BACKING THE BUDGET I DOCUMENT DECLASSIFICATION I A COLD WAR MYSTERY

$3.50 / JANUARY 2006 OREIGN ERVICE FJ O U R N A L S THE MAGAZINE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALS

A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES Life and Work after the Foreign Service

CONTENTS January 2006 Volume 83, No. 1

FOCUS ON FS RETIREMENT MOVING TO A SENIOR LIVING FACILITY / 52 By Bill Harrop 17 / FOREIGN SERVICE RETIREMENT: IFE AFTER THE ETIREES PEAK P EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION L FS: R S U / 56 By Steven Alan Honley By Susan Maitra

20 / OLD AGE IS NO PLACE FOR SISSIES FEATURE By Bonnie Brown and THE DOMINO EFFECT OF IMPROPER Norma Reyes DECLASSIFICATION / 69 23 / FS RETIREES FIND A ‘WAE’ A retired Foreign Service officer confronts false BACK TO THE DEPARTMENT accusations that he was a central figure in U.S. assistance By Roger Dankert to Operation Condor while serving in Latin America during the 1970s. 26 / PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR By James J. Blystone MANAGING WAE POSITIONS By Carolee Heileman

29 / WRITING AS A POST-FS CAREER: A GOOD CANE By David T. Jones

33 / AN NGO TO PROMOTE MULTI-TRACK DIPLOMACY By John W. and Christel G. McDonald C OLUMNS D EPARTMENTS

36 / SORT OF RETIRED IN SAN DIEGO PRESIDENT’S VIEWS / 5 LETTERS / 6 By Millie McCoo Budget Crisis Redux: Have CYBERNOTES / 11 We Really Learned Anything? MARKETPLACE / 12 ERVING IN ANAMA VER AND VER GAIN 38 / S P O O A By J. Anthony Holmes BOOKS / 76 By Robert Raymer IN MEMORY / 78 SPEAKING OUT / 15 INDEX TO 43 / MANAGING INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS IN ACADEMIA 25 Years Later, Time for ADVERTISERS / 86 By Tibor P. Nagy Dialogue with Iran AFSA NEWS / 46 / EIGHT TIPS TO BREAK INTO ACADEMIA By Bruce Laingen CENTER INSERT By Robert Fritts REFLECTIONS / 88 49 / RETIREES BUILD SUPPORT FOR THE The Mystery of the FOREIGN SERVICE Missing Files By Tom Switzer By Kimberly Krhounek

THE MAGAZINE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALS OREIGN ERVICE Foreign Service Journal (ISSN 0146-3543), 2101 E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037-2990 is published FJ O U R N A L S monthly with a combined July/August issue by the American Foreign Service Association, a private, non-profit Editor Editorial Board STEVEN ALAN HONLEY organization. Material appearing herein represents the opinions of the writers and does not necessarily represent Senior Editor TED WILKINSON, the views of the Journal, the Editorial Board or AFSA. Writer queries and submissions are invited, preferably by SUSAN B. MAITRA CHAIRMAN e-mail. Journal subscription: AFSA Members - $13 included in annual dues; others - $40. For foreign surface mail, Associate Editor add $18 per year; foreign airmail, $36 per year. Periodical postage paid at Washington, D.C., and at additional mail- KENT C. BROKENSHIRE SHAWN DORMAN ing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Foreign Service Journal, 2101 E Street N.W., Washington, D.C. Ad & Circulation Manager STEPHEN W. BUCK 20037-2990. Indexed by Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS). The Journal is not responsible for unsolicited ED MILTENBERGER ANTHONY S. CHAN Business Manager LILLIAN DEVALCOURT-AYALA manuscripts, photos or illustrations. Advertising inquiries are invited. The appearance of advertisements herein MIKKELA V. T HOMPSON JOSH GLAZEROFF does not imply the endorsement of the services or goods offered. FAX: (202) 338-8244 or (202) 338-6820. Art Director ILLIAM ORDAN E-MAIL: [email protected]. WEB: www.afsa.org. TELEPHONE: (202) 338-4045. © American Foreign Service CARYN SUKO SMITH W W. J Association, 2005. Printed in the U.S.A. Send address changes to AFSA Membership, 2101 E Street N.W., Editorial Interns LAURIE KASSMAN DANIEL ZUSSMAN JOYCE W. N AMDE Washington, D.C. 20037-2990. Printed on 50-percent recycled paper, of which 10 percent is post-consumer waste. CAITLIN STUART KAY WEBB MAYFIELD Advertising Intern CHRISTOPHER L. TEAL WILLEM HOFSTEDE Cover and inside illustration by Susan Swan

JANUARY 2006/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 3

PRESIDENT’S VIEWS Budget Crisis Redux: Have We Really Learned Anything?

BY J. ANTHONY HOLMES

I watched with realized that a well-funded State tightening, and axing. This is reflected fascination the inter- Department and USAID, and related in the timid, minimalist nature of the necine battle as Re- assistance programs like the Millen- department’s initial budget request. publicans in Con- nium Challenge Account and the PEP- We can expect no new hiring and lots of gress struggled in FAR anti-AIDS initiative, are small retrenchment in the name of rational- November to come investments in prevention that mini- ization. USAID and Commerce are up with, in percent- mize or even prevent the gargantuan rife with rumors of furloughs and RIFs. age terms, a tiny costs later for things like the Iraq war. Expect an acceleration of the under- package of symbolic budget cuts to off- Can we assume that the department funding of the original announced set the costs of Hurricanes Katrina and and the White House will do whatever commitments we made with such fan- Rita. If there had been any doubt that is necessary lest anti-internationalists or fare to the MCA and PEPFAR. we are now in a new era of U.S. gov- budget hawks in Congress, or even Memories are short and our atavistic ernment budget crises, this spectacle OMB, do not realize this? Assume tendencies decidedly short-sighted. eliminated it. For the State Depart- nothing. Three things make this budget ment, the outlook is equally grim. The crunch different, however. First, the initial “passback” from OMB of its FY- president and the congressional lead- 07 budget request provided virtually The time has come for ership come from the same party, so nothing new or additive. the most crucial part of the budget Given the budget and election Sec. Rice to use her game is played in-house, before it is cycles, the FY-07 State budget is relationship with the sent to the Hill. Second, the stakes Secretary Rice’s first, even though she’s president. are higher, because of international been in office for 10 months. What she events and because the fragile recent decides to “reclama” and fight for, and progress McKinsey noted is at risk. what she concedes must be sacrificed at The State Department has just Exceptional leadership is required, the altar of “budget realities,” will speak released the McKinsey & Company an absolute refusal to take no for an volumes about her real priorities. As in update of its 1999 report on “The War answer and a willingness to use all the rest of life where one hears “watch for Talent.” The highest marks were means available to trump those, with- what they do, not what they say,” where given for the commitment the past few in the administration and outside it, the money goes is what tells the real years of the department’s senior-most who simply don’t get it. The State story in foreign affairs. management to fighting for and win- Department and foreign affairs bud- The FY-07 budget will end the five- ning the budgetary resources necessary gets are every bit as important to our year run of growing resources for diplo- to counter decades of underinvestment national security as our military macy and foreign affairs. Given the in information technology, security for expenditures. But there’s also one huge events during this period in Iraq our facilities, and insufficient recruit- more new element in this equation: and Afghanistan, the fight against ter- ment. McKinsey’s top recommenda- we have a Secretary of State with rorism, to say nothing of the new focus tion for the future is to “institutionalize” unrivaled influence at the White on “transformational diplomacy,” it this success and to build on it. Yet House. The time has come for her to would be easy to assume that the White everything I can pick up in my discus- use her relationship with the presi- House and the Congress had finally sions within the department reveals dent. Being just another Cabinet that just the opposite is happening. team player will compromise both J. Anthony Holmes is the president of the The palpable ethos of the building her own success over the next three American Foreign Service Association. has become one of scrimping, belt- years and her legacy. I

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LETTERS

“In-Your-Face” assistant secretary of State for educa- lead the fight that I believe must be Appointments tional and cultural affairs, and princi- fought to the end. I hope this letter, One look at the shocking appoint- pal deputy to Under Secretary Karen intended not as a comprehensive ments announced in the November Hughes (whose recent travels indicate treatment of the issue but as a brief issue of State magazine sent me back an urgent need for expert assistance), introduction, will encourage an to new AFSA President J. Anthony an “assistant to the president for pres- exchange of views leading to a con- Holmes’ inaugural piece in the idential personnel.” Whatever that certed campaign for professionalism September Journal, in which he took title may mean, neither it nor her ear- and expertise in the conduct of issue with the recent appointment of lier partisan activities suggest any American diplomacy. three European Bureau deputy assis- expertise in education, culture or Alan D. Berlind tant secretaries. We Foreign Service senior management. Senior FSO, retired professionals are long accustomed to It is true that the practice of Bordeaux, France being passed over in favor of cam- rewarding contributors and cronies paign contributors and buddies from with ambassadorships, or even using Iraq Is More Important way back, but that is no reason to for- the lure of such positions as bargain- In AFSA State VP Steve Kashkett’s ever acquiesce in a practice unique ing chips in advance, is traditional in “VP Voice” (November), there is a among the diplomatic services of deve- administrations of both stripes. But reference to a “great many” Foreign loped, democratic countries. The lat- isn’t it time to challenge that tradi- Service employees protesting prefer- est “in your face” political appoint- tion? The usual arguments for doing ential treatment given for service in ments present an opportunity for so are sufficient and (almost) too Iraq and Afghanistan, while a “hand- strenuous and persistent protest, obvious to mention, leaving aside ful” of those who have served there using whatever weapons are at our the offense to senior Foreign Service say they deserve every possible com- disposal; including, first and foremost, officers denied postings for which pensation. What exactly is the differ- but not limited to, sympathetic mem- their careers have prepared them. ence between “great many” and bers of Congress. What are foreign governments to “handful”? I ask because I never The current administration pro- think: that the political appointee’s heard people in Iraq say they were poses to send abroad as senior repre- arrival means that Washington does going through hell being posted sentatives of the United States a not really consider the host country there, nor did I hear the view that we regional chairman of the Bush- worth a professional; that the profes- deserve every possible compensation Cheney 2004 re-election campaign, a sional’s arrival means that he or she for being there. two-term co-chair of the Republican won’t have the White House’s ear; Iraq and Afghanistan are referred National Committee, two very that the Foreign Service isn’t capa- to in the column as “politically sym- wealthy and successful businessmen ble of producing qualified persons bolic,” “high profile” and “politically and — the ideal combination of diplo- for senior positions? It is axiomatic sensitive at the moment.” Is it not matic qualifications — a chairman of that some political appointees turn possible that another, more appropri- the Mississippi Republican Party who out to be very capable chiefs of mis- ate adjective to describe these places also owns 20 restaurants all over that sion; so why not DCMs? would be “important?” At the most state. For senior-level policy direction AFSA, our professional organiza- operational level, we measure impor- from Washington we are given as tion and our union, is best placed to tance by how much time and atten-

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tion an issue gets from our political some dictator and remake the coun- Iraq, the Taliban has been able to masters — and by that measure, Iraq try into a bastion of democracy. That regroup. Since January 2005, U.S., and Afghanistan are in a class by examination is up to the voters and NATO and civilian casualties there themselves. Another measure that historians. What is incumbent on us, have reached an all-time high. could be used is the commitment of four years later, is to question the • Our attention and resources so many of our military and Foreign soundness of the choices made. By have been diverted from the real Service personnel to the mission and urging us to stay the course, the threats to our security: nuclear ter- the casualties we have taken. administration presumes that cur- rorism, Iran and North Korea. If we accept that Iraq and rent policies are moving the country • By choosing to finance the $1 Afghanistan are more important by toward two desirable, mutually rein- billion-a-week war effort through almost any measure, then it seems forcing, goals: 1) a more stable (for- borrowing rather than taxes, the entirely appropriate that service get democratic) Iraq, and 2) a more administration is responsible for an there is more valuable. Or to put it secure U.S. unprecedented increase in the bud- another way: assuming equal quality In reality, this is what the decision get deficit. Our kids will pay for it. in the work, service in Iraq and to invade and pacify Iraq has gotten For all the above reasons, and by Afghanistan should count more for us so far: any measure, the U.S. is less secure promotion than service in lesser • Thousands of U.S. troops and than we were prior to the invasion. posts. Fairness to all would require Iraqis (mostly civilians) have been There is considerable evidence that equal exposure to the risks of service killed, wounded or psychologically U.S. troops — notwithstanding their in Afghanistan and Iraq. AFSA scarred. unquestioned courage and lofty should be demanding directed • Iraqi security forces — army motives — are an obstacle to a assignments to fill jobs in Iraq and and police — have been infiltrated. secure and stable Iraq. Let us do Afghanistan, not complaining that Progress toward an effective fighting everything in our power to replace the few who take the risks and per- force depends on which U.S. gener- them with U.N., NATO or other form well are treated with the al or administration spokesman you multilateral peacekeepers as soon as respect they merit by doing the most believe. possible. If that doesn’t work, we important work in the most danger- • Religious freedom and women’s should withdraw anyway. At this ous places. rights are likely to be diminished stage, we desperately need another Henry S. Ensher under the constitution proposed for course, one that has a chance of suc- FSO, Director of Iraq the Shiite-dominated part of the cess. Political Affairs country. Arthur S. Lezin McLean, Va. • Reconstruction has been FSO, retired slowed by widespread corruption in Bend, Ore. No to Staying the Course Iraq and the U.S. Well-placed “Stay the course” has a nice ring American and Iraqi contractors have Diversity and MOH Policy to it. For a country, as for an indi- reaped windfalls from questionable Director General W. Robert vidual, it connotes resolve and a or illegal contracts. Pearson’s June 2005 State magazine determination to triumph over what- • The presence of U.S. troops column, “Our Diverse Department ever obstacles may arise. It is the occupying a Muslim country is a of State,” really hit home, especially opposite of weakness and indecision. potent recruiting tool for al-Qaida his statement that “Diversity enables This positive aura hinges, needless and a lightning rod for insurgent vio- us to approach and meet our chal- to say, on the soundness of the lence, and has resulted in a dramatic lenges in new, different and more course chosen. It also helps if there upsurge in anti-American sentiment effective ways.” I’ve dealt with that are signposts along the way to con- throughout the Arab/Muslim world. issue my whole life, both before and firm that the goal is being achieved. • Longstanding allies — whose during my Foreign Service career. While it is tempting to do so, this full cooperation is critical in the fight I am of French-Canadian descent is not the place to examine the mis- against terrorism — have well-justi- and grew up in Quebec. My father steps and deception involved in the fied doubts about U.S. leadership. served in the old Royal Canadian Air administration’s decision to invade • With the diversion of attention Force for 20 years. Everything in Iraq, topple a brutal and trouble- and resources from Afghanistan to those days was only in English. My

