service, the function served by Confucianism in a manner that could well be applied to Marxism: “to provide the state with a po¬ The American litical philosophy and a system of ethics to maintain social order and to promote the material welfare of the mass of the popula¬ Foreign Service Association tion." At the same time, Duiker makes it apparent that South Vietnam lacked the cultural heritage that promoted the devel¬ and opment of democratic institutions in the West. James Pinckney Harrison's The Endless War also recognizes that what we Ameri¬ The Foreign Service Journal cans call the Vietnam war was in fact only part of a much larger drama. Less than a quarter of this volume covers the years of on their combined heavy U.S. involvement after 1964, and this section is the most conventional. Wil¬ liam Fulbright does not appear in Harri¬ 60th Anniversary! son’s text, nor does Robert Kennedy. The Eisenhower administration’s brief flirta¬ tion with assisting the beleaguered French at Dien Bien Phu is passed over in a single sentence. Instead, Harrison bids us look to Asia. Before we can understand how the com¬ munists managed to defeat enemies far 1 more powerful than they, we must ask how Ho Chi Minh and his followers took com¬ 'DISTRICT mand of Vietnamese revolutionary nation¬ MOVING <&= STORAGE , INC. alism. They succeeded, he believes, by shrewdly merging Vietnam’s two revolu¬ tions—the national and the social, the anti-imperial and the anti-feudal. Above all, they were able to mobilize the peasant¬ ry by relying on skillful organization and a powerful ideology, the theory of a people’s war. Patiently building a village-level in¬ Our Service Is No Secret! frastructure over decades, the communists blended traditional nationalism, continu¬ Imagine! The convenience of your ity of leadership, a consistent program of own suite with kitchen...within easy political reform, propaganda, and selective strolling distance of the State Dept., the Fed, GSA, OPM, Kennedy Cen¬ terror into a mass revolutionary move¬ ter, and the metro! And all for just ment. $49-59 per day*. Discover why our While one must applaud Harrison’s re¬ lentless focus on the Vietnamese side of the good service is common knowledge at: story, his volume leaves the reader dissatis¬ RIVERSIDE TOWERS HOTEL fied. The section on communist organiza¬ 2201 Virginia Ave., NW tion and ideology promises to be crucial Washington, DC 20037 but in fact contains little that is remark¬ Tel: 202-452-4600 or 800-424-2870 •tax not included. Government/military rate. able or new. Moreover, a wooden, me- 1 NOVEMBER 1984 13 chanical style, an indiscriminate enthu- siam for statistics of unknown or questionable reliability, and an admiring “gee-whiz” tone in writing of the commu¬ Insure household goods nists detract from his analysis. The tenth anniversary of the 1973 Paris peace accords inspired a number of confer¬ with Security ences and symposiums around the coun¬ try. In Peter Braestrup’s Vietnam as History and Harrison E. Salisbury’s Vietnam Re¬ and move overseas considered, we now have the revised tran¬ scripts of two of these conferences. To¬ with peace of mind. gether these books suggest that we have at last begun to achieve a consensus on some As a Foreign Service Officer, you'll benefit from special of the war’s principal controversies—but low rates and invaluable reassurance. You can in¬ also that any number of questions about sure all household goods and personal effects, includ¬ U.S. participation in that conflict remain. ing automobiles, anywhere outside the U S. Security's Braestrup’s volume records a two-day Government Service Policy covers goods in-transit and conference at the Smithsonian Institution’s at your overseas residence. +0* Call or write Paul Wood, Woodrow Wilson Center; Salisbury’s a the Manager of our Insurance four-day gathering at the University of Division. You can also Southern California. A handful of individ¬ store the valuables you want uals attended both meetings, but the ros¬ to leave home with Security- ter of participants at each highlights a ma¬ the world's most experienced jor difference between the two books. The moving and storage company. Insurance Division Wilson Center scholars had a decidedly “establishment” air about them. Many were government historians or associated Call (202)797-5625 with the military, and the journalists and I 701 Florida Avenue. NW Washington, DC 20009 academics present were not given to ex¬ tremism or intemperance. The partici¬ pants in the California conference were al¬ together a different breed. Of editor Salisbury, Karnow has written that for a time in 1967 his dispatches from Hanoi emphasizing the wanton character of U.S. bombing made ir seem as though he had . . . unmistakably replaced Ho Chi Minh as the Johnson ad¬ ministration’s primary adversary. Other attendees at the California gathering in¬ cluded Daniel Ellsberg, Chicago Seven de¬ fendant David Dellinger, CIA critics Frank Snepp and Ralph McGehee, and radical historian William Appleman Wil¬ liams. Perhaps because of these partici¬ pants, Vietnam Reconsidered is the livelier of the two collections—though not necessar¬ ily the better. What seems particularly remarkable in reading the Braestrup book is the wide¬ spread sense that, given the times, U.S. entry into a disastrous war was the only conceivable decision the Washington poli¬ cymaking process could have produced. This somber conclusion seems justified and, yet, terribly unsettling. In one very useful article, John Mueller argues that the Vietnam war was no more unpopular than the Korean war during comparable periods and that the antiwar movement had very little effect either in shaping public opin¬ ion or in electing antiwar candidates. In h. m fact, the unruliness of the protestors may 1055 Thomas Jefferson Street N, W. Washington, D.C.m 20007 ■ even have frightened potential opponents In Georgetown, (202) 338-2500 of the war away from open resistance.

14 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL In Salisbury’s volume a considerable amount of space is devoted to the press controversies of the period. In this regard, Phillip Knightley’s comment bears repeat¬ ing: “The significant point about the flush Congratulations, of stories.. .attacking U.S. involvement,” Knightley reminds us, “is not that they were written—that was inevitable—but from another pioneer that the United States provided the access and freedom that enabled them to be writ¬ ten.” The experiences of other democra¬ in foreign service. cies, Knightley adds, using Britain’s man¬ agement of the news during the Falklands campaign as an example, make U.S. prac¬ Security salutes the 60 years of the U.S. Foreign tices in Vietnam particularly commend¬ Service. And our 94 years of serving the moving, able. storage and insurance needs of FSO's stationed over¬ Ultimately, these two volumes are use¬ seas. ur Here's to our continuing association during ful in outlining the state of contemporary the coming years, ur When you're posted abroad, thinking on the war’s many unresolved is¬ use our specially designed insurance coverage and sues. That they do not always furnish satis¬ our temperature-controlled storage facilities for rugs, fying answers is not surprising, though clothing and high value this does suggest a difficulty inherent in items, ur You can depend Since 1 890 books of this nature: too often the partici¬ on Security-the world's pants talk past rather than to one another most experienced moving and there is little sustained analysis. And and storage company. ' MOVING & STORAGE that, more than any other commodity, is what this unhappy chapter in our past de¬ serves. A contribution of a different sort—and a highly useful one—is offered by The Wan Call (202) 234-5600 in Vietnam, Cambodia, and l^aos, 1945— 1701 Florida Avenue. NW Washington, DC 20009 1982, compiled by Richard Dean Burns and Milton Leitenberg. The most recent addition to the War/Peace Bibliography series, this volume provides a comprehen¬ sive bibliography of books, articles, and f auDiafORum offers the best in doctoral dissertations pertaining to the I war. Its breadth is indicated by its chapter I self-instructional foreign language courses using headings: General Reference Aids; Cam¬ I audio cassettes—featuring those used to train bodia, Laos, and Thailand; Vietnam, from ■ U.S. State Dept, personnel in Spanish, French, the First to the Third Indochina Wars; the I HAMM United States and the Politics of Interven¬ I Polish, German, Portuguese, ■ tion; Strategy, Tactics, and Support Ef¬ I Chinese, Arabic and more. 11 Cl forts; Ecocide, POWs, War Crimes, and I Casualties; and the War at Home. Among I the 6200 citations are a few in French but I foreign language none in Vietnamese. The editors occasion¬ I f Free ally provide brief annotative comments to Catalog. guide the reader, although fuller evalua¬ ■ on your own: tions would have been a welcome addition. Call (212) 753-1783 or fill out and send this ad to Even without a subject index, this volume Audio-Forum, furnishes an important research tool to the Room 858. 1 45 E. 49th St.. New York. N Y. 1 001 7 serious student of the U.S. role in Indo¬ china. What are we to make of this spate of Name recent scholarship? For one thing, it be¬ comes increasingly apparent that many of Address the positions held by the antiwar move¬ ment simply do not survive critical review. City/State/Zip The infamous Christmas bombing of 1972 did not flatten Hanoi or decimate its civil¬ I am particularly interested in (check choices): ian population. The National Liberation □ Russian □ Greek □ Danish □ Finnish □ Japanese □ Spanish Front never exercised the autonomy its □ German □ Korean □ Mandarin □ Swedish □ Hausa □ French □ Hungarian □ Italian □ Dutch □ Other I proponents claimed. The communist ne¬ Or visit our London sales office: 31 Kensington Church St., London W8 4LL, U.K. t gotiating stance was, in the main, as in-

NOVEMBER 1984 15 tractable as the Nixon administration al¬ breakdown can be found in public attitudes ways said. and politicians’ promises; in the behavior of But having conceded this, the larger the Congress, the press, and the foreign truth is that most good research on the war policy establishment; and within the offices of the White House, the State and Defense vindicates the substance of the antiwar cri¬ departments, and other foreign policy agen¬ tique. In Vietnam as History, Harvard's Er¬ cies. [h] has produced policies with a pecu¬ nest May repeats an O'Henry story that liar blend of self-righteousness and self¬ might well serve as a parable for U.S. in¬ doubt. volvement. A young man, so the tale goes, hesitates at a crossroads. He finally chooses The record suggests that the crisis or one direction, enjoys various adventures, breakdown in the way we make foreign and is eventually killed by a French noble¬ policy is a systemic one....Our presidents man. We are then carried back to the have trapped themselves in webs mostly of crossroads and follow the hero as he takes their own making—in basing policies on each of the remaining forks. No matter ideologies that bore little resemblance to which road he takes, he always winds up foreign realities, and in shaping much of dying at the hands of the same nobleman. their action for the sake of short-term politi¬ cal advantages. This web has been tightened This, to May, symbolizes the U.S. predic¬ by changes in our political subculture—by ament in Vietnam: there were numerous the increasing power of ideological purists alternatives, but ultimately they all led within the Democratic and Republican par¬ CONGRATULATIONS! back to the same ending. "Short of treat¬ ties and the emergence of a new professional ing all Vietnam as the Romans treated elite that, unlike the establishment prede¬ Carthage,” May writes, “the Americans cessor, deepens rather than bridges divi¬ had no more chance in the long run against sions. communist nationalism than the British and the French had had against liberal na¬ The above is a pretty sweeping critique tionalism in the United States and Mexi¬ of what’s been going on under both politi¬ co.” This conclusion will not please every¬ cal parties. The authors are well placed to one. But it may well be the most cogent know what they are talking about because message the American reading public re¬ To the professional men they were participants in these changes. ceives as it continues its quest for a deeper Gelb is a former director of political-mili¬ and women of the Foreign understanding of the past—and hence, the tary affairs at State under the Carter ad¬ Service on the 60th present. ministration and previous holder of similar anniversary of the founding positions in the Defense Department; of the Service, and to the Robert M. Hathaway is a staff historian for Lake, now teaching at Mount Holyoke Foreign Service Journal in the Central Intelligence Agency. This article College, was director of policy planning does not necessarily represent the views of that under Carter and Vance; and Destler is one its 60th year of publishing. agency or the U.S. government. of the more astute scholars studying and We are proud to be writing about foreign affairs. associated with such an This review cannot outline their analy¬ outstanding publication. Reviews sis in full, but some of the authors' think¬ We are celebrating too — Our Own Worst Enemy: The Unmaking ing deserves mention here, if only to en¬ our eighth consecutive year of American Foreign Policy. By I.M. Destler, courage the reader to digest the whole book. The authors believe that presidents, of serving, through the Leslie H. Gelb, and Anthony Lake. Simon and Schuster. 1984- beginning with Lyndon Johnson, began to Journal, the real estate focus on short-term concerns as the needs of Foreign Service Make no mistake about it: this book is the postwar anticommunist consensus broke officers and staff. most significant contribution to foreign down over Vietnam. They have gone affairs literature in 15 or 20 years. One through much maneuvering at the White need not—and most FSOs will not—agree House level in attempting to cope with the with everything the authors say to recog¬ political schizophrenia in our political sys¬ nize this work as an outstanding contribu¬ tem which shows up repeatedly in polls tion to our understanding of the foreign indicating the American people believe policy process. It is a must for those in the there can be "peace and containment with¬ Foreign Service, and is the kind of volume out losses and all at a relatively minor Evelyn Cotterman that ought to be on the current purchase cost.” ♦ list for FSI’s mid-level course. The result has been a loss of confidence Long & Foster The basic thesis of this book can be suc¬ in presidents, a resurgent Congress, and Real Estate, Inc. cinctly illustrated by two quotes: growth of an adversary attitude in the me¬ dia. Congress has not contributed con¬ 59 offices in For two decades now, not only our govern¬ structively to the policy process, but has metro Washington ment but our whole society has been under¬ “made it very much harder for the presi¬ going a systemic breakdown when attempt¬ dent to succeed with his policies without ing to fashion a coherent and consistent offering any serious alternative." The me¬ approach to the world. The signs of the dia, which acted "responsibly” throughout

16 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL the 1950s and early ’60s by witholding material on the Bay of Pigs and not fully criticizing the Vietnam buildup, has switched to an attack mode in recent years. This is particularly so of television, which Whatever your location, has a thirst for instant, disposable news, and can relay a president’s gaffe around the Woodies can still do your world, thereby reducing “his flexibility in determining which foreign policy issues holiday shopping are crucial and which [he] can downplay.” From the Foreign Service perspective, Hurry! Send us your shopping lists! the two most interesting chapters in the Our E.S.P. Shopping Coordinator book will be “From Establishment to Pro¬ can still select gifts from Woodies fessional Elite" and "Courtiers and Barons: holiday merchandise, then mail The ‘Inside’ Politics of Foreign Policy.” them to you or alternate The first deals with the evolution of those destinations. Use American who make policy, particularly those who fill the valuable political-appointee spots Express, Visa, MasterCard or for each administration. The authors con¬ Woodies preferred account. tend that during the 1960s, power passed Call 347-5300, ext. 2274 during from the old Eastern establishment of store hours, or Telex 892509. bankers and lawyers, who took time off Or, write to Jane Eisenbraun, from their real careers to manage the affairs Woodward & Lothrop, 10th and of state, to a new professional elite of full¬ F Sts. NW, Washington DC 20013 time foreign policy experts, whose main bread-and-butter work at academic insti¬ tutions and think tanks was foreign policy. The members of this new elite earned their reputations by developing ideas and publi¬ cizing them on op-ed pages. The result has been the destruction of the center in favor WOODWARD & LOTH ROP of the extremes. This has been exacerbated by “a tripling of the number of policy aides serving senators and representatives.” The chapter on policymaking is unset¬ tling. It implies that the highest levels of the American government resemble noth¬ ing so much as the feudal systems of the 13th and 14th centuries, and that a presi¬ dent who wants to survive his own admin¬ There’s a New State istration had better spend some time get¬ ting it all together. The evolution of the in Washington system has become non-rational: Members of the new foreign affairs professional elite spend much time carving each other up to achieve prominence, turning policymak¬ And, we’re located right where Should you require a meeting/ ing into a “blood sport,” and leaving even you want to be . . . the State con ference/enter tainment members of the same administration to en¬ Department, George Washington room, we have several to meet gage in “execucide.” Gelb and Lake University, the Kennedy Center your needs, seating 10 to 7 5 worked in Democratic administrations, and most government agencies. associates. Catering is also avail¬ but they scarcely spare their former col¬ Our guests stay in spacious suites, able. For your dining pleasure with fully equipped kitchens, we recommend our Cafe, leagues on these points, although, when it for less than the price of most featuring a wide range of comes to substantive issues, they are per¬ rooms in Washington. Our appetite-pleasing entrees. haps a bit softer on Democrats. rates for weekends, and Come by and visit While superb on analysis, the authors longer stays, are our new state are merely good on prescribing remedies equally attractive. in Washington. for the malady. They assert (correctly in this reviewer’s view) that a substantial con¬ sensus on foreign policy is unlikely to reap¬ pear soon, given the complexities of to¬ day’s problems. Furthermore, the United FORMERLY SHERRY TOWERS HOTEL States must move away from j:he radical (202) 861-8200 2117 E St. NW, Washington DC 20037 (800) 424-2859 swings of policy from one administration to the next, and from believing that a “quick fix” can substitute for policy and an

NOVEMBER 1984 17 “organizational fix” can solve any prob¬ democracy in Spain, while impressive in lems. They suggest that the president its superficial achievements, remains in¬ should not try to choose a foreign policy complete. Significant remnants of the old COME TO A CITY BAZAAR spokesperson in advance, but wait and see Francoist system have not been won over to On your lunch hour how relationships develop. While they fa¬ the benefits of democracy nor absorbed vor the secretary of state for this role, they into the country’s new political, econom¬ do not exclude the national security advis¬ ic, and cultural institutions. er. The essays cover subjects one would NOVEMBER 16 One of the more intriguing themes of normally find in such a survey of contem¬ 11:30 - 3:00 the book is that reliance on well-trained, porary Spain: the role of the military and of politically sophisticated career officials the church, the continuing problem of would go far toward reducing the impact ethnic nationalism and center-periphery of ideological and institutional rivalries tensions, Spain’s relations with the United St. Margaret’s Church Connecticut Ave. which have made it harder to resolve dif¬ States and NATO, the mass media and lit¬ (Across from Universal North) ferences pragmatically and maintain need¬ erature, the status of economic affairs, and ed continuity. At the same time, however, the place of women in politics. In addi¬ their strongest pitch for the career Service tion, two essays discuss the transition to also suggests why we have been in such hot democracy from ah historical vantage HAND MADE AND water recently: point: the first covers the legacy of Fran- HOME BAKED ITEMS coism, while the second describes the rela¬ Egged on by White House aides, our recent tionship between the three currents of presidents have come to see the State De¬ post-Franco ideology—continuity, rup¬ partment as almost the enemy But State ture, and reform. The essays, written by Cecil Brathwaite, A1 Chapman, and its officials also have much to offer— nine Spaniards, four Britons, and one Is¬ Ardis Finamore, Charlie Tanguy, expertise on international realities; a needed Edith Scott, and John Stempel raeli, are, as one might expect, highly un¬ brake on the White House proclivity to seek political spectaculars; an important institu¬ even in coverage and in quality. The high¬ tional memory. Moreover, a secretary who lights of the book are Juan Antonio Ortega’s piece on the transition to democ¬ For information call: 232-2995 gives priority to his presidential connection can make the department work for him— racy in Spain, Salvador Giner’s analysis of and the president. center-periphery relations, and Paul Pres¬ ton’s discussion of the Spanish army’s “fear The book also pleads for intellectual of freedom.” —ROBERT P. CLARK honesty; common sense in policymaking; new awareness of real political self-inter¬ ests; and a focus on educating, not the Middle Powers in International Poli¬ World-wide silent majority, but the “three to ten mil¬ tics. By Carsten Holbraad. St. Martin's lion Americans who hold the trust of their Press, 1984. $25. communities by virtue of their leadership Prescription positions in business, educational, and Holbraad provides a historical review of civic organizations, and in state or local the relations of the middle powers with politics.” great powers, small states, and among Service This book contains much food for themselves. He analyzes the role of these Bring or mail a prescription from your thought. It will receive a good deal of at¬ mid-sized actors in the pursuit of what he doctor or a State Department order to tention, and it should. It ought to be high considers to be the basic goals of interna¬ this store for delivery any place in the on the agenda of Under Secretary for Man¬ tional society, namely order, security, USA or overseas. agement Ronald Spiers’s next Wye confer¬ peace, and justice. • Orders are filled immediately and mailed the same day. ence. The Foreign Service has much to of¬ The second chapter, which deals with • Pay Peoples low prices plus postage fer presidents to ameliorate the conditions the history of the League of Nations and and packing after receipt. the authors describe, if we but take up the the United Nations, is particularly valu¬ • Your doctor stateside can order a challenge. —-JOHN D. STEMPEL able, as it describes efforts to secure a spe¬ refill by phone. cial status for mid-sized powers in the two • Complete line of National Brand and Peoples Brand health and beauty world organizations. Canada and Australia aids, sundries, and cosmetics is also Spain: Conditional Democracy. Edited by emerged as the principal champions of available. Christopher Abel and Nissa Torrents. Croom middle powers in the newly created Unit¬ 79 years of reliable service to the ed Nations. During the earliest planning diplomatic community. Helms and St. Martin's Press, 1984. $24.50. stages, Canadian Prime Minister MacKen- zie King maintained that effective repre¬ This collection of 10 articles emerged from sentation in the new institution should be a series of public lectures held in 1982 at neither restricted to the largest state nor University College, London. The title of extended to all. Determination should be the volume suggests the participants’ col¬ made on a functional basis, namely which lective perspective on the Spanish push to¬ state, large or small, could make the great¬ 2125 E Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20007 ward democracy, which has met with vary¬ est contribution to the particular object in (202) 338-6337 ing degrees of success. The general theme question. That principle would result in a J of the volume argues that the transition to compromise between the theoretical equa-

18 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL lity of states and the practical necessity of limiting representation in international pak-kit 2. bodies to a workable number. The Austra¬ lian government, also concerned with the “BUG-OUT” KIT role of the middle powers, argued for the High impact, That’s what the Pak-Kit 2™. waterproof principle of regional representation. could mean in an emergency. cylinder. In the last four chapters (which he be¬ Contains basic lieves constitute the main part of the It’s small, it’s light, it’s not expensive. first-aid kit, study) Holbraad analyzes the various pat¬ Be prepared for natural disasters, survival items, political unrest, travel emergencies. complete terns of conduct and the role of the middle instructions, and And don’t forget autos, backpacking, 8 ft. tube tent. powers in what he calls the four basic biking, boating, scouting, camping, forms of the state system: the unifocal (one and gift-giving! 9" x 3", 13 oz. great power dominant), the dualistic (a Check or M.O. for $16.95, + $2 shipping and handling to: preponderance by two great powers), the International Health Consultants, Inc., P.O. Box 34582, Bethesda, Maryland 20817 triangular (three great powers), and the multiple system (more than three). The proliferation of newly created states, and their admission into the international sys¬ / R n RHR)/ R D :R “HR \/ R 0 'R R K R4/ R n R tem and the big-power relationship, has provided the best opportunity for middle COLUMBIA PLAZA PHARMACY powers to fulfill a substantive role in inter¬ 516 23rd St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20037 R| national politics. i Hobraad argues that middle powers have often concerned themselves more Sensational SPECIAL-BY-MAIL SALE with matters of international justice than Order any times and SAVE 20% on all prescriptions with order. Recently, the majority of mid¬ Send No Money: Pay only after receipt of order Bill dle powers in the Third World have em¬ 1 phasized the pursuit of anti-colonial, ra¬ The only drug store your family will ever need (H cial, and economic justice. While many DEPEND ON US! Fast Service! Uf middle powers have joined what the au¬ Telephone: 331-5800 m thor called anti-hegemonial alliances, they 1 have not proved to be guardians of the r balance of power. In fact, their influence in R " H R U R n R R}{R5R,n Rl

the system has sometimes been destabiliz¬ * SINCE 1976 We feature products ing. After all, middle powers are not in¬ from the New Chrysler nately wiser or more virtuous than others. ! Corporation If their behavior differs from that of the "RENTAL SYSTEM great powers and smaller states, it is due to OFFICIAL their different position in the hierarchy and r their exposure to pressures. GSA CONTRACTOR The principal responsibility for main¬ UNLIMITED BOUND? taining a degree of international order will Daily — Weekly — Monthly Rates remain with the great powers. They can MILEAGE We Rent All Makes and Models discharge some of this responsibility by SERVING THE MAJOR AIRPORTS IN THE AREA creating conditions that favor middle pow¬ ers which are willing to work toward the NATIONAL - DULLES - ANDREWS AFB - BWI fundamental goals of international society CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-336-7400 within their own spheres. This conclusion IN VIRGINIA CALL 800-533-6100 is the logical result of Hobraad’s fully do¬ J cumented analysis. It constitutes a realis¬ tic appraisal of the greatest contribution AMERICAN PAPERBACKS that middle powers, with the assistance of Enjoy Our Unique Book Mailing Service big powers, can make to world peace and • Monthly newsletter lists 300 new releases order under present world conditions. • Featuring mass-market and trade paperbacks —ROBERT A. BAUER • Categorized by subject with brief reviews • Order your selections for immediate shipment • Special requests for any book honored The Bishops and the Bomb: Waging • This is not a book club — no purchases required Peace in a Nuclear Age. By Jim Castelli. Im¬ Subscribe today — enclose check or money order for $10.00 APO-FPO ($18.00 foreign) for one full year to: age Books, 1983■ $7.95. THE COMPLETE PAPERBACK SHOPPER P.O. Box 233, Kenilworth IL 60043 In the acknowledgments for this book, the Name author refers to the “hectic period” in Address which the book was “put.. .together.” Just Est. 1974 so. This slight book on the preparation of

