PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN FOREIGN SERVICE ASSOCIATION OCTOBER 2012 THE NEW FOREIGN SERVICE GENERATION TEHRAN, 1979: THE UNTOLD STORY LOCAL LENS DEBUTS FOREIGN October 2012 SERVICE Volume 89, No. 10 FOCUS THE NEW FOREIGN SERVICE GENERATION AFSA NEWS Today’s New Hires: What They See, What They Say / 22 AFSA Celebrates High School Essay Contest Winner / 57 The hiring wave that began in 2008 with State’s Diplomacy 3.0 program and USAID’s Development Leadership Initiative increased these agencies’ State VP: Staying in Place Foreign Service ranks by 17 and 54 percent, respectively. Here’s a look in an Up-or-Out System / 58 at the new hires’ thoughts and expectations about their work. FCS VP: Water Under BY SHAWN DORMAN the Bridge / 59 FAS VP: The Mid-Level The Hiring Pendulum / 25 Staffing Gap / 60 The boom and bust hiring cycles at State and USAID have created serious staffing problems. FSOs Help Bosnian Street Dogs Survive / 60 BY SHAWN DORMAN Ambassador Chas Freeman Gen Y, and On to Z / 28 Gives Adair Lecture / 61 A retired ambassador shares her impressions of the new generations. AFSA Bylaw Amendments Pass / 63 BY EILEEN MALLOY TLG Intern Has “Fantastic” What I Wish I Had Known … / 38 Summer at State / 63 New hires talk about what they wish they had known before joining COLUMNS the Foreign Service. EDITED BY SHAWN DORMAN President’s Views / 7 Diplomatic Capacity Needs Professional Institutional Bridging the Foreign Service Generational Gulf / 42 Leadership More than half of the current Foreign Service has joined since 9/11. BY SUSAN R. JOHNSON But differences in age and experience do not have to divide FS members. Letter from the Editor / 12 BY BRANDON POSSIN AND LARRY BUTLER Present at the Creation BY STEVEN ALAN HONLEY FEATURE Speaking Out / 18 Achieving Work-Life “Argo”: How Hollywood Does History / 50 Balance at State BY LILLIAN C. WAHL-TUCO The covert operation that extracted six American diplomats from Iran in 1980 is now a film starring Ben Affleck. Even if it’s a great story, Reflections / 81 a “dramatization based on true events” is not history. But maybe that’s OK. You Want to Join the What …? BY MARK LIJEK BY JAMES TALALAY DEPARTMENTS Cover photo by Mikkela Thompson: Entry-level officers from Embassy Dhaka Letters / 9 visit the National Parliament of Bangladesh. Full image is found on page 22-23. Talking Points / 14 Books / 64 In Memory / 66 Local Lens / 82 MARKETPLACE As we went to press, we received news of the deaths of four members of Classifieds / 75 the Foreign Service in the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Real Estate / 78 Please see p. 67 for AFSA’s statement. Index to Advertisers / 79 THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2012 5 FOREIGN SERVICE S Editor Steven Alan Honley: [email protected] Senior Editor Susan Brady Maitra: [email protected] Associate Editor CONTACT Shawn Dorman: [email protected] AFSA News Editor AFSA Headquarters: Labor Management Donna Ayerst: [email protected] (202) 338-4045; Fax (202) 338-6820 General Counsel State Department AFSA Office: Sharon Papp: [email protected] Ad & Circulation Manager (202) 647-8160; Fax (202) 647-0265 Deputy General Counsel Ed Miltenberger: [email protected] USAID AFSA Office: Zlatana Badrich: [email protected] Art Director (202) 712-1941; Fax (202) 216-3710 Labor Management Specialist Caryn Suko Smith FCS AFSA Office: James Yorke: [email protected] (202) 482-9088; Fax (202) 482-9087 Labor Management Counselor Editorial Intern Janet Weber: [email protected] Emily A. Hawley GOVERNING BOARD Senior Staff Attorney Advertising Intern President: Neera Parikh: [email protected] Edward Kurniawan Susan R. Johnson: [email protected] Staff Attorney State VP: Raeka Safai: [email protected] Editorial Board Daniel Hirsch: [email protected] Staff Attorney James P. Seevers, Chairman USAID VP: Andrew Large: [email protected] Judith Baroody Francisco Zamora: [email protected] Office Manager William D. Bent FCS VP: Christine Warren: [email protected] Clayton Bond Keith Curtis: [email protected] USAID Senior Labor Management Adviser Gordon S. Brown FAS VP: Douglas Broome: [email protected] Stephen W. Buck David Mergen: [email protected] Staff Assistant Ruth M. Hall Retiree VP: Alex Nostro: [email protected] Richard McKee Mary Ellen Gilroy: [email protected] Jed Meline Secretary: Vacant MEMBER Services Gregory L. Naarden Treasurer: Andrew Winter Member Services Director Beth Payne State Reps: Janet Hedrick: [email protected] Matthew Asada Member Services Representative William Bent Kristy Pomes: [email protected] THE MAGAZINE FOR FOREIGN AffaiRS E. Alex Copher Administrative Assistant and Office Manager PROfessiONALS Tim Corso Ana Lopez: [email protected] The Foreign Service Journal (ISSN 0146-3543), 2101 E Kenneth Kero-Mentz Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20037-2990 is published Elise Mellinger Communications, MARKETING AND monthly, with a combined July-August issue, by the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), a private, Joyce Namde Outreach nonprofit organization. Material appearing herein