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father had to fight to have us bused Department to look like America.” There is growing pressure in many to French schools off base. In those Let me say that we are a long way states allowing same-sex couples to days, if one spoke French and an from making this happen as far as the wed. What then? Anglophone entered the room, one gay and lesbian community is con- Since writing this letter, I have switched to English. When my cerned. In December 2004, Richard learned that my appeal to curtail was father was transferred to a base in and I were married in Methuen, denied by the DG. The basic mes- Ontario in the late 1960s, I had no Mass. But we received no help from sage was that I should have done my choice but go to an English-speaking HR when I tried to have him added to homework about Rabat. The prob- high school where I struggled with my orders, even after submitting a lem with such a response is that, as the language. copy of our marriage certificate. In AFSA has confirmed, there is no In 1982, I moved to San Francisco, July 2005, I contacted AFSA about even treatment of MOHs from one thinking no one there would care that our predicament. One option dis- post to another. I was a French-Canadian with a weird cussed was the creation of another Christian Charette accent. I was right. However, in real- class of Eligible Family Member Financial Management ity, I only exchanged one type of dis- along the lines of “separate but Officer crimination for another, for in the equal,” without financial benefits. Embassy Rabat mid-1980s, I finally came to terms In the meantime, Richard came with my sexuality. That was a difficult to Rabat, at our expense, this past Marriage in the Old Days process, even in San Francisco, where July as my “domestic” (which was I read with interest Susan Ann I was living during the height of the insulting). He has been denied Clyde’s letter in the October issue AIDS scourge. access to the health unit and every regarding women FSOs who mar- In 1991, I became a U.S. citizen time he has applied for a job at post ried “in the old days.” I know of one and went to work for the U.S. in competition with other spouses, instance from around 1960 when our Department of Justice. Before he has been disqualified because, consular officer in New Delhi, Anne accepting the job, I told my boss I according to the regulations, he is a Meriam (I could be misspelling her was gay and asked if that would be Member of Household, although last name), married yet was allowed an issue. He assured me it would legally he is my spouse. He has tried to remain in the Foreign Service. not, and within one year I was pro- to obtain outside employment with Several of us at the time were happi- moted to GS-14. no success. As a result, I have ly astonished by the department’s On Sept. 20, 2002, I received my requested curtailment based on “open-mindedness.” When the cou- security clearance and joined the financial hardship. Because Rabat ple married, the husband had just Foreign Service two days later. My has only a 15-percent cost-of-living- retired as an officer in the Indian sexuality was never an issue. My adjustment, Richard and I cannot Army and intended to become a Canadian citizenship, on the other survive on my salary alone, given the writer as an accompanying spouse. hand, almost cost me my clearance, lack of financial support from State. As I recall, Anne served at one or until I made the difficult decision to Having experienced discrimina- two more posts before she retired. renounce it. My parents were dev- tion based on ethnicity and sexuality Ralph H. Graner astated, but I felt strongly about throughout my life, I cannot wait for FSO, retired working for the Foreign Service and the day when the Department of Richmond, Va. made the sacrifice. State treats all of its employees In March 2003, I went to Yemen. equally. Too often State hides Supporting the World In September 2004, my partner, behind regulations, yet there always I found the September article, Richard Fitzsimmons, joined me at seems to be a way around them “for “Embassy Design: Security vs. post. Within two weeks, he was run- the needs of the Service.” I am Openness,” very interesting. Prior to ning the commissary and in January reminded of the regulations in place my retirement in 1994, I was an Area 2005 went to work for USAID. in the 1950s prohibiting blacks from Management Officer in the then- In his article, the DG praises diver- sitting at the front of the bus. That Foreign Buildings Operation Office. I sity saying, “We want the State did not stop the late Rosa Parks! thoroughly enjoyed my three-year

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assignment, which afforded me an opportunity to work with architects, engineers, security officers, communi- cators and interior designers, as well Whether you are with as representatives from other agen- the Local, State or cies. As an AMO, I led survey teams Federal Government to different countries in search of an agency or the military, ideal location for a new office build- Crimson offers superior ing. solutions to fit your A major problem with the NOB budget and per diem. construction program had to do with Crimson Government the amount of time required to go Housing Solutions from design to construction. I made Include: a suggestion that was similar to what Assignment Changes OBO is now doing — using a Evacuations Standard Embassy Design. The Intern Programs memo I wrote addressed the savings International Visitors to be had with a standard design, Project teams based primarily on construction and Relocations furnishing. Prior postings in Haiti Short / Long Details and Santo Domingo showed me that TDY this could work: both posts had the Training same design for the ambassador’s residence. Crimson offers an I believe that because I used the exceptional value in example of Holiday Inns, Marriotts temporary housing for and other hotel chains that were government personnel. able to build the same buildings, Our furnished with some changes, all over the apartments and single- world, my suggestion didn’t make it family homes are a to the head of FBO. But I am very spacious and more pleased to note that, although it luxurious alternative to wasn’t accepted at the time, at least the cramped quarters the idea is now being followed — of a hotel room. albeit fleshed out considerably. Now that FBO has been reorga- nized and renamed OBO, I wonder 202.986.0433 if AMOs are still as important as 888.233.7759 they were then. My colleagues and [email protected] I spent a considerable amount of www.crimsonworldwide.com time on issues other than new build- ings. Renovating, leasing, buying Fully furnished apartments and single family homes, with large and selling properties consumed a spacious rooms, full sized kitchens, and housewares. Separate living, lot of our time, and GSOs in the dining and sleeping areas. Hotel style amenities, including swimming field depended a great deal on their pools, hot tubs, fitness centers, optional maid service and more. AMOs concerning real property Rates within the TDY per diem. issues. I remember working on a display

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for FBO, creating a logo to show the office’s function. It was the figure of a person holding the world on his shoulders. Above the figure were the words “Area Management” and below were the words: “Supports the World.” I hope that the article in the Journal was only about one aspect of OBO and that the function of the AMO has not been dimin- ished with the reorganization. Jerry Lujan FSO, retired Saddle Brooke, Ariz. I

Correction: In the October 2005 article, “Breaking through Diplomacy’s Glass Ceiling,” a note in Chart 7 inadvertently includes Laos in a list of Asian countries to which a female has never been appointed ambassador. In fact, as the chart shows, four women had served in Laos as chief of mission through 2003. The current ambassador to Laos is Patricia M. Haslach, whose appointment occurred after the chart was assembled.

Send your letters to: [email protected]. Note that all letters are subject to editing for style, format and length.

10 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/JANUARY 2006

CYBERNOTES

Yes, ICANN! Because the Internet originated in issues” (http://www.itu.int/wsis/ In November, representatives from the U.S., the Department of Com- tunis/statements/docs/io-un-open 174 countries and more than 800 merce retained authority over these ing/1.html). NGOs attended the second World matters worldwide until 1998, when it “The Europeans are eager to stand Summit on the Information Society in delegated day-to-day management to up to the Americans, and that I think Tunis, organized by the United Internet Cooperation for Assigned has been produced by the last five Nations’ International Telecommuni- Names and Numbers, a diverse, non- years of U.S. foreign policy. It’s not cations Union (http://www.itu.int/ political organization with an interna- really a cyberlaw problem,” asserts home). The ITU, headquartered in tional board (www.icann.org/gener Lawrence Lessig, a professor of law at Geneva, is a U.N. body through which al). Stanford University and a columnist governments and the private sector In September the European Union for Wired magazine, in a recent coordinate global telecommunication joined Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, Foreign Policy magazine interview networks and services. The United Venezuela and others in opposing the (http://www.foreignpolicy.com States is among its 189 member states. predominant role of ICANN in man- /story/cms.php?story_id=3306). The summit, held Nov. 16-18, was aging the Internet. The Institute for Policy Innovation, convened to “tackle the problem of The E.U. and other governments a Texas-based think-tank, has come to the ‘digital divide’ and harness the are pushing for greater United a similar conclusion. “The United potential of information and commu- Nations authority over this sphere, Nations and the European Union are nication technologies to drive econom- arguing that entrusting that responsi- pushing for international management ic and social development.” However, bility to a single country is potentially because critics are uncomfortable with these worthy objectives were largely dangerous. U.N. Secretary General — and jealous of — what is viewed as overshadowed by a dispute over the Kofi Annan was outspoken in Tunis: American hegemony, when in fact, the United States’ central role in adminis- “The United States deserves our U.S. does not control the Internet. It tering the Domain Name System — thanks for having developed the simply oversees it.” IPI offers a wide the structure of network addresses Internet and making it available to the array of background information, radio (.com, .org, etc.) that computers use to world. … But I think you also all clips and expert opinion about this communicate with one another to find [should] acknowledge the need for topic on its Web site (http://www.ipi. Web pages and route e-mail, among more international participation in org/). other functions. discussions of Internet governance Critics of the proposal also point to the fact that the most vocal opponents of the current arrangement include China, Iran and Saudi Arabia, all of 50 Years Ago... which restrict their citizens’ Internet If you spend a lifetime discussing [issues] with people usage to repress nascent democratic of other countries, you acquire a habit of seeing two movements. sides, which exist in so many questions. This tends to create a sense As it happened, the challengers had of balance and measure in forming judgments and, above all, an no way to force the U.S. to give up control, and America was adamant ingrained suspicion of all one-sided points of view. about leaving arrangements in place. — Sir David Kelly, from “The Lost Art of Diplomacy,” FSJ, January David Goss, the U.S. delegation head, 1956. made this position clear (http://usin fo.state.gov/gi/Archive/2005/Nov/

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15-477039.html). On the eve of the the U.S. perspective, see an archive of summit delegates came to an agree- articles on the summit published by ment allowing ICANN to retain its the State Department at http://usin role for the time being. As part of the fo.state.gov/gi/global_issues/world compromise an Internet Governance _summit_on_information_society/ Forum will be convened in the spring world_summit_archive.html. An of 2006 to air grievances and further interview with Assistant Secretary of discuss the issue; however, its deci- Commerce for Communications and sions are non-binding. Information Michael Gallagher offers The compromise left attendees some intriguing hints at how Internet time to discuss, and pass a resolution governance may affect your own aiming to provide Internet connectivi- browsing (http://usinfo.state.gov/ ty to half of the world’s population by gi/Archive/2005/Nov/15-837480. 2015. (Just 14 percent of the world’s html). population is currently wired.) A — Daniel Zussman, Editorial Intern report on the conference’s outcome is available at http://www.itu.int/wsis/ CFR Calls for New newsroom/press_releases/wsis/200 Africa Policy 5/18nov.html. For a summary of for- “A policy based on humanitarian eign press reaction, go to http://usin concerns alone serves neither U.S. fo.state.gov/admin/005/wwwh11 interests nor Africa’s,” states an 0523.html. Independent Task Force on Africa To learn more about the issue from sponsored by the Council on Foreign

Site of the Month: www.idtheftcenter.org How can you protect your identity from theft? The answer is available at www.idtheftcenter.org, a Web site included in Time magazine’s 50 Coolest Web Sites 2005. The recent surge of identity-theft crimes makes this a must-read for consumers looking for tips on how to avoid trouble and what to do if the worst happens (see Victim Guides, under Victim Resources). The page devot- ed to Internet scams and “phishing” is particularly useful, especially if you receive a lot of spam e-mails. There are tips for businesses as well. No matter what may have happened to put your identity at risk, the Identity Theft Resource Center will have answers for you on what you need to do. Helpful, step by step advice on what to do if your wallet/purse is lost or stolen is given, along with the contact information for credit reporting bureaus and the Social Security Administration. There is also a helpful tutorial explaining what identity theft is and the different ways to avoid it. This site is run by the Identity Theft Resource Center, a national nonprofit based in San Diego. The center is run by Linda and Jay Foley, who created the ITRC in 1999 after Linda’s personal experience with identity theft showed her how little information was available to help identity-theft victims. Today, the ITRC has gained significant recognition for its role in battling identity theft and received the Department of Justice’s National Crime Victims Service Award in 2004. — Caitlin Stuart, Editorial Intern