NOVEMBER 1984 19 the American Catholic bishops’ pastoral the hopeless asides with which it is enliv¬ Edited by Jonathan Alford. St. Martins letter on war and peace continually betrays ened (we learn that Bishop McCarthy is Press. 1984. $22.50. the haste with which it was assembled— “perhaps the best story-teller in the bish¬ and it seems, from materials that came ops’ conference”), will be dissatisfied. Cas¬ Sigal’s thorough and thoughtful study of easily to hand. Indeed, this prefatory con¬ telli’s preferences persistently and crudely nuclear forces in Europe is focused on me¬ fession is perhaps the last point at which intrude themselves, so much so that it is dium-range missiles—the Pershing II, the the author is in complete command of his impossible to depend on his reporting. He ground-launched cruise missile, and the subject. is clearly committed to anti-nuclear activ¬ Soviet SS-20. He does not deal with air¬ The book offers a superficial history of ism on the part of the church and confines craft and adds a chapter on battlefield nu¬ the pastoral letter, extracting what drama his criticism almost exclusively to the clear weapons almost as an afterthought. it can from the disagreements among the bishops who dissented from the letter and It was of course the NATO deployment of bishops and between some of the clerics to the present administration. Pershing I Is and cruise missiles last No¬ and the Reagan administration, which It would be a pity if these and other vember that caused the Soviets to break off seems to be Castelli’s bete noire. There are failings dissuaded readers from examining nuclear arms control negotiations with the genuinely important questions surround¬ the letter itself, which is reprinted as an United States. Sigal refers to the “perverse ing the letter—concerning the bishops' appendix to Castelli’s text. Whatever one consequences for stability” of putting mis¬ understanding of nuclear strategy, the im¬ concludes about the letter's political real¬ siles in Europe and quotes a statement plications for lay Catholics of political pro¬ ism and strategic wisdom, it at least bears made by Helmut Schmidt before the 1962 nouncements by a hierarchy with claims to the marks of deliberation and care, and of a Cuban missile crisis: “everyone capable of authority, the relationship between the sense of the tragedy inherent in a grave and objective reasoning must concede that the bishops’ efforts and the recent, more gener¬ intractable moral dilemma. These are qua¬ stationing of enemy IRBMS SO to speak on its al attacks on U.S. strategic policy, and so lities essential in a treatment of the moral¬ very threshold [Turkey] must produce the on—but Castelli only hints at such issues ity of nuclear policy, but ones absent from psychological effect of a provocation on any or simply ignores them. Instead, he de¬ this tendentious book. great power. One need only imagine how votes long, unanalytical pages to what are —STEVEN R. STURM the Americans would react if the Soviets essentially extracts from his interviews were to station IRBMS in Cuba.” with the participants and to barely edited Sigal defines the West’s dilemma: How transcripts of the meetings in which the Nuclear Forces in Europe. By Leon V. can NATO deter the Warsaw Pact by nuclear letter was drafted. Sigal. The Brookings Institution. 1984. threats that it plainly has little or no incen¬ Even the reader who has an interest in tive to carry out? Sigal, like everyone else such archival material and who can forgive Arms Control and European Security. who has explored this problem, has no an-

SHOP IN AN AMERICAN LeSPORTSAC DRUG STORE BY MAIL! Collectibles An ice cream soda is one of the few items we cannot mail. Drugs, cosmetics, sundries When mailed to every coun¬ try in the world. We Qualify maintain permanent family prescription Counts... records. SEND NO MONEY — pay only after satis¬ count on Drewood factory receipt of order. for stationery, announcements, invitations, cards, and informals. Our engraving consultants ore at your service.

diu(*(i)(0)l) Fine Engraving & Printing Pk/wmacy, life. Since 1892 tla Morgan Pharmacy 1147-20th Street, N.W. 3001 P Street, N.W. Georgetown Park Washington, D.C. 223-2300 3222 M Street, NW Washington, D C 20007 Washington, D.C. 20007 (202)342-1506 m

20 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL swer, and concludes, as did the 1967 Har- From the Think Tanks The United States and the Persian mel Report for NATO on “Future Tasks of Gulf: Past Mistakes and Present Needs. By the Alliance,” that the West must pursue Adjustment Crisis in the Third World. Alvin J. Cottrell and Michael L. Moodie. policies of both defense and detente. The Edited by Richard E. Feinberg and 'Valeriana Agenda Paper, National Strategy Information United States, Sigal argues, should pro¬ Kallab. U .S .-Third World Policy Perspectives Center, 1984■ 45pp. $3.95. This report pose a moratorium on the deployment of #1. Overseas Development Council. 1984. discusses the vital influence of the Persian the sea-launched cruise missile and reduc¬ 181pp. $12.95. This study argues that Gulf area on international security and tions of other missiles in accordance with world economic recovery alone will not be economic health and the growing threat to the “walk in the woods” formula. Howev¬ enough to help depressed Third World what remains of the region’s stability. It er, this formula has already been rejected economies burdened with heavy debts. advocates that the United States take pre¬ by both governments. Sigal also disregards Other steps—more borrowing, structural ventive, not merely reactive, measures, in¬ the Soviet insistence that British and changes—must be taken to alleviate ad¬ cluding enhancing the U.S. naval presence French forces be counted, although not justment problems and the threat of fur¬ in the area, prepositioning supplies, devel¬ limited, in any reduction agreement. ther political instability and possible de¬ oping an effective rapid deployment force, Nonetheless, this book contains much use¬ fault. and providing military and political sup¬ ful information about the major nuclear port for friends in the region. issue confronting East and West in Eu¬ The Americas in 1984: A Year for Deci¬ rope. sions. Report of the Inter-American Dialogue. The West German Peace Movement Arms Control and European Security is a The Aspen Institute. 1984. 82pp. It is a time and the National Question. By Kim R. collection of essays previously published of crisis in Latin America: economies and Elolmes. Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, by the International Institute of Strategic political systems are under severe pressure, Inc., 1984. $7.50. German nationalists Studies in London. The editor, Jonathan the Organization of American States has are only a small portion of that country’s Alford, believes the prospects for arms come close to collapse, and inter-American peace movement, but under their influ¬ control are bleak. He believes that the understanding is badly frayed. According ence the idea of a unified and neutral Ger¬ West’s strong desire to reach an agreement to this report, a series of steps needs to be many has become more acceptable, writes encourages the Soviets to stall and is a taken, including renewing national com¬ Holmes. Although this is not an immedi¬ major obstacle to progress. Unfortunately, mitments to the OAS, improving U.S. ate threat to NATO, western leaders should Alford does not make a sufficiently strong public awareness of Latin America, and realize that the German question is far case to convince a reader of Soviet uninter¬ above all, adopting measures to make the from resolved and make efforts to orient est, or for that matter, Western enthusi¬ debt owed by Latin countries more man¬ the German national identity into a west¬ asm. —DAVID LINEBAUGH ageable. ern geopolitical direction.

The school BUY aswttfci that comes to your child.

SELL Complete home-study course for elementary-level students. Kin¬ FREE! NEW CAR CATALOG BUY DIRECT dergarten through 8th grade. An INVEST The comprehensive NAI Master Catalog contains 32 American education anywhere in pages, over 150 illustrations, DIPLOMATIC and FACTORY tax-free prices, equipment, options, colors, and all the de¬ tails on how to order your car at these special savings the world. Ideal for enrichment. The Nemet Organization has been meeting the needs of Home is the classroom, you are Ed Joyce Americans throughout the world since 1916 You will have your car. waiting where you want it, STATESIDE OR IN Retired FSIO EUROPE —when you want it, all serviced and ready to go at the teacher with Calvert’s ap¬ special factory prices Buy your new car from Nemet because we ll be proved instruction guide. Start LICENSED IN D.C. here when you get home. and VIRGINIA anytime, transfer to other schools. Used by over 300,000 students. Please send me a FREE copy of your FSJ-1281 32 page Master Catalog. Non-profit. Write for catalog. I am interested in: Stateside Delivery £MOUNT European Delivery AUDI MG RENAULT c BMW MERCEDES TRIUMPH CALVERT A SCHOOL DATSUN PEUGEOT VOLKSWAGEN VERNQFf FIAT PORSCHE VOLVO Established 1897 301-243-6030 JAGUAR C Name Rank Box F11-4, Tuscany Rd., Baltimore, MD 21210 REALTY A Social Security No _ Date of Birth _ V.'N ^ Parenl's Name C Address 6257 Old Dominion Dr. Date of Rotation _ Address Delivery Place . McLean, Va. 22101 Cily. -Stale -Zip- Off: 821-8300 Nemet Auto International World's Largest Distributor of Tax-Free Cars Child's Age —Grade- Res: 821-2109 s* 153-03 Hillside Avenue. Jamaica. New York 11432 Admits sludenlsof any race, color, national or ethnic origin Q NEMET 9 Telephone (212) 523-5858/Cable NEMETAUTO V! Toll Free 800-221-0177

NOVEMBER 1984 21 security was inadequate when the car bomb exploded Thursday “Although quibbles have been raised about the 'cost effectiveness’ of a world¬ wide program to make embassies less vul¬ CLIPPINGS nerable, the amount of money involved is paltry compared to the sorrow, mayhem, DIPLOMATIC CAR SALES and loss of prestige that comes from each AND LEASING successful terrorist attack. [The president] ALL MODELS must take fast, effective action, using the OUR 20TH YEAR IN WASHINGTON The Beirut Bombing latest techniques, to protect citizens CAVALIER VW bravely serving the country in foreign “So why wasn’t there a permanent, impen¬ trouble spots.” ONLY 10 MINUTES FROM KEY BRIDGE etrable barrier that had to be opened? 4045 LEE HWY. 703/525-1900 Baltimore Sun, September 24 ARLINGTON VA 22207 1 What does it say for security procedures when two men in a van can take out the “We cannot give in to terrorists and close No. 1 U.S, target in the whole wide our embassy in Beirut. But our people de¬ TRANSFERRED FROM world? One report even suggests there was serve protection, not excuses. There was WASHINGTON? a warning two weeks ago. We can find talk of retaliating against those who I will lease your home some excuse for the security failures the bombed the barracks. Similar cries are • no fees first time, very little excuse the second heard now. But wanting to lash back is one • no vacancy risk time, none at all the third." thing; finding a valid target is anoth¬ • no worries New York Daily News, September 21 er A trigger-happy strike at some shad¬ experienced property owy target is as likely to kill innocent Le¬ manager “Shadowy fanatics with unknown names banese civilians as it is to wipe out the references available once again have defied the world’s most terrorists. As frustrated as Americans are Call: Brent Yeates sophisticated intelligence agencies to de¬ with the toll being extracted in lives and Realty Investment Associates liver their bloody message. Their target, dollars, we must not let our thirst for ven¬ 226 Maple Ave., West,-| Suite 204 the American embassy in Beirut, was sup¬ geance turn us into terrorists, too.” Vienna, VA 22180 posed to be a secure refuge from the havoc USA Today, September 24 (703)281-2180 (703)938-1782 wreaked by the car bombs of other suicidal men in earlier Beirut carnage But de¬ "The effort to protect U.S. installations spite the extreme difficulty of guarding abroad from terrorist attack now appears to against these suicidal zealots, U.S. officials be energized, in the wake of the Beirut Are You Concerned About have some explaining to do. Why, with bombing. This is as it should be At the Your Elderly Parents? the painful first-hand knowledge of the same time, the United States has to be way Beirut terrorists use lethal car bombs, careful not to change the basic tenor of its did they occupy the new embassy structure operations abroad, with suspicion general¬ Jill Funk Chobanian, clinical social work¬ er and former FS widow, offers a Geriatric before the last barrier—a massive metal ly replacing trust, and barricades substi¬ Outreach Service. Whether your parents gate—was in place? Why were the U.S. tuting for democracy’s openness.” are in the Washington area or a distant state, I can ensure that their situation is Marines pulled from the first line of de¬ Christian Science Monitor, September 26 evaluated and they receive the assis¬ fense in favor of Lebanese guards before all tance they need. security precautions had been completed?” “It becomes plain that lives were lost in Chicago Tribune. September 23 vain in the bombing of the American em¬ bassy building in East Beirut. The au¬ For further information, call (301) 530- 2764 or write Mrs. J. Chobanian at Suite “U.S. officials had ample historical evi¬ thorities knew that the place was 'highly 409, Chevy Chase Center, 35 Wisconsin dence that East Beirut was not immune vulnerable to surveillance, sniping (rocket Circle, Chevy Chase, MD, 20815. from terrorist attacks. In September 1982, propelled grenades), and vehicular bomb¬ president-elect Bashir Gemayel was killed ing’ in the pre-attack words of the Defense by an explosion at the East Beirut head¬ Intelligence Agency, and that necessary DEXTER’S INN & TENNIS CLUB A select but casual 17 room Country Inn and quarters of the same Phalangist Party security arrangements.. .had not been small resort situated at 1400 ft. above Lake whose militiamen were hired to provide made. Warnings of a specific action were Sunapee In the mountains of southern N.H. Club-like atmosphere with fine food and ser¬ security at the U.S. annex.” discounted vice. 3 all-weather courts, pro, swimming Philadelphia Inquirer. “Is it Mr. Reagan's responsibility? You pool, hiking and bird sanctuary on grounds. Area boating, fishing, summer theater, mt. September 23 bet it is Mr. Reagan had already deter¬ climbing and 3 excellent golf courses. Brochure, Box F, Sunapee. N.H. 03782. mined Lebanon to be an unsafe place for 1-603-763-5571: Mobil Guide - AAA. “The Reagan administration must be fully armed American Marines. Yet he has made to answer for faulty security arrange¬ kept thinly defended American diplomats ments that enabled Islamic terrorists to in Beirut and failed to take adequate pre¬ blow up the U.S. embassy annex in East cautions for their safety.” Beirut Not only is a General Account¬ Washington Post, September 26 ing Office report issued after the third out¬ rage of this kind in the past 18 months “Our own, private-sector, suggestion damning in its critique, but administra¬ would be to embed in the roadway the type tion officials privately acknowledge that of retractable, shark-teethlike metal spikes

22 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL that are commonplace at most rental-car parking lots in the U.S. Any heavily laden car or truck carrying explosives would blow its tires and hobble out of control long before reaching the embassy build¬ ing. If Avis and Hertz can figure out how to protect their parking lots, why can’t our security officers protect an embassy?” Wall Street Journal, September 26

“I have to say this for our Foreign Service f&v&t Medal of personnel—they know their mission, they know they have to be there. Such cour¬ 45"! Honor age—they’re not in uniform, they’re not fighting people. But their courage—be¬ cause the other alternative would be to simply close down our embassies world¬ To Foreign Service Members and Their Families wide and come back here to fortress Amer¬ For Sixty Y6ars of Diplomatic Excellence ica and have no representation there. And And Outstanding Honor and Sacrifice that, we cannot do. We cannot give the terrorists a victory.” President Reagan, September 26 Presented by Clements & Company “The moment a truck-bomb threat was Worldwide Insurance Brokers suspected at the White House, trucks loaded with sand blocked all the entrances until concrete barriers were put in place on Clements & Company 1700 K Street, NW, Suite 900, Washinston, DC 20006 Pennsylvania Avenue and side streets. No tragic delays, no Weinberger defeatism Telephone: 202/872-0060 Cable: CLEMENTS/WASHINGTON Telex: WUI/64514 — If the president can protect the White House so quickly and effectively, he can order the airlift of similar protection of the place the American flag flies in Bierut — If he does not have the means or guts to defend our embassy, he should have the good grace to close it down.” FREE SQUASH* William Safire in the New York Times, September 21 MEMBERSHIPS FOR “Nothing can excuse the unconscionable AFSA MEMBERS vulnerability of our embassies from Am¬ man to Cairo. If military heads had rolled following last year’s slaughter at the Ma¬ rine compound, would American lives have been lost last week in Beirut? Unan¬ swerable, of course. That a certain tough¬ mindedness emanating down from the Oval Office would have made things vastly more secure is unquestionable." Washington Times, September 28

“The probability of another vehicular AFSA members can now play squash at the Capitol Hill bomb attack was so unambiguous that Squash Club without paying any membership or initiation there is no logical explanation for the lack fee. By simply showing your AFSA membership card, you will of effective security [at the embassy annex] pay only the court fees at Capitol Hill's most luxurious fitness Intelligence portrayed a situation where those responsible for security at facility. Located only a block from the Capitol South Metro U.S. installations in Beirut—both in stop, the Club also offers free use of changing rooms, showers, Washington and on the scene—should and saunas before and after playing squash. *There is a $20 have been on full alert and should have annual processing fee; some restrictions apply. taken every precaution possible to thwart just such an attack as occurred.” Capitol Hill Squash & Nautilus Club House Select Committee on Intelligence, 214 D Street, S.E. • (202) 547-2255 October 3

NOVEMBER 1984 23 10-25-50

Foreign Service Journal, November 1974: “The Foreign Service and AFSA both celebrate their golden anniversaries this year. The Service as the institutional dimension of U.S. diplomacy and the As¬ sociation as its human dimension have shared more than a common birthday over the years. Both experienced the isolation¬ ism of the ’20s and ’30s, the crisis of World War II, the ravages of McCarthy- ism, the vilification and ultimately the A SIGN THAT CAN vindication of the China hands, and the POINT YOUR SON burdens of Vietnam. Today, both share TO A BRIGHTER FUTURE the new challenges of America’s involve¬ ment in the ever-changing challenges fac¬ ing the international community; both share the new relationships growing out of our own rapidly evolving institutions It sits high on a hill at the entrance of “For me, the essence of the AFSA of Maur Hill Preparatory School in recent years is its conversion from a passive Atchison, Kansas. reflection of the Foreign Service to an ac¬ Maur Hill has everything an tive force generating and managing outstanding college preparatory school change in that Service The future of must have — modern buildings and AFSA and the Foreign Service should residence halls, complete athletic ) ASIAN STAMPS WANTED < properly be the subject of constant Service¬ facilities, a highly qualified faculty, We are knowledgeable &, willing buyers of all latest instructional methods and more \Asian stamps and old envelopes. We have the wide debate. The proposition that Foreign . . . . a whole lot more: ''specialized collector clientele to appreciate your Service professionals through AFSA should /holdings. help to determine that future will remain, • curriculum geared to individual Ship for an immediate fair offer. Be certain to ability 'include your phone number. Material remains I hope, undebatable." • a wide range of interscholastic and /intact pending vour acceptance; if we cannot pay^ Thomas D. Boyatt, intramural sports Vvhat you consider fair, we will return it at our AFSA President Nexpense. Respectfully, Michael Rogers ( • emphasis not only on learning how to learn, but on how to live WE BUY IT ALL! successful, meaningful lives Fair prices paid for collections, not just the cream./' Foreign Service Journal, November 1959: “There have been many discussions, • attention to growing mentally, MICHAEL KOGERS( spiritually, socially, and physically 340 Park Ave. North/- philosophical or otherwise, as to our role \\ • a special program for foreign Winter Park, FL 32789^* and objectives as an Association [One (305) 628-1120(" students wishing to learn or Member: China Stamp Society. member] pointed out that on our postcard improve in English APS BIA AAMS( forwarding the annual membership card ... we had listed at the last, as apparently of least importance, the following [mem¬ bership benefit]: ’To stand shoulder to shoulder with your colleagues and associ¬ Maur Hill can give your son ates in safeguarding and advancing the in¬ the preparation he needs to terests and standards of the professional meet the challenges ahead Foreign Service.’ This, of course, is of the of him. essence and should rightly be our first con¬ cern and privilege as members.” AFSA Annual Report

Foreign Service Journal, November For further information, write: 1934: “One of the aims of AFSA [is] ‘to Academic Dean Maur Hill Prep establish a center around which might be 10th & Green Streets grouped the united efforts of its members Atchison, Kansas 66002 for the improvement of the Service.’ (913) 367-5482 Brockholst Livingston

24 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA invites all members to attend the first in a series of lunchtime meetings at the Foreign Service Club

Foreign Policy Formulation: What Role for the Foreign Service?

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15: AMBASSADOR LAURENCE SILBERMAN

* * * THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6: AMBASSADOR MALCOLM TOON

12:00 Lunch 12:30 Speaker

The price of the luncheons is $10 per event. 60 places are available at each luncheon and reservations may be made for either or both programs by phoning Nancy Bartels at 338-4045 before November 13 (Silberman) and November 30 (Toon). Cancellations must be received 24 hours in advance or member will be billed.

NOVEMBER 1984 25 CONSTANT & CHANGING

The Foreign Service has evolved continually during its history, but it faces many dilemmas that have remained constant

BARRY RUBIN

THE FOREIGN SERVICE was established to pro¬ eign policy a low priority and something more likely vide continuity and professionalism in for¬ to create dangers than alleviate them. This, and eign policy in a complex and dangerous democratic idealism, meant that Americans never world, yet it serves a government and soci¬ really accepted the ideas of realpolitik viewed as cen¬ ety characterized by change and debate. Mediating tral to European practices and to diplomats in gener¬ between foreign problems and Washington’s methods al. Given these suspicions and doubts about the util¬ and solutions, the Service often seems in danger of ity of their craft, FSOs often faced an unsympathetic being ground up between the two. The Foreign Ser¬ public, media, and Congress. In earlier days it was vice today finds itself in the midst of a paradox: De¬ feared diplomats had succumbed to European fop¬ spite its emphasis on quality and loyalty, it is fre¬ pishness and snobbery. During the McCarthy era, quently either ignored or distrusted by the nation it FSOs were thought to be vulnerable to communism. seeks to serve. Furthermore, the Service must work Throughout the nineteenth century, the American within structures ol policymaking and personnel diplomatic service was small and divided into three management that often seem designed to limit its completely separate groups: the clerks and officials effectiveness. working in Washington; the consuls, who looked Much has changed during the Service's history; the after commercial matters and citizens’ rights abroad; diplomats of today bear little resemblance to politi¬ and the ministers and their secretaries, who ran em¬ cally connected amateurs of the last century. Work¬ bassies. The last group in particular was ruled by the ing conditions—training, conditions of employment, spoils system, and the 1883 Civil Service Act did not and job security—have generally improved, and de¬ cover diplomats. Many of the ministers were out-of¬ spite complaints of recent years, politicization of the office politicians or cronies of powerful figures; the corps through appointments and promotions is far secretaries were usually young men from wealthy fam¬ from the rule. Nevertheless, some issues have proven ilies who had no clear career plan and sought an enjoy¬ to be perennial, cropping up throughout the Service’s able stay abroad. existence. These include such topics as encroachment Certainly, nineteenth-century diplomatic labors in by other agencies, unhappiness with administrative Europe were pleasant and relatively light. Missions and personnel management, constant reorganiza¬ were only open from 10 to 12 and from 2 to 4. The tions, and debates over the merits of generalists versus diplomats had easy entry to European aristocratic so¬ specialists. In recent years, these issues seem to have ciety. Far less glamorous were the duties and perqui¬ become more acute, as the Service’s recruitment pool sites of U.S. consuls, who often worked in hardship has dramatically broadened while the needed changes posts and took their pay from fees rather than salaries, in its ethos and philosophy have lagged behind. and of underpaid government clerks in Washington. One of the most constant difficulties facing the One historian described State in 1898 as “an antiquat¬ diplomatic corps has been its troublesome relation¬ ed feeble organization, enslaved by precedents and ship with the American public and many political routine inherited from another century, remote from leaders. The distrust aimed at the Service seems to the public gaze and indifferent to it.” spring from the basic historical attitudes of U.S. soci¬ In the 1890s, as the United States assumed a more ety, which saw diplomacy as a necessary evil. In active international role and the Progressive move¬ Thomas Jefferson’s words it was "the pest of the peace ment preached the value of professional training and of the world, the workshop in which nearly all the scientific management, the best diplomats recognized wars of Europe are manufactured." Protected by ocean the need to improve the corps. Men like Henry from most foreign threats, Americans considered for- White, William Rockhill, Francis Huntington-Wil- son, and others believed that diplomacy was becom¬ Barry Rubin is a Council on Foreign Relations fellow and a ing too important to be left to the spoils system and senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Strategic dilettantes. They lobbied for a trained career service and International Studies. He has written extensively on with better pay and conditions, examinations for ad¬ U.S. foreign policy and on the Mideast and is the author of mission, and a merit system for promotions. The Secrets of State: The State Department and the Strug¬ consuls had their champion in Wilbur Carr, who gle over U.S. Foreign Policy, to be published by Oxford worked at State from 1892 to 1939. University Press in January. The personal friendship between diplomat Wil-