repre- Ted Osius Director of Marketing and Outreach sents the opinions of the writers and does not necessarily Lillian Wahl-Tuco Ásgeir Sigfússon: [email protected] represent the views of the Journal, the Editorial Board or David Zwach Director of Communications AFSA. Writer queries and submissions are invited, prefer- USAID Rep: Thomas Switzer: [email protected] ably by e-mail. The Journal is not responsible for unso- Iris Young Special Awards and Outreach Coordinator licited manuscripts, photos or illustrations. Advertising FCS Rep: Steve Morrison Perri Green: [email protected] inquiries are invited. The appearance of advertisements FAS Rep: Andrew Burst herein does not imply endorsement of the services or Editor/Publisher, FS Books goods offered. Journal subscription: AFSA member–$20, IBB Rep: Andre de Nesnera Shawn Dorman: [email protected] included in annual dues; student–$30; institution–$40; Retiree Reps: Web and Graphics Assistant others–$50. For foreign surface mail, add $18 per year; Robert Houdek Jeff Lau: [email protected] foreign airmail, $36 per year. Periodical postage paid Edward Marks at Washington, D.C., and at additional mailing offices. Hugh Neighbour PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS Indexed by the Public Affairs Information Services (PAIS). Molly Williamson Coordinator, Retiree Counseling E-mail: [email protected] and Legislation Fax: (202) 338-8244 STAFF Bonnie Brown: [email protected] Executive Director Associate Coordinator, Retiree Counseling Web: www.afsa.org/fsj Ian Houston: [email protected] and Legislation © American Foreign Service Association, 2012. Executive Assistant to the President Matthew Sumrak: [email protected] Patrick Bradley: [email protected] Legislative Assistant PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. Clint Lohse: [email protected] Postmaster: Send address changes to Business Department Scholarship Director AFSA Director of Finance Lori Dec: [email protected] Attn: Address Change Femi Oshobukola: [email protected] Scholarship Assistant 2101 E Street NW Controller Jonathan Crawford: [email protected] Washington DC 20037-2990 Kalpna Srimal: [email protected] Assistant Controller Cory Nishi: [email protected] www.afsa.org 6 OCTOBER 2012 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL PRESIDENT’S VIEWS Diplomatic Capacity Needs Professional Institutional Leadership BY SUSAN R. JOHNSON or several years now, our military FS Active ism of the career Foreign leadership has called repeat- Exhibit 1 FS Retired/Recalled Service if three-quarters of edly for an enhanced diplomatic Other the senior leadership posi- Fcapacity that can meet the mul- 35 tions in the Department of tiplicity of complex contemporary chal- 30 State are filled by political lenges our nation faces, from terrorism to appointments? What impact 25 climate change. Can we build a stronger does this trend have on its institutional capacity without a career 20 institutional memory, to Foreign Service that develops a deep 15 say nothing of the personal senior bench of top-quality professional 10 networks built over years diplomats? that are so vital for success- 5 As the following charts illustrate, the ful diplomacy? 0 trend has been in the opposite direction. 1975 1995 2005 2012 Only an institution with (The data are drawn from the Web site a strong career diplomatic of the State Department’s Office of the service can give sound, can- Historian.) Exhibit 2 did advice to political lead- Exhibit 1 shows the top leadership ers in order to shape policy positions (deputy secretaries, under- 4 and implement it effectively. secretaries, assistant secretaries and Can we really expect such counselor) at the State Department in advice from an institutional periodic snapshots, starting in 1975. The leadership overwhelmingly 5 total number of positions in this category drawn from the advocates of has grown from 18 to 33 over 37 years. one party or the other, which Meanwhile, the number of active duty 26 changes hands with every FS Active Foreign Service positions has decreased, new administration? Recalled from 11 to 9, and the relative FS share has Other In today’s world, it is hard fallen from 61 percent to 27. to argue that the United Exhibit 2 shows an additional group: States can afford to make the 35 special envoys, representatives, mistakes on the diplomatic advisers and coordinators in place today. examine. But it is more than enough to front because of our military superior- Of these, only five slots (14 percent) are trigger a host of sobering questions, start- ity and the strength of our economy, or filled by active-duty Foreign Service ing with this: If the trend continues, for simply because we are the “indispens- officers. how much longer will the United States able nation.” The questions raised above This is only a sliver of have a professional diplomatic service? lie at the heart of the future of American the data that AFSA has How can we maintain the quality, diplomacy and the role we desire to play started to collect and integrity, motivation and professional- overseas in the coming decades.