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Relations, whose report was released mission in Sudan through our U.N. billion for malaria prevention and Dec. 4. The report describes Africa’s peacekeeping contribution. Over the treatment over the next five years, with growing strategic importance in sup- next five years, the United States will the goal of reducing malaria deaths by plying energy resources, preventing help train 40,000 African peacekeep- half over the next three years. USAID increased terrorism and halting the ers through the Global Peace recently received a $100 million grant spread of HIV/AIDS, and urges the Operations Initiative/Africa Contin- for indoor residual spraying (http:// U.S. to “broaden the basis of engage- gency Operations Training and usinfo.state.gov/af/Archive/2005/N ment” there. In particular, the group Assistance Program (http://www. ov/21-399970.html). recommends that the U.S. help to state.gov/r/pa/scp/2005/49628.htm). While efforts to solve short-term integrate Africa more fully into the One of the areas of increased fund- problems are notable and necessary, as global economy so that the benefits of ing is AIDS relief and prevention. the CFR Task Force notes, giving globalization can be utilized. The full Some 400,000 people, nearly all in Africans the capacity to solve their report is available at http://www.cfr. Africa, are now supported by the own problems would be more sustain- org/publication/9302. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS able. Although President Bush creat- Africa’s plight has been the focus of Relief, a program targeting 15 “focus ed the Millennium Challenge Account international attention in 2005. In countries” where AIDS is prevalent in 2002 with the aim to provide $5 bil- June, the Gleneagles G-8 summit with $15 billion by 2008. Just three lion a year in development aid by 2006 vowed to provide additional resources years ago only 50,000 Africans were (half of which would be for Africa), the for Africa’s peacekeeping forces, receiving antiretroviral treatment. program has thus far disbursed very increase support for greater democra- The United States has committed $3.2 little money. Congress held funding to cy and boost investment in health and billion for FY 2006 to fund PEPFAR. only $1.7 billion for FY 2006, a far cry education. Leaders agreed to double AIDS prevention programs, however, from the president’s pledge. aid to Africa by 2015. The G-8 finance have been largely stymied by the — Caitlin Stuart, Editorial Intern ministers also canceled the foreign administration’s restrictive policy on debt of 18 of the world’s poorest birth control methods. The Rise of the Blog nations to the tune of $40 billion, with The President’s Malaria Initiative, Taking the world by storm is the 14 of those nations in Africa. announced last June, also focuses on Internet phenomenon known as But pledging and delivering are Africa. President Bush pledged $1.2 weblogging, or “blogging.” A blog is a two different things. The Bush admin- Web-based publication consisting of istration has boosted assistance to Share A Unique Experience periodic entries which can range from Africa, but the increase falls short of The editors of American Diplo- a diary-like saga to a heated discussion both administration claims and Africa’s macy are inviting FS members, on controversial issues. Blogs can be read needs. Though the administra- active and retired, to submit stories designated a forum, which allows oth- tion claims to have tripled aid to of their first overseas assignment — ers to post a response, or they can be Africa, in real terms it has only an experience unique to each mem- restricted to the postings of the author. increased by 56 percent, according to ber of the Foreign Service. A selec- Particularly for those who write on Brookings Institute Senior Fellow tion of lively First Post accounts are current issues, a blog provides a vehi- Susan Rice (http://www.brookings. already posted (http://www.unc. cle to publish rapid responses to an edu/views/articles/rice/20050627. edu/depts/diplomat). article or event. As of 2005, it is esti- htm). The U.S. increased aid to sub- American Diplomacy is a non- mated that more than 11 million blog- Saharan Africa from $2.034 billion in profit organization dedicated to gers have joined the online communi- FY 2000 to $3.399 billion in FY 2004. publishing thoughtful articles on ty in the U.S. to discuss topics from And, significantly, a majority of the international issues, supporting alpha to omega. increase has been in emergency assis- efforts to strengthen the American Academics, lawyers, teachers and, tance, not development aid. The U.S. Foreign Service and to promoting yes, Foreign Service personnel, create is providing $150 million to the understanding of the challenges of blogs to post uncensored commen- African Union peace mission in diplomatic life abroad. taries on world events. Some are witty, Darfur, and helped fund the new U.N. some satirical, some blatantly political.

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Because most blogs are created under http://wellletstalkaboutit.blog humorous pseudonyms, their creators t is through the shared spot.com/ have the luxury of being honest about experience of failure, of crisis • Tumbleweeds http://editfish. their views. Iand of risk, as well as of blogspot.com/ To launch your own blog, you can eventual success, that true trans- • Prince Roy http://www. sign up at www.blogspot.com, but Atlantic trust can be built and princeroy.org it’s just as fun to read what others have • Aaron Martz http://aaron further strengthened. I cannot to say if you aren’t inclined to start martz.com/ your own. If you would prefer to keep recall many moments over the • Coupon: The Movie your postings more private, www.live last two decades when there was http://coupon.blogdrive.com/ journal.com is a great resource for an greater trans-Atlantic bonding • The Permanent Mission of Joshie online journal that requires the author than at the successful conclusion http://www.missionofjoshie.com/ to give permission to others for read- of the Dayton talks. Some of the best blogs are kept by ing privileges. those with no obligation to parrot the Blogs could become a useful tool — Wolfgang Ischinger, statements of State or the president. for FSOs to keep in contact with German Ambassador to The Democracy Arsenal is dedicated friends and family around the world, the United States, Nov. 21, to commentary and sparring on for- or as a method to educate others on www.upi.com eign affairs (http://www.democracy current issues, describe the elements arsenal.org/). The writers include of diplomacy or give an inside per- former speechwriters for ambas- spective about embassy life. Remem- sadors, Secretaries of State and pres- ber, they can be completely anony- Service officers serving overseas com- idents; some are former members of mous to protect your privacy if you menting on foreign policy and global the State Department policy plan- wish. reactions to America” (http://dailyde ning staff; some work for think-tanks. Search for blogs on your topic of marche.blogspot.com/). You will notice both a neo-con and a interest by using a blog search engine. Behind many a diplomat is a so- muscular-Wilsonian vein throughout The most user-friendly is http://blog called trailing spouse. The Diplomat’s this blog, depending on the author of search.google.com, which allows Wife, a blog written from the embassy the post. you to search by topic within the blo- community in Sarajevo, is a comical New Sisyphus, a former FSO and gosphere. Many directories are avail- exploration of Shannon’s adventures now an attorney in Oregon, writes at able to aid your search, among them while adjusting to a new culture (http: on all subjects, foreign and domestic. http://www.blogrankings.com/, //shannonstamey.blogspot.com/). The site not only raises questions http://www.blogcatalog.com/ and Current FSO Mike is posted in but answers them thoroughly (http: http://www.bloggator.com/. Seoul with his family in tow. His //newsisyphus.blogspot.com/). The number of FS blogs is grow- experiences are chronicled at http:// WhirledView is the collaborative ing. The Dinoia family keeps a blog spaces.msn.com/members/world effort of Patricia Kushlis, Cheryl from their current post in Reykjavik. adventurers/, beginning with A-100 Rofer, and Patricia Lee Sharpe, all Available at www.dinoias.blogspot. training. His posts about the APEC respected international affairs experts. com, the blog keeps a record of the Summit in November 2005 are a par- It is a fantastic resource for distinctive family’s trials and rewards of life ticular treat. op-ed-style world affairs pieces (http: abroad and is a useful tool for others Here, with thanks to Kelly Midura //whirledview.typepad.com/whirl regarding the aspects of raising a fam- and www.aafsw.org, is a partial list of edview/). ily overseas. other FS blogs: Let us know if you have your own For the more conservative viewer, • FS Husband http://www.live blog about life in the Foreign Service, we recommend the Daily Demarche, journal.com/users/fshusband/ or if you know of a good foreign affairs a self-described “blog by members of • The Kolodner Family blog, by e-mailing the Journal at the State Department Republican http://www.kolodner.com [email protected]. I Underground-conservative Foreign • Well, Let’s Talk About It! — Caitlin Stuart, Editorial Intern

14 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/JANUARY 2006

SPEAKING OUT 25 Years Later, Time for Dialogue with Iran

BY BRUCE LAINGEN

wenty-five years ago, just elected President Ronald Reagan and then, the image of Iran among most before midnight on Jan. 20, everyone who was anyone in the city Americans has remained highly nega- T1981, I stood on the last step of of Washington. The media described tive, aggravated by its identification as the ramp leading into an Algerian air- our welcome as unprecedented; for a continuing state sponsor of terror- liner sitting on the tarmac of Tehran’s the 52 of us, it was unforgettable. ism, by its pursuit of nuclear weapons Mehrabad Airport. I was among the technology and, more recently, by last of the 52 American hostages being A Day Yet to Dawn concern that Iranian influence in Iraq pushed, shoved and verbally abused by Standing there on top of the ramp is growing and poses a threat to U.S. Iranian hostage-takers getting in their of that Algerian airliner, I said to the objectives in that country. last licks. Then the Swiss ambassador, man who was probably the senior In addition, particularly on Capitol sitting just inside the door of that air- hostage-taker that I looked forward to Hill, opinion has long seen Iran as act- craft, warmly welcomed us as he very the day when his country and mine ing deliberately to frustrate the Israeli- carefully recorded our arrival into his could again have a normal diplomatic Palestinian peace process by its sup- government’s temporary custody. relationship. But 25 years later, there port for Hezbollah in Lebanon and Safely on board, the doors of that still is no such relationship — nor have Hamas on the West Bank. Recent beautiful airplane closed, and we our two governments, except for rare anti-Israeli speeches by Iran’s new began our flight to freedom — stop- instances in the context of the ouster president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ping briefly for refueling in Athens, of the Taliban regime in Kabul, had a have further soured American public and then being formally welcomed by formal exchange of any kind. That is a perceptions of Tehran. Deputy Secretary of State Warren very long stretch of recent diplomatic On the other side, there were fleet- Christopher and the Algerian foreign history — more time than passed ing glimmers of Iranian interest in dia- minister in the VIP lounge of the air- before the United States and the logue with the United States during port in Algiers. There, with a formal Soviet Union established diplomatic the Clinton administration, including exchange of documents, Christopher relations, and longer than it took former President Mohammad Khata- officially took us into American cus- Washington to open a liaison office in mi’s occasional references to a possible tody and then sent us off in two U.S. Beijing. In fact, it is a time span “dialogue among civilizations.” But Air Force medical evacuation aircraft exceeded only by the current breaches the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatol- bound for the USAF hospital at in relations with North Korea and lah Khamanei, continues to denounce Wiesbaden, West Germany, and three Cuba. Even Track II diplomacy — America as a “world-devouring impe- days of the warmest welcome and hos- private people-to-people exchanges rialist” and a government that has pitality we had ever known. — between the United States and Iran never been prepared to accept the That was only the beginning of our suffers from stringent visa restrictions. Islamic Revolution. As evidence, the Flight to Freedom. Then came a refu- Traumatic as the emotional fallout regime cites Washington’s consistent eling stop and more warmth from the of the hostage crisis was for refusal to lift its sanctions against Iran Irish prime minister and all of his Americans, should it be allowed to and, especially, its hold on frozen Cabinet at Shannon Airport; two days make even preliminary moves toward Iranian assets alleged by the Iranians and three nights as guests of the Corps better relations unthinkable a quarter- to total tens of billions of dollars. of Cadets at West Point — their roar- century later? Admittedly, few single There can be no dialogue, Iranian ing welcome in their mess hall the first instances of danger involving Ameri- hardliners insist, while sweeping sanc- night virtually lifting its roof — and can citizens abroad ever commanded tions remain in place. Iran is also then a historic welcome on the South the national stage so totally as did the highly suspicious of the American mil- Lawn of the White House by newly- hostage crisis in its time. Ever since itary presence in the region, with