26 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL NF

liam Phillips and President Theodore Roosevelt Charles Evans helped the reformers get a hearing. In those days, the Hughes, who was diplomatic service was completely separate from the secretary of state home office, so when Phillips decided to return to when the Rogers Washington after many years abroad, he had to resign Act was passed, and work as a messenger before being given more called for a "New important assignments. Phillips’s influence helped Diplomacy" based begin a movement for reform, but it was not until not on divining foreign politics or World War I demonstrated the importance of U.S. court intrigues but participation in world politics that both the Executive S' on "the and Congress accepted the need for serious change. understanding of peoples" THE ROGERS ACT of 1924 marks the real be¬ ginning of a professional Foreign Service. This law standardized admissions and pro¬ duced. Recruitment, promotion, and paid home motions, as well as providing new travel leaves were suspended. President Roosevelt and many and representational allowances, a pension plan, and other New Dealers considered the Foreign Service a higher salaries. It also provided something the diplo¬ stultified, reactionary group that was unlikely to sup¬ mats had not wanted: a unified Service including the port his policies. At the same time, the Service came consuls. Admission was to be through written exams in for further neglect because foreign policy itself was on language, law, international relations, and eco¬ a secondary priority for Washington during the 1920s nomics, as well as an oral exam. The latter was often and ’30s. used to restrict membership to those of the “proper” The onset of World War II, however, again re¬ class, gender, and background. The "gentleman's minded Americans and their government of the Ser¬ club” ambience of the Service was to last a long time. vice’s importance. Between 1939 and 1945, the Ser¬ The postwar years also saw numerous attempts to vice grew from 1000 to 3700 members. FSOs played a raise the Service’s morale and improve its image. The valuable role in the struggle to win the war and in Foreign Service Institute opened in 1925, and in lec¬ diplomatic negotiations. They served in more tures there high officials tried to instill the ideas of places—including war zones and recently liberated service and well-roundedness so common in the territory—worked longer hours, and dealt with a 1920s. Allen Dulles, then chief of State’s Division of greater variety of issues than ever before. Near East Affairs, emphasized that each diplomat As foreign relations became a more visible and needed both experience and intuition, sound and ac¬ important issue, however, decisions were taken out of curate judgment, and a solid grounding in the history the hands of FSOs and even of the State Department and theory of international affairs. He should travel itself. The War and Navy departments and the presi¬ widely in the country where he was assigned—at his dent played central roles, of course, but a number of own expense—and stay away from any clandestine new agencies appeared on the scene that had a pres¬ activities. ence overseas as well as a policymaking role in Wash¬ Joseph Grew, a veteran diplomat who later became ington. One FSO wrote in disgust, “Before long our under secretary, called on FSI students in 1926 to be foreign policy will be in the hands of everybody but "a new generation of red-blooded young Americans, the State Department.” straight-thinking, clear-speaking men, whose watch¬ While the new agencies created after the war—the word is ‘service’ and whose high conceptions of integ¬ National Security Council, Central Intelligence rity, sincerity, and patriotism [are] steadily raising Agency, and a unified Department of Defense among the standards of... the honorable profession they fol¬ them—also provided the State Department with low. ” Secretary of State Charles Evan Hughes spoke of competition, the irreversible entry of the United a “New Diplomacy” based not on “the divining of the States into worldwide responsibilities made the For¬ intentions of monarchs” or “the mere discovery and eign Service more important than it had ever been thwarting of intrigues” but “on the understanding of before. FSOs were involved in whole new areas of peoples.” responsibility and needed new areas of expertise in FSOs, then, were no longer to be cultured dilet¬ intelligence analysis, managerial skills, congressional tantes but heroic professionals. Indeed, the Service relations, politico-military affairs, public and interna¬ was small, based largely on personal relationships, tional informational activities, foreign labor ques¬ and had a high esprit de corps; memories of veterans tions, and other areas. often portray this interwar period as something of a These developments meant the further expansion of golden age. This time also saw the beginning of spe¬ the Service and its activities in Washington. The cialization with the start of a corps of Soviet experts corps was opened for a special influx of war veterans— that would include such distinguished officers as 10,000 people transferred from wartime agencies to Charles Bohlen and George Kennan. the State Department. The department’s personnel Yet the idealistic phrases of FSI lecturers were often (including FSOs) grew from 4000 in 1939 to 11,000 in sharp contrast with the underhonored, underpaid, in 1946, when 40 percent of all employees were new. and understaffed realities of the 1920s. The Depres¬ By that year, 18 percent of FSOs were political offi¬ sion made matters far worse: pay was cut, the dollar’s cers, 22 percent worked on economic issues, 13 per¬ purchasing power declined, and allowances were re¬ cent on trade and commercial problems, 24 percent

NOVEMBER 1984 27 Taking off on Reds.” The rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy turned public unease this grumbling into an all-out assault on the depart¬ brought on by the ment and the Foreign Service. Although the Truman Alger Hiss case and administration tried to tighten security regulations the predictions of while defending the Service, its defense was swept the ‘‘China hands, ” away in a wave of headlined, sensationalist accusa¬ Senator Joseph McCarthy turned tions. grumblings about The Wheeling, West Virginia, speech of February the Service's loyalty 1950 that launched McCarthy’s national career and into an all out the McCarthyist era was aimed primarily at the For¬ assault on the eign Service. “The reason we find ourselves in a posi¬ department tion of impotency is not because our only powerful potential enemy has sent men to invade our shores,” he said, “but rather because of the traitorous actions of those who have been treated so well by this nation.” on consular assignments, 12 percent on information At the State Department, "the bright young men who and cultural duties, and 11 percent as administrators. are born with silver spoons in their mouths are the By taking in so many new people and responsibilities, ones who have been most traitorous.” Central in this the Service was again transformed. The traditional “great conspiracy” were FSOs like China expert John diplomatic role and elitist sensibility was diluted, Service who, McCarthy falsely claimed, had “urged while the importance of the job was augmented. Dur¬ that communism was the only hope of China.” ing the prewar era, after all, FSOs had usually only State’s immediate reaction to McCarthy’s speech been observers and reporters of events, but now they was optimistic. “Now, he will have to prove it. Then were actors, shaping policy to a hitherto undreamed we will have an end to the matter,” was a comment of extent. often heard among FSOs. But McCarthy’s supporters With this transformation also came problems, and imitators, including senators Robert Taft and many of which still exist today. One government Richard Nixon, added to the chorus. Ironically, mea¬ official said of State in 1946: “The people doing the sures had already been passed to overcome security clerical end of the work there don't have the faintest weaknesses, but their interpretation was tightened idea of the standards prevailing in the well-run agen¬ with each passing month, particularly after Dwight cies.” A New York Times article of that same year Eisenhower became president. The Loyalty Security recorded the frequent FSO complaint, “When do I Board confronted employees with gossip and rumors have time to think?” Jurisdictional disputes were which they were then challenged to disprove. Some common, and reorganizations dizzied officials. One used the security system to strike at personal rivals. FSO complained that the lack of clerical and support One FSO was charged with having associated with the staff forced officials to spend the “bulk of their time leader of the Japanese Communist Party, until he entertaining applications for...visas, passports, con¬ demonstrated that he had done so on the ambassador’s sular invoices, replying to postage stamp inquiries orders. Even when charges were dropped, such inci¬ from school children [The] fault of the Foreign dents continued to haunt FSOs, especially when their Service lies not in the type of officer but in the work names were suggested for ambassadorial positions. required of him. ” Officers and spouses sometimes avoided admitting socially that they worked at State, and officials often feared to make policy recommendations lest their MEANWHILE, THOUGH, FSOs were help¬ views be used against them in the future. ing the United States cope with the dra¬ Scars from this era stayed with the Foreign Service matic new situation of a world in which for years to come. Ironically, the very group that New it was one of the two greatest powers and Dealers had considered so reactionary was now por¬ engaged in a diplomatic and political struggle with trayed as dangerously radical. “Shall [an FSO] report the other. The 1946 Foreign Service Act raised sala¬ only what will harmonize the temper of the times,” ries, provided for “selection out,” and improved editorialized the JOURNAL, “knowing the dangers of home leave. Recognizing the need for an increasing honesty and the risk to his career and reputation?” variety of skills within the Service, it also created a The inevitable result of these unwarranted attacks was Foreign Service Reserve to mobilize outside special¬ damage to the reputations and even livelihoods of ists. Yet already a dark cloud was beginning to cast its Americans who had served their country in a far more shadow: the security scare. disinterested and patriotic way than their accusors. The greatest number of security problems, al¬ Foreign Service careers became less attractive. Re¬ though still proportionately tiny, took place not cruits might be given a presidential commission say¬ among the Foreign Service employees, but among ing that the U.S. government was “reposing special newly arrived transferees from wartime civilian agen¬ trust and confidence in your integrity, prudence, and cies that had not had systematic security investiga¬ ability” but the $57 a week paid them in 1946 (about tions. The Hiss case increased the controversy sur¬ the same as skilled blue-collar workers) did not com¬ rounding the State Department, as did attacks on the pensate for personal abuse and an uncertain future. reporting of the China hands—despite their accuracy. There were, however, relatively few dismissals, It was common in the last half of the 1940s for mem¬ most of the damage being to the spirit and promotion bers of Congress to call the department “a hotbed of chances of FSOs and to recruitment efforts. On top of

28 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL all this, funding cuts suspended recruitment from Henry Wriston, 1952 through 1954. One FSO commented at the head of the 1954 time, "If I had a son, I would do everything in my special Committee power to suppress any desire he might have to enter on Personnel, proposed merging the Foreign Service.” In a January 1954 letter to the A most Civil Service New York Times, five distinguished former FSOs positions into the warned that the obsession with security was destroy¬ Foreign Service, ing “accuracy and initiative The ultimate result is increased a threat to national security.” The Foreign Service, specialization, and George Kennan gloomily concluded, “was weakened greater beyond hope of recovery.” representative¬ If the Service was being battered from outside, the ness—tripling the situation was not altogether rosy on the inside, either. Service’s size “Managerial control is next to impossible,” com¬ plained a congressional report. No longer was the Service or the department small enough to be run on FSOs somewhat, offering them new challenges and the basis of personal relations or amateur manage¬ demanding an even wider interpretation of the “New ment. FSOs, however, resented professional adminis¬ Diplomacy.” At the same time, however, he some¬ trators of whom, said one officer, “Instead of pressing times viewed them as inimical to change. our pants they are trying to wear them.” As the corps Throughout the 1960s there was much debate and continued to be pressed by many new tasks, however, many reports about reorganizing the foreign policy it still needed more people and more skills. And with process and revising the roles of the State Department enlargement came the need for new personnel man¬ and the Foreign Service in decision-making. Nor was agement techniques. this debate limited to outside the Service—many ca¬ As a result, Henry Wriston, president of Brown reer officers were also critical of their department's University, was selected in March 1954 to head a structure and performance. For the first time, a grass¬ special Committee on Personnel. His commission roots reform effort developed, perhaps reflecting the proposed the merger of most of the Civil Service posi¬ rebellious spirit of the 1960s. The activists were tired tions, which dominated the Washington slots, into of the endless frustrations faced, as one of them put it, the Service. Managers and experts on Congress, intel¬ by "first-rate people having to operate in a third-rate’ ligence, labor affairs, and other areas would be made system.” into FSOs while officers would be given the opportu¬ In 1965 a group of FSOs formed the Junior Foreign nity to fill some of the more specialized assignments Service Club to discuss the problems of the diplomatic in Foggy Bottom. At this time, of 197 FSOs with corps. A year later, they submitted a memorandum to more than 20 years’ service, only 45 had held assign¬ the secretary of state explaining that “a feeling of ments in the United States. Midcareer entry and an professional uneasiness and uncertainty now appears energetic recruitment program would also expand the prevalent among junior FSOs which, justified or not, corps. tends to lower morale and create a climate for resigna¬ “The theory.. .that the corps should be made up of tion.” In January 1967 it called a general meeting generalists only,” Wriston explained, “was far better which drew an overflow crowd. Out of these efforts adapted to...a second-class power with a tradition of came a task force to study internal problems and isolation, than it is to the leader of the Free World.” State’s declining influence on foreign policy. This in He called for “a genuinely representative, democratic¬ turn led the administration to develop a report which ally oriented Service." Wristonization resulted in a was published as “Toward a Modern Diplomacy,” tripling of the Foreign Service’s size. Some 1400 peo¬ which recommended a more rational assignments ple transferred from the Civil Service rolls, and the policy, greater incentives for specialization, and mid¬ new order was symbolized by the appointment of FSO career tenure. At the time, however, these efforts did Loy Henderson as State’s chief administrator. not have much effect, although some did later appear in the 1980 Foreign Service Act. Later that year, leaders of the movement, dubbed WHILE WRISTONIZATION PERMITTED the “Young Turks,” sought election to the board of expansion, it may have ended up the American Foreign Service Association. After a turning the old specialists into gen¬ hard-fought campaign they won office with large ma¬ eralists. An FSO commented, “The jorities and lobbied the incoming Nixon administra¬ break-up of experienced teams of specialists and the tion for reforms. Improvements were recommended failure adequately to rebuild them [took place] within by a series of task forces set up by Deputy Under a personnel system which has now become much too Secretary for Management William Macomber, but fluid.” Contemporary studies found that only 15.8 Nixon and National Security Adviser Henry Kis¬ percent of FSOs had spent more than six years in any singer were already revising the policy process in region and that only 32 percent were in any one part quite a different direction. Given their mistrust of of the world for more than three years. State and the Foreign Service—which Nixon disliked Nonetheless, throughout the latter half of the from the early 1950s and Kissinger saw as tied up in 1950s, the Service gradually adjusted to the Wriston bureaucratic considerations—they bypassed State on reforms and morale began to recover from the McCar¬ many important issues. thy era. President Kennedy even romanticized the Within the Service, however, personnel issues con-

NOVEMBER 1984 29 Under John F. hurt her chances for promotion, but Palmer finally Kennedy, the won her case. Service recovered Even then, however, improvements were limit¬ from McCarthy and ed—between 1970 and 1980 the percentage of wom¬ absorbed the en in the Service rose from 5.3 to 11.5 percent of the Wriston reforms, as corps, from 174 of 3304 to 413 of 3581. Today, only the president about 16 percent of FSO positions are held by women. romanticized FSOs, offered new The proportion is somewhat higher among the profes¬ challenges, and sional Civil Service, and among USIA and AID per¬ gave an even wider sonnel. Even though incoming classes of junior FSOs interpretation to often have a high percentage of women, men still Hughes’s "New receive their superiors' confidence and support more Diplomacy" easily, kinder evaluations, and faster promotions. The situation is far from satisfactory; even sexual harass¬ ment remains a problem. tinued to be controversial. Wristonization had left Other rulings ordered that wives of FSOs no longer the diplomatic corps top-heavy: there were more be assessed in their husband’s evaluation reports, and FSOs over 45 years old than under 35 years old by after 1971 women FSOs no longer had to resign if they I960, and twice as many officers in the top four ranks married. State also came under increasing pressure to as in the bottom four. Promotions were slow and assign officers married to each other—tandem cou¬ many FSOs believed they were unfairly distributed. ples—to the same post or to give one of them leave One diplomat wrote, “Foreign Service personnel op¬ without loss of benefits during the tour of duty. By erations have deteriorated into arbitrary and capri¬ 1975 some 100 such teams were stationed all over the cious rewards and punishments, lacking essential ele¬ world; a recent report identifies well over 200 such ments of due process in grievance procedures. Gossip couples. circulating in secret channels among management of¬ The Service’s racial composition was also changing. ficials determines careers.” During the Carter years, blacks and other minority A tragic demonstration of this problem was the groups were given five-point advantages on the entry suicide of Charles Thomas, an FSO with 19 years exam. Of 200 new FSOs accepted in 1979, 39 were experience who, failing to win promotion, was “se¬ minority group members, and a sizeable portion were lected out” at the age of 45. Arguing that his records women. Yet, a 1983 U.S. Commission of Civil had been misread and misplaced, Thomas spent two Rights report noted, “Minorities and women current¬ years trying to win a review. Unable to collect a ly are almost totally absent from top appointed posi¬ pension or earn a living, he took his own life in April tions, other than ambassador, at the State Depart¬ 1971 to make it possible for his wife and children to ment.” collect a government annuity. The embarrassed State White male FSOs are often bitterly critical in pri¬ Department gave his widow a job and promised that vate about the alleged quality of female and minority in the future no one with long service would be termi¬ colleagues, arguing they were hired or promoted to nated before being eligible for a pension. Congress fill quotas and not on ability. The best women and posthumously restored Thomas to active service. minorities, they say, generally quit to take better Bitterness about such treatment produced a near- opportunities outside the Service, leaving the less- revolt against administrators and inequitable griev¬ qualified behind. The shrinkage of available high- ance procedures. “People are afraid to argue with their level jobs has contributed to this resentment among bosses,” said one FSO, “because, if they do, it will be senior male officers. Women and black FSOs argue reflected in their next efficiency report.” Publicity that such private comments reflect bias at State. They and the possibility that Congress might legislate new attribute resignations to poor assignments, bad treat¬ regulations forced the department to improve griev¬ ment, and slow promotions. These attitudes may well ance procedures, including granting the right of FSOs disappear as the Service community adjusts to such to seek corrections of inaccuracies or prejudicial state¬ changes, but another issue may well be more signifi¬ ments in their files. cant. Diversifying the recruitment pool inevitably broadens department culture and introduces people who may be more inclined to question, hold different DURING THE 1960s and ’70s, the Foreign Ser- perspectives, and stress other priorities. Yet the State kvice also fell prey to pressure that its com- Department has a record of discouraging, rather than I position in terms of sex and race should rewarding, such independent thinkers. more closely reflect that of the American Of all the political issues of this period, none had populace it represented. During the 13 years after greater impact on the Foreign Service than the Viet¬ 1957, the percentage of women in the Foreign Service nam war. While FSOs were told a Vietnam tour actually decreased, standing at 5.3 percent in 1970. would help their promotion prospects, one top official FSO Alison Palmer filed the department’s first sex who later studied the process concludes that it actual¬ discrimination case in 1971 after three ambassadors to ly slowed down advancement. About 600 FSOs African states refused to accept her as a labor officer. served in Vietnam, about half of them as part of the She received a letter from an Equal Employment Op¬ pacification program that was nominally under AID portunity officer warning that a high department offi¬ control but in practice was guided by the military cial expressed “apprehension” that the protest might command. Some FSOs sent to Vietnam were relative-

30 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL ly untouched by the experience; others faced personal Lannon Walker, dilemmas over whether to report atrocities, dissent on president of AFSA policy, or take the safer path of going along. They in the late 1960s, split sharply on their attitude toward the war, but led a group of officers called the everyone saw the distortion and suppression of infor¬ “Young Turks’’ mation and statistics, hardly the best experience for who pushed the teaching FSOs to be honest reporters. After the Cam¬ Service to exert bodia invasion, dozens of FSOs sent Secretary of State greater control over William Rogers an unprecedented petition of protest. its destiny and won Rogers refused a White House demand for the names several reforms in order to protect their careers. eventually In recent years, the Foreign Service has also had an embodied in the increasing number of its high-level positions taken by 1980 act political appointees. The Service had always faced the frustrating problem of political appointees’ filling many ambassadorial positions. During the Carter and Washington. “While life in the Foreign Service is Reagan adminstrations, however, this was com¬ stimulating and has undeniable rewards of personal pounded by the tendency of the White House to growth, travel, and international friendship,’’ said appoint more and more nongovernmental foreign Leslie Dorman, former president of the Association of policy professionals—academics, think tank analysts, American Foreign Service Women, “we experience journalists—to important jobs at State and the NSC. the alienation of culture shock, the isolation of lan¬ Some FSOs—like Anthony Lake, Richard Hol¬ guage inadequacy, the hazards [of] climate and en¬ brooke, Richard Moose, and David Aaron—quit the demic disease, the trials of evacuation, and the perva¬ Service only to return at higher posts than colleagues sive fear of terrorism. ” Between 1968 and 1978, there who had remained. As a result of these developments, were 252 attacks on U.S. diplomats or property many senior FSOs were left walking the halls without abroad, culminating in 1979 with the taking of the assignments commensurate with their skills. U.S. embassy staff in Teheran as hostages. Since then, diplomacy has become an even more dangerous busi¬ ness, with Foreign Service personnel increasingly the A GENERALLY BRIGHTER NOTE was represented victims of kidnappings, bombings, and shootings. /\ by the 1980 Foreign Service Act, which The hostages became national heroes, and their provided a new pay schedule, mandatory plight drew the Foreign Service closely together. For a -JL retirement at age 65, and a tenured Senior brief time the public seemed aware of the dangers Foreign Service. It also revised promotion and reten¬ facing American diplomats and seemed to support tion standards bases on performance, provided bonus their efforts. More recently, the bombings of embas¬ pay for outstanding service, and made grievance pro¬ sies in the Mideast has refocused public attention on cedures slightly more favorable to the career staff. the dangers they face. Whether the sympathy this has The act also allowed for the commissioning of cer¬ aroused will be enough to overcome traditional public tain AID and USIA employees as Foreign Service distrust of the diplomatic corps is still unknown. officers. Previously, the personnel systems of those The Service may be facing a rather discouraging two agencies had reflected their ambiguous position future. Increasing skepticism on the part of incum¬ within the foreign affairs community. Although most bent administrations as to whether diplomats will USIA and AID employees did serve both in Washing¬ accept their policies has led to greater reliance on ton and abroad, they were usually specialists focusing alternative agencies and staffs, such as the NSC. This on such subjects as information or agriculture, not has been accompanied by a steady decline in top-level generalists concerned with diplomacy. Their relation¬ jobs available to career officers. Yet, the Service is not ship to the Foreign Service changed constantly, as did sitting still, accepting such a gloomy prognosis. A their designations, from Civil Service to Foreign Ser¬ variety of exchange programs—with Congress, the vice reserve or information officers, and again to other Defense Department, business, universities, and oth¬ various terms. All too often, those in the diplomatic er sectors—have been initiated so that FSOs will have corps tended to view these USIA and AID employees opportunities to gain experience in new areas and the as mere technicians whose role and position was not to broader perspective demanded by decisionmakers. be confused with their own. The 1980 act, however, Mythology to the contrary, the Foreign Service has seeks to integrate them into the Service and make gone through many changes during its history to ad¬ them subject to the same benefits and risks as the just to developments in domestic and international diplomats. Whether this union will be successful is politics. And it must continue such evolution if it is to still far from clear, for many obstacles must be over¬ remain a vital part of the foreign policy process. Many come to make the system compatible with the needs of the central issues lacing the Service—the strains of of both specialists and generalists. Yet, whatever the personnel and management systems, the challenge of result, the commissioning of these new officers does other agencies, the need to continue attracting talented represent a significant broadening of the Service. recruits, the distrust of the executive branch—are At the same time, though, there were new dangers hardly new, even if they do seem more concentrated and problems for FSOs and their families, especially now. Yet the history of the Foreign Service demon¬ those serving abroad. Spouses of FSOs, many with strates that, despite all the difficulties it has faced over their own careers, were becoming reluctant to leave the years, it has survived and improved.

NOVEMBER 1984 31 How CAN THE FOREIGN SERVICE REMAIN EFFECTIVE FOR THE NEXT 60 YEARS?

I DO NOT BELIEVE the Foreign Service THE FOREIGN SERVICE is a constructive needs to be unduly concerned about its and powerful force in the conduct of future. In a nation where policies foreign policy, a result of an effective change with administrations every four selection process and a dedication and to eight years, a professional corps of consistency of performance that is in a U.S. foreign policy custodians is essen¬ class by itself. All of us who have had tial. If the Service did not exist, it the privilege of working closely with would have to be invented. The need the Service are of this view. My hope is for the group’s existence is not negated that in the years to come even greater by the contention that our political progress will be possible and that the leaders do not pay adequate attention to most capable young people in the coun¬ Richard Helms its advice. One reads that Foreign Ser¬ William P. Rogers try will continue to be attracted to the Former Ambassador vice morale is poor because an adminis¬ Former Secretary Service. Former Director, CIA of State tration does not provide it with enough I have one suggestion. Too often ambassadorships or high positions in State. Such debate leaks to the press and careless conversation on the part tends to be feckless. It is a service organization; its of a few convey the impression that the Foreign Service highest goal should be service to our country. The is not totally reliable and that special care must be Service was not founded to direct U.S. foreign policy taken to control the flow of information to protect and no one is likely to change our domestic-oriented against unauthorized disclosure. If leaks, and particu¬ political leaders or the way they formulate their ideas larly leaks about the administration which it serves, and policies. In short, the Service has a bright future if could be eliminated or sharply reduced, the effective¬ it does not mistake its mission. ness and standing of the Service in the years ahead In addition, I would like to see greater attention paid would be enhanced. On balance, though, the U.S. in the Foreign Service to more education and deeper Foreign Service is the best in the world, and if it contin¬ involvement in the understanding of other religions ues effectively to meet new challenges it will continue and cultures, like Islam. FSOs learn Arabic, but the to be the best. depth of comprehension about things Islamic can be substantially improved. THE MISSION of the Foreign Service is to carry out the policies and programs of AT THE RISK of appearing to take a the president and his appointees faith¬ gloomy, perhaps curmudgeonly, view fully and competently. To do so in the of the future of the Foreign Service, I crucial years ahead, career supervisors can only note that it must prove, far and the political leadership must pos¬ more effectively than it does today, that sess management tools which permit its members represent a uniquely capa¬ them to reward good performers. A ble, dedicated, and resourceful group of sound performance-appraisal system is men and women who bring special indispensable to this end. An opti¬ skills and experience to serving our mum performance-management sys¬ country. Does a Service which, as the tem will include policy-driven criteria, current bids reflect, finds Dublin, Donald J. Devine especially when dealing with officers Charles Whitehouse Capetown, and Valetta the most desir¬ Director, OPM who perform work at senior levels. The Former AFSA President able posts meet these criteria? Does a performance-evaluation system should provide manag¬ Ambassador, Retired Service in which a steadily growing ers with the information about how well those under number of officers serve abroad without their spouses them are carrying out official government policies. meet these criteria? Does a Service in which assign¬ How effective will the Foreign Service be in the 21st ments are made through an elaborate mating dance century? I am optimistic. The trend throughout the meet these criteria? I think not. To my mind, very federal government, as well as in private industry, is to significant attitudinal and societal changes will be re¬ improve performance-management techniques and to quired if the Service is to remain an effective force or refine performance-appraisal systems. This is conducive even to exist at all. to creating higher morale, greater monetary rewards for superior performers, and improved accountability to the American people whom we serve.