JANUARY 2006 2005/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 15

S PEAKING O UT u forces facing those of Iran on both its Russians and a negotiating team from ship of any kind. The contrast with eastern and western borders as well as Britain, France and Germany, repre- our position as an active and direct in the Persian Gulf. senting the European Union, confin- “Group of Six” member in the nuclear ing ourselves to pontificating from the discussions with the North Koreans is Promoting Mutual Interests sidelines — even though all con- striking — strategic interests being at Yet that fact, along with both coun- cerned know full well that no long- stake in both cases. tries’ stake in the region’s political sta- term understanding will be possible The agenda for any dialogue bility, offers a variety of incentives for without direct American involvement. between two governments and two cooperation. We share an interest in The nuclear issue is but one item in peoples so long denied would be long, promoting freedom of navigation in any potential dialogue with the Islamic and enormously difficult. Even get- the Persian Gulf, particularly vis-a-vis Republic, although arguably the most ting mutual agreement on where to the movement of oil to markets, where consequential; a nuclear-weapons- begin and on what basis asks a degree our sanctions preclude access by capable Iran already building long- of mutual understanding that at the American oil companies to Iran and range missiles that could reach Israel moment does not exist. And recalling deny other commercial firms access to would be serious indeed. But there the hostage issue, the fact that the Iran’s potentially huge market. Both are a host of other issues on the nego- Algiers Accord on our release explicit- countries have an interest in curbing tiating agendas of both the U.S. and ly denies the former hostages the right the movement of narcotics within the Iran that have festered there for years to bring suit against the government of region and to the West. And we both and that can only be dealt with by dia- Iran may compel an agenda item on desire political stability in Iraq and in logue. Claims by Iran that the U.S. is that as well. The Iranian regime, in Afghanistan, as well as throughout illegally holding assets frozen by the person of the all-powerful the region. Furthermore, Washington President Carter at the start of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khaman- and Tehran, in the most basic and hostage period are high on the Iranian ei, remains on record as consistently human sense, have shared interests agenda; Iran’s support of Hezbollah restating that no dialogue with the that grow out of the fact that the U.S. and Hamas in Lebanon and the West U.S. is possible without prior conces- is now the second-largest Persian- Bank is high on ours, as is concern sions that make American participa- speaking country in the world. over Iran’s long-term objectives in tion difficult, if not impossible. Yet, as former Representative Lee Iraq. Arguably what develops in our Yet while there is no evidence of Hamilton has often put it, the military/political efforts in Baghdad willingness on either side to take the absence of a relationship between will, more than any other single factor, risks inherent in reopening dialogue, Iran and the U.S. complicates our determine our future relationship with Condoleezza Rice has made the need pursuit of those interests and inhibits Tehran. for “transformational diplomacy” a sig- our relationships with every other nature feature of her approach as country in the region. Signs of Thawing? Secretary of State. To apply the vision To be sure, no one contemplates an Perhaps that may be changing, implicit in such rhetoric to the task of imminent resumption of diplomatic with the Bush administration’s offer of improving relations with Iran will ties between the United States and the some bargaining chips of its own; e.g., require major departures in the public Islamic Republic of Iran. That is far a readiness to relax sanctions that have and private postures of Tehran and off. But for the United States, now precluded Iranian access to Boeing Washington alike. Alternatively, we deeply engaged strategically in both aircraft spare parts and to lift our could turn to more traditional Iraq and Afghanistan, to have no direct opposition to Iranian membership in approaches, such as third-party inter- contact with the strategic entity of Iran, the World Trade Organization. The mediaries or private emissaries. But which lies directly between those two Iranians dismiss the former proposal however we conduct the diplomacy, countries and which is by all measures as meaningless, given their ability to let us hope we will not have to wait destined to be the region’s pre-emi- obtain the parts via the black market another 25 years before we get serious nent power, simply makes no sense. It through Dubai, but the latter could be about the effort. I leaves us with no diplomatic flexibility a useful bargaining chip over the whatsoever on the ground to deal with lengthy period required to give it Bruce Laingen was a Foreign Service the many issues on our agenda. meaning. Meanwhile, however, on officer from 1949 until 1987, serving Consider the question of Iran’s the substance of negotiations on the twice in Iran (1953-1955 and 1979- nuclear ambitions. For the past five nuclear issue, the U.S. government 1981). He is currently the president of years we have left that issue to the continues strenuously to avoid owner- the American Academy of Diplomacy.

16 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/JANUARY 2006

F OCUS ON FS RETIREMENT

FOREIGN SERVICE RETIREMENT: EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION Susan Swan

YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS LIFE (AND WORK) AFTER THE FOREIGN SERVICE.

BY STEVEN ALAN HONLEY

hinking back to when my A-100 orientation class convened (21 years ago this month), I don’t recall any discussion of retirement. I presume the topic must have come up at least a few times in the midst of the barrage of handouts and litany of speakers. But even if it had been emphasized, I doubt I would have paidT much attention. After all, I was young and just beginning my first real career, which I fully expected to last several decades, leaving me plenty of time to plan.

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But just 12 years later, I left the Foreign Service for response to our call for submissions, I am pleased to personal reasons in 1997. My dealings with the State note), most FS retirees agree. Department’s Retirement Division were straightfor- The first article in our line-up, by AFSA Retiree ward and painless, in large part because I did not qual- Coordinators Bonnie Brown and Norma Reyes, notes ify for an annuity either in terms of age or length of ser- that “Old Age Is No Place for Sissies” (p. 20). But it vice. also details the many ways AFSA is working to make As I embarked on the next phase of my life, I the transition to retirement as smooth as possible, both remember asking myself the question some of my col- at the individual level and in terms of seeking institu- leagues (particularly the ones who stayed at State) had tional changes at State and the other foreign affairs posed — some archly, others more seriously — over agencies to protect retirees’ interests and ensure they the years: “Is there life after the Foreign Service?” receive the benefits and services to which they are enti- I never doubted there was, and unlike some of my tled. other youthful ideals, that belief has only grown stronger with time. Judging from our coverage this Second (and Third) Careers … month (nearly all of it sent in by AFSA members in Many Foreign Service retirees find that attaining “When Actually Employed” status allows them to con- Steven Alan Honley was a Foreign Service officer from tinue to contribute their skills and expertise in the field 1985 to 1997, serving in Mexico City, Wellington and of international affairs on a part-time basis. Roger Washington, D.C. He has been editor of the Foreign Dankert, a retiree member of the AFSA Governing Service Journal since 2001. Board, provides an overview of the subject in “Retirees Find a ‘WAE’ Back to the Department” (p. 23). Carolee Heileman, who works in the Retirement Division, offers some “Practical Advice for Managing WAE Positions” (p. 26) to accompany that piece. Of course, many retirees find satisfying and even lucrative employment far beyond the federal govern- ment. Retired Senior Foreign Service officer David Jones, a frequent contributor to our magazine among many others, has found writing as a post-FS career “A Good Cane” (p. 29). John McDonald and his wife Christel McDonald describe their own post-retirement endeavors in “An NGO to Promote Multi-Track Diplomacy” (p. 33). Millie McCoo explains why she considers herself “Sort of Retired in San Diego” (p. 36). And Robert Raymer offers a distinct, possibly even unique, perspective in “Serving in Panama Over and Over Again” (p. 38). Colleges and universities have long been a favorite destination for retirees, whether they are interested in teaching, administration or both. Retired career Ambassador Tibor Nagy, now associate vice provost for international affairs at Texas Tech University, intro- duces us to the subject of “Managing International Programs in Academia” (p. 43). And for those with perhaps less ambitious plans, Robert Fritts offers “Eight Tips to Break into Academia” (p. 46).

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Other Retiree Pursuits We hope our coverage We conclude this month’s Both on campuses or else- focus section with a roundup of where throughout the country, will be useful and shorter commentaries (p. 56) retirees are the backbone of contributed in response to our AFSA’s Speakers Bureau, which interesting not only to AFSANET solicitation for mem- publicizes the importance and the bers to share their hard-won achievements of diplomacy. Com- retirees but to those insights into life and work after munications Director Tom Swit- the Foreign Service. The zer describes AFSA’s key out- of you planning your thoughtful responses run the reach program in “Retirees Build gamut from practical tips for col- Support for the Foreign Ser- own lives after the leagues — including those still in vice” (p. 49). the Service — to (mostly) positive In “Moving to a Senior Living Foreign Service. reflections on how their perspec- Facility” (p. 52), former ambas- tives have changed. In fact, we sador and AFSA president Bill received so many responses that Harrop draws on his own research to explain the we will run another compilation next month. importance of examining the many competing compa- We hope our coverage this month will be useful and nies and overlapping options early, well before a deci- interesting, not only to retirees but to those of you sion must be made. planning your own lives after the Foreign Service. I

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“OLD AGE IS NO PLACE FOR SISSIES”

WHILE AFSA CANNOT SOLVE ALL RETIREE PROBLEMS, WE PROVIDE HELP IN FOUR MAJOR WAYS.

BY BONNIE BROWN AND NORMA REYES

lthough actress systems. And even those with access to the Internet Bette Davis had no experience as a federal employee, glean little useful information there, find it almost this quote does express a sentiment felt by many impossible to reach the right official to assist with or Foreign ServiceA retirees trying to obtain the benefits explain a problem, or get inconsistent responses. And, they are entitled to, be they annuities, Social Security most recently, retirees are faced with a marketing bar- or health coverage. While most retirees do not rage for the badly-explained Medicare Part D benefit. encounter major problems, others find themselves in While AFSA cannot solve all these problems, we situations they had never anticipated, dealing with can help in four major ways. First, we provide gener- impenetrable regulations and unresponsive bureau- al advice and assistance. Since 2002, Retiree cracies. Fortunately, AFSA is here to help. Counseling and Legislative Coordinator Bonnie For instance, retirees may find themselves blind- Brown has provided this invaluable service to several sided by the reduction of their Social Security benefits dozen AFSA retiree members on average per month. because of the Windfall Elimination Provision, a com- She researches and answers questions on a wide range plex benefit formula that almost eludes understand- of topics; puts people in touch with appropriate offi- ing. Recently, several Foreign Service retirees faced cials from the State Department and other foreign dire financial problems when the department required affairs agencies; meets regularly with State and other them to pay back large annuity overpayments on the government officials to advocate on behalf of retirees; basis of a rigid and highly legalistic — rather than a and works with the Senior Living Foundation to assist common sense — determination that the retirees needy retirees — all with a sympathetic ear. should have known about long-term annuity miscalcu- lations on the part of State Department personnel. Cutting Through Red Tape Some retirees and surviving spouses are shut off Second, Brown gives AFSA retirees clear explana- from necessary information and assistance because tions of the many densely written annuity and retire- they do not know how to use the Internet or thread ment benefits regulations, alerting them to policy their way through the labyrinth of automated phone changes. Those summaries are available in the AFSA

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Retiree Newsletter, AFSANET mes- AFSA is pleased with the Keeping Retirees sages, the AFSA News section of the Informed monthly Foreign Service Journal, recent progress in State’s Finally, AFSA monitors con- and on the Retiree Web page gressional legislation that could (http://www.afsa.org/rtvppage.cfm). retirement services, but affect retirement benefits, such as Her FSJ columns, for example, have premium conversion, the Wind- discussed long-term care insurance, we remain a strong and fall Elimination Provision and the Windfall Elimination Provision Government Pension Offset, and and the pension and survivor bene- committed advocate for Social Security reform. Along with fits of former spouses. More recent- David Reuther, AFSA’s retiree vice ly, AFSA mailed out a newsletter further improvement. president, Brown keeps members supplement on Medicare D. informed about these develop- Third, Brown works with the ments via the publications listed AFSA president and retiree vice president to ask for above. Some of these reports go into considerable depth, improved State Department retiree services. Two as in a recent series on Social Security reform. years ago AFSA asked State to develop a retiree Web Working with Legislative Affairs Director Ken site, so we were gratified to witness the inauguration of Nakamura, the retiree staff ask members to write their RNet (www.RNet.state.gov/). In responding to mem- representatives and senators in Congress when appropri- bers’ individual problems, AFSA also asks the depart- ate and to participate in the annual “Day on the Hill.” ment to improve specific Retirement Office and Federal retiree benefits appear to have dodged the bullet Retirement Accounts Division procedures to keep this past session. However, in an era of severe congres- other retirees from experiencing similar problems. For sional cost-cutting, AFSA will remain vigilant to protect instance, several members recently reported significant retirees’ hard-earned benefits and ready to respond quick- miscalculations in the year-to-date column of their ly if the need arises. annuity statements. After AFSA informed State of this AFSA is committed to providing caring, one-on-one ongoing problem, it ran a system check and corrected assistance to our retiree members and to giving them the the glitch. information they need to make sound decisions about While AFSA is pleased with the improvements retirement. Toward that end, we are expanding our out- recently made in retirement services (as shown by the reach to them. Retiree members with e-mail receive reg- Special Achievement Award it gave to Retirement ular AFSANET communications from Reuther; they also Office Chief David Dlouhy in June 2005), we remain a have access to an expanded, up-to-date Retiree Web page. strong and committed advocate for continued improve- For example, AFSA is offering a link to the Consumer ment in services and staff training and development. Checkbook Guide to FEHB Plans during the 2006 health For example, AFSA recently asked the Retirement benefits open season this year. Office not to leave retirees who do not use the Internet We live in a time when most government informa- behind, urging it to communicate with them in other tion (including that about the FEHBP and Medicare ways. D) is provided online. This leaves many retirees and surviving spouses who do not use the Internet without Bonnie Brown and Norma Reyes are AFSA’s Retiree access to much-needed information. As one response Coordinators. While serving abroad with her Foreign to this problem, AFSA has begun mailing additional Service officer husband Ken Brown, Brown worked in written information to its retiree members in expanded human rights, development and consular affairs. As a newsletters and other mailings, and has asked State to do narcotics affairs officer, Reyes served long tours in the same. Brazil and Colombia and covered several Latin American countries, Southeastern Europe and Central Expanding AFSA’s Membership Base Asia during Washington tours. She retired after 35 Retiree Coordinator Norma Reyes actually called on years in the federal government before joining AFSA. AFSA for assistance both while on active duty and as a

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retiree, long before she considered joining the staff in bers. The largest number of retirees, including AFSA 2005. She appreciates the opportunity to provide her members, are concentrated in the Virginia, Maryland and retired colleagues with the same invaluable assistance Washington, D.C., region. This past year, AFSA began AFSA gave her, and to strengthen her connection to a offering annuitant deduction of membership dues and has career she truly enjoyed. launched several recruitment campaigns for new mem- She also works to increase AFSA’s retiree membership, bers that promote annuitant deduction. Active-duty which benefits both parties. Increased retiree member- Foreign Service personnel are being encouraged to make ship gives AFSA the means to expand benefits, such as the the transition into annuitant deduction a part of their Consumer Checkbook and an easier-to-read 2006 retirement plans. Directory of Retired Members. It also gives the associa- AFSA assures retirees that the organization works as tion more clout with Congress in advocating on issues hard for them as it does for active-duty members. With important to retirees. the support of Retiree Vice President David Reuther and Increased membership also allows AFSA to do more Retiree Representatives Len Baldyga, Roger Dankert, outreach to its members on issues of immediate impor- Larry Lesser and Gil Sheinbaum, prospects are very good tance, such as the recent supplement on Medicare D. for AFSA to serve its retiree members even more effec- Such a supplement averages about $1,400 to produce tively and efficiently. Remember, we’re just a telephone and mail. Just about a third of our membership use the call or e-mail away, and stand ready to answer questions or Internet, making periodic mailings necessary. mail written materials. Out of a universal Foreign Service retiree population We want to help our retirees flex their muscles to of almost 15,000, slightly over a quarter are AFSA mem- show they are no sissies! I

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RETIREES FIND A “WAE” BACK TO THE DEPARTMENT

AS STATE PURSUES TRANSFORMATIONAL DIPLOMACY, WAE EMPLOYMENT REPRESENTS A WIN-WIN, BOTH FOR THE FOREIGN SERVICE AND FOR INDIVIDUAL RETIREES.