32 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL I CAN CONFIRM your assumption that IT IS DIFFICULT to predict what the For¬ the Foreign Service is currently effective eign Service needs to do to remain an in the development and implementa¬ effective force over such a long stretch of tion of U.S. foreign policy. As we face time as 60 years, and I won’t attempt to the future, however, the big question is do so. For the immediate future, how¬ whether the Foreign Service will evolve ever, there are some serious problems as dynamically as the international en¬ that must be addressed. vironment in which it operates. Major among these is the need to The key words for the future are high rethink and rationalize our diplomatic technology, multilateralism, and eco¬ representation abroad. The current nomic interdependence. Bilateral rela¬ structure of our embassies follows the tions will always be important, but established norms for a diplomatic mis¬ George P. Shultz most new problems overflow national Richard K. Fox Jr. sion, but our interests and our objec¬ Secretary of State boundaries and straddle domestic and Ambassador, Retired tives are unlike most other countries’. international affairs. The complex issues of technology The increasing involvement of domestic government transfer, international debt, and terrorism are current agencies in relations with foreign governments has led, cases in point. FSOs should consider broadening their in recent years, to the increasing fragmentation of the horizons as much as possible. Assignments outside Foreign Service. areas of specialization, outside the department, and It is now time for a study, commissioned at the indeed outside of government will be extremely valu¬ highest level of government, of what representation we able to officers who will face difficult issues in the high- need, for what purpose, and how it is to be provided. tech, electronically fused world of the year 2000 and The study should not be influenced by the parochial beyond. interests of any agency or department but guided by the Increasingly, government will have to work closely need for effective and efficient coordination and direc¬ with the private sector to achieve foreign policy objec¬ tion of our relations with other nations. If not done, the tives. The Foreign Service will have a unique role in Foreign Service faces an uncertain future, and even bringing the best assets of both to bear on the continu¬ more serious, our foreign policy runs the risk of increas¬ ous process of pursuing U.S. interests around the ing incoherence in direction and management. world. Foreign Service officers and specialists must ex¬

pand their horizons to develop and maintain the neces¬ AN EFFECTIVE Foreign Service must re¬ sary skills and intellectual mobility. flect what we are as a nation: a people dedicated to the dignity of the human To REMAIN EFFECTIVE for the next 60 spirit, open to change, proud of our years, the Foreign Service should strive ethnic diversity, setting an example in to set ever higher standards of profes¬ commitment to our beliefs. To do so, sionalism and dedication, and the Con¬ . A we need to be relevant, responsible and gress must encourage and help the Ser¬ resourceful, and proudly representa- vice in this quest. tive- The Service must seek constantly to Relevant-' Relevance means a stron¬ increase the number of officers who ger awareness than has been our record speak needed foreign languages. More L. Bruce Laingen to date of the currents of change, both emphasis must be placed on achieving Vice President, National at home and abroad. It means a Service Defense University , , , , higher language skill levels and on whose analysis and reporting is alert Charles H. Percy Chairman, Foreign maintenance of those skills. and perceptive enough to have an impact in Washing¬ Relations Committee The Service must recruit the best ton. candidates—highly intelligent persons Responsible? The Foreign Service in a democracy willing and able to serve under difficult and dangerous must evidence a deep sense of responsibility to the conditions abroad. But we must be willing to pay what public will, reflected in our elected political leadership. it costs to attract and keep them. But we should also be known as an idea-oriented Ser¬ The Service must deal with the professional interests vice, ready to take risks, rather than the keepers of of its members’ spouses. We do not want a Service of conventional wisdom. separated families—it would not be sustainable over Representative? A Service dedicated to elitism in the next 60 years or project adequately our American professional competence must reflect as well the diver¬ values of family and home. sity and freedom of opportunity of our country. And it Finally, each administration must responsibly must be seen to represent those values of our society choose only well-qualified political appointees. There that have made us strong, not least that of family and of have been many superb political appointees named for the contribution that the spouse has traditionally made high State Department and ambassadorial posts, but to an effective Foreign Service. others have not had the background or experience for the job. The Foreign Service has problems but they are man¬ ageable. 1 am sure that the Service will improve upon its already distinguished record of dedication and achievement over the next 60 years.

NOVEMBER 1984 33 IN THE YEARS AHEAD, the Foreign Ser¬ THE FOREIGN SERVICE, as the profes¬ vice must adapt to major additions to sional diplomatic corps of our democra¬ the diplomatic agenda. Our record in cy, must be responsible to the Ameri¬ this is not good. Our traditional view of can people. Its effectiveness depends on diplomacy as essentially political did the attitude of its political masters, the not prepare us to assume roles in devel¬ American people and their elected rep¬ opment and information in the post¬ resentatives. war years. Our inability to convince The Foreign Service will have the re¬ others of our dedication to trade lost us spect of its masters if it, first, serves and the commercial function. Political is perceived to serve the United States. leaders’ doubts regarding our sensitiv¬ If it appears to be serving its own ends, David D. Newsom ity to domestic currents have seen us Theodore L. Eliot Jr. it will lose respect and hence effective¬ Dean, Fletcher School Former Under Secretary bypassed in foreign policy. ness. for Political Affairs of Law and Diplomacy Already we have many new agenda Second, the Service must be profes¬ items: arms control, transfer of high technology, allo¬ sional in the implementation of foreign policy. Profes¬ cation of radio frequencies. Others lie ahead in poten¬ sionalism means both expertise and loyalty. There is no tial conflicts over transnational data flow, the availabil¬ room for those whose performance is less than excellent, ity of positions in space, the impact of outer space nor for anyone who publicly criticizes approved policy. development on national sovereignty, and the implica¬ At the same time, FSOs have a duty to dissent in house tions of biotechnological innovations. The Foreign Ser¬ when they disagree with policy. vice must begin to develop officers who understand If it remains dedicated to service and professional¬ technology and speak the language of the technicians. ism, the Foreign Service is likely to be used and heeded If not, others will replace us who can. in both the implementation and formulation of foreign Perhaps only after one has been out of the Service for policy. It is the responsibility of senior officers to instill a few years does the awareness dawn of how isolated the these qualities in their juniors and to measure their Service is, immersed in its own pressures, concentrat¬ performance by these criteria. It is also the responsibil¬ ing on other societies, and rooted in the protection of ity of AFSA, especially if it is truly to be a professional traditions and turf. Presidents and political leaders may not wait for such a traditional service to catch up. They will look elsewhere for the help they need. It is time for IN AN ERA of accelerating change, fore¬ the Foreign Service to prepare itself to be responsive to casting the future is particularly risky the needs of the future. and depends on the assumptions one makes. Assuming that George Orwell ONE OF THE major recent changes af¬ was wrong, the world in the next cen¬ fecting the Foreign Service is the tury will continue to be organized po¬ heightened participation of Congress in litically on the basis of a multiplicity of foreign policymaking. I believe this nation states. Thus nations will need trend will continue for the forseeable cadres of professionals to conduct their future. This means that the Foreign relations, both bilaterally and through Service will inevitably become more in¬ the multilateral institutions. volved in “public diplomacy”—or at The Foreign Service will be as valu¬ least in the public articulation of poli¬ able then as it is today. The adaptabil¬ cies developed in, and promoted by, ity of FSOs, their ability to interpret Foggy Bottom. A rational and convinc¬ the United States to the world and that world in turn to Dante B. Fascell ing public defense of the State Depart¬ the U.S. government and people, and their devotion to Chairman, Foreign ment’s positions will become impera¬ the ideals of public service will remain resources of Affairs Committee tive. unique value. In recent years, the Service’s isolation from the legis¬ But these qualities alone will not ensure that the lative domain has been breaking down. More and more Service can continue to assist the president and the mid-level FSOs have served in exchange programs with secretary in the formulation and conduct of the nation’s the Congress and have become directly involved in foreign policy. The more complex the foreign affairs congressional testimony. This enhanced contact and agenda becomes, the more acute will become the chal¬ communication between two branches of our govern¬ lenge we already face today—how to provide senior ment means that future FSOs will have to be more than decision-makers with both the functional and area ex¬ researchers, drafters of cables and policy papers, and pertise of the specialist, and the broad, conceptual per¬ able negotiators: They will have to become effective spective needed to understand and manage the interre¬ advocates of executive policies and programs. Selection lationships of our national interests and priorities. How and promotion procedures should reflect this new and well we succeed in developing human resources to do added requirement. both tasks will in large measure determine the role that Administrations, it is said, have varying programs the Foreign Service plays in 2044. and policies, but nations have permanent interests. The Foreign Service needs to develop public recognition of, and support for, its basic and continuing mission— which is to defend and promote the U.S. interest abroad, in the fullest sense of that term.

34 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL THE FOREIGN SERVICE has always THE YEAR 2044; it gives one a feeling worked under difficult conditions. of awe, just as it must have given our Over the past 60 years, U.S. foreign predecessors in 1924 to contemplate policy has veered from isolation to in¬ 1984. Even the most far-seeing could terventionism, from unconcern about not have anticipated the consequences the world to attempts to remake it. The of the explosion in technology that had proper balance between morality and then just begun to emerge. Thus it is prudence has not always been found. not given to us today to foresee what Throughout these tumultous decades, the next 60 years will bring, though it however, one fact has been confirmed: stretches credulity to imagine that the The Foreign Service is essential to the pace can be as fast. Alexander M. Haig Jr. achievement of our international objec¬ U. Alexis Johnson One thing is certain: if humanity Former Secretary tives. Former Under Secretary survives on this planet, political struc¬ of State for Political Affairs Today the role of the Service is even tures and foreign affairs will still be more important. Events abroad affect us whether we moved by people acting and reacting with each other. like it or not because we live in an interdependent This is what the Foreign Service is about. Our people world. There must be continuity to U.S. policy— are our only asset, and we must devote increasing atten¬ changing administrations cannot repeal history or ge¬ tion to them. We must increase our capability to un¬ ography—and the decision-makers need expert and im¬ derstand and anticipate the changes that science and partial advice. technology are bringing to human relations in finance, Over the next 60 years, many things will change, economics, politics, and military affairs so that we can but these circumstances will not. The Foreign Service be ahead of the curve instead of frantically trying to can be effective only if its members are true to their catch up. We must also better develop our domestic calling. They are the guardians of America’s historical constituency to give our citizens and political leader¬ memory; they are the educators of public officials; they ship confidence that our objective is the protection and are the executors of the national will. If every FSO will promotion of the interests of this country in their larg¬ weigh his or her actions against these criteria, then I am est and best sense. If we are successful we should regain confident that the Service will be most influential in that primacy in foreign affairs under the president to shaping U.S. diplomacy. which we should aspire.

THE FOREIGN SERVICE needs to retain IN 2044 the Foreign Service will no and enhance its professional integrity, longer exist. All ambassadors will be creativity, and courage as well as be m politically appointed, mostly Buick recognized by the president and his sec¬ dealers under Republicans and minor¬ retary of state for its vital role in devel¬ ity college professors under the Demo¬ oping and carrying out the nation’s for¬ crats. In a strange twist offate, male Ivy eign policy. League WASPs will be a distinct mi¬ The Foreign Service officer, in order nority and so will “man” more ambas¬ to serve his country effectively, must be sadorships than at any time since 1955. able to think of his profession and ca¬ Ministers counselor will report directly reer as a vocation rather than as a mere to their power bases. The MC for com¬ Hans N. Tuch job. This does not, of course, mean that Thomas D. Boyatt mercial affairs will report to the Ameri¬ Counselor for he shouldn’t enjoy his work nor that he Former AFSA President can Chamber of Commerce; the MC for Public Affairs, Bonn Former Ambassador has to take himself overly seriously. In labor to the AFL-CIO; the MC for in¬ return for the officer’s individual commitment, he must telligence will belong to the national security adviser, have equal opportunity to rise to the top in the career fulfilling that official’s long-cherished dream of having and must not be discriminated against by the president his own Foreign Service. The Civil Service will have for reasons of political consideration when ambassado¬ absorbed the Foreign Service corps, and remaining per¬ rial appointments are made. Neither is the case today. sonnel with foreign experience will be managed in al¬ The nation’s citizenry and particularly its political ternating years by OPM and OMB. Presidents and representatives must be convinced that the Foreign Ser¬ foreign ministers will directly carry on diplomacy, vice is an indispensable element of the U.S. govern¬ thanks to undreamed of communications and Star- ment that can be depended upon to perform its mission Trek-like beam-up transportation. Unfortunately, with integrity, patriotism, and excellence. world leaders in 2044 will not understand each other any better than they do today, and tomorrow’s high tech will still be down half the time. Small wars will be plentiful. If you think these musings are apocryphal, whimsi¬ cal, or facetious, reconsider. The question before us is what the Foreign Service needs to do to remain an effective force for the next 60 years. The beginning of the answer is to realize that the real battleground is bureaucratic and institutional. AFSA is uniquely posi¬ tioned to lead the fight and merits the full support of all of us.

NOVEMBER 1984 35 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ISSUES are To BE EFFECTIVE in the future, the For¬ growing in complexity, and the pace of eign Service must, as it has been, be technological change is ever increasing. informed, able, responsible, and dedi¬ To deal effectively with the world of cated and it must make a better effort to tomorrow, the Foreign Service will hone its scientific skills. But this is not need to be even more superbly educated enough to ensure an effective Service. than it is today. This is particularly The Washington body politic must true for AID officers who must help have a more enlightened appreciation of developing countries relate to the in¬ the essential ingredients of an effective creasing economic opportunities afford¬ foreign policy process. We need a rec¬ ed by new scientific knowledge and ognition by our political leaders that rapidly evolving technology. Only by the recent excessive politicization of the M. Peter McPherson effectively transferring technology will Malcolm Toon Foreign Service has damaged our image AID Administrator we be able to raise growth rates dra¬ Ambassador, Retired abroad immensely. It disturbs me to matically in the least developed countries and spread note the unwarranted suspicion by our elected leaders of prosperity and progress to all the world’s nations. the loyalty to a newly incumbent regime of the seasoned AID’s future leaders will need to be experts in technol¬ professionals who have served a previous administra¬ ogy transfer. Further, all elements of the Foreign Ser¬ tion. Such an attitude prevents that degree of continu¬ vice must ensure, on a sustained basis, the career oppor¬ ity in our foreign policy which will command the loyal¬ tunities necessary to attract and hold top-of-the-line ty of our allies and the respect of our adversaries and, in professionals. the process, ensure some degree of stability in this In summary, there is no way to predict specific needs turbulent world. 60 years into the future, but one thing is clear: life will As long as the principal emphasis in appointments is become more complex. If we have adaptable, top-qual¬ on political and ideological reality rather than on in¬ ity people, they will be able to take advantage of formed competence, and as long as professionals in high change, and they will ensure that the Foreign Service positions lack the guts to contest this regrettable remains an effective force. trend—as has been the case in the recent past—I cannot be sanguine about the prospects of either the formula¬ I SEE NO CIRCUMSTANCES in which a tion of an enlightened and responsible foreign policy, trained, professional Foreign Service nor of its implementation by an effective, respected will cease to be relevant to the protec¬ Foreign Service. tion and advancement of U.S. security interests. Those who feel that such a — THE BEST HOPE for having an effective Service is an anachronism, a holdover w Foreign Service in the next 60 years lies from the past, are dead wrong. ' in persuading the public that the diplo¬ The Foreign Service is totally depen¬ matic profession is just that—a profes¬ dent upon the quality of its people: sion. their political acuity, their knowledge Too often we hear that technological of history, their patriotism, their famil¬ advances in transportation and commu¬ Ronald Spiers iarity with other countries and cul¬ nication have diminished the impor¬ Under Secretary for Management tures, their managerial abilities, and all tance of the Foreign Service, since deci¬ the other skills required to manage sions can go right to the president or his U.S. foreign relationships. It is the most competitive close advisers. But these advances have institution in the country. Charles McC. Mathias also made professionalism and compe¬ The Service today faces difficult challenges, but they Senate Foreign tence in the Service more critical than Relations Committee can be met. Violence and terrorism threaten us daily. ever. Consider only this fact: for the Some of our important skills have been reduced beyond first time in history, two nations have it in their power the point of safety as a result of budgetary restrictions to destroy each other as well as the rest of the human combined with rising consular and administrative re¬ race. Managing such a potentially destructive relation¬ quirements. Societal changes, particularly the role of ship calls for the most competent and sophisticated spouses, present difficult conundrums. Our resource diplomats this nation can produce. Moreover, manag¬ base needs drastic improvement to improve our capa¬ ing East-West relationships may prove less difficult bility to serve the country's political leadership. Our than managing North-South strains or the complexities recruiting and training need improvement to bring the of economic interdependence. best Americans to this Service and ensure that they Obviously, we cannot let the Foreign Service become increasingly reflect our society’s composition as a a dumping ground for political cronies or unqualified whole. We must seek innovative thinkers unafraid to individuals, and morale problems in the Service must tender objective advice but prepared to follow the be resolved if the best talent is to be attracted. The instructions of our political superiors when they are national interest will be best served by strengthening given. In short, the Foreign Service must modernize the Foreign Service in the years ahead. No one is better itself and its outlook in a variety of ways if it is to do the qualified to relay that message than the Foreign Service vital job that our countrymen demand of us. itself.

36 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL THE PROBLEM, as I see it, is not what IN THE NEXT CENTURY, satellites, fiber the Foreign Service needs to do to re¬ optics, computers, and other electronic main an effective force in the next 60 wonders will transform our society and years, but what the United States gov¬ affect our relations with the world. The ernment needs to do to the Foreign Ser¬ most remote posts are now as accessible vice to give it that possibility. This, in as the principal capitals of the world, my opinion, would be to return to the and the State Department agenda has sound principles of the Rogers Act of grown far beyond the traditional social, 1924: to make the Foreign Service—a political, and economic issues. Now, at highly selected and unashamedly elite the United Nations and the Interna¬ body of professionals, held to high stan¬ tional Telecommunications Union, we dards of discipline, performance and debate whether satellites will be per¬ George F. Kennan deportment, but respected according¬ Leonard H. Marks mitted to broadcast radio and television Ambassador, Retired Former Director, USIA ly—a self-administering service, to be programs to neighboring countries. At entered only at the bottom and by strict and impartial UNESCO, we argue about the principles of a New World competitive examination. Information Order. At OECD, questions arise about The Foreign Service should not to be confused with tariff restrictions on data traffic. the various bodies of technicians and specialists that are These problems will become more complex as the involved in other capacities in the external relations of web of interdependence impinges on local sovereignty. our government, and it should be quite immune to To meet this challenge, the Foreign Service officer will political manipulation. It would be desirable that it be need training in the technical aspects of communica¬ regarded as the normal and primary, though not exclu¬ tions to sort out the significant policy questions from sive, source of appointment to ambassadorial positions the clutter of megawatts and kilohertz. and to senior positions in the Department of State, The recent ITU conference on high-frequency broad¬ these latter to include, incidentally, the position (yet to casting demonstrated that State is aware of the impor¬ be established) of a permanent under secretary of state, tance of communications issues. Government agencies on the British pattern, wholly divorced from political and private-sector interests came together in a delega¬ affiliation or influence. tion which functioned harmoniously and effectively. I hope this experience will set the standard for the future. OVER THE NEXT 60 years the Foreign Service will have to meet growing chal¬ IF THE FOREIGN SERVICE is to remain lenges to maintain a leadership role in effective in the conduct of foreign rela¬ foreign policy. tions, it must become more relevant to We must continue to provide a solid, the tasks at hand, and it must regener¬ professional Service capable of analyz¬ ate a strong sense of community. ing foreign policy issues with acuity The Service has too often down¬ and defending U.S. interests with played its own importance and, as a steadiness and skill. In the last decade, consequence, either lost functions to the Service has become more represen¬ others more willing to do them—as for tative of the U.S. population; this trend example, commercial representation Michael H. Armacost should be encouraged, within the con¬ abroad, and educational and cultural af¬ Under Secretary text of our traditional high standards. William I. Bacchus fairs—or become less influential—as in for Political Affairs Foreign Service We also need to work harder to pro¬ Personnel Specialist international scientific affairs or foreign mote a better understanding of the Service among the assistance. The Foreign Service, to sur¬ American public. vive, must equip itself to carry out changing responsi¬ At home our task will be to give direction to foreign bilities or it will become irrelevant, limited to tradi¬ policy yet remain sensitive to domestic concerns. tional reporting, consular work, and housekeeping Abroad, we must actively champion American values abroad for other agencies. and interests but not yield to ethnocentrism. The Foreign Service must also remain a community Developing state-of-the-art management, particu¬ in the face of growing internal tensions. It must simul¬ larly of our human resources, will enable us to handle taneously accommodate, for example, the interests of the rising demands on the Service. The Service should single professionals, of those with families, and of tan¬ reward creative thinking and expertise, and preserve dem couples. As more spouses seek recognition and incentives through a true merit system. employment, this must not have negative results for Meeting these challenges with vigor and courage the careers and status of members of the Service. If the will be necessary to attract and retain the quality of interests of any one group can override those of others, Foreign Service officers necessary to maintain our tradi¬ the result on esprit de corps will be devastating. With¬ tion of excellence. out high morale, the Service will simply be unable to cope.

NOVEMBER 1984 37 MODERN DIPLOMACY requires trained THE FOREIGN SERVICE must modernize and disciplined professionals willing to procedures constantly as electronic in¬ adapt to changing environments, ac¬ struments become more effective tools. cept new risks, and relentlessly seek This should result in a reduction in staff new paths of understanding among na¬ size; lean embassies work more effi¬ tions, Thanks to modern technology ciently and present fewer security prob¬ and the ease of global communications, lems. Yet personnel factors will remain we are in a new age of diplomacy. Our crucial. FSOs should be well-informed increasingly interdependent world and constantly learning anew; should places new demands on our society. The report perceptively and clearly; should Foreign Service is our advance guard for make recommendations that command Daniel A. Mica initiating our response to these pres¬ Seymour M. Finger respect because of their soundness and Subcommittee on sures and for cementing our alliances. It Director, Bunche Inst. clarity; and should have the courage to International Operations Ambassador, Retired must help us to maintain our flexibility challenge the establishment viewpoint. and yet lend continuity to a foreign policy which might (Implied here is the continuation of selection out and change with the political cycle. early retirement procedures, providing an exit for the To sustain the Service, we must ensure its attractive¬ discontented, the stultified, and the frustrated.) ness as a career to highly qualified individuals, focus on Our relations with the U.S.S.R., China, Western the demands of modern family life, reward distin¬ Europe, and Japan will continue to be crucial, as will guished service through merit promotions, and provide those with Third World areas of strategic and economic ample opportunity for promotion. We must also ensure interest. The Service must maintain a high level of the safety of our officers and their families overseas. respected expertise in these areas. And international Given the fast pace of technological change and its organizations must play an increasingly important role effect on the international community, we must inte¬ if we are to avoid nuclear holocaust, ecological disaster, grate better a knowledge of science and technology and famine and to optimize the use of outer space, the with traditional foreign policy expertise. The Foreign seas, and the seabeds. This means a higher priority in Service must be equipped to formulate policy with a U.S. policymaking for those organizations and making view to technology if it is to be the primary source of sure our representatives and their staffs are effective. U.S. foreign policy guidance in the modern world. IF THE FOREIGN SERVICE is to sustain IN THE NEXT 60 years, even with desk¬ its influence and responsibility in for¬ top television contact with foreign offi¬ eign affairs and public policy, it must cials, there will be a need for a strong meet stiff competition from other agen¬ corps of foreign affairs professionals. cies. The Foreign Service will not be The U.S. public and political leader¬ competitive unless it can provide poli¬ ship will probably continue to with¬ cymakers with four things: hold full support for this corps, but the •Professional expertise: The Foreign Foreign Service can act to obtain a seri¬ Service must develop greater strength ous hearing for its views. It can increase on politico-military, economic, and its expertise through a far more devel¬ technical and scientific issues. It must oped program of training, including a Kenneth W. Dam reward functional expertise. much expanded Foreign Service Insti¬ Deputy Secretary •Strategic thinking: The Service of State Jonathan Dean tute of recognized top standing, and must demonstrate its ability to place Ambassador, Retired through an improved assignment sys¬ the welter of daily events into a larger, strategic con¬ tem which avoids both overspecialization and excessive text. spread. It can cultivate institutional solidarity and mu¬ •Courage and discipline: FSOs must have the self- tual aid, getting more out of its human resources. It can confidence to present informed views to policymakers engage in a more determined outreach program. and then dedicate their best efforts to carrying out the Most importantly, the Foreign Service can seek to policies decided upon. The emphasis must be on service transcend classic limitations of bureaucracy by system¬ to the president as America’s elected leader, and loyalty atically encouraging intellectual openmindedness and to his programs. creative thinking. To survive as a viable, useful institu¬ •Knowledge of domestic context: FSOs must deepen tion, the Service cannot limit itself to the traditional their understanding of the linkage between domestic functions of the expert—implementing and advocating and foreign policy. In framing recommendations, the policy and educating political leaders in foreign affairs. Service must take into account the political sense of our Instead, it must try to rise to a higher level of expertise nation and forcefully project our principles and values. and disciplined imagination, learning to tell the politi¬ An increasingly sophisticated, responsive, and com¬ cal leadership through creative policy alternatives how prehensive handling of foreign relations will be de¬ it can move toward fulfilling its desires, realistically manded in the future. The Foreign Service must con¬ taking account of pitfalls and difficulties. It will be an tinue to demonstrate its competence and reliability if it absorbingly interesting, demanding task. is to take the lead in formulating and implementing foreign policy.