BY ROGER DANKERT

he potential role of “When hours per year (half-time). There are about 1,400 WAE Actually Employed” rehired Foreign Service annuitants names on decentralized rosters maintained by 26 differ- is expanding because of “transformational diplomacy,” ent State Department regional and functional bureaus. but the Tactual use of WAEs will continue to be limited by However, in terms of Full-Time Equivalent positions, the emergency needs of each bureau and the budget the actual use of WAEs is believed to constitute only a available to it. Under a new system now being imple- small fraction of State’s total work force. mented on the State Department’s Retiree Network A few years ago, State officials estimated there was a (www.RNet.state.gov), both retirees and FS personnel structural staffing gap of almost 1,200 FTE created by preparing to retire can express interest in WAE employ- under-hiring and the lack of a float for training and rota- ment via a central registry. That registry, in turn, is being tional requirements. With the accelerated hiring under incorporated into a central Readiness Reserve database the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative of the past few years, of all employees, both active and retired, who are avail- much of this gap has been eliminated, but new tempo- able to serve overseas, as well as a special Standby rary staffing requirements are emerging, creating addi- Reserve Corps for work with the Office of the tional opportunities for WAE employment. Coordinator for Crisis Reconstruction and Stabilization. For example, I have been working about half-time 1 This initiative also reflects the State Department’s for the past 3 /2 years as a member and director of the commitment to building an integrated work-force com- Political-Military Action Team, an office created within munity that encompasses all employees at every career the Political-Military Affairs Bureau after the 9/11 ter- stage, from entry on duty through post-retirement, rorist attacks to handle operational liaison requirements according to Director General W. Robert Pearson. with the Department of Defense on a 24/7 basis. There The current authorization for WAE employment has are 15 WAEs on this team, plus military analysts con- been around for a quarter-century: Section 837 of the tracted from a private defense firm. There are no Foreign Service Act of 1980 allows the department to re- career personnel, reflecting the bureau’s determination employ annuitants to fill temporary staffing gaps or per- that WAEs constitute the most efficient method of cre- form emergency requirements for no more than 1,040 ating such a team on a timely basis. Also, if needs

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change, staffing can be readjusted There are about that a career service is designed to more easily. provide would be undercut if WAEs Earlier in my Foreign Service 1,400 names on were overused. It is impossible to days, I was director of the Office of calculate how much WAEs are like- Asylum Affairs in the Bureau of decentralized WAE ly to be employed in any given year, Diplomacy, Human Rights and as such opportunities depend on Labor; that office was also primarily rosters maintained emergency needs and funding. If staffed by a group of 15 WAEs. the budget is tightened, as many When the department later decided by 26 different State expect, WAE employment will be to change the function and composi- reduced. tion of the office, there was no Department regional By statute, the sum of what a requirement for a reduction-in- WAE employee earns in a year and force; the WAEs were simply “pink- and functional bureaus. his or her annuity cannot exceed slipped.” the salary of the WAE job, or the amount the employee was earning The Economics of WAE Employment at retirement, whichever is greater. (Note that this figure From the perspective of State budget planners, WAE is not adjusted for inflation.) Some longtime Senior employment is often economical for the department Foreign Service retirees hit this salary cap after just a few compared to expanding or hiring from within the career weeks when working in jobs at lower pay grades, and are service. Most retirement, health and fringe benefits for effectively available only for short-term assignments. WAEs have already been paid by the retirement system, AFSA originally sought an amendment to the Foreign and the employees are only employed when their ser- Service Act of 1980 removing restrictions on WAE vices are actually required. This absence of overhead employment. However, despite our strong advocacy, this costs makes WAEs about 30 percent cheaper, on an proposal gained no traction. Accordingly, we are now hourly basis, than career employees or contractors. Also, working with State to expand the categories of waivers the fact that WAEs are paid on a 2,080-hour (52 x 40) currently available to the Secretary of State on WAE workyear basis makes them available during the 20 per- employment. Both in the 108th Congress and the current cent of the workyear that is otherwise lost to holiday one, the Senate’s foreign relations authorization bill con- leave, annual leave, sick leave and training time for other tained this provision. It is awaiting further consideration. employees. So, in effect, the WAE employee costs about A temporary income waiver has been available on a very 50 percent less than an equivalent-grade career employ- limited basis for certain national security jobs made nec- ee, when calculated on an hourly basis. essary by the events of 9/11, but the overall cap remains, These efficiencies do not pass through to the individ- as does the 1,040-hour annual overall limit. ual bureaus, which must use operational funds to pay WAEs. (HR has reimbursed individual bureaus for some Where WAEs Work WAE time related to filling gaps created by the departure Most Foreign Service WAEs work in Washington, but of volunteers for Iraq and Afghanistan, but such cases are some fill temporary staffing gaps overseas or assist posts exceptional.) Because the cost of career positions estab- during crisis situations. State Department records indi- lished for staffing is borne by the central personnel sys- cate that 1,400 persons are currently registered by 26 dif- tem, WAE employment is definitely a last resort for ferent bureaus as available for WAE positions, of which bureaus. Also, the buildup of experience and continuity 1,088 are actually employed from time to time. The largest single roster is in the Bureau of Administration, Roger Dankert, a Foreign Service officer from 1970 to which has 225, the majority employed for the purpose of 1996, is a retiree member of the AFSA Governing Board. document declassification and Freedom of Information Since retirement, he has worked as a WAE for the Office Act requests. Other large rosters are in the functional of the Inspector General and for the Bureau of Political- Bureaus of Consular Affairs (109 WAEs), Diplomatic Military Affairs. Security (90), M/DGHR (46), M/IRM (45) and the Office

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of the Inspector General (45). The RNet is being used to EP+ for Retirees Debuts regional bureaus also have large “When Iraq happened, we real- WAE rosters: AF (67), EAP (81), establish a central ized we didn’t have full manage- EUR (112), NEA/SA (74), and ment information on the 1,400 WHA (75). registry through which WAEs in the department,” notes Overseas, WAEs fill vacancies David Dlouhy, director of the ranging from chargé d’affaires, retirees and intending Office of Retirement. To remedy DCM and consul general posi- this, and to establish better links tions to slots for management, retirees can indicate an with retirees, the department consular, economic and political launched RNet, (www.RNet. officers or section chiefs, particu- interest in post-retirement state.gov), a secure, Internet- larly during the summer transfer based retirement network, in May. season when staffing tends to be opportunities. RNet is being used to establish a especially thin. Some of these central registry through which assignments are in hardship and retirees and intending retirees can danger pay posts. indicate an interest in post-retirement opportunities. Consider retired FSO Michael Metrinko, who wrote There is a database already used by the active-duty an article in the October 2005 edition of the Foreign work force, called Employee Profile Plus. An exten- Service Journal (AFSA News section, p. 7) about his sion of this database, called EP+ for Retirees, is experience as a member of a Lithuanian Provincial designed to allow retirees to describe additional experi- Reconstruction Team under NATO’s International ence, skills and competencies not captured otherwise. Security Assistance Force in Cheghcheran, the capital Another module, EP+ for Retiring Employees, is of Ghor province in Afghanistan. Responding to wide- intended to serve as the transition and bridge between spread misconceptions about the supposedly cushy life active-duty assignment and retirement employment. of U.S. diplomats, both active-duty and retired, he Retiring employees may express interest in potential observes: “I served as an FSO from 1974 to 1996, and post-retirement employment opportunities, sign up for since then have been a WAE in Yemen, Iraq and the new WAE Global Registry, and indicate interest in Afghanistan. My present State Department assign- the Operational Readiness Reserve and the retiree com- ment is for a full year to Afghanistan. Trust me when I ponent of the Standby Response Corps. say I know how my colleagues and I have lived in those As of November 2005, almost 400 employees intend- places.” ing to retire had established their EP+ profiles, and 120 As discussed below, there is considerable interest in fully-retired employees had signed onto the system. Of using WAEs in reconstruction and stabilization, but the these, 478 had signed up for the global registry, including development of actual staffing solutions and agreement 435 who indicated interest in the Operational Readiness on providing security for civilian reconstruction com- Reserve, and 312 who were interested in the Standby ponents may be some time off. USAID will have a sig- Response Corps. For most WAEs, the bureaus will still nificant role in this area, but it re-employs its annui- make the hiring decisions and ensure security clearances tants primarily as contractors or on Foreign Service are up-to-date, but RNet will provide visibility on the Limited appointments, not as WAEs. USAID cur- WAEs for the central personnel system and for the rently has only 23 WAEs (generally hired as “expert Readiness Reserve and SRC. consultants”), all in Washington, on its rolls. The Foreign Commercial Service put into place the foun- Transformational Diplomacy dations of a program for its annuitants several years The Secretary of State’s Office of the Coordinator for ago, but never implemented it. Perhaps due to their Reconstruction and Stabilization, established in 2004, is small size, the Foreign Agricultural Service and designated to lead U.S. efforts to assist countries in recov- International Broadcasting Bureau do not appear to ering from conflict and transitioning to peaceful, democ- have WAE programs. ratic and market-oriented economies. S/CRS is current-

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Practical Advice for Managing WAE Positions By Carolee Heileman

n my latest post-Foreign Service incarnation as a retirement as a GS-13; if you retired as a senior officer you could be hired at specialist, I have learned a fair amount about working as a either the GS-14 or -15 level. At least one State Department office IWAE (“When Actually Employed”) and I would like to pass hires annuitants at the GS-18 level. on some practical advice to others. The following pointers are Your base salary rate is lower, but your net earnings may based on my personal experience, so will be most relevant to actually be higher than they were before you retired because retired FS officers who want to work in Washington. there are fewer deductions, notably none for retirement or TSP Where do I sign up? Despite creation of the WAE Global contributions. The cost of your health and life insurance cov- Registry in the Office of Retirement, the individual geographic erage is deducted from your annuity payment. You will have and functional bureaus still maintain the rosters and therefore income tax withheld from your earnings as well as contribu- determine which annuitants will be hired as WAEs. There is no tions to Social Security and Medicare. central place where vacancies are listed and competed, so you While we are speaking of your benefits and deductions, you are dependent on your personal network of contacts to keep should be aware that you do not earn annual or sick leave when you informed. working on a WAE basis. (You’re Practices vary from bureau to retired, remember?) You are paid bureau, but you should be prepared to The combined total “when actually employed” which, to the provide the Executive Office of your consternation of many retirees, means home bureau with your resumé, med- that, except in extraordinary circum- ical clearance, security clearance, of your WAE earnings stances, you will not be paid for travel financial disclosure statement and time if you are assigned abroad. If you your most recent personnel action. plus your annuity per live outside of Washington, you will not (As you go through the retirement be paid to travel here for WAE employ- process, be sure to inform the Bureau ment. You are eligible for danger pay, of Diplomatic Security and the Office calendar year cannot however, and that does not count of Medical Services that you intend to against your salary-plus-annuity cap. continue working so they can anno- exceed the amount What are the limits on WAE employ- tate your records.) Your employment ment? When working on a WAE basis, must be cleared by the Legal Adviser’s of your salary when you must abide by certain limits on the Office and approved by the bureau’s amount you can earn and the number front office. You may be able to work in of hours (1,040 per appointment year) other bureaus through a transfer of you retired. that you can work. The basic principle labor agreement if your home bureau is that the combined total of your WAE does not object. However, some bureaus do not condone this earnings plus your annuity per calendar year cannot exceed the practice because of concerns over possible conflicts of interest. amount of your salary when you retired — a figure that is not Once you have been approved, a process that can take sev- adjusted for inflation. (However, your WAE salary and your eral weeks, you must be sworn in as a civil servant. annuity do both rise due to cost-of-living adjustments, which How much will I earn? Your terms of employment will spec- reduces the gap between that total and your salary upon retire- ify the rate at which you will be paid. After pursuing promotions ment.) If you go over that amount, your annuity may be sus- year after year throughout their careers, some annuitants are dis- pended. appointed to learn that they will be rehired at a lower grade level To confuse matters further, the limit on your salary plus than when they retired. Again, the practice varies from bureau to annuity is computed on a calendar-year basis and the limit on bureau, but generally, if you retired as an FS-1, you may be hired the number of hours you can work is calculated according to your appointment year. Your appointment year starts the day Carolee Heileman retired in 2004 after a 35-year career in the you are sworn in as a civil servant and runs 12 months. Foreign Service. Her assignments in Rome, Barcelona and Paris However, the good news is that annuitants can request an were the envy of many of her colleagues, but she says her tours audit of their earnings from the Retirement Accounts in Bamako, Ankara, Bogota, and even in Washington, were just Division, to find out exactly how much they can earn without as interesting and often more exciting. She currently works as exceeding the limit. Just send your request via e-mail to a WAE employee in the Office of Retirement (HR/RET) develop- [email protected]. ing online sources of information on retirement issues. What happens if I exceed the limit? Will I lose my pension?