38 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL THE FOREIGN SERVICE has only one as¬ FOREIGN SERVICE officers past and pre¬ set—its people. To remain effective sent can be proud of the professionalism over the next 60 years, more work must with which they have represented U.S. be done to maintain the current high- interests abroad, a tradition which quality FSO corps. In the face of declin¬ must be jealously guarded. To continue ing attractiveness of government as a to be effective, however, FSOs must career, the increasing role played by stay in touch with what Americans con¬ other agencies in foreign affairs, and the ceive their country's interests to be. mounting personal disadvantages in Given their rigorous academic train¬ living overseas, the Foreign Service ing and extensive travel and service must run harder to stay even. Not only abroad, Foreign Service officers are gen¬ Frank C. Carlucci erally assumed to be more progressive Chair, Commission must we address such issues as pay, on Assistance benefits, and working conditions, in¬ than the average private citizen. In fact cluding greater opportunities for work¬ I am convinced that right now the peo¬ ing couples, but we must come to grips with the seem¬ ple are ahead of their government in many areas of ingly intractible obstacles to maximum performance foreign policy. during the last two decades: mission definition, a more A majority of Americans, for example, favor the rational allocation of personnel resources, and an orga¬ negotiation of a mutual and verifiable nuclear freeze. nizational structure that clarifies lines of accountability Similarly, a majority oppose a policy of military inter¬ and responsibility. ventionism in Central America and support initiatives The good news is that foreign affairs is becoming toward finding economic and political solutions for the more central to our country’s interests, indeed even its problems plaguing the region. Finally, most Ameri¬ very survival. The president can and should look to the cans support continued and increased U.S. involvement Foreign Service as his instrument to orchestrate our in the United Nations and other international organiza¬ foreign policy resources. No recent president has fully tions. accepted us in this role, but future presidents may find In these instances and others, official U.S. foreign the need overwhelming. Let’s position ourselves to take policy is, or is dangerously close to being, out of step advantage of the opportunity when it arises. The first with the thinking of the American people. Our foreign priority is to get our own house in order. policymakers must take this thinking into account or they will lose the vital public support without which— THE FOREIGN SERVICE should strive as we learned to our infinite sorrow in Vietnam—no above all to maintain its identity. It foreign policy can succeed. lays no claim to an independent hierar¬ chy, but it would wish certain things to CONVENTIONAL WISDOM has offered be understood. The Service should be complaints about the Foreign Service recognized as the channel of official and cited its low morale as long as I can communication with foreign states and remember. Mid-level and senior officers as the agency which transacts our gov- at the the Foreign Service Institute of¬ — _ ernment’s business and protects U.S. ten voice concerns about the Service. interests abroad. But judging from their spirit and abili¬ The Service contributes to the mak¬ ty, the Service is alive and healthy and ing of foreign policy and consequently will be around for a long time. If it did Jacob B. Beam believes it merits a recognized role in not exist, we would invent something Ambassador, Retired the process itself. It has been bypassed just like it. often in the handling of national security and arms Stephen Low Abroad, the Service is highly re¬ control. These areas seem to have become the preserve Director, FSI Former Ambassador spected for its dedication and compe¬ of a new establishment which has already usurped too tence. In hard languages it probably much of the high ground of diplomacy. compares favorably with any diplomatic service in the The preservation of the career principle is another world. Yet this high regard is not shared at home. matter of consequence. The Service should welcome the Because the Service’s effectiveness is crucially depen¬ addition of new skills which it lacks, such as the effec¬ dent on its credibility at home, our efforts should be tive presentation of its case. It is vulnerable, however, directed toward enhancing our expertise and profes¬ to inroads upon its membership abetted by well-known sionalism—the elements which can strengthen respect. outside pressures. We must deepen our language, area, and functional Fortunately, the Foreign Service can count on many competence and keep our officers at their jobs long good friends, including satisfied businessmen and con¬ enough to be able to take advantage of their expertise. cerned members of Congress. The academic communi¬ Professionalism goes beyond expertise to cover the rela¬ ty also relies on the department’s research, much of it tionship between the professional and the client who, based on Foreign Service input. in our case, is primarily the policymaker. Our profes¬ sionalism can turn an administration’s policies into workable programs if a relationship of trust can be established. But we must take care to hold up our end of this trust and confidence. Members of the Service have been too willing to blame others for past lapses of confidence in this relationship.

NOVEMBER 1984 39 THE FOREIGN SERVICE should be guid¬ IN MY TIME AS SECRETARY, I was im¬ ed by four basic principles. First, rigor¬ pressed, as I believe every secretary of ous standards must be maintained to state has been, with the caliber and ensure that those entering the Service dedication of the Foreign Service. are exceptionally intelligent, well in¬ Coming from a career in politics, formed, and fully prepared to accept however, I was sensitive to the com¬ the discipline and rigors of Foreign Ser¬ plexity of domestic and foreign policy vice life. The majority should enter at and to the special problems the diplo¬ the lowest grades, but a small number matic professionals face in reconciling of particularly able or specialized indi¬ their own perceptions with the changes viduals should be admitted in the mid¬ in current policy as administrations dle grades. Edmund S. Muskie change. The Service today suffers Second, the Service should regard it¬ Former Secretary from the impression which, fair or not, of State self as more like the military than the is held by presidents, by many in Con¬ Civil Service. It should foster a strong sense of esprit de gress, and by the public, that its members give more corps, loyalty, and dedication so that presidents will attention to foreign interests than to the affairs of the appoint more career officers to ambassadorial and equiv¬ United States. In the years ahead, the Foreign Service, alent posts. without itself becoming political, must find an effective Third, the Foreign Service must give higher priority way to demonstrate to political leaders and the public to career opportunities abroad for spouses. A vigorous what those who have worked with it know well: its effort to arrange, on a reciprocal basis, opportunities for dedication to the interests of the country and its indis¬ spouses to work in the local economy without losing putable professional capacity to project and protect diplomatic status would be a useful first step. those interests abroad. Finally, because of the growing interest of diverse agencies in foreign affairs and the increased relevance of BE RELEVANT and have the courage of domestic issues to foreign policy, the Service should your convictions. expand its program of assignments outside the State Department. In particular, it should press for greater representation in the office of the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs and on the Na¬ tional Security Council staff.

To REMAIN EFFECTIVE, the Foreign Service must continue to be made up of first-class people. In order to attract the best, sound and adaptable policies must Jodie Lewinsohn be followed regarding recruitment and Deputy Associate Director, VSIA examination, adequate financial re¬ wards must be provided, and construc¬ MASS COMMUNICATION has made pub¬ tive solutions found to family problems lic opinion a vital element of foreign and the role of spouses. Junior officers policy. The Foreign Service should rec¬ should be involved early on in the sub¬ ognize this by redirecting its energies stance of foreign policy. The Service and talents to influencing the media Walter J. Stoessel Jr. should remain separate and distinct, and the public on issues affecting the Former Deputy with high standards for promotion United States. By becoming active in Secretary of State based on merit. Every effort should be shaping public opinion, our overseas made to ensure that appointments to top posts are also missions would see their authority with based on merit and qualifications. host governments enhanced. Natural¬ Demands on the Foreign Service will change with ly, the approach to this challenge must the times. We must have officers who are familiar with differ from country to country, but the the international aspects of technological issues, tele¬ Evan Galbraith constant goal should be to promote and communications, space, and environmental concerns. Ambassador to France defend the United States and its poli¬ The Service must be equipped to deal with military cies. A higher public profile will carry the risk of occa¬ matters, trade, and economic questions, imposing new sional mistakes, but this is an acceptable risk that is far demands on the selection process and the training of outweighed by the rewards. FSOs. The ambassador should play the key role in this Lastly, a comprehensive program should be aimed at effort, but many elements of the mission must be in¬ informing the public about the Service and encourag¬ volved. A shift of focus in this sense also implies inter¬ ing political leaders to see and rely on the Service for nal changes for the Foreign Service personnel system. what it is: a professional, loyal corps of men and women Recruitment, training, assignment, and promotion composing an essential element in the conduct of U.S. should all be adjusted to take account of the increased foreign policy. need for a public role.

40 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL “If you don’t have guts, I don’t care if you get to be secretary of state—you’re not a success”

MAKING THE SYSTEM WORK: THE POLITICS OF GUTS

AN INTERVIEW WITH LAWRENCE EAGLEBURGER

From 1982-84, Laurence Eagleburger served as under else—tend to define success by the title you put in secretary of state for political affairs. Prior to that, he was front of your name: have you been an ambassador or assistant secretary of state for European Affairs and from will you be an ambassador; that is more important 1977-81 served as U.S. ambassador to Yugoslavia. He is even than being an assistant secretary or anything of now president of Kissinger Associates. that nature. And under that definition, there’s a limit to how many people can be successful. By what standards should we judge modern For¬ Let me try to give you what I think are the impor¬ eign Service officers? How would you define a tant qualities as they would fit with a number of “successful” FSO? different definitions of success. The first is intelli¬ There are several kinds of success in the Foreign gence—not necessarily brilliance, but you’ve got to Service, and we should not necessarily be bound by have a questioning mind. Second, you have to be able one definition. I believe that when you can go to to express yourself well, both in writing and orally. somebody who has spent most of his life in one coun¬ I'm sounding like an efficiency report, but I think try or one region, and you know the advice you get is both intelligence and communications ability are im¬ based on 20 to 25 years of experience and good judg¬ portant, because you can know everything there is to ment, that person is successful—whether he ever be¬ know about a place but if you can’t say it or write it so comes an ambassador or an assistant secretary. that somebody else can use it, it’s of no use. These Now, whether he thinks he is successful or not, attributes are essential to success but they by no that’s a different question. We in the Foreign Ser¬ means guarantee it. Assuming that somebody can vice—and I was as much a victim of this as anybody express himself well and is intelligent, the single

NOVEMBER 1984 41 “You’ve got to most significant quality is guts. And if you don’t have they also understand that any institution has to func¬ be able to that, in the last analysis, I don’t care if you get to be tion as such. secretary of state—you're not a success. translate The trick of any effective manager in the State Department is to take those qualities and try to mold intellect into What do you mean by guts? them into something that is as close to that golden action. And The willingness to tell your betters that you think mean of intelligent and disciplined as you can get. you can’t do they’re wrong—and why. The willingness to say that But, on the other hand, if you have too much disci¬ that if you to a congressional committee with the cameras on pline you end up accepting anything. If I had my can’t make the you. The willingness to tell people what you think, druthers, what I’d like is the zip and challenge of even if that will hurt your career or get you in trouble. system work” authority from the generation of the 1970s, but a Not whether you’re willing to stand on a street corner greater sense of the needs of an institution. in the middle of a revolution as bullets whistle around your head. That’s not the kind of guts I’m talking In Foreign Policy of last summer, R.G. Living¬ about. ston described you as being everything a classical Guts, in my view, is a quality hard to find in the diplomat is not: operational rather than analyt¬ Foreign Service, partly because we’ve beaten it out of ical, outspoken rather than discreet, venture¬ people over time. At the same time, you have to have some rather than cautious, and more attuned to the guts, after you've had your day in court and lost, domestic politics than interested in other coun¬ to salute and march off and do what you’re told. 1 tries’ politics. Do you agree with this assessment don’t consider it guts to then persist in the argument. of yourself and the implication that this is what You can’t run a system that way. So you've got to be made you advance so far? Is his assessment of the prepared to do things you don’t necessarily believe in Foreign Service as a whole accurate? unless they are so morally abhorrent that you can’t— Let me take the second half first. I think that im¬ and under those circumstances you should resign. plied stereotype of the Foreign Service is not accurate. I think it once was, but precisely the things we have You recently said that many FSOs have more guts just talked about have substantially changed that. than when you entered the Foreign Service, and What we haven’t tested, because we haven't had time, that you think this is a good thing, but that with is the degree to which the institutions of the Foreign so many people challenging authority it has be¬ Service and the Department of State will squeeze out come difficult to manage a coherent, effective of those younger generations the imagination as well foreign policy. Then you said that the youngest as the indiscipline. And one of the things that has officers are becoming increasingly “more dis¬ bothered me about the Foreign Service and the State ciplined, perhaps less imaginative.” Which is Department is that we discourage the development of better, gutsy imagination or discipline? the right kind of imagination and spirit, so I can’t say Obviously the best of all is imagination and disci¬ the generation of the 1970s won’t be a group of cream pline. I came from a pretty conservative university puffs by the time they’ve been in the Foreign Service generation, not conservative politically but in accept¬ 20 years—although I suspect not. ing the system. When I talk about comparing the I think the stereotype of at least middle levels down generation of the Foreign Service officers who came in is not correct. And, as far as Gerry’s description of in the 1970s with mine, we look at life a lot different¬ me, the person least likely to be able to judge that is ly because of what we grew up with. the person talked about. The 1970s generation, coming from the turmoil of Vietnam, had learned to challenge authority in ways Do you think some of those described character¬ we would never have contemplated. They brought a istics are more important, operational rather than lot of zip and verve and imagination, and questioning analytical, etc.? of things everybody had taken for granted. And it is You need both. The operator who isn’t analytical good to question in the Foreign Service because, by can make horrible mistakes. The analyst who isn’t the very nature of the institution we work for, it is operational is largely irrelevant. As institutions, the easy to fall into the trap of simply doing it because Foreign Service and the State Department—and that’s the way it’s been done. That generation didn’t you’ll notice I keep talking about both because, al¬ let that happen. though there are differences, both need these same What some of them also came in with, though, qualities—those institutions need a mix and our ten¬ along with a willingness to challenge authority, was an dency, as a Foreign Service, is to try to define success unwillingness to accept authority. You cannot run an on far too narrow a base. institution like the State Department or the Foreign Service, and you cannot serve the purposes of the In our July/August issue, Barry Rubin of the Cen¬ government of the United States, if you can’t translate ter for Strategic and International Studies main¬ intellect into action. And you can’t do that if you tains that in the government’s foreign affairs ap¬ can’t make the system work. paratus, how a decision is made is usually more What I think we’re seeing now is a natural reaction important than its merits in terms of eventual to the post-Vietnam era, which is a more, shall I use adoption. Is it enough for an FSO to provide the word? steady generation of college students, not advice and expertise, or is the ability to manipu¬ as prepared to accept authority and tradition as my late the bureaucracy even more important? Will generation, but certainly more so than the post-Viet- this become increasingly so in the future? nam generation. They may be less imaginative but It is at least as important. But this is not a State

42 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Department or Foreign Service problem—it’s a prob¬ There is no doubt that this is politicizing the For¬ “When an lem of modern-day bureaucracy. It’s also a problem in eign Service to a degree. You have to weigh that every administration American business. What you need is an institution time against the golden mean of a Foreign Service that comes in that is politically uninvolved and is there only to give made up of a lot of people who both know the sub¬ disagrees with stance and have the know-how to move the decision. advice. The question is, Which way do you get a more In my generation, there was a pretty strong view effective American foreign policy? If the Foreign Ser¬ the views you that the Foreign Service, if it was to remain apolitical, vice is what it says it is—a source of great expertise on have been had to be there to give advice and then you sort of foreign affairs—then that source has to be prepared to articulating, folded your notebook and sat back. If that was true, it act reasonably to forward the policies it espouses. But you may have just as you can be too withdrawn from the process, was also unfortunate. If your advice is to mean any¬ to pay the thing you’ve got to know how to make it have an you can be too deeply engaged. There has to be some impact on the decision-making process. One of the balance. price” idiosyncracies of our Foreign Service is that it is sec¬ I don’t normally like to talk personally, but the one ond to none in understanding the processes of foreign thing I do feel pretty good about is that, while I have governments, but not its own. my own political views and have never been afraid to tell people what they are, at the same time I’ve been So you would argue that if the Foreign Service largely successful in being able to serve several differ¬ plays a more aggressive role in the policymaking ent kinds of administrations. I therefore think it can process and works more in the bureacracy, it will be managed. be abandoning an ideal of disinterested profes¬ A Foreign Service officer sent out as the head of a sionalism? negotiating team may or may not believe in the nego¬ No. You are still disinterested if, having given the tiating instructions, but he carries them out. And if advice and having it accepted by your immediate he’s the right kind of fellow, he carries them out to the superiors, you are also then capable of having it be¬ best of his ability. It could well be that the agreement come government policy. Any other kind of disinter¬ he finally reaches becomes a political issue with the est is counterproductive. You’ve got to be prepared to other party. Do you therefore take the FSO out of that take on those who disagree with you in open and kind of responsible job because he may have to pay a sometimes rough arguments. But you’ve then got to price for it? If you’re going to follow the principle of accept responsibility for the decisions you have helped keeping the Foreign Service from being involved in make. disputatious issues to its extreme you take the Foreign The traditional advice has often been that, if you’re Service out of almost everything other than sitting going to be disinterested, you give the advice and there in an ivory tower and giving advice that nobody then step back—avoiding having to pay the price for pays any attention to. Once you get into the business having given it. And that I don’t respect. But that of negotiating you are automatically in the position of does mean that the Foreign Service becomes more espousing positions which some later politician may politicized. oppose.

When FSOs reach advanced and highly visible This administration has been criticized for the levels, they often speak before the press and can number and quality of its political appointees. As become publicly identified with certain issues. under secretary, were you satisfied with the pro¬ Can’t that hurt them when a new administration cedures for ensuring that political appointees are comes in that disagrees with that policy? For ex¬ qualified and in appropriate positions? How does ample, Malcolm Toon has told us that your close the right of the president to appoint his own association with Henry Kissinger damaged you people fit with the needs of a career system that during the Carter administration. needs high-level positions as an incentive? Up to a point. They still appointed me as ambassa¬ I've never been satisfied with the appointment dor to Yugoslavia, which is where I wanted to go. The process, except maybe when I was deputy under secre¬ answer to that question is terribly difficult because tary for management and ran it. At that point Henry both sides of the argument are right to a degree. Let’s Kissinger was having a tremendous influence on who put it on a different ground than association with was and was not appointed, but that depends very Kissinger or Dean Rusk or whomever. If, over the much on the relationship between the secretary and course of the last four years you’ve been out arguing the president. That particular time in American his¬ the administration’s line on arms control, for in¬ tory was certainly atypical. stance—as you should, whether you believe it or The argument always ought to be much less over not—and the administration is defeated and some¬ the number than over the quality of appointments. body else comes in with a different view, you may well I’ve seen some people appointed to embassies where, end up paying the price of advocating a view that the no matter how hard I searched, 1 couldn’t figure out new administration simply doesn’t accept. what qualities they had that uniquely qualified them For the senior FSO in a highly visible position, to be ambassador to that country. That’s not peculiar that’s part of the baggage you carry with the job. to this administration. On the other hand, I have seen Though you should be doing that articulation not in a the Foreign Service fuss around about appointments partisan way but in terms of the substance of the which were in fact of pretty good quality. So I think issues, a new administration that substantially disa¬ both sides are to some degree guilty. grees with the views you have been articulating may In the last analysis, it gets down to satisfying both force you to pay the price. the right of the president to make appointments and

NOVEMBER 1984 43 “Promotions the needs of the Service to have a rational personnel priate languages? Does it make sense to transfer aren’t system. There is no pat answer. The Constitution officers to completely different continents after necessarily gives the president the right to appoint whomever he they have developed expertise in another region? may choose, subject to the advice and consent of the The answer to all of the above is yes. As far as given to the Senate. And that is a right and a responsibility that no languages are concerned, there are never enough offi¬ right persons. president will easily give up. But how do you recon¬ cers. But within the constraints of a budget and a I’m not cile that with the need for quality ambassadors, secre¬ personnel system that needs people in certain slots on impressed by taries, assistant secretaries, and so forth? I don’t occasion, the American Foreign Service is probably as the promotion know. We have not done it well in the past. well trained in languages as any other—or better. David Bruce was as superb an appointment as you And this from a society that is less likely to be bilin¬ system” can find. And I could name a number of others cur¬ gual than many European countries, for instance. rently at posts: Arthur Burns in Bonn and Mike We’ve not only not done badly—we've done pretty Mansfield in Japan, for example. 1 just don't think well. you can find better people. There are, unfortunately, Training in general, though, we don’t do very some others whom I shall not name that 1 wouldn’t well. There are reasons for that. Most FSOs don’t put in the same category. want to be trained because it takes them out of the Though the president has the right to pick whom competition while they’re off at school. That gets you he chooses, sensible people in the White House and in back to whether there is something wrong with the the personnel system would also recognize that in the whole promotion system. God knows there is, but it last analysis the president is judged, among other is also partly because FSOs tend to think about get¬ things, on the quality of his foreign policy, so if you ting into that next job and getting a good efficiency get a real jerk in a job, he’s not going to help the report. Unlike the military, our promotion system president get reelected. And I’m talking about any doesn’t give much in the way of additional benefit for president. So 1 guess we will have to count on the training. instinct for political self-preservation. We do have a real training problem. It has to do Unfortunately, we have never as a nation found the with things like training officers at an early enough right mechanism for making these kinds of appoint¬ stage to be good managers. By and large, we are not ments. Nor am I sure that we ever will, although good managers, partly because we don’t have the something akin to the way the American Bar Associ¬ chance to manage people or programs until we’re well ation rates nominees for judgeships might work. If it along in our career. Training in itself is not going to got started, maybe then it could be made to last, solve that problem. recognizing that presidents always are going to want But there is a real need for additional training. And to appoint some of their friends or some of the people my sense of it is that the under secretary for manage¬ to whom they are beholden for getting elected to some ment, Ron Spiers, is working very hard on that. jobs abroad. But the issue must become one of qual¬ Last, it is true that if you spend all your time in one ity, not of quantity. area you can find that that causes a certain professional deformation. So it can make sense to train officers in Would it be logical for AFSA to take this func¬ an area and then move them somewhere else—but not tion, as an analogue of the ABA? all the time. The foreign policy of the United States is No, because I don’t think it is an analogue of the global, not simply European or African or Latin ABA. This is not an insult or an attack, but AFSA is American. You do need regional and functional ex¬ not the fount of all knowledge on foreign affairs. It is a pertise, but also an understanding that a problem can part of it, but it is largely the representative of a party be related to a number of other issues, and that there¬ to the dispute, and 1 think it’s got to be broader than fore the answer isn’t always as simple as it looks. that. Are promotions being given to the right people? AFSA has protested Reagan administration ap¬ Not necessarily. I’m not particularly impressed by pointments in regard to both quality and quanti¬ the promotion system, and I think there are lots of ty. In ambassadorial appointments, for instance, things that need to be done. On the other hand, given the Association says the number is the greatest the constraints that must pertain to any governmental since the Kennedy administration. Do you agree system of promotion, we do better than most. In one with this assessment? sense, however, the military does better: there is an 1 can’t say it’s the worst since the Kennedy admin¬ honorable career ending at the rank of colonel. I find istration. I’m not qualified to make that judgment it terribly difficult to understand a system that per¬ and I’m not at all sure AFSA is either. In most of the mits a relatively large number of unassigned senior cases where I have seen AFSA protest—and I haven’t officers to wander around for a year or two with no looked at all of them—I have thought AFSA was jobs. That’s a reflection on the system, but it’s also a right. But don’t ask me about how many; 1 don’t reflection on the people. At some point both the know. system and the person have to fish or cut bait, but I don’t think we have learned to cope with that psycho¬ If we could move from the quality of political logically or institutionally. appointees to the quality of Foreign Service offi¬ cers—do you believe that FSOs are adequately Do you think that the Foreign Service will contin¬ trained to carry out their jobs and, in particular, ue to be able to attract top-quality people? are enough officers sufficently trained in appro¬ Your question implies that it now does. By and