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It is not hard to exceed the salary-plus- Annuitants can strongly encourage all annuitants to visit annuity cap, particularly because your the HR/RET Web site (www.RNet.state.gov) salary and annuity may both be increased request an audit of for more information on issues of interest by annual cost-of-living adjustments dur- both to retiring and to retired employees. ing the period you are employed — making You may also sign up for a personal the amount you can earn a moving target. their earnings from account in order to access your monthly Some annuitants were hired during the annuity statements. HR/RET’s Global WAE two-year period when the salary-plus- the Retirement Registry enables annuitants to sign up for annuity cap was waived for those working the Operational Readiness Reserve and for on activities related to the war against ter- the Standby Response Corps. ror, but that waiver has now expired. Accounts Division. If you are interested in working as a However, if your annuity is suspended or if WAE, my best advice is to seek help from you are asked to make restitution for an your network, just as they teach you in the overpayment, and you think there are extenuating circum- Job Search Seminar at FSI. And I feel morally obligated to stances, you can appeal for relief from the deputy assistant remind you to report any post-retirement employment with the secretary for global financial services in the Bureau of federal government to the Office of Retirement. Resource Management. Best wishes for an active and fulfilling retirement to all of I hope that others will benefit from my experience. I you!

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ly staffing a small Active Response Corps to furnish “first integrated civilian-military response to complex crises. responders” to participate in operations to keep the Already 39 countries, including Australia, Canada, vari- peace and build stability in foreign countries. This will be ous NATO members and five E.U. states, are working on supplemented by a Standby Response Corps that will this concept at JFCOM headquarters in Norfolk, Va. In deploy later in support of a focus country’s longer-term Washington, S/CRS is building an interagency team from transition. the department, USAID, OSD, DIA, Army Corps of According to Chris Hoh of S/CRS, an Active Response Engineers, JFCOM and JCS. According to S/CRS brief- Corps of some 15 full-time positions will be established ing material, the U.S. should be prepared to address two early in 2006, to be supplemented later that year by a or three significant reconstruction and stabilization oper- Standby Response Corps with up to 100 members. The ations concurrently, and each may require five to 10 years ARC may eventually reach 100 staff, and the SRC, 400 to complete. staff. There will be a retiree component of the SRC, and Both the department and retirees should be able to it appears there may be a back-fill requirement when benefit from this interest in building an integrated work- active duty employees are called up for SRC deploy- force community spanning each employee’s entire career, ments. from entry on duty through post-retirement. As the On a larger scale, S/CRS has commissioned a joint RNet Web site states, the philosophy behind the network study with the U.S. Joint Forces Command examining is simple: recognize the lifetime relationship between whether and how to augment contracted capabilities with annuitants and the State Department. The department a civilian reserve system. S/CRS is also working closely and our nation’s foreign policy can only be strengthened with JFCOM to test multinational coordination for an by this concept. I

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WRITING AS A POST-FS CAREER: A GOOD CANE

WRITING FOR THE STATE DEPARTMENT IN ONE GUISE OR ANOTHER IS FAMILIAR AND COMFORTABLE, BUT THERE ARE MANY OTHER AVENUES FOR PUBLICATION.

BY DAVID T. JONES

y father once told me move, but substantial numbers of When Actually that “writing is a good cane, but a poor crutch.” Employed Foreign Service annuitants work within State. That is, writing can be a useful, interesting, profitable It has the advantage of addressing your mortgage and car Msupplement to a solid professional income, but attempt- payments with hourly remuneration. While many ing to earn your living that way can leave you seated in retired FSOs are employed in positions close to those that proverbial garret, if not actively starving in it. they occupied at different stages in their active-duty For many of us, particularly those in the old retire- career (desk officer, conference coordinator, fill-in con- ment system, the FS annuity offers a solid “crutch,” sular officer, etc.), some are engaged in what are sub- putting us in a position to twirl our “cane” rather jauntily. stantially writing/editorial positions. The incentive for a post-Foreign Service writing These include, from my personal experience: career is that many retired FSOs have already devoted Drafting/editing human rights reports. Written their careers to writing. The downside is that we have in user-hostile, bill-of-lading prose, the annual country spent our careers devoted to writing — for bureaucrats. human rights reports emphasize facts and formula. Nobody — not even another bureaucrat — wants to read Almost everyone has had experience with the HRRs bureaucratic writing. Indeed, members of the Foreign during an active-duty career — if you were not a drafter Service Journal Editorial Board regularly recount in an early overseas tour or a reviewing official at a more episodes in which a potentially fascinating story drawn senior level, at least you read the report for the country from Foreign Service life is written in the leaden, memo- to which you were assigned. There is a prescribed for- to-the-Secretary prose that simply kills all interest. mat and scripted prose to transform the embassy’s draft Nevertheless, writing can provide a legitimate post- into a final country report. Each year a number of WAEs Foreign Service career, and there are a number of work on these reports in the fall and winter, researching avenues for its pursuit. additional points, drafting supplementary language, edit- ing the texts, and coordinating them with country desk Return to Mother State officers and embassies. The drafting/editing process and This may not be a particularly adventurous career nonliterary result are close to the Foreign Service stan-

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dard, and little intellectual or stylistic adjustment is U.S. foreign relations volumes, there are occasional spe- required for the writing. When in doubt, however, the cial projects that can engage retired FSOs as contract implicit rule is to make it duller. writers/researchers. Such may be prompted by special Freedom of Information Act declassification “one off” requests from senior State officials or bureaus. and review. The U.S. government has a massive and For example, the Diplomatic Security Bureau may desire continuing requirement to review State Department a history of its origins and operations or a senior official classified material for downgrading and release. Virtually may want an assessment of the Clinton administration’s the entire reviewing staff consists of retired FSOs who Middle East peace process. FSOs working on contract have the institutional expertise and background to pro- for the historian’s office have done such projects. This vide appropriate judgment. Indeed, more than occasion- work is more intellectually challenging and less scripted: ally these WAEs encounter telegrams and memos that one may do archival research, conduct interviews, peruse they drafted at earlier stages in their lives. The reviewers highly classified materials and generally produce work of also examine manuscripts by State Department officials serious substance. It may be rewarding, but the reward (active and retired) to determine that no classified mate- could be long deferred as the time between drafting and rial is being revealed. any public release of material can be years. Additionally, they review the manuscripts for the Foreign Relations of the United States series prepared by Commercial Writing the Office of the State Department Historian. There is If writing for the State Department in one guise or also a steady stream of requests from academics, another is familiar and comfortable, there is also the big, reporters, retired State officials and ordinary U.S. (and foreign) citizens seeking material on specific topics: e.g., Breaking Into Print embassy reporting on the late Lady Diana’s activities, the Newspaper and magazine editors don’t wait around for bril- liant pieces to fall into their laps. Due to limited time and space death of JFK or the presence of nuclear weapons in to fill before deadline, they usually have a good idea of what they countries A, B or C. are looking for and where to find it, and slots are often filled by Again, the writing is formula-driven and scripted, but regular columnists, not newcomers. The chances that your op- once formats are mastered, it is a straightforward, ed or article will be published are greater if you look into small- uneventful style. Accordingly, an ex-FSO will be com- er newspapers and magazines, not the New York Times. Establish relationships with the appropriate staff: if you have fortable with its writing. been interviewed by a journalist in the past, ask them to put you into contact with the appropriate editor. Use your networking Creating History skills! The winners write the history books, so you can be Don’t write the Great American Novel. Be concise, simple confident that your spin is “in.” The State Department and direct. Know your audience, know your argument and keep your focus. Make sure you know the style preferred by the pub- historian’s office is the custodian of drafting for the lication you are trying to write for. For more tips, take a look at Foreign Relations of the United States series of volumes http://newsroom.depaul.edu/OpEd.pdf. on the U.S. official view of its diplomatic history. You can If you have written a book, the best way to get published is be sure that potentially embarrassing information is very to do your market research. Determine if there is an audience carefully scrutinized (and debated) prior to any publica- for your work by defining your target, and identify publishers to contact by browsing bookstores and taking note of the publish- tion. Each volume is supposed to be released 20 years ers who handle books like yours. Check http://www.publishing- after the events transpired, but they are invariably behind central.com/articles/20030511-87-ba56.html for tips. Self-pub- schedule. (If the volume addressing the 1974 Turkish lishing is an increasingly popular low-cost alternative: invasion of Cyprus is a year late, who cares — it’s history, iUniverse, at http://www.iuniverse.com, is only one of the better not guidance for the noon briefing.) known among many imprints. While the historian’s office keeps a stable of profes- The Internet offers extensive resources for writers. Several of the best Web sites are: http://www.writerswrite.com/, http:// sional, trained Ph.D. historians beavering away on the www.internet-resources.com/writers/ and http://www.google. com/Top/Arts/Writers_Resources/. David Jones, a retired Senior Foreign Service officer, is a — Caitlin Stuart, Editorial Intern frequent contributor to the Journal.

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wide world — essentially, everything Writing op-eds is the self-publish, your heirs might rescue else that is written for publication. it from other dusty relics of your Thus there are retired FSOs who are ultimate exercise in estate. novelists, historians, commentators on The steady expansion of the foreign affairs, short story writers, intellectual freedom: Journal’s annual November roundup biographers, poets and journalists. of books by Foreign Service-affiliated Some are even benighted enough to if you write it — and writers points to the attractiveness of write about the Department of State this option. between the covers of the Foreign a paper or magazine Journalist/commentator. Many Service Journal. These are some of us have spent a career suppressing facets of writing that appealed to me publishes it — the our opinions (or restricting them to a personally. carefully couched “comment” at the Write that book. At one point or words are all yours. end of a reporting telegram). Or another, many FSOs have muttered to when we wrote an analytical cable, the themselves, “I could write a book.” design was still for that Great Reader Well, some of us have. Some of us have even gotten that in the Sky (or at least on the 7th floor) who wanted infor- book published (a much more difficult chore if you are mation provided in certain ways with more fact and less not doing an exposé on the crisis of the decade)! But, panache. So writing op-eds is the ultimate exercise in even if it never reaches the public domain, simply writing intellectual freedom: If you write it — and a paper or such a manuscript has its own satisfactions. And if you magazine publishes it — the words are all yours.

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Here, the trick is finding a lit- There are retired 350-and-still-counting editions erary outlet that matches your were produced while we were expertise. Are you a superb pho- FSOs who are novelists, “on the road” outside Washing- tographer who also loves to trav- ton. el to exotic spots? Perhaps historians, commentators Research and editing. National Geographic has room Throughout the foreign affairs for your creativity. Do you have on foreign affairs, community, there are authors a lifelong passion for the 1956 looking for researchers/editors/ Oldsmobile? The care and feed- short story writers, proofreaders/factcheckers/in- ing of orchids? Creating com- dexers, and the like. Our puter games? The life of Jane biographers, poets recently retired generation lived Austen? There simply is no end through the proverbially cursed to the potential subject matter or and journalists. “interesting times.” This reality specialty magazines devoted to made for sanguinary but poten- it. Op-eds and articles are also a tially interesting history. lot shorter than a book, and many FSOs are world-class If you don’t wish to write the history yourself, col- experts not just on countries or regions but on techni- leagues and associates are often grateful if you pitch in. cal issues from arms control to aviation subsidies, glob- In my own case, Ambassador Maynard “Mike” Glitman al warming and economic assistance. Get to it; write devoted the core of his career to the NATO deterrent away. and Alliance unity as epitomized by the East-West For me, Canada — dishwater-dull to most observers struggle over intermediate-range missiles. During the — has proved fascinating. Canada is an alternative negotiations with the Soviets, which ultimately culmi- America, a counterculture USA in which essentially the nated in the 1987 INF Treaty eliminating these mis- same petri-dish mixture of culture, racial-ethnic com- siles, I occasionally did the substantive equivalent of binations, free-market democracy and advanced tech- holding his coat, providing a degree of technical/sub- nology is responding to the challenges of the 21st cen- stantive editing and drafting support for his leadership tury in unique ways. We have much to learn from one of the negotiating team. I performed the literary another — if we make the effort. Canadians feel equivalent of the same role for Mike’s story, The Last ignored by Americans, so a reasonably knowledgeable Battle of the Cold War, which is now in editing and pro- Amcit can frequently find a Canadian publication will- jected for publication in the spring of 2006. ing to publish something akin to “A View from Washington.” Retirement Course Offering Newsletters. Some of us write a family-update Over the past several years, the FSI retirement newsletter. Others may do so for their community course has included a segment on writing as a facet of association or PTA. But there is also a wide range of a post-Foreign Service career. Hopefully more than professional associations that communicate with their fill-time between resumé writing and financial plan- membership. For me (and my wife Terry, also a retired ning, the session offers a range of insights into writing senior FSO) the outlet was the National Council for beyond the memorandum of conversation. An eclectic Advanced Manufacturing. This nonprofit NGO stress- panel (sometimes including me and my wife Terry) fea- es the value of manufacturing for the U.S. economy, tures a travel editor/author for the Washingtonian, an urges greater commitment to R&D in hard sciences ambassador-novelist and a “tandem” who is the execu- and engineering, and emphasizes the need for work- tive director of a writer’s center. This is a drink-from- force training so 21st-century labor can deal with 21st- a-fire-hose presentation, but at the end of it, putative century technology. In this regard, we produce a week- retirees should have a better insight into the whats and ly publication drawn from Internet sources (see hows of writing. www.nacfam.org). The downside to a weekly newslet- And perhaps they will also recognize that they can ter is that you do it every week; about 10 percent of our get paid for their pleasure — sometimes. I

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AN NGO TO PROMOTE MULTI-TRACK DIPLOMACY

FOUNDING AN NGO TO PROMOTE A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO ETHNIC AND REGIONAL PEACE- BUILDING OFFERS CHALLENGES AND REWARDS.

BY JOHN W. AND CHRISTEL G. MCDONALD

ebruary 1987. After 40 years in A New NGO the Foreign Service it was time to retire, said the gov- After returning to Washington in the spring of 1992, ernment, enforcing the mandatory retirement age. We John and Dr. Louise Diamond co-founded the Institute decidedF to remain in the Washington, D.C., area. for Multi-Track Diplomacy, based on a book they wrote John’s first post-FS foray was into academia: teaching together in 1991, Multi-Track Diplomacy: A Systems courses at The George Washington University’s Law Approach to Peace (Kumarian Press, 3rd edition 1996). School on multilateral negotiation and conflict resolution There was no money, no office — just a good idea to help (the latter not yet a field in its own right). In addition, he in a small way to contribute to building social peace in was senior adviser to George Mason University’s Institute the world. After the paperwork of incorporation (and a for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, and taught and lec- payment of $25) in the District of Columbia, and with tured at the Foreign Service Institute and the Center for the help of friends, office space was found and, thanks to the Study of Foreign Affairs on multilateral negotiation some initial funding from our own pockets, IMTD and the United Nations and its specialized agencies. became a reality. Its mission is to promote a systems In the fall of 1988, John accepted the position of pres- approach to ethnic and regional peacebuilding, and to ident of the Iowa Peace Institute, an independent NGO facilitate the transformation of deep-rooted social con- in Grinnell, Iowa. The three-year contract, running from flict (www.imtd.org). January 1989 to the end of 1991, led to a wonderful In the years that followed, IMTD initiated and facili- opportunity to see the world through the eyes of tated a series of conflict-resolution and conflict-transfor- Midwesterners, and to work in an environment very sup- mation projects in Cyprus, Israel-Palestine, Georgia, portive of teaching and applying the skills of conflict res- Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Great Lakes region of East olution in ethnic and regional conflicts around the world. Africa, Liberia, Nepal, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Jordan, Libya, John was also able to introduce peer mediation in schools, India, Pakistan and Kashmir, and with the Dalai Lama as well as conflict resolution training for teachers and the Tibetan government-in-exile. In addition, John statewide. Christel, meanwhile, obtained her M.A. in his- is involved in drinking water and sanitation issues, as tory from the University of Iowa in 1990. water and peace are deeply related.

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This work entails a lot of long and often uncomfort- Examples of Success able travel in cramped airplane seats (no business class IMTD’s most recent success resulted from a pro- here!) and other modes of transportation, but all dis- posal John made five years ago to the Indian and comfort pales in the face of the plight of the people Pakistani governments to allow a “People’s Bus” to IMTD tries to help. Early on, John and his wonderful reunite Kashmiri people from both sides of the Line of staff came to the conclusion that “women are the peace- Control, allowing them to visit each other. The first builders in the world,” and yet they often live with less buses traveled from Srinagar to Muzzafarabad and dignity than anybody else. To see the slightest glimmer back on April 7, 2005. Now, this humanitarian initia- of hope in their faces is incentive enough for us to con- tive continues to contribute to mutual help between tinue IMTD’s work. the two countries after the devastating earthquake in the region last October. Ambassador John W. McDonald, president and CEO of The People’s Bus is a perfect example of the work that the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy, is a lawyer, IMTD does through its multi-track systems approach to diplomat, former international civil servant, development peacebuilding. A small NGO, with little funding but with expert and peacebuilder. He spent 20 years of his career great ideas and out-of-the box thinking, IMTD is able to in Western Europe and the Middle East and worked for lay the groundwork, often also referred to as Track Two 16 years on United Nations economic and social affairs. or citizens’ diplomacy, for Track One (government-to- Christel G. McDonald, a former European civil servant, government) resolution of a conflict. is secretary of the IMTD Corporation and its historical In some areas of ethnic or regional conflict, IMTD has researcher. been able to provide training in conflict resolution skills,

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and the local people have, in turn, John’s Foreign Service Is the work rewarding (even with- been able to create a more stable sit- out pay)? Yes. Is it easy? No. IMTD uation in the area. In several work led to the continuously struggles to obtain instances, individuals trained in con- funding for its many projects and new flict resolution moved into govern- conviction that requests for help. The institute’s loyal ment positions and were able to apply following of over 1,400 members is the skills obtained thanks to IMTD consensus-building is enthusiastic and dedicated, but their training (Cyprus and Liberia, for financial support covers only a small example). In Zimbabwe, IMTD the most important part of the overhead costs. Project helped Africa University create the money comes in haltingly and only first master’s degree program in con- ingredient for any after overcoming incredible adminis- flict resolution for African students on trative barriers. their own continent. negotiation. Finally it appears that some U.S. John’s experience in multilateral government agencies are actively diplomacy (Marshall Plan, CENTO, U.N., ILO), gath- beginning to concern themselves with the issues of trans- ered over the course of a long Foreign Service career, formation of conflict, but they have yet to fully understand accounts for IMTD’s success. His FS work led to the the contribution that a multi-track systems approach can conviction that consensus-building is the most important make. Unfortunately, the big foundations have recently ingredient for any negotiation. He also realized that gov- become increasingly restrictive in their overseas funding ernments alone can no longer solve global problems, and for peace and conflict resolution. The business commu- that political and economic peacebuilding must include a nity could and should play a much bigger role as the systems approach to social building; i.e.: working with development of its markets depends on having peace in people to build a sustainable and peaceful world. The the region, but has not yet recognized social peacebuild- work truly touches the heart! ing as the indispensable tool it is.

The Power of Enthusiasm An Exciting Chapter IMTD is now in its 13th year. Because of the constant Fortunately, though, conflict resolution is now an shortage of funding, no one on the staff, including John, established field and is taught at many universities, here who is chairman of the board and CEO, receives a salary. and abroad. Moreover, the idea of having a combined Yet applications for internships are overwhelming (70 for degree in law and conflict resolution — long promoted seven positions in the last semester). The 175 interns since by John — has now taken hold at American University 1992 — graduate students from around the world — have in Washington, D.C. all carried the concept of multi-track diplomacy back to Christel, a former European civil servant of the their countries and communities. They understand that it Council of Ministers of the European Communities (now is the people who ultimately will decide whether a peace E.U.), continues to chair the Associates of the American agreement will hold or not. Foreign Service Worldwide French Group and is presi- Often these students invite John into their academic dent of the D.C. Area Phi Beta Kappa Association. At settings to lecture and share his experiences in the Foreign their condominium home, she and John regularly host the Service and with multi-track diplomacy and conflict solv- United Nations Association-National Capital Area Task ing around the world. Other NGOs look for inspiration Force for Cultures of Peace and organize the Foreign and partnership in peacebuilding, too, so that John gives an Policy Association’s annual Great Decisions Project. average of about 110 speeches a year, both in the U.S. and The chapter of life titled “After Retirement” is excit- abroad. Furthermore, many a thesis in the field of conflict ing. Despite her own busy schedule and many respon- resolution has been written under his guidance. Being sur- sibilities, Christel supports John’s work wholeheartedly, rounded by so many young people and seeing their enthu- at home and on the road. Both McDonalds love life siasm to do their part in a troubled world keeps John and are committed to many more years of global peace- actively involved and optimistic in all aspects of life. building. I

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SORT OF RETIRED IN SAN DIEGO

ONE RETIREE HAS FOUND THAT SAYING “NO” IS THE HARDEST SKILL TO HONE “ IN LIFE AFTER THE FOREIGN SERVICE. BY MILLIE MCCOO

ou’ve flunked retirement!” be told.) I still occasionally find myself chasing the Vickie Rose, another retired FSO, told me that clock — but I’m still having fun. when I was into the second year of my post-Foreign I retired as a public diplomacy officer in 2000, ServiceY life. But that depends on what one means by intent on starting the new millennium with a new life. retirement. If, for example, one thinks of it as “Still While I loved my career in the Foreign Service, for Life with Rocking Chair and Knitting Needles,” then several years I had found myself longing for a change. she had a point there. Yes, I had left the Foreign I had grown weary of pack-outs and goodbyes. I want- Service with the idea that I would no longer perform ed to settle somewhere, sink in some deep roots and work in exchange for a salary. Instead I would do what become part of a community. I wanted to focus on my heart led me to do, on my own time and on my own other things: to learn to play the guitar and to create terms. And that I was doing ... in a way. art with my hands. I wanted to mentor children and At the time Vickie good-humoredly demoted me, I become a political activist. I wanted to devote more was working in wildlife rehabilitation, tutoring a high time to reading and to writing poetry. And I especial- school student, spending several hours a week doing ly wanted to spend more time working with animals. non-remunerative media work for a nonprofit group So in 1995, after a dream vacation in which I had that supports orphans in Baja California, fundraising participated in an Earthwatch project on marine mam- for a local YMCA, taking classes in veterinary assis- mal research, I began seriously planning my retire- tance, guitar and jewelry-making, and volunteering at ment. At the end of my tour in Kuwait, I returned to the Humane Society and the San Diego Zoo. No, I Washington and completed my “high three.” I volun- wasn’t catching up on my reading as I had planned, teered at the National Zoo, which allowed me to net- nor had I been on a single cruise. But I was having work with scientists involved in animal research fun! And, once I accomplished those missions with throughout the country. finite deadlines, I cut back on my activities and began I also had several meetings with my investment practicing the art of saying “no,” which is the hardest broker. Note to younger officers: Thanks to my moth- skill to hone in retirement. (I’m still learning it, truth er’s persistent needling, when I started serving over-

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While I loved my career in the Foreign Service, I had grown weary of pack-outs and goodbyes.

seas, every pay period I set aside the equivalent of what quality of life in each place. I had paid in Washington for a month’s rent, which I My focus was drawn to San Diego because of its then invested in the stock market. Since I was serving proximity to my hometown of Los Angeles, the variety in posts in which housing was provided, this practice of opportunities to work in animal and environmental was painless. I also participated in the Thrift Savings fields and the abundant cultural life. The only down- Plan, of course. My portfolio made all the difference in side was the cost of housing. San Diego, and Southern the timing and comfort of my retirement. California in general, is an expensive housing market. At the end of my final three years, I took the As one realtor put it, “In San Diego, you pay a fortune Retirement Seminar. I highly recommend that for a sliver of California with a shack on it.” resource to everyone, even those who do not intend to I moved here and rented a home for a year before continue in a line of work associated with foreign making a final determination to stay. Once I decided affairs. The seminar helps one consider various options that San Diego was indeed the place for me, I picked for retirement. It also taught me how to sell myself as a realtor and found my dream house. The secret to a contributor to scientific endeavors, incorporating the finding the house you want is to ignore the adage skills I acquired in the Foreign Service, such as team- “location, location, location,” and focus on “I want, I building and project management. want, I want.” In other words, I bought to please myself, not for investment purposes. I looked in Finding a New Home neighborhoods that were not on the “A” list, but rather I wasn’t sure where I wanted to settle and sink in those in areas that were well-kept secrets. (Having volun- roots. I knew it would have to be in a warm climate, but teered for “Meals on Wheels” during my first year, I that was it. So I stayed on in Washington for a year after had discovered lovely neighborhoods on less-traveled retiring and used the time to identify possible retirement roads). And as it turned out, property values in all places, consulting a variety of good books and Web sites. parts of the city have skyrocketed, so I’m not suffer- I selected six places to visit and spent a week in each, vis- ing. iting zoos, animal sanctuaries and research institutions I am happy with my decision. I love living in San and looking at available housing. I also met with friends, Diego, which offers a rich cultural life, a variety of out- friends of friends and retired FSOs to find out about the door activities and wonderful weather. I am still work- ing with animals, taking courses, tutoring youngsters, Millie McCoo was a public diplomacy Foreign Service mentoring foreign college students and otherwise vol- Officer from 1972 to 2000, serving in Abidjan, unteering my time for special events. Yes, I admit that Antananarivo, Port-au-Prince, Rabat, Cairo, Kuwait, I have a long way to go in developing my “Just say no” Washington and Los Angeles. She now resides in San skills. But I take consolation from the fact that I share Diego. this weakness with many other retirees. I

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SERVING IN PANAMA OVER AND OVER AGAIN

AN FSO WHO SERVED THREE TIMES IN PANAMA CITY NOW LIVES THERE AND WORKS AS A FOREIGN SERVICE NATIONAL FOR THE PANAMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY.