44 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL large the Foreign Service does recruit good people, less. In terms of day-to-day decision making, the “The Service usually very good people, but whether they are “top- Foreign Service is the single most influential element. should be quality” people I’m not sure. But it is by no means the only one, and on some big less of a Will the Foreign Service continue to do so? My issues it can get knocked aside. It’s very much a closed society. suspicion is yes, because what we have attracted in the question of the character of the secretary of state. We are, after past and what we will continue to attract are people I think Henry Kissinger would be the first to admit who are enamored of the kind of life. They come into that when he was national security adviser, the de¬ all, not the the Service not because of the salary but because it’s partment was pretty well out of the operation. When only source of exciting, it’s interesting, you get a chance to live he became secretary, State was critical to the decision¬ wisdom on abroad. On the other hand, and this will make a making process. To me that says that the single most foreign policy” difference, you also get shot at more than you used to. important factor in the influence of the Foreign Ser¬ One emerging problem that bears on this is the vice is the character of the secretary and the president working-spouse issue. We re going to have to come to and the relationship between the two. And that has grips with that. As you know, my wife, Marlene, has nothing to do with the Foreign Service, whether we been active in this area, and the more I’ve watched the are all geniuses or idiots. debate and the discussion the more I am convinced it There are often unseen areas in which State and the can become a major problem. The question of terror¬ Service have influence: even in the days when the ism, assuming it stays at about the level we’ve come department was on the sidelines, the National Securi¬ to expect, or whether you live overseas or in the ty Council staff had a large number of FSOs. And the U.S.—I don’t think those will be anywhere near as influence on the decision-making process from indi¬ destructive of a system as our inability to come to vidual officers was still pretty high. And, most impor¬ grips with this question of how you deal with spouses, tant of all, a great deal of foreign policy is the conse¬ male or female. quence of little decisions made day by day—how cables are answered, for instance. Foreign policy, over According to press accounts, you left the highest time at least, is the accumulation of a lot of little career position because you were entering a peri¬ decisions. And those are handled day after day, year od of heavy financial obligation to your family. after year by the Department of State and the Foreign What does that say about the personnel system, Service. particularly the current administration’s attacks The Foreign Service sells itself short on how much on its retirement elements and other compo¬ influence it has because, on a particular glamorous nents? issue at a particular time it didn’t get its day in court. I left for a number of reasons, one of which was When that happens, it has a real right to complain. clearly financial. But I will also tell you right now But, in the last analysis, the Foreign Service has far that you will never convince the average American more impact on the policy process than we give our¬ that $70,000 a year is not a lot of money. It is politi¬ selves credit for. cally unrealistic to expect that senior FSOs will ever be paid what they think they’re worth. It just won't What do you think the Foreign Service should do happen. to maintain its effectiveness? It is true I've got two boys to educate, and that’s The first thing is to find some way to be a little less expensive. It is also true that I think the Foreign of a closed society. We’re too smart for that. We talk Service life over a period of time puts a lot more to each other too much and therefore on occasion pressure on the financial situation than a sedentary life become a bit narrow in our view of ourselves and the in Keokuk, Iowa. But it’s a choice I made. And I world. That is the Foreign Service’s single most diffi¬ don't regret a minute of it. In addition, without that cult problem. We are, after all, not the only source of 27 years my ability to go out and make money some¬ wisdom on foreign policy. where else would be substantially less. The Foreign Service must fight hard for adequate How would you work to overcome that? compensation and for the right benefits. But we One of the best things that’s ever happened to the should never argue that we should be paid as much as Foreign Service was the Pearson amendment. The our equivalent in the American business community more officers look for ways to get out of the system for because it’s not going to happen. The reason I left was a while, and into the Congress, the Defense Depart¬ that 27 years was enough. Too many people don’t ment, or whatever, the better for the Service. The know when the time to leave has come. Foreign Service and AFSA should fight to expand out- of-department assignments. Some people would argue that over the last two administrations the department and the Foreign Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the next Service have played much less of a role in the 60 years of the Foreign Service? formulation of foreign policy. If this is true, how Optimistic, because I have long since come to the can it be regained? conclusion that the country can’t get along without a I’ve heard that argument for years. In my early days Foreign Service and therefore it’s not going to try. I’m I was not in a position to judge, but later I found that convinced of that. We do have to fight all of these the Foreign Service is by no means the only, but is questions we have discussed as they come up day after certainly the single most important, influence on for¬ day because attrition can simply kill us. But by and eign policy decisions, and that hasn’t changed. large, I have no real concerns at all about the Foreign Sometimes it has a greater influence, sometimes Service because the nation needs us. D

NOVEMBER 1984 45 A FOREIGN SERVICE FILAMENT

The JOURNAL has helped bind the Service together, but its mission—like that of the Service itself-—has often been poorly defined

SMITH SIMPSON

Men that look no further than their outsides, think health have missed something in life. A compilation of “the an appurtenance unto life, and quarrel with their constitu¬ best of the JOURNAL” would give a deep and immedi¬ tions for being sick; but I, that have examined the parts of ate insight into the many-sided profession we have man. and know upon uhat tender filaments that Fabrick adopted. It would also provide a continuing boost to hangs, do wonder that we are not always so.—Sir Thomas Service morale and sense of mission, adding some Browne (1605-1682) binding cement to a constantly fractured and frag¬ mented calling. After its founding in 1924, the JOURNAL went NE WHO LOOKS NO FURTHER than the con- through four stages. The first, from 1924 to 1929, O when Henry L. Stimson was secretary of state; the 1 temporary outside of the FOREIGN SER- f VICE JOURNAL thinks of it simply as a second from 1929 to the New Deal; the third, from magazine, a mere appurtenance of the the New Deal through World War II and the Foreign Service. But one who carefully examines its insides Service Act of 1946, down to 1971; and the fourth, over its 60-year span is impressed by how much more from Executive Order 1 1636 to the present. Each it is than that. It is not only a vehicle of thought with stage has its own credentials; each places its own respect to U.S. foreign relations, and, more particu¬ distinctive stamp on the magazine; each reflects a larly, overseas experience, but a means of expressing different role and Service contribution. professional perspectives. It thus serves invaluably as one of those tender filaments joining Foreign Service officers to one another, to the foreign affairs agencies, IN THE ELECTION YEAR of 1924, the congression¬ and, to some extent, to the American public and its al agenda is jammed and congressmen are impa¬ congressional representatives. tient to get back to their districts. Nevertheless, The JOURNAL provides an instrument for probing the Rogers Act miraculously makes its way inside the diplomatic establishment and diplomacy through the labyrinth of Capitol Hill and is approved itself, revealing the other filaments upon which our by President Coolidge. Consular and diplomatic ser¬ diplomatic fabric hangs—especially that never-end¬ vices are legislatively fused, an American Foreign Ser¬ ing “quarrel with our constitution” we call "low mo¬ vice Association replaces the Consular Officers Associ¬ rale” and “lack of a sense of mission.” But a review of ation, and from a disappearing American Consular its 60 years is also a pleasurable experience. Ties with Bulletin emerges an American Foreign Service Journal. old friends and acquaintances are renewed. The think¬ all in a matter of months. To legislate the merging of ing and experiences of colleagues oft heard of but the services is one thing; to achieve it is another, never met are brought into focus. The reader becomes especially when the diplomatic officers want no part of more sharply aware of those with a genuine profes¬ it. The JOURNAL will assist the long process by bring¬ sional spirit, for these are clearly among the contribu¬ ing the two groups together in a common enterprise, tors. Brought to light are the remarkable but un¬ but at the beginning, its staff of eight, four on the known careers of diplomats like Roy T. Davis, who so editorial and four on the business side, is divided won the hearts of Costa Ricans that when he left they equally between consular and diplomatic officers, and lined his railroad route. These men and women have they are clearly labeled as such, an indication of the been lost from the view of diplomatic historians but struggle fusion will face. nevertheless served their country and profession well. The staff consists of officers on active duty who Moreover, those who have not known the charm of must squeeze the magazine into long, busy days and a poem by Mariquita Villard (July 1935), or the nights, for the department, as always, is understaffed. warmth of an essay by Walter F. Boyle on the quali¬ Since consular officers have had a Bulletin for five years ties demanded by representational responsibilities and acquired a publishing skill, the first editor is (January 193 1), or who are unfamiliar with the erudi¬ Felix Cole, a consular officer associated with the Bulle¬ tion of Henry L. Deimel’s articles on the New Deal tin. When he is transferred overseas four years later, his successor is a retired consul general, Augustus E. Smith Simpson, a retired Foreign Service officer, is the Ingram, and one can almost hear the sigh of relief that author of Anatomy of the State Department and The a fulltime editor has been found. The third editor, Crisis in American Diplomacy. Herbert S. Bursley, who succeeds Ingram in 1935, is

46 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL tion. They also fear being swamped by a much larger October 1924. corps—in January 1924 there were 128 diplomatic Volume one, officers to 518 consular—and therefore concentrate on number one, an their careers. Furthermore, diplomatic missions are attempt to “be grossly understaffed, leaving little or no leisure for inspirational and not educational" writing. Consular outposts, on the other hand, are while “rigidly often less overwhelmed and lack the frenetic social excluding activity that devours the leisure of diplomatic officers propaganda and serving in capitals. They are also often in regions that articles of a provide the local color and unusual experiences so tendentious nature" commonly missing in the cosmopolitan environment of diplomats. A psychological factor may also contribute to this consular monopoly. The well-tailored diplomats gen¬ erally have well-tailored intellects, while the consular officers seem to care less what colleagues may think of their published material. Consular officers are less vulnerable to corridor gossip in assignments and pro¬ motions, since Wilbur J. Carr, the father of the merit service, exerts his considerable influence to screen out the favoritism that still plagues the diplomatic frater¬ nity. All of this leads to what one letter writer calls “a constitutional timidity” among the diplomats. If, however, the consular officers dominate the fea¬ ture articles, the diplomatic contingent has its in¬ also from the consular ranks. The diplomatic officers nings in social reporting: Washington receptions and are obviously not interested in the job, perhaps for dinners, golf and tennis tournaments, and the migra¬ fear of exposing themselves in so conspicuous a posi¬ tory comings and goings of officers on assignment and tion or perhaps because they are just not interested in vacation are profusely chronicled, sometimes filling the magazine. four pages in an almost fawning tone. We even learn At any rate, the JOURNAL avoids controversy like that Margaret Hanna, a high ranking civil servant in anathema, as the first and only staff editorial points the department, has had her hair bobbed. When simi¬ out: “The main purpose of the JOURNAL will be inspi¬ lar news is solicited from overseas, the pages of social rational and not educational, and personality will be chit-chat expand. “Ambassador Fletcher,” runs one at a premium in its columns. Photographs, the light item, “is often on the links of the Cosmopolitan Club touch in the narrative of experiences, and personal at Acqua Santa, near Rome, and is considered the best items will be constantly desired.” The first masthead player of the club.” warns that “Propaganda and articles of a tendentious nature, especially such as might be aimed to influence legislative, executive, or administrative action with THIS SOCIAL TONE gives a completely false respect to the Foreign Service, or the Department of view of diplomacy and diplomats, inciden¬ State, are rigidly excluded from its columns.” tally undermining the efforts of those trying For a long while, signed articles come only from to persuade Congress and the American consular officers. They describe horseback rides public that the Foreign Service is the nation’s “first about Mexico City, big game shooting in Algeria, the line of defense,” and should be appropriately funded. first steamboat on Lake Geneva, Easter in Seville, and The JOURNAL seems completely oblivious of this and gastronomic predilections around the world. These is clearly getting in the way of the Service it is intend¬ are generally lead articles, not an entertaining dessert ed to serve. after serious professional fare, and so the magazine has After six or seven years, consular officers in the field something of a National Geographic flavor. Other ma¬ begin to protest against so much “frivolous material.” terial is of an in-house nature, reporting the assign¬ They couple their complaints with requests for lists of ments of Foreign Service officers and others serving interesting books, reviews of professionally oriented abroad, describing congressional activity affecting the works, and other such germane publications. As for Service, and supplying amusing anecdotes relating diplomatic officers, either they are not reading the chiefly to illiterate visa applicants, and, of all things, magazine, take the fluff as normal, or are not about to poetry. contest an editorial policy they believe reflects a de¬ For years, the diplomats virtually boycott the partmental point of view. The staff responds quickly JOURNAL, as far as contributing signed articles is to these demands but seems handicapped by a paucity concerned. One is at first inclined to explain this of talent. A few civil servants in the department con¬ consular monopoly by supposing that the Bulletin had tribute lists of “Books I Have Read Recently and a backlog, but the phenomenon endures far beyond Found Interesting.” G. Howland Shaw is the only that possibility. There are also frequently repeated Foreign Service officer who contributes to this effort. pleas by the staff for contributions. The diplomats’ Later, one or two full-length reviews appear—again dislike of the Rogers Act and anything associated by civil servants. with it, such as the JOURNAL, may be one explana¬ Regardless of its limitations and deficiencies, the

NOVEMBER 1984 47 JOURNAL by this time constitutes a vehicle of com¬ tract enough really competent candidates to be able to munication among a diffused, globally scattered Ser¬ keep up a rigorous standard. So year by year, there is vice, expressing common interests and loyalties and, taken in a greater or smaller proportion of the unfit, who are indeed quite likely to be weeded out in the course of however faltering, an esprit de corps. Those officers time, but who meanwhile contribute.. .to the disesteem serving at distant, primitive posts may wonder if they in which the Service is held are remembered and their efforts appreciated. They also feel the need of humor, for which the JOURNAL This, he concludes, has contributed to "the tradition receives requests. For such persons the magazine is a that diplomacy is the business of trivial folk, and of regular link with home and scattered colleagues. The them only” (January 1932). Obviously, the old rule news from posts may contain much chit-chat, but it is "rigidly excluding tendentious material” has been news of colleagues and no doubt leads to some person¬ blown out the window with a lot of other stuffiness by al correspondence. As amateurish as the JOURNAL the Stimson gale. may be in this first stage and as difficult as it is to The JOURNAL even experiments with editorials, January 1919■ An issue of the stimulate overworked officers to contribute meaning¬ but, to keep itself above the fray, they are signed by AMERICAN CONSULAR ful articles, it is nonetheless a regular monthly link individual officers. The first is by Dana G. Munro BULLETIN, whose and nurtures a communal spirit. (December 1929), who tries to respond to the "many consular orientation Up to this point, the JOURNAL has largely played men in the Service who are profoundly discouraged,” was carried over the role of house organ. With Harry Stimson's arrival “the appalling number of recent resignations,” and into the early as secretary of state in 1929, however, its vision and “the prevailing discontent in the Service.” Later, JOURNAL spirit expand. Its bond to the department, which Munro himself will lose heart and join the Princeton worked to its disadvantage before, is now a positive faculty. After a second editorial signed by G. How¬ force, for Stimson brings a whole new intellectual land Shaw, a maverick who later becomes assistant atmosphere and "can do” philosophy. As a guest at secretary under Cordell Hull, the editorials peter out. the White House his first two weeks in Washington, Foreign Service reticence and restraint seem to have Stimson acquires President Hoover's full support for won out over an emerging gumption. building up the diplomatic establishment. He gets Shaw, however, continues to use the LETTERS de¬ appropriations for more personnel, higher salaries, partment to get some of his more explosive views in allowances for rent, heat, entertainment, travel, and circulation. In August 1929, five months after Stim¬ paid home leave, and other gains. In its restrained son takes office, Shaw questions whether “the reform way, the JOURNAL is jubilant, sticking by its policy of the Foreign Service” sparked by the Rogers Act has to report but not editorialize. It prints the secretary’s gone far enough or whether it has simply improved testimony before congressional committees, extracts the lot of officers without touching such basic issues as from his vigorous speeches, and, of course, his formal what they should be doing, the quality of their per¬ messages to the Service, one of which even appears on formance, and the quality of the diplomatic establish¬ the cover (January 1931). ment as a whole. With bread-and-butter matters pre¬ Stimson’s dynamism, coupled by an insistence on vailing over basic professional issues, Shaw asks the highest standards of performance, brings a new whether “reform” has not been simply “selfish and spirit to the JOURNAL itself. It becomes less of an trivial,” and asks for a “radical plan for reforming the appurtenance of the diplomatic establishment than of Foreign Service.” The Foreign Service officer, he sug¬ Stimson’s vigorous quest for excellence. Its reporting gests, should be asking not “What can I get?” but of social frolicking is tempered and a more profession¬ “What can we do?” Three years later, from his post as al reporting style emerges. A series of informative counselor in Istanbul, Shaw continues his provocative articles on the various offices of the department ap¬ role, appealing for greater individualism in the Ser¬ pears, beginning with the Division of Current Infor¬ vice and directly challenging its clubby and conform¬ mation. Later there are articles on the Division of ist mentality (June 1932). This comes six months Communication and Records, the Office of Coordina¬ after MacMurray’s article but is by an officer on active tion and Review, and the Office of the Historical duty and therefore pretty “tendentious” stuff, but the Adviser. The substantive geographic bureaus are JOURNAL does not flinch. harder to beard and the JOURNAL creeps upon them In the same spirit, William P. Cochran (May 1932) stealthily. pleads from Mexico City for a more serious education and training of officers and for keeping them informed of foreign policy throughout their careers. He also A RTICLES OF A THOUGHTFUL, professional makes clear that consular officers, who can now be /\ character also occasionally appear. Two are given diplomatic assignments, should be included in contributed by diplomatic officers who es- this training—a plea which will be echoed repeatedly JL JL cape career limitations by resigning: John in the JOURNAL. Walter F. Boyle, a genial consul in Van A. MacMurray, who quits when serving as min¬ Auckland, contributes a graceful essay on what it ister to China to join Johns Hopkins University, and takes to represent the United States abroad. It is so DeWitt Clinton Poole, who joins Princeton’s faculty. well received that enthusiastic requests come in from MacMurray’s article is a scorcher. The diplomatic ca¬ the field for its publication in pamphlet form, though reer, he writes, is financially attractive only to those there is no sign of this being done. An indication that with private sources of income; and this young, newly entering officers do not share the inhibi¬ tions of the older comes from John M. Cabot, who puts a premium...on the spoiled child of wealth, with begins contributing on his first overseas diplomatic neither ideas nor discipline The Service does not at¬ assignment (February and April 19.30). Both of his

48 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL travelogue contributions are lead articles, as though the upbuilding of a stronger American State Depart¬ the JOURNAL is expressing its delight at having diplo¬ ment and Foreign Service as a definite, practical ob¬ matic officers provide this type of material. jective in the campaign for peace.” There are other indications of change. A column of Again, this is a Homeric call to conceptualize di¬ book reviews becomes a regular feature and is compe¬ plomacy as a mission of peace and to give the Foreign tently done by John Carter, a well-read civil servant Service a sense of purpose that will lift it to the profes¬ formerly with the New York Times. Later, an entire sional plateau it should occupy. But, again, the JOUR¬ page of book reviews appears, written by Cyril NAL treats it as simply eloquent language and fails to Wynne, a Harvard Ph.D. in the Office of the Histori¬ perceive its significance. A sense of mission is strug¬ an. A four-page "Bibliography of Foreign Service gling to assert itself, but the staff—still active-duty Study” is printed, listing subjects and books with officers—apparently sees its mission as only to get out which candidates for the Service should be familiar a monthly magazine. As a magazine, it has improved and providing a convenient reading list for officers and is publishing some professional material. But as a March 1932. Under already serving. definer of the Foreign Service’s mission, it produces a Editor August feeble flame. Ingram and the These signs of change are not overwhelming. The reforms of Secretary HESE ARE VISIBLE SIGNS of change. More JOURNAL’S usual fare continues to provide a ticket of Stimson’s era, the T magazine began to significant is a subtle one. In various ways admission to far-away places and exotic subjects, with show some the JOURNAL indicates that a sense of mis¬ consular officers still providing the bulk of material. independence sion is trying to emerge, albeit in larval Aside from the larger professional issues raised by form. Former Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg, MacMurray, Shaw, and others, specific bread-and- who seems to have developed a vision not possessed in butter problems—such as pensions for widows of offi¬ office, contributes a truly astonishing piece published cers—are only occasionally touched on, and then in in October 1930. Kellogg writes: LETTERS. Change does not overtake the policy of rig¬ idly excluding the espousal of action “aimed to influ¬ The members of the Foreign Service of the United States ence legislative, executive, or administrative action have, for many years, acted as American outposts of with respect to the Foreign Service.” An exception is peace The mission of these men is to promote the made when it comes to erecting a memorial plaque to international understanding which...permits nations, honor diplomatic and consular officers dying at posts however different their traditions and ideals may be, to in tragic or heroic circumstances, for it requires a joint deal intelligently with each other Few Americans re¬ congressional resolution for installation in a govern¬ alize the immense value of these officers in maintaining peace. We hear of those international disputes which ment building. have gone so far that there must be recourse to concilia¬ The world depression of the 1930s erases the victo¬ tion or arbitration proceedings just as, in the past, we ries Stimson won for the diplomatic establishment. have even had to face war because there seemed to be no The personnel of every government department is other settlement. But what we do not realize...is the slashed 15 percent, all government employees are re¬ host of little misunderstandings which are dealt with quired to take a month’s furlough without pay, and instantly by our Foreign Service outposts and are thus Foreign Service allowances are eliminated. Officers prevented from developing into dangerous causes of dis¬ abroad move from houses to cheap apartments, and agreement The Foreign Service, with their comrades some even send their wives and children home to live in the Department of State, truly constitute our first with parents to make ends meet. When the nation line of defense...preventing misunderstanding and building up the good understanding which is the great¬ goes off the gold standard, the dollar’s purchasing est assurance against war. power plummets, multiplying hardship even more for those abroad. An ironic item appears in the JOURNAL: If there is any clearer statement of the mission of “Wanted: A nice poorhouse, with all modern conve¬ our diplomatic establishment I do not know it. To the niences, where a Foreign Service officer can spend his JOURNAL’S credit it runs the statement on its first 30-day furlough without pay” (September 19.32). The page, but it then proceeds to treat it as simply a nice furlough provides the JOURNAL with some articles on magazine piece. There is no effort to keep it in the how officers abroad spend the pay less month. foreground so that officers presenting the depart¬ Although Stimson’s successor as secretary, Cordell ment’s budget to the Bureau of the Budget and Con¬ Hull, is a former representative and senator, he re¬ gress can clearly state this mission and the need for fuses to go to bat for the diplomats—not desiring to adequate financial support. get involved in “administrative matters.” The JOUR¬ Two years later, DeWitt Poole gives a speech ap¬ NAL prints without comment his testimony before a proaching this concept of mission from a different congressional committee, in which he leaves it to angle, and the JOURNAL reprints it as the lead article Congress to decide what should be done for a world¬ in January 1933, captioned as "Strongest Possible wide organization supposed, in the midst of a global State Department Best Assurance of Peace.” Poole’s depression, to provide the nation’s first line of de¬ main thrust is that “it is one of the strangest iro¬ fense. Wilbur Carr confides to his diary that Hull nies... that public money is poured out lavishly upon shows “a woeful lack of ability to place his case before the instruments of war and with hesitation and nig¬ the committee.” gardliness upon the means of peace.” Congress, he The JOURNAL must adjust to the first Democratic points out, voted in its last session “$14,000,000 for administration in 12 years, as must the Service and our first-line diplomatic defense, or a disproportion of the department. It prints a portrait and a brief biogra¬ 50 to 1 in favor of arms.” He concludes, "I propose phic sketch of President Roosevelt, puts Hull on its I

NOVEMBER 1984 49 cover (April 1933), and runs a vague, rambling greet¬ The JOURNAL responds with a two-installment 9,L AMERICAN ing by the new secretary. Then, beginning in August piece by Selden Chapin in November and December FOREIGN SERVICE .JOURNAL 1933, it bravely runs a series of articles on the New 1937 on what he diplomatically calls “certain possible Deal by an economist who transferred to State from defects in the structure and administration of the Commerce in 1931, Henry L. Deimel Jr. This is the Foreign Service” and “certain remedies for discus¬ first time the JOURNAL has undertaken to explain a sion.” It comes like a thunderclap)—nothing so direct new administration and its policies. And it is well it and coldly analytical has ever appeared in its pages. In makes the attempt, for the situation is confusing even addition to demonstrating that the JOURNAL can do to those at home. something its competitors cannot, the articles stimu¬ So competently written are these articles that the late a discussion that reverberates at length in the magazine publishes a second series by Deimel, “On magazine’s columns, leading to the sponsorship of an the Course of Events’’ in the United States. This is essay contest seven years later on this very subject. equally professional, although the editorial staff is Unfortunately, Chapin’s essay approaches the sub¬ September 1942. disturbed by Deimel’s recognition of labor’s impor¬ ject of reform from a structural point of view—how Chairman Henry tance in current events and by the New Deal’s aims in many classes and what functional categories should Villard—along with its quest for social justice. On what is usually the there be, compensation, and the like, rather than board members editorial page, the staff prints a note on “Forthcoming starting from the concept of mission. Mission he dis¬ Charles Yost and JOURNALS” which publicly reins in, if not repri¬ misses with a vague definition—“The cultivation of George Kennan— brought the Journal mands, Deimel: “To balance the emphasis given to the entire system of interests arising from the rela¬ to its high point the labor situation in Henry Deimel’s ‘On the Course tions established between nations.” He ignores the of Events’ in this issue, he will endeavor to lay more need for developing planning so that daily efforts will emphasis in the future on other important elements in be guided by long-range national interests. He ig¬ the national life” (September 1934). Here is subtly nores the need to correct working conditions that, as revealed the conservatism of the diplomatic corps, James W. Gantenbein will complain two years later, which leads FDR and his associates not to trust the are producing “intellectual vapidity” and encourag¬ diplomats. It is also a portent of what lies ahead, for ing officers to act “according to formulas, precedents, when Under Secretary Sumner Welles approves the and what seems likely to be agreeable to others” (Oc¬ creation of a labor attache program in 1944, the tober 1939). But whatever its limitations, the article JOURNAL will take no notice of the innovation. was, given its time, a bold stroke. Chapin’s article helps to land him in the catbird seat of reform, but before the 1946 act is passed, the BY 1936 OR ’37 the Stimson phase has clearly breathless years of the New Deal are overtaken by the shaded into the New Deal. Some of the in¬ even more breathless years of world war. How officers novations of the Stimson years are reinforced on active duty manage to get out a creditable JOUR¬ and even accelerated, this time stimulated NAL—and by this time it has achieved high profes¬ not by the secretary, but by the dynamics of the New sional quality—is hard to explain. Allan Dawson, one Deal and the deteriorating international situation. of the distinguished officers of the Service, praises the Japanese aggression in the Far East is accompanied by magazine in 1945 for its “courage and open-minded¬ Hitler’s in Europe. Gone from the JOURNAL is most ness,” adding: “It is now, thank God, far from the of the high society stuff. More material on the New smug and stodgy house organ it used to be” (February Deal appears in the magazine. With the death of Cyril 1945). Wynne, book reviewing is under the direction of a One of the stimulating wartime articles the JOUR¬ maverick, J. Rives Childs, and is farmed out to more NAL publishes is by Villard, describing the role of Foreign Service officers and even outsiders—includ¬ Foreign Service officers in the liberation of North ing the president of Yale—and the books reviewed are Africa. Villard has the inside story and the JOURNAL of larger, less vocational concerns. Women begin to registers one of its rare scoops. The New York Times appear more than occasionally as contributors. Letters runs a summary of the article, as does the St. Louis express a simmering discontent with the state of the Post-Dispatch, and the magazine is flooded with re¬ Service and the magazine itself, although one officer quests for copies. This “little-read house organ,” as praises the JOURNAL for "growing bigger and better” Newsweek calls it, is in the news and its editors exult: (March 1936). In early 1937, a pair of new, dynamic, "The JOURNAL has never received such publicity.” fresh-visioned editors take over—George H. Butler But the magazine misses the real point—the exploit and Edward G. Trueblood—and in October they are of Robert Murphy and his consular team, which saved reinforced by the appointment of George Kennan to thousands of lives and countless time, is a perfect the board, where he joins Henry S. Villard and illustration of diplomacy being as essential as military Charles W. Yost. force to a nation’s defense. The JOURNAL could have In the midst of all this ferment and improvement, used the incident to illustrate the need to amply staff the JOURNAL is confronted with its first competitors. the Service with the best possible people in both war To keep overseas representatives better informed of and peace. domestic events, in 1936 the department institutes This need is precisely what the department shrinks its wireless news service, broadcasting daily news bul¬ from pressing when the Selective Service Act is en¬ letins. In 1939 comes the Department of State Bulletin, acted, and it ceases recruiting for the Service. A For¬ which publishes all the official material the JOURNAL eign Service Auxiliary is devised to beef up the diplo¬ has been printing, including the appointment and matic establishment for its wartime duties and those assignment of officers. recruited are granted deferment from the draft. As the

50 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL war approaches its end, mounting casualties result in Foreign Service School “similar to those at West Point the drafting of Foreign Service officers, who in turn and Annapolis.. .to provide a firm professional educa¬ are replaced by auxiliary officers. The role of the Ser¬ tion,” with suitable training in foreign affairs, eco¬ vice is not safeguarded by the secretary of state, and an nomics, public speaking, and the subtleties of lan¬ effort to conceptualize diplomacy and the mission of guages. He goes on to discuss how this education the Foreign Service in the American mind never would improve reporting and allow the aptitudes of materializes. Either the JOURNAL does not see this or officers to be applied across a “broader range of ac¬ lacks the courage to state it. Finally, in an editorial in tion." He stresses the need to correct conditions that early 1945, it does protest the absurdity of drafting require officers to “devote the major portion of their experienced FSOs and then having to train the people energy to routine administrative duties.” He also ar¬ who will replace them. gues that there should be closer collaboration between Throughout the war years, Shaw does not stop embassies and consular posts and that consular officers prodding the Service to think about and correct its must be trained and encouraged to report on a wider deficiencies and anticipate the postwar world. He has range of “compelling new issues.” All this, Denby August 1975. a pithy article on “Post-War Problems of the Foreign points out, demands a larger Service, one that in¬ Executive Order Service” as early as February 1944, pooh-poohing a cludes specialists and an adequate support staff. 116)6 emancipated the JOURNAL from JOURNAL editorial arguing that since any Foreign There is more in the other essays, including True- departmental Service officer can do anything, there is no need for blood's argument that women should be given more influence, leading specialists in the Service. From the editorial and room in the Service, but Denby’s is enough to suggest to searchingly Shaw’s reply comes a lively exchange of views which both the present-day relevance of the essays and the analytical articles draws attention to the need to do some systematic JOURNAL’S role as a catalytic agent. No longer is it, as impossible before thinking about the Service’s future. in its earliest stage, merely a weather vane, recording the direction the wind is blowing. It is now a stimu¬ lant, influencing the shape of thinking in the diplo¬ THE JOURNAL FINALLY RECOGNIZES this matic establishment. Notwithstanding the competi¬ need when Edward Stettinius pushes tion of the Bulletin and, beginning in 1947, the new through a sweeping reorganization of the Foreign Service (later Department of State) Newsletter department and then succeeds the ailing within the establishment, and the National Geographic Hull. The magazine sponsors an essay contest on and Foreign Affairs outside, the JOURNAL under the “Suggestions for Improving the Foreign Service and editorial chairmanship of Henry Villard (1939^8) Its Administration to Meet War and Post-War Re¬ and with the active participation of George Allen, sponsibilities.” Sixty essays—an extraordinary num¬ Charles W. Yost, Edmund A. Guilion, and Louis J. ber during a burdensome year of war—are submitted, Halle reaches a high point of editorial brilliance and with that of James Orr Denby winning first prize. influence which it has rarely, if ever, reached since. Among the winners, those earning honorable men¬ The Manpower and Foreign Service acts of 1946 tion, and those “accorded a high rating by the judges” were expected to resolve the basic problems of the are some of the most thoughtful and promising offi¬ Service, but no sooner are they in place than unre¬ cers, a few of whom will rise to the rank of ambassador solved problems arise and the JOURNAL is crowded and consul general. The JOURNAL publishes quite a with their discussion. Doubts about the soundness of few of the essays and summarizes the highlights of all. the acts’ principles bring a steady rain of letters and The magazine sends copies of them to Stettinius, to articles. Moreover, wartime agencies are being ab¬ Brigadier General Julius Holmes, who has succeeded sorbed by the department and the relationship of their Shaw as assistant secretary of administration, and to personnel to the Service must be defined. The gener¬ the director of Foreign Service personnel. Interest in alist-specialist issue becomes acute, and when the the issue is obviously widespread and the JOURNAL Marshall Plan is proposed, a controversy is ignited leaves no stone unturned to ensure that officers’ views over whether the new agency should be part of the are considered by those responsible for reform. By this State Department or independent. The amalgamation time, work is underway on the temporary expedient of the department’s Civil Service staff with the For¬ of a Manpower Act to permit the Service to accept eign Service—which will eventually lead to Wristoni- officers of the auxiliary and the armed forces through a zation—also becomes a hot subject. procedure waiving the written examination. A long¬ In an effort to clarify the situation and restore some term solution is being sought through the Foreign confidence in the Foreign Service, the JOURNAL has Service Act of 1946, which is being developed under the director of personnel respond to letters about these the direction of Selden Chapin. concerns. It is, however, a difficult task, and, while Denby’s wise and prescient essay (February 1945) one reviewing the period admires the clarity and quickens the pulse of the diplomatic establishment. steadiness of the editors’ vision, readers at the time The Service, he writes, “grapples with the forces that chide them for being too reticent, too cozy with de¬ make for peace and war" and will therefore have much partment officials, too promotion conscious. Yet, it is to do “to maintain and prolong the coming peace.” doubtful how much could be explained in view of the He repeats the now familiar claim that the Service is department’s own confusion, especially since such in¬ “the nation’s first line of defense. ” This comes close to ternational issues as the Korean war and Berlin block¬ defining the Service’s mission—which of course is a ade make most of the issues troubling officers seem prerequisite to discussing what kind of a Service is secondary at best. needed—but in the end the essay avoids any clear To add to the diplomats’ concerns, the Eisenhower definition. Denby suggests the establishment of a administration brings a secretary of state who is un-

NOVEMBER 1984 51 FOREIGN SERVICE willing to defend his career colleagues; indeed, at The current stage of the JOURNAL begins in 197 1 times he seems suspicious of and even hostile to them. when Executive Order 11636 imposes upon the de¬ John Foster Dulles is unwilling to challenge McCar- partment a labor-management format. Many of the thyism, and so he sacrifices officers such as John senior officers on which the JOURNAL has drawn for its Carter Vincent. He even supports a reduction-in-force editorial boards become part of management and no to weed out substantial numbers of officers appointed longer participate in the magazine. The vision and during the 20 years of Democratic administration. vigor of boards diminish, and the acute, professional McCarthyism adds to the chaos and agony within the editorials of the Villard era disappear. But Executive Service, all of which is clearly reflected in the JOUR¬ Order 11636 and its incorporation in the Foreign NAL, as officers scattered around the world use the Service Act of 1980 has emancipated the JOURNAL magazine to ventilate their views and frustrations. from departmental influence, so that it can print This service can be rendered by no other publication. searchingly analytical articles which, before, would The magazine also addresses other controversial pro¬ have been impossible. But the purpose of the maga¬ July/August 1984. fessional subjects, such as the role of propaganda in zine—whether and to what extent it should serve as a The JOURNAL offers a forum for the postwar diplomacy, even reaching out eventually to a house organ, a fraternity or guild periodical, or a debate of Foreign British authority for an article on “The Art and Prac¬ foreign affairs magazine competitive with Foreign Af¬ Service issues and tice of Diplomacy” (November 1952), as though to fairs and Foreign Policy—is obscure. AFSA concen¬ foreign policy as caution readers that beneath the frothy hullabaloo trates on immediate, largely bread-and-butter issues, “The Independent there is a quiet, professional job to be done. adding to the difficulty of defining the mission of Voice of the Foreign But despite the thoughtful editorial guidance of both the JOURNAL and Service. Consular officers, feel¬ Service" the JOURNAL during this hectic period, the inade¬ ing they and their interests are being overlooked, quacy of most Foreign Service thinking is reflected in again start a consular officers’ organization and a pub¬ an AFSA statement of what the Foreign Service is and lication of their own. In October 1983 comes a belat¬ does (October 1953). It is strong on loyalty and ed recognition by the JOURNAL that consular duties claims of professionalism but is so hopelessly weak on do indeed have a broad diplomatic significance and mission that it has a wishy-washy tone. Had it repeat¬ merit treatment, but, this number apart, consular ed or consulted Kellogg’s statement of 1930, it would officers rarely contribute—an interesting reversal of have done better. But in the 1950s, the Foreign Ser¬ their early dominance of the magazine. vice is too involved in daily crises and chores, too This is the stage in which the JOURNAL loses some overwhelmed by the McCarthy commotion, and too of its close connections with the academic communi¬ diverted by career uncertainties for AFSA to devise an ty, which has always had a sympathetic interest in the adequate one-page statement of the Service’s mission, Service and a close affinity with the diplomatic com¬ illustrating how far ahead of the bulk of the Service, munity. This interest and affinity is not energetically including AFSA officers, the JOURNAL’S editors are, cultivated by the JOURNAL. At the same time, the for its own editorials are far better than this. labor-management system reduces the circulation and influence of the JOURNAL within the department it¬ self, although the influence of AFSA has greatly in¬ BESPONDING TO THE ebb and flow of officers’ creased. rotation, the editorial board from the late Still, whatever its handicaps and limitations, the 1940s on is wracked by constant change. JOURNAL continues to provide a forum for officers and This is true also of staff. Jane Wilson, giv¬ spouses, facilitating an exchange of views which State en the title of managing editor in 1940, becomes the magazine and the Open Forum Journal cannot provide. first editor since Ingram not from a Foreign Service It is also doing better financially and expanding its background. After eight years, she resigns and is suc¬ number of pages. When the Renaissance historian of ceeded by Joan David. There is a temporary sag in the art, Vassari, was asked why it was in Florence and not JOURNAL'S quality, for David lacks foreign affairs elsewhere that artists flourished, he replied: "The experience and must steady herself in an unfamiliar spirit of criticism, the air of Florence making minds environment. When David resigns after three years, naturally free and not content with mediocrity.” This her replacement, Lois Perry Jones, lasts four years and is what has taken place to no small degree in the is succeeded by Gwen Barrows, who serves for seven. Service, and the JOURNAL has helped considerably to She is succeeded by a retired USIA officer, Loren provide that “air” which has enabled those not con¬ Carroll, who chafes under the supervision of the Edi¬ tent with mediocrity to express themselves with com¬ torial Board and gives way after four years to Shirley plete freedom. The JOURNAL can be proud it has had Newhall, who was assistant editor during the tours of that part in nurturing the spirit of analysis and criti¬ Barrows and Carroll and serves the longest of all edi¬ cism and freeing the minds of Foreign Service officers tors, 14 years. The present editor was appointed in from the cliches which were once so pervasive. 1981. But the issue of mission must be tackled systemati¬ By the end of the third stage, the JOURNAL ac¬ cally and thoroughly. Without that the JOURNAL quires its present form and style, and while perform¬ cannot make its supreme contribution to the profes¬ ance over the years is somewhat uneven, it never loses sionalization of the Service and morale which should the editorial independence gained under the high- be its prime objective. This is a subtle issue, and as Sir ranking, forthright Villard. The “courage and open- Thomas Browne warns, if one looks only at the out¬ mindedness” for which it was praised in the mid- side of things, one can quarrel with symptoms and 1940s is preserved, although the practice of monthly overlook the “tender filaments” upon which a “fa- editorials is abandoned. brick hangs.” EH

52 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Castilleja School, Palo Alto, California: stationed overseas, grades 9 through 12. Scholarships based on demonstrated finan¬ This reduction is afforded in recognition of cial need are available to daughters of per¬ higher travel costs. Additional financial sonnel in the Foreign Service agencies or of aid is available on the basis of need. At U.S. military personnel serving overseas present, students from 44 states and 44 who are registered at Castilleja School for countries are enrolled. For further infor¬ PEOPLE admission to grades 7 to 12 inclusive. For mation contact Adrienne Carr, North- complete information write to the Head- field-Mount Hermon School, Northfield, master, Castilleja School, 1310 Bryant Massachusetts 01360. St., Palo Alto, California 94301. Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts: 1985-86 AFSA/AAFSW Dana Flail School: The Congdon Merit The Charles and Jane Stelle Memorial Scholarships for Scholarship is awarded on a competitive Scholarship is awarded to the son or Foreign Service Students basis to an entering sophomore resident daughter of a Foreign Service person. The student. In addition to the $1000 prize, award is based on financial need. For fur¬ Applications are now available for depen¬ the winner is eligible for financial aid up to ther information, and to apply for this dent students of Foreign Service personnel full tuition when warranted. Financial aid scholarship, write to Joshua L. Miner, who have been or are currently stationed for all grades is also available based on Dean of Admissions/John McClement, Di¬ abroad for the AFSA Scholarship Pro¬ need. Applications must be completed by rector of Financial Aid, Phillips Academy, grams. The AFSA/AAFSW Merit Awards February 1. Inquiries should be addressed Andover, Massachusetts 01810. are for graduating high school students to: The Congdon Prize Scholarship, Dana only and are based on academic excellence. Hall School, Wellesley, Massachusetts St. Andrew’s School. Middletown, Dela¬ These awards are $500 to each winner, 02181. ware: The Norris S. Haselton Scholarships usually 22 per year. The Financial Aid are awarded to sons and daughters of For¬ Scholarships are for undergraduate educa¬ Grier School: A $1000 reduction in tuition eign Service families where need is indicat¬ tional study and are based solely on need as is available to daughters of Foreign Service ed. For complete information write John established by the College Scholarship Ser¬ personnel. Additionally, girls may com¬ M. Niles, Director of Admissions, St. An¬ vice, Princeton/Berkeley. Grants range pete for scholarship support on the basis of drews School, Middletown, Delaware from $200 to $2000 for individuals, with demonstrated financial need and all-round 19709. a $3000 limit for families. Write for appli¬ abilities. For information please contact: cations and information now from the Admissions Director, The Grier School, Vermont Academy: An Edward R. Cheney AFSA Scholarship Programs Administra¬ Tyrone, Pennsylvania 16686. Memorial Scholarship is being awarded to tor, 2101 E Street, NW, Washington, the son or daughter of a Foreign Service D.C. 20037. The deadline for completion MIJJ Hall's School: For the daughters of For¬ person. Those interested should write to of applications for these scholarships is eign Service personnel, a $2000 reduction the Director of Admissions, Vermont February 15. is available. Miss Hall’s enrolls 200 stu¬ Academy, Saxtons River, Vermont dents from grades 9 through 12. This re¬ 05 154. The academy enrolls approximate¬ Other Scholarships duction is offered in recognition of higher ly 246 students in grades nine through travel costs and represents 20 percent of postgraduate; coed since 1981. Available to Foreign the total tuition cost for 1985-86. For fur¬ Service Students ther information, contact Diederik van The Cambridge School offers a scholarship of Renesse, Director of Admissions, Miss up to $ 1000 for a Foreign Service student The Association has been informed that Hall’s School, Pittsfield, Massachusetts in grades 9 through 12, based on need. the following scholarships are available to 01201. Please contact the admissions director at dependent students of Foreign Service per¬ The Cambridge School, Georgian Raod, sonnel. Applicants should write for com¬ Middlesex School: Scholarship offered on the Weston, Massachusetts 02193. plete information directly to the schools, col¬ basis of proven financial need for grades 9 leges, and universities indicated. through 12 to the son or daughter of a Colleges Foreign Service family. For complete in¬ Secondary Schools formation write to the Director of Admis¬ Dartmouth College: S. Pinkney Tuck Schol¬ sions, Middlesex School, Concord, Massa¬ arship. For students at Dartmouth College The American School in Switzerland, TASIS chusetts 01742. who are the children or grandchildren of England, TASIS Flellenic: $1000 tuition re¬ Foreign Service officers of the United ductions are offered at all three TASIS The New Hampton School: A $1000 abate¬ States and who are in need of financial as¬ schools in Switzerland, England, and ment on tuition to Foreign Service boys sistance. Address inquiry to the Director Greece to the sons or daughters of State and girls. The school enrolls approximate¬ of Financial Aid, Dartmouth College, Department personnel on the basis of aca¬ ly 300 students in grades 9 through post¬ Hanover, New Hampshire 03755. demic merit. Additional financial aid may graduate. For further information write to be offered on the basis of need. Boarding Admissions Office, the New Hampton Vassar College: The Polly Richardson Lu- students enroll in grades 7 through post¬ School, New Hampton, New Hampshire kens Memorial Scholarship is awarded to graduate. For further information contact: 03256. children of Foreign Service personnel. An¬ Caroline Cox, TASIS U.S. Admissions Of¬ other scholarship, awarded by an anony¬ fice, 326 East 69th Street, New York, Northfield-Mount Hermon School: A $1000 mous donor, is granted at Vassar to the New York 10021. Telephone: (212) 570- reduction in tuition is offered all sons and child of an American Foreign Service offi¬ 1066. daughters of State Department personnel cer. If no such applicant qualifies, the

NOVEMBER 1984 53 scholarship may be awarded to the child of War Committee. In 1948, he was elected of the American Red Cross from 1953—56. an employee of the federal government or chairman of the board of National Sugar. He was also the first person to receive two of a state government. Both awards are In 1951, he was appointed ambassador Medals of Freedom with Distinction, the based on financial need. Apply to Director to Argentina, the beginning of his diplo¬ first in 1963 and the second in 1968. of Financial Aid, Vassar College, Pough¬ matic career. Other assignments took him He is survived by his wife, former Am¬ keepsie, New York 12601. to Italy, India, and New Guinea. In New bassador to Nepal Caroline Laise Bunker; Guinea he was able to mediate for the and three children, Ellen Gentil, John B. Yale University: A Scholarship given by an United Nations in a dispute between Indo¬ Bunker, and Samuel E. Bunker. anonymous donor is awarded each year to nesia and the Netherlands over West Irian. the son or daughter of an American For¬ In 1963 he again acted as mediator in a H. LOUISE RAMEY, a retired Foreign Service eign Service officer who demonstrates fi¬ dispute between Egypt and Saudi Arabia officer with AID, died of cancer July 18 at nancial need according to the university’s over Yemen. her home in Minneapolis. She was 67. criteria. If no such applicant qualifies, the The following year, Mr. Bunker was ap¬ Ms. Ramey earned bachelor’s degrees scholarship may be awarded to the son or pointed ambassador to the Organization of from DePauw University and Simmons daughter of a member of the United States American States. This assignment took College and worked for 12 years as office military services, or of an employee of the him to the Dominican Republic, where he manager of a personal money management federal government. Information is ob¬ helped to negotiate an end to their civil firm in Los Angeles. In 1951 she joined tainable from the Director of Financial war. In 1967, he was appointed ambassa¬ the Paris mission of the Economic Cooper¬ Aid, Box 2170 Yale Station, New Haven, dor to South Vietnam. He was the highest ation Agency. Her career working on U.S. Connecticut 06520. ranking American official in that country economic and development programs for during the war and served in Vietnam foreign countries spanned 22 years and her Deaths longer than any other senior American. posts included Vienna, Lagos, Saigon, and In his last diplomatic assignment, Mr. Washington. Ms. Ramey was deputy di¬ ELLSWORTH BUNKER, former ambassador to Bunker served as co-chairman with Sol rector of the AID mission in Indonesia South Vietnam, died September 27 in Linowitz on the Panama Canal negotia¬ when she retired in 1973. Brattleboro, Vermont. He was 90. tions which led to the 1977 treaties giving After her retirement, Ms. Ramey lived A graduate of Yale University, Mr. control of the Canal to Panama. Upon in Jekyll Island, Georgia, where she was Bunker spent 32 years in private business completion of the negotiations he retired active in the Audubon Society and the for a sugar refining company before enter¬ to a farm in Dummarston, Vermont. American Red Cross. She had recently ing the diplomatic corps. During World In addition to his other achievements, moved to Minneapolis. She leaves no im¬ War II he chaired the Cane Sugar Refiners Mr. Bunker was the first salaried president mediate survivors.

Leigh & Schwab, Inc.

Experienced Realtors competent staff ready to serve Sales, Appraisals, your needs in Multiple Listing Services Sales, Rentals, Management, 75 Years' Service to the Washington Area

Investments. 5025 Wisconsin Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20016 (202) 362-5800 JOHN Y. MILLAR* RUTH R. JOHNSON* WILLIAM C. TRUEHEART* CAROLE B. HERSMAN LYNN MOFFLY MACRUDER* DIANE NOBLE PATRICIA GARRISON BOORMAN SUSAN RAEHN CAROL OWENS* MARY ANN STOESSEL* STARKE MEYER* FENWICK KOLLOCK FRAN DIXON JOSEPHINE HOLLIDAY* Property Specialists, Inc. ROSEMARY DIRCKS MECHTHILD BIRZNIEKS CAROLYN RAYFIELD INEZ SPANGRUD A professional and personal service tailored PAULINE BARNES* PATRICIA BARBIS* to meet your needs in: HENRIETTA SEITZ PAMELA DWIGHT* • Management • Sales and Rentals JOHN TURNER* GAIL WHITE • Multiple Listings MARY HANSTAD *Foreign Service • Real Estate Investment Counseling

Donna Courtney Fran Palmeri MGMB,inc Realtors Broker Property Manager 4619 Lee Highway 362-4480 Arlington, Virginia 22207 (703) 525-7010 (703) 525-7050 Foxhall Square • 3301 New Mexico Avenue Washington D.C. 20016 Serving D.C.. MD., and VA.

54 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL ALFREDJACOBSON, a retired Foreign Service retirement in 1970 he was European per person. It is open to all young people officer, died of cancer June 30 at George branch chief of USIA’s press and publica¬ (ages 15—22) who are part of the diplomat¬ Washington University Hospital. He was tions service. ic community in Washington (not just 75. Mr. Jacobson was a member of the American Foreign Service dependents, but Mr. Jacobson earned a doctorate in law USIA Alumni Association. also those whose parents work for the at the University of Vienna in his native He is survived by his wife, the former World Bank or IMF, or who are members Austria. He worked as a journalist before Lizbeth Gorodetzky, ofMcLean, Virginia. of the foreign diplomatic community). coming to the United States in 1938. Dur¬ Small dinner parties for 12-20 young ing World War II he served in U.S. Army Holiday Ball people, hosted by volunteer mothers from intelligence and counterintelligence. each of the sponsoring organizations, will He joined the State Department in THE ANNUAL HOLIDAY BALL will be held precede the ball. Dates are not required. 1952, entering the Foreign Service in Thursday, December 27, at 9 p.m. It will To obtain further information about the 1956. He worked as an information officer take place at the World Bank on 19th ball, or if you wish to host or co-host a in Rome until 1963, when he transferred Street, between G and H streets. The dinner, call Nancy Stempel at 320-4109 to USIA in Washington. At the time of his dance is semi-formal and the cost is $10 or Charlotte Harrell at 642-8613.

BOBBIE BERGESEN — BARBARA CHERRY IDA YORK — MARY DEWITT

1 "Nice People To Do Business With" , SHANNON ■ & • LUCHS ' REALTORS® • Established 1906 '

8003 Woodmont Avenue Bethesda, Md. 20814 (301)986-9292

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

COMING or GOING Contact You can count on PERSONALIZED SERVICE Welene Worthington Goller from FOREIGN SERVICE REFERENCES FURNISHED ON REQUEST W. C.AN0 A. IsT. MILLER DEVELOPMENT CTO A Complete Real Estate Service Since 1912 GOLLER REAL ESTATE, INC. NEW HOUSE SALES • BROKERAGE SALES SPRING VALLEY CENTER. SUITE 400 RENTALS 480I MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE, N.W. WASHINGTON, DC 200I6 4701 Sangamore Rd. 229-4000 Bethesda, Md. 20816 229-4016 REALTOR' (202) 966-6500

JOEL TRUITT Will Your Home Still Be A PERSONAL TOUCH Castle When You Return? Personalized Property Management by Mrs. Wyatt Construction: Under my direction, we are general contractors with broad capability and over 10 years • Serving Foreign Service personnel since 1959. experience, ranging from authentic restoration, • Planning for necessary expenditures remodeling, new construction, repairs, design and • Leases tailored to fit owners' needs drafting. • Updates on real estate laws and regulations Property Management: For private residences, multi¬ • Frequent inspections • Sales unit and commercial property, and condominium • Licensed in D.C. and Maryland associations. Call Mrs. Wyatt — 202/362-7397

JOEL TRUITT—BUILDER—PROPERTY MANAGEMENT WALSH, MESMER & ASSOCIATES, INC. 737 Eighth Street, Southeast, Washington, D.C. 547-2707 — Quality Since 1972 4713 MAPLE AVE., BETHESDA, MD 20814

NOVEMBER 1984 55 COMMERCIAL TOWNHOUSE

Free-standing 3-Ievel brick townhouse has high ceilings, custom cherry paneling, and fireplace, with French EVERS&PERNICK doors leading to courtyard. Central Old Town location, REAL ESTATE I Pi C . perfect for professional offices, specialty shop, or easy 202-364-1700 conversion for residence/business.

Old Town Alexandria $305,000 You Have The Questions How much can you afford to spend? What is the best financing for you ? Should you sell or refinance your present house? What do you need to know about the new mortgages?

We Have The Answers Give Us a Call or drop us a line. We 'll be glad to help.

Jenifer Mall, Suite 260 4400 Jenifer Street, N.W. • Washington, D.C. 20015

Experienced Real Estate Agent With Well-Established Company • Buying • Selling • Investing • Refinancing • Property Management Please write or call Anita Murchie, Long & Foster, 6300 Richmond Highway, Alexandria, Virginia 22306 (703) 765-3160 25 years as a Foreign Service wife enable me to understand your special needs.

ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE WOMEN P.0. Box 8068, Washington, D.C. 20024

■ NEWSLETTER ■ FORUM ■ Monthly Meetings ■ Scholarships ■ Community Service ■ Holiday Ball for Teenagers ■ Language and Writers’ Groups ■ BOOK FAIR (Book Room, Tel. 223-5796) ■ Housing Assistance and Information Room 1248, Department of State, Tel. 632-3573

Foreign Service women, wives, or employees, active or retired, may join AAFSW. The annual dues are $15.00 which includes a subscription to the Newsletter. Send dues to Membership Chairman at address above.

56 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FOREIGN EXCHANGE

TAX RETURNS GRIEVANCES APARTMENT RENTALS

TAX PREPARATION AND FINANCIAL GRIEVANCE COUNSELING: Retired Sen¬ FARA APARTMENT RENTALS: Fully fur¬ PLANNING, Single source for all your mon¬ ior Foreign Service officer attorney who served nished efficiency, 1 and 2 bedroom apart¬ ey concerns. Preparation and representation on Grievance Board staff will assist grievance ments. One block from State Department. by Enrolled Agents, fee average S140 in¬ presentation. Richard Greene, 161 Laurel Prices from $45-70 per day, plus tax. Call cludes return and “TAX TRAX ' unique Rd., Princeton, NJ 08540. (609)921-1422. (202)463-3910. Write FARA Housing, Rm. mini-financial planning review with recom¬ 2928, Dept, of State, Washington, DC mendations. Full planning by CFP available. 20520. Specialized overseas service with taped com¬ REAL ESTATE munications. Complete financial network BOOKS and personalized service. Milton E. Carb, NORTH MYRTLE BEACH. Thinking of a E.A., FINANCIAL FORECASTS, 833 S. vacation or retirement home, or other invest¬ Washington St. #8, Alexandria, VA 22314, ment in coastal South Carolina? If so, call or IF YOU ARE LOOKING for an out-of-print (703)684-1040. METRO LOCATION, 933 write Bill Dozier (FSO-retired), Dozier Asso¬ book, perhaps I can find it. Dean Chamber¬ N. Kenmore St. #322, Arlington, VA ciates, P.O. Box 349, North Myrtle Beach, lin, FSIO-retired. Book Cellar, Freeport, ME 22201, (703)841-1040. SC 29582. (803)249-4043. 04032.

AMENDED TAX RETURNS. Amended re¬ LOWELL REAL ESTATE, Box 1101, Route CURRENT PAPERBACKS airmailed with¬ turns for 1981-3 required to take advantage 6A, Orleans, Massachusetts 02653- in 5 days at reasonable prices. Send for of revised IRS revenue ruling 84-86 permit¬ (617)255-0400. Land, retirement homes, monthly list to Circle Enterprises, Box 105 1, ting those required to allot 5% of income for summer cottages, condos, motels, invest¬ Severna Park, MD 21146. household expenses. One federal & state $75 ments—we are 35 miles at sea, on Cape Cod. ea. yr. or $50 for one federal return for ea. yr.- INVESTMENTS Milton E. Carb, Enrolled Agent, 833 S. Washington #8, Alexandria, VA 22314, PROPERTY CLAIMS (703)684-1040. INVESTMENTS, FINANCIAL PLAN¬ MOVING LOSS & DAMAGE CLAIMS: Pro¬ NING, Long Distance Management when TAX COUNSELING on any problem. No fessional preparation and processing of claims necessary. Margaret M. Winkler, Legg Ma¬ charge to AFSA members for telephone ad¬ for the recovery of money due from property son Wood Walker, Inc., 1747 Pennsylvania vice. Bob Dussell (ex-FS), enrolled to tax loss and damage when moved by the U.S. Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20006. practice by the Treasury Dept., 3601 N. government. NO UP-FRONT MONEY. Fee (202)452-403.3. Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA 22201. for this service is 10% of the amount recov¬ (703)841-0158. ered. We get all estimates. Write or call and FINANCIAL/ESTATE PLANNING, AS¬ ask for one of our agents. PERSONAL SET MANAGEMENT: E.F. HUTTON & TAX PROBLEMS, returns and representa¬ PROPERTY CLAIMS, INC. 2000 Virginia CO., INC. G.Claude Villarreal, Account Ex¬ tion. T.R. McCartney (ex-FS) Enrolled Ave., McLean, VA 22101. (703)241-8787. ecutive, 1825 Eye Street NW, Suite 1000, Agent, and staff. Returns now completely Washington, DC 20006. (202)331-2528 or computerized. Business Data Corp., P.O. (1-800)368-5811. Box 57256, Washington, DC 20037-0256. BRIDGE CLASSES (703)671-1040. INVESTMENT GUID¬ IRA PLANS, TAX-FREE INCOME, stock, ANCE. ALL LEVELS. Convenient locations, days and etc. Ruth G. Adler, Certified Financial Plan¬ evenings, games too. Contact Steven Hog- ner, A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., Members lund, ABCL, 1414 17th Street, NW, Wash¬ New York Stock Exchange. 4801 Massachu¬ ington, DC 20036. (202)387-8907. setts Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20016. PROPERTY MANAGEMENT (202)364-1626. PEAKE PROPERTIES LTD.: Muriel Peake, GIFT & SHOPPING SERVICE Broker, specializing in residential property EXCHANGE RATES management in McLean, Vienna, N. Arling¬ NEED A GIFT for someone at home? FOR¬ ton, etc. Caring, personal service. The GET SOMETHING AT POST? We'll shop Classified advertising in the FOREIGN EX¬ Ashby, Suite 220B, 1350 Beverly Road, and ship for you. Write for details and bro¬ CHANGE is open to any person who wishes McLean, VA 22101. (703)448-0212. chure. Janet Kerley (ex-FS wife), 5010 N. to reach the professional diplomatic commu¬ 27th St., Arlington, VA 22207. (703)241- nity. The rate is 50 cents per word per inser¬ tion. Telephone numbers count as one word WASHINGTON MANAGEMENT SER¬ 1505. VICES: Use our TELEX service to inquire and zip codes are free. To place a classified ad about professional services for the FS commu¬ or to receive our rate card for regular display nity serving overseas. Immediate response to HELP WANTED advertising, write or call the Foreign Service your property management needs. Residen¬ Journal, 2101 E Street NW, Washington, tial property management is our only busi¬ PROPERTY MANAGER. Retired FSO for DC 20037, (202)338-4045. Checks should ness. Call, write, or TELEX Mary Beth Otto, residential properties. Jan. 1. Warm person¬ accompany all classified insertion orders. The Washington Mangement Services, 2015 Q ality and tact. Full time. Resume and desired deadline for FOREIGN EXCHANGE ads is St. NW, Washington, DC 20009, (202)483- salary to MGMB, Inc., 3301 New Mexico approximately 5 weeks before the publication 3830, TELEX 350136. Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20017. date.

NOVEMBER 1984 57 ASSOCIATION HEWS Mathias stresses AFSA protests non¬ USIA credibility implementation of in AFSA lecture weight allowances

USIA "has been the object of intense po¬ The Association was recently notified liticization” that undermines its credi¬ that the State Department and AID had bility, Senator Charles McC. Mathias not implemented all provisions of the (R. -Maryland) told an audience of agency agreement on increased weight employees at an AFSA-sponsored lecture allowances [ASSOCIATION NEWS, Ju¬ on September 27. The talk, held in the ly/August]. The agreement in part pro¬ Capitol Hill Holiday Inn, adjacent to vides that excess weight in storage on USIA headquarters, was the first in a May 1, 1984, will be funded by the series of noon-time “Dialogs on Public agencies as of that day. Diplomacy” sponsored by AFSA's USIA However, more than three months Standing Committee. after the agreement was signed—and “One analysis provided to the [Senate without informing AFSA—the depart¬ Foreign Relations] Committee showed “In the long run,” Mathias observed, ment questioned the “legality of amend¬ 114 political appointments to USIA dur¬ “the nomination controversy served a ment of travel orders” and requested the ing this administration, compared with useful purpose. It forced us to confront comptroller general to issue a ruling. In a 24 during the previous administration,” the ambiguities that make your jobs so letter of protest, AFSA’s general counsel Mathias said. This politicization affects difficult and to reflect on the proper role charged the department with attempting the agency's credibility, he said, an issue for USIA in public diplomacy. In the to abrogate a negotiated agreement and that was brought out in the confirmation end, I concluded that USIA should be requested immediate confirmation that hearings for Leslie Lenkowsky, whose exactly what its name suggests—the the agencies are complying with the nomination as USIA deputy director was United States Information Agency. It agreement. No response has been re¬ rejected by the committee last spring. should represent the views of the entire ceived from either the comptroller gener¬ The agency is still struggling with its U.S. government and of the rich and di¬ al or management. We would like to sense ol mission 30 years after its found¬ verse fabric of American political, intel¬ hear from employees who continue to be ing, the senator continued. The ques¬ lectual, and artistic life. Let the chips fall billed for excess storage expenses under tions of when information becomes pro¬ where they may. the old weight limits. paganda and how information should be “One of the best ways to achieve this is “married” to culture have not been an¬ by placing more, not less, reliance on swered. On the other hand, Mathias career professionals,” he continued. Cromer of AID said, “within the last few years, a host of “This is important throughout the For¬ named as second new programs have been launched— eign Service, but it is especially impor¬ some successful, some still unproved, tant in an agency like USIA, where the vice president and others not so successful.” These in¬ consequences of partisanship are so far- novations “represent a growing aware¬ reaching and can undermine not only the Charlotte Cromer, an assistant popula¬ ness in the Congress and in the country of credibility of USIA but of the United tion development officer in AID, has the importance of public diplomacy.” States itself.” been named second vice president of the “The power of the United States rests Concluded Mathias: “Public diploma¬ AFSA Governing Board. She replaces as much upon the ideas we represent as cy cannot succeed if the messages we Douglas Broome, also of AID, who left on the raw power we can deploy,” Math¬ fashion for it are so biased, so strident, or the board for an overseas assignment in ias told the group. "This being so, public so clogged with half-truths that they will May. diplomacy obviously deserves the same be rejected by the intelligence of the peo¬ Cromer served previously on the board priority we give to military programs or ple with whom we have to communi¬ as AID representative and as second vice to traditional government-to-govern- cate.” president in 1974—77. From 1981-83 ment diplomacy.” Other speakers in the program include she was the AFSA representative in Ma¬ This importance of public diplomacy NBC State Department Correspondent nila. She has been in the agency for 20 “means that USIA, as the centerpiece of Marvin Kalb, who was to give a talk on years. U.S. public diplomacy, should, like Cae¬ November 1, and former Under Secre¬ AID constituency representative sar’s wife, be above suspicion.” The con¬ tary of State for Political Affairs David Richard Delaney resigned his seat on the troversy surrounding the Lenkowsky Newsom, who will speak on November board last summer. A new representative nomination was, therefore, “to a large 29- For further details on these pro¬ will be named by the board to replace extent” about the agency’s credibility. grams, call AFSA at (202) 338-4045. him shortly.

58 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL RETIREMENT NEWS

cent of their salaries to their retirement. between ages 55 and 59 who retired from Some myths •For a more accurate comparison, it is the government in 1982 averaged 34.2 about federal necessary to consider the complete pen¬ years of service. sion “package” available to many private Myth No. 5: The federal retirement system retirement sector employees. Measuring a private requires a costly bail-out similar to that of base pension against a federal annuity Social Security in 1983 or it will become Congress’s Federal Government Task (which is the only retirement component insolvent. Force recently issued a paper entitled Ten offederal employment) contrasts just one •Today, the Civil Service retirement Myths About Civil Service Retirement thatf element of a company’s income-replace¬ system has five times the reserves it needs systematically refutes some of the mis¬ ment package. Other add-ons may in¬ to pay federal annuities as they come due. statements about the federal retirement clude thrift plans, stock incentive plans, Moreover, current funding mechanisms system that have been appearing in the and other financial benefits which sig¬ ensure that the program can continue in- media in recent months. The informa¬ nificantly enhance, and sometimes dra¬ definetely without congressional inter¬ tion it contains should prove highly use¬ matically expand, the company’s base vention. ful to Foreign Service people who find pension. Myth No. 6: Future generations will have themselves in the position of having to •Private employees benefit from tax to pay off the federal retirement system’s half- defend their retirement benefits. As the exempt retirement programs. The trillion-dollar unfunded liability. chairman of the task force, Representa¬ 40 l(k) tax deferral plan enjoyed by many •This allegation is always voiced any tive Mike Barnes (D.-Maryland), points private employees is not available to fed¬ time the federal retirement system is un¬ out in a letter accompanying the report, eral workers. der debate. First of all, the system’s un¬ “Keeping the federal retirement system Myth No. 2: No private pension plan costs funded liability is not a budgetary item. intact for both new and current federal as much as the federal pension plan. Simply stated, it is an estimate, based employees will require a great deal of •As indicated above, precise compari¬ upon abstract assumptions, of the value work on all our parts.’’ Ten Myths “is a sons are difficult because of the additional of all federal pension benefits if they had tool that we have developed in anticipa¬ components present in so many private to be paid simultaneously at some future tion of that important battle.” pension plans. The Congressional Bud¬ date. Obviously, this never would occur, As we all know, the Foreign Service get Office has determined, however, that and as a prominent actuary recently testi¬ retirement system is separate from that of if retirement practices typical of private fied before a congressional committee, the Civil Service, so the figures quoted in employers were adopted for federal em¬ “Unfunded liability has nothing to do this study (dollars, number of retirees, ployees, the employer’s (i.e., the govern¬ with the solvency of the current system. etc.) relate to employees and retirees cov¬ ment’s) costs would be 22.8 percent of It cannot be equated with present or fu¬ ered under the Civil Service system. pay. The most recent actuarial estimates ture debt." Nevertheless, the structure of the two show that the cost of the present Civil Myth No. 7: There is no limit to the systems is basically the same, and the Service system is 25.8 percent of pay. amount that a federal annuitant can receive. charges leveled at the Civil Service sys¬ Myth No. 3: Federal retirees receive tax- Too many federal retirees are taxpayer-sup¬ tem by its critics would in their minds free annuities and other special benefits. ported millionaires. apply generally to the Foreign Service •Federal annuities have only one com¬ •More than half of all federal annu¬ system as well. Following is a summary ponent, and that component is fully itants receive less than $ 1000 per month. of the main points in the report: taxed. Critics have conveniently over¬ Indeed, the average federal annuity in Myth No. 1: The federal retirement system looked the fact that the annuity of the 1982 amounted to $1041 per month, is the nations most generous retirement pro¬ average federal retiree age 62 or older while the average survivor annuity was gram. ($ 1064 per month after taxes) provides $463. Furthermore, under present law •Many private pension programs, par¬ little more disposable income than the no employee, irrespective of grade level ticularly among the Fortune 500, replace typical $750 monthly Social Security or years of service, can receive a retire¬ a greater portion of an employee's pre¬ check. And Social Security is only de¬ ment annuity exceeding the current sala¬ retirement income than the federal plans signed to supplement, not replace, a pri¬ ry of GS-15, Step 10. As for being tax- do. A number of studies conducted by vate pension. payer-supported millionaires, only 1.6 actuarial experts over the past year sup¬ Myth No. 4: Federal employees retire at percent of all retired federal workers re¬ port this statement. 55 while private-sector employees have to wait ceive annuities of $3000 a month or •Most private plans require no em¬ until they reach age 65 to retire on a full more. These individuals retired from the ployee contribution. The Bureau of La¬ pension. highest professional and managerial lev¬ bor Statistics reported that in 1982, •The average retirement age for both els in the career service, and their annuity some 93 percent of the pension programs private and federal workers is 61. Fur¬ levels are relatively modest when com¬ included in its broad survey did not re¬ thermore, most private pension systems pared with the plans routinely available quire any employee contribution. Feder¬ permit retirement at age 55 with 10 in the corporate world. al employees of course contribute 7 per¬ years of service. In contrast, employees | Continued next page

NOVEMBER 1984 59 Myth No. 8: All federal employees receive ment rate for public employees, so they Prospective jubilee a pension. no longer enjoy this advantage. •More than halt of all persons who Myth No. 10: The federal government members invited work for the federal government never spends more for Civil Service retirement than receive a retirement annuity: most re¬ for welfare. to submit names quest a refund of their contribution when •The government provided $46 bil¬ they leave. Actually, only 23.2 percent lion this year in direct assistance to the As mentioned in the last issue of the RE¬ of the employees who have worked tor poor. In contrast, it will pay about $21.6 TIREMENT NEWS, all members of 50 the government exercise their option to billion in retirement annuities, an years’ or more standing have been invited retire. amount largely offset by employee-agen¬ by the AFSA Governing Board to come Myth No. 9: All federal employees receive cy contributions to the retirement fund, forward and be made honorary lifetime full Social Security benefits. and trust reserve earnings. Furthermore, members. One or two of our retired •The only federal retirees who receive to equate annuity payments from a staff members have written with helpful sug¬ Social Security benefits are those who retirement system (which are earned gestions about this search, including have earned them through outside em¬ benefits) with welfare constitutes out¬ mention of the remarkable December ployment. It is true that a number do right misrepresentation. 1936 supplement to the JOURNAL, with qualify and that, in the past, many bene¬ As Representative Barnes has pointed its group and individual photographs fited from the “tilt” under which the out, preserving the present structure of and complete index. Sure enough, a copy Social Security formula replaced low the federal retirement system poses a real was still in our archives. We plan to wages at higher income-replacement challenge in the months ahead. Refuting come out with a preliminary list in De¬ rates. In 1983, however. Congress re¬ the myths and keeping the facts straight cember, subject to suggestions about duced Social Security's income-replace¬ are critical first steps. those whom we may have missed. Life and Love in the Foreign Service

Winners of the monthly LIFE Send entries to: AND LOVE contest receive a LIFE AND LOVE # 16 certificate for a free lunch for AFSA two at the Foreign Service 2101 E Street NW Club. Honorable mention Washington, DC 20037 winners receive a free carafe of wine. Contest deadline is December 15 Competition #16

“Please, Corporal, a pink slip notice of a security violation would have been enough." —Bob Sherman, Washington

ton, D.C. 20037. Please state agency af¬ Fiscal year 1984 Apply now for filiation (State, AID, US1A, FCS, or 1985-86 AFSA FAS). audit shows Merit Awards are for high school sen¬ Scholarships iors graduating in the spring of 1985 and modest surplus are awarded on the basis of academic ex¬ Applications should be requested imme¬ cellence. The Association’s audit for fiscal year diately by students interested in AFSA Financial Aid Grants ate for full-time 1984, which ended June 30, shows a scholarships for academic year 1985-86. undergraduate study in the United States small surplus of S4912. Copies of the Eligible are dependent students of For¬ and are based solely on need. Grants audit, performed by the firm of Leopold eign Service personnel who have been or range from $200 to $2000 for individ¬ & Linowes, are available for review by are currently serving abroad. Inquiries uals, with a $3000 limit for families. members in the AFSA headquarters should be made directly to AFSA Schol¬ Apply immediately. All materials building. arship Programs Administrator Dawn must be returned to the AFSA Scholar¬ The budget for fiscal year 1985 was Cuthell, 2101 E Street NW, Washing¬ ship Office by February 15. published in the September issue.

60 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL MY WIFE: WANTS TO WFMTE A *>,OOD PAGE IP$ NEARLY XMAS'TIME THESIS. JUNIOR WANTS TV IMPROVE H/

'NEVER! ‘ I YELLED. 'WHAF YOU'RE ' YOU'RE RIGHT,' THEY SAIP. ASKING ME IS TO HIRE ONE FULL-TIME 'THAT'S WHY YOU'RE OtfNG TO A CCQUNTAN r - 5 ECKEEAA Y - TUTOR- ORDER A COMPUTER WM 5TDCK0ROKER WHO HAS NO DESIRE SOFTARAF USA,, WHERE TO MAKE MONEY AND NO NEED TZ) YOU GEE A SPECIAL FOREIGN SLEEP. IP JP5T ISN'T" HOMAWLY SERVICE DISCOUNT ON THE

P05S/5LE:!' / MQ5F COMPETITIVE PRICE*)...

SQFT6RAF PRICES ARE 3ETTER JEM OS A PRICES LEADING EDGE-COLUMBIA-SFFCfUA-HDYLEfT PACKARD 110f 150- EPSON■ PANASONIC• 4LE THE SOFTWARE POUR FAMILY NEEDS * COMPUTERS ONLY '5% OVER OUR OOSTO VAN DORN PLAZA, Alexandria, Virginia 22304 Hours: M-F: 10-9, Sat: 10-6, Sun: 12-5 Phone: (703) 370-5000 SOFTGRAFUSA ■ Dodge Lancer

Chrysler. Showing the world what innovative engineering is all about. And now you can get big corps, you're entitled to big discounts through Chrysler’s 1985 Diplomatic Purchase Program. diplomatic discounts on our most Choose from a complete line of Chrysler-built exciting new vehicles for I98S. cars, including full-size luxury sedans, convertibles, Plymouth Voyager, the Magic Wagon. With station wagons and sports cars. seating configurations for two, five or an option For full details on the Diplomatic Purchase for seven people, Voyager offers amazing Program and the vehicles included, contact: versatility. And it handles, garages and parks like In U.S.: Any Chrysler-Plymouth or Dodge dealer a car. You’ve got to drive it to believe it. or the Diplomatic Sales Office, Chrysler Corp¬ Dodge Lancer ES is a remarkable new sedan oration, P.O. Box 670, Sterling Heights, Ml with aerodynamic lines, electronic fuel injection 48311-0670. Phone [313] 978-6706. TELEX and sport handling suspension for great per¬ 0235264 CHRYEXIMDET. formance. An ingenious fifth door in back is an Overseas: TELEX 961320 CHRYNEWCAR. added dimension not found in most European Attn: Diplomatic Sales. sport sedans. Or mail the postage-paid reply card enclosed in And as an active member of the diplomatic this magazine. w Chrysler Corporation We don’t want to be the biggest. Just the best.