BY ROBERT RAYMER

nusual as it was, my the many congressional delegations that visited Panama 29-year passage from U.S. Foreign Service junior officer during the treaty negotiations. to Foreign Service National in Panama’s Foreign The chief U.S. negotiator, the venerable Ellsworth MinistryU has been a fascinating journey, particularly after Bunker, seemed to us diplomatic grunts monarch-like, I had spent so many hours and years in country team with limousines, helicopters and myriad beck-and-call meetings on the third floor of the U.S. embassy dis- assistants. So when I returned to D.C. two years later cussing what the government of Panama was doing and and took the shuttle bus from the State Department to how the U.S. should respond. the Foreign Service Institute, I was nonplused to see the When Secretary of State Henry Kissinger gave the elderly envoy tucked into a seat next to an entry-level lan- oath of office to our large 119th Foreign Service class at guage student — no fanfare at home, just another feder- the State Department, in the summer of 1975, I couldn’t al commuter, demonstrating the stark divide between have imagined that our careers would fly by so rapidly, or official life and hierarchy overseas and the relative obscu- that I would eventually serve three tours of duty in the rity of a Washington assignment, even for the ambas- same country — much less retire there. sadorial class. “Three Musketeers” from that cohort — Vince Mayer, In August 1977, the U.S. and Panama signed a new Chuck Keil and I — headed off to our first tour, where Panama Canal treaty and, following a bitter struggle, the the U.S. was negotiating a new Panama Canal treaty. I U.S. Senate ratified it by a single vote. Though naysayers remember as though yesterday arriving at Panama City’s declared Panamanians incapable of running the Canal Tocumen International Airport. Though it was just my properly, almost six years after its end-of-century first tour, I felt every inch the important diplomat, until turnover even U.S. officials acknowledge that the “eighth the colleague who met me on the tarmac pointed to a wonder of the world” operates better than ever and with man beside an Air Force aircraft who he identified as my fewer accidents. first boss, the political section chief — I was a consular- I was gratified to have played a small role in finally set- coned rotational junior officer — struggling like a porter ting things right in America’s relationship with Panama, with the bag of a U.S. representative, a member of one of but after two years there I was ready to move on to

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Auckland. A dozen years later, I was deputy consul gen- my enthusiasm for the assignment, and as it had shown by eral in New Delhi. Having recently been promoted to the sending me to Buenos Aires, its rules did not prohibit ser- rank of FS-1, I itched to head a consular section. So in vice in a foreign-born spouse’s country of nationality. So mid-1989, when a cable asked for volunteers for the con- in August 2002, I was back in Panama City yet again for a sul general position in Panama City, I eagerly threw my third tour, and second time as consul general there. hat into the ring — even though I was just one year into In accordance with the treaty, the U.S. Panama Canal my three-year assignment, and ineligible to bid because Commission had handed over the keys to the locks to Delhi was a hardship post. Fortunately for me, the Panama on Dec. 31, 1999. The nation finally ran its canal department ignored the rules in its eagerness to get a and controlled the extensive infrastructure of the former warm body to fill a less-than-popular job. I still recall col- American Canal Zone. As they built over the last vestiges leagues asking incredulously, “Panama? Are you sure?” of the long U.S. presence, workers turned former military After all, dictator Manuel Noriega was seriously rattling bases into housing developments, schools, supermarkets sabers and the U.S. consular section’s visa operations had and the regional headquarters of international organiza- been suspended. tions. Yet, when I drove into Panama City on the new Meanwhile, on Dec. 20, 1989, the U.S. invasion, freeway from the airport with my wife and young daugh- Operation Just Cause, dropped into Panama’s night and ter, it felt like a homecoming — a feeling reinforced when not long after, arrested Noriega. Ambassador Deane we visited a neighborhood supermarket where three Hinton picked me to be the first post-dictatorship consul Panamanian acquaintances greeted me by name, over a general, and I arrived in Panama City three months later, decade after we had left the country. in March 1990. Those were heady days for the U.S. A year later, in 2003, I retired from the Foreign embassy, and as consul general I dealt with Panamanians Service. With a Panamanian-citizen wife, I quickly at all levels who sought to put efficient, democratic gov- obtained Panamanian residency. Others at Embassy ernmental operations in place. That second Panama tour Panama City followed that trend, not to mention increas- would last just over three years, during which I made life- ing numbers of baby-boomer retirees from the U.S., long friends — and met my Argentine-born, naturalized- Canada and Western Europe. Panamanian wife-to-be. As I prepared to depart for my I joined the country’s most important international law second consul generalship, in San Salvador, in 1993, I firm, Morgan & Morgan, as a part-time consultant. I also remember thinking, “Panama is a place where I could set- became interested in the local politics that affected my tle down.” However, in the meantime my life and career new life and home. I knew people in every part of the had to move on. Panamanian political spectrum, but it was clear to me that what had historically been the “party of the dictators,” the Finally Settling Down Revolutionary Democratic Party, was now (ironically) the Eight years later, as I wrapped up my tour as consul country’s most democratic and representative political general in Argentina, it was time to plan one final Foreign movement. Service assignment. Despite political and economic upheavals at the time, I considered retiring in cosmopoli- A Historic Election tan Buenos Aires. However, I still had some time-in-class The PRD’s presidential candidate in the May 2004 to use up and, despite very tempting alternatives, with my elections, chosen in a party primary, was its secretary gen- wife’s agreement I bid on Panama yet again. State shared eral, Martin Torrijos, a son of Omar Torrijos, the military strongman who ran Panama during my first tour there a Robert Raymer was a Foreign Service officer from 1975 quarter-century earlier. The U.S.-educated Torrijos con- to 2002, serving in Panama (three times), New Zealand, vinced me that he and the PRD offered Panama its best Japan, Mexico, India, El Salvador, Peru, Argentina and chance for economic progress and continued good rela- Washington, D.C. A founding member and first dean of tions with the U.S. In addition, like most Panamanians, I the Panama Consular Corps, since October 2004 he has shared then-U.S. Ambassador Linda Watt’s publicly- been a special assistant to Panamanian First Vice expressed disenchantment with President Mireya President and Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis Navarro. Moscoso’s antidemocratic actions and apparent indiffer-

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ence to widespread corruption (including allegations that guidance from State Department sources, which indicat- her officials had milked Taiwanese generosity for illicit, ed there were no ethical or legal restrictions that would personal gain in exchange for continued diplomatic recog- prevent my doing so as a retiree. nition of the island). At the same time, many First, I joined “Team Martin” as an informal adviser. Panamanians were lukewarm to the third alternative, a Along with the candidates for the first and second vice return of the post-invasion Guillermo Endara presidency. president positions, Samuel Lewis Navarro and Ruben Rumors were rife, especially in the business communi- Arosemena — leader of the Popular Party (formerly the ty, that despite Washington’s obvious (if unspoken) disdain Christian Democrats) — I accompanied Torrijos many a for the ruling Arnulfista Party’s bad governance, it hoped dusty mile, tramping through the country’s barrios and lis- for a victory by that party’s affable candidate, former tening to the complaints and desires of the voters. Foreign Minister Jose Miguel Aleman, because of suspi- cion of both Martin Torrijos and his once-anti-American FSN at the Foreign Ministry party. Later, I wrote an op-ed piece for Panama’s most influ- I simply did not buy that, and as a permanent resident ential daily newspaper, La Prensa, titled “Why Should with a past and a future in Panama, I wanted to express Martin Torrijos Win?” I declared that “U.S. government my opinion somehow in the election campaign. As a cour- representatives cannot publicly announce their favorites tesy, I told Amb. Watt of my plans and consulted online to win the national election for diplomatic reasons.

Panama after the Foreign Service Retirees contemplating a post-Foreign Service life overseas view condominium, often better constructed to boot. Less than should take a close look at Panama. A three-hour flight from $100,000 could purchase a sturdy, three-bedroom house on an Miami, the “blessed isthmus” is home to a rapidly growing num- acre lot in a western Panama community, such as Volcan. And ber of American, Canadian and European retirees in search of a Panama exempts new homes from property tax for 20 years. comfortable, affordable life abroad. The cost of living is comparatively low, as well. Domestic Wilma recently battered retiree-favorite South Florida with help, including home nursing care, is economical indeed. its eighth hurricane in two years. However, Panama is well off Imported goods are plentiful and reasonably priced, especially in the hurricane track and mostly free of other natural disasters as the larger supermarkets and warehouse outlets, such as Price well. “Residential tourism” is booming in this “future Singapore Smart. Domestically-grown fruits and vegetables are cheap and of the Americas.” After more than eight decades of propinquity, luscious, as are the fresh-off-the-boat fish and shrimp at Panama Panamanians — especially those in the Panama City and Colon City’s morning market. areas — tend to view resident expatriates as friends and neigh- A nation without an army, Panama is one of the safest bors, parts of the daily scene as familiar as the sun and ocean countries for foreign residents in Latin America — and one can views. So Americans who live in Panama feel less like even drink the tap water. Medical and dental care is good, with strangers than they might in virtually any of the other overseas many U.S.-trained practitioners. Most charge considerably retirement destinations they might consider. lower fees than their U.S. counterparts, and often make house Intriguingly exotic, Panama is also invitingly familiar. Cable calls as well. Sales tax and customs duties are low, and and satellite TV play U.S. and foreign programs. Panama’s balboa Panama does not tax savings account interest or foreign source is the same U.S. greenback in which federal annuities are paid. income. And as a mark of respect for age, retirees receive gen- So U.S. retirees know their pension spending power will not suf- erous discounts on goods, services and transportation, as well fer the unpredictable, flush-today-budget-challenged tomorrow as separate lines at most service providers and government fluctuations of many foreign currencies. U.S. retirees frequently offices. obtain mortgages from Panamanian banks, often at percentages For more information, commercial Web sites, such as pana- lower than those in American markets, although at variable rates mainfo.com and www.panamaguide.com, and “Panama” key- of interest. word Internet searches are best bets. Those who already made Whether in western Chiriqui province’s cool highlands — for the move to Panama or who hope to do so comment on their example, popular retiree haven Boquete — or in cosmopolitan experiences and offer advice in several online groups, including Panama City, Latin America’s skyscraper champion, houses and [email protected]; panamaforum@yahoo apartments remain bargains by U.S. standards. For about groups.com and Americans_in [email protected]. Eric $300,000 or less, upscale Panama City neighborhoods offer the Jackson’s ThePanamaNews.com, is a widely-read online English- equivalent of an entire floor, multimillion-dollar Miami Beach bay- language newspaper.

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Nevertheless, they are per- probably already ahead. But mitted to have private opin- more than a few conserva- ions, and I am convinced tive movers and shakers in that were they able to vote Panamanian society took for the next president of another look at Martin, and Panama most U.S. officials not a few remarked that my who know Panama and its comments put the lie to modern history well, like the commonly-held opinion most Panamanians, would many had shared that the instinctively vote for the government candidate was PRD candidate, Martin On the 2004 campaign trail, l - r, Samuel Lewis Navarro, also the U.S. candidate. Torrijos. For like the Pana- Robert Raymer, Martin Torrijos, Ruben Arosemena. (The U.S. embassy correctly manian electorate, Washing- pointed out that I did not ton officials know that the PRD, previously denounced as speak for the U.S. government — and then said no more.) the party of dictators, is now the most inclusive and demo- Martin Torrijos did win the presidency, and took office cratic political party in Panama, thanks to the leadership in September 2004. He asked me to join his administra- of Martin Torrijos.” tion as a contract adviser in the Panamanian Foreign What was the effect of a former U.S. consul general Ministry, headed by First Vice President and Foreign writing such an opinion piece? My newspaper article cer- Minister Samuel Lewis Navarro. (Since I was not a Senior tainly did not win the election for the PRD, which was Foreign Service officer, I did not have to wait a

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year before I could accept foreign government employ- ernment. But not long after that episode, while driving I ment.) The naming of a U.S. adviser in the foreign min- found myself alongside a public demonstration, and a pro- istry was uncontroversial at first, and a number of com- tester thrust a leaflet through my car window that chided mentators congratulated the new administration for its the government for its gringo adviser. good sense in utilizing talent from various sources. Certainly some former U.S. colleagues looked warily at However, in mid-2005, a leftist construction union (more my working for a foreign government after almost 30 interested in rabble-rousing than the welfare of workers) years in the Foreign Service. But I pointed out that the denounced the “shameful” appointment of a gringo advis- U.S. also benefits from my employment as a Ministry of er “who dictates Panamanian foreign policy.” Foreign Affairs adviser, precisely because I can explain U.S. policies and motivations more clearly to my Mutual Benefit Panamanian colleagues so they can formulate appropriate Few others jumped on this bandwagon, however, and responses. Moreover, most of the resources and advan- Foreign Minister Lewis Navarro supported me energeti- tage cards are stacked overwhelmingly in favor of U.S. cally and publicly as an important asset to his foreign pol- government interlocutors. Panama is not the enemy, after icy team. Additionally, as one U.S. mission wag com- all. It is arguably the U.S.’s firmest friend in our hemi- mented privately, “I don’t know what the union is com- sphere, and deserves to have a more level playing field. plaining about. The Panamanian Foreign Ministry has Unusual as it was, my 29-year passage from U.S. one gringo adviser. We have 300 Panamanian employees, Foreign Service junior officer to Foreign Service National and they run the embassy.” The union soon moved on to in Panama’s Foreign Ministry has been interesting and other perceived grievances with which to bash the gov- rewarding in ways I never could have foreseen. I Home Suite Home

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MANAGING INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS IN ACADEMIA

THE HALLS OF ACADEMIA OFFER OPPORTUNITIES FOR RETIRED FOREIGN SERVICE PERSONNEL OF ALL SKILL GROUPS.

BY TIBOR P. N AGY JR.

hen I was considering mov- mobility and information exchange. At the same time, ing from State to academia after a 32-year U.S. govern- academia also appreciates the tremendous technological, ment career, I did what we all do before accepting a new economic and geopolitical contributions international Wassignment — I contacted someone I trusted who had students and scholars make to our campuses. Therefore, made the same move to ask how it was going. The reply: international expertise, whether content-based or opera- “Once you learn the language and culture, it’s a great post- tional, is in great demand. ing.” Now, starting my third year managing international Most campuses have an international programs office, programs at Texas Tech University, I can second that though its activities may operate under a variety of names advice: Academia can be a fantastic follow-on to a State and chief executive titles. Thus, my counterparts can be career. It offers tremendous professional and personal deans, vice presidents, executive directors, etc. (See satisfaction — but do learn the language and culture. “Academia 101” below for more specifics.) Directing The halls of academia offer opportunities for retired TTU’s Office of International Affairs is similar to manag- Foreign Service personnel of all skill groups. While polit- ing a small U.S. mission. With about 35 employees, each ical and economic officers may be particularly attracted to year we’re responsible for sending over 600 U.S. stu- teaching, there are numerous positions suited to officers dents on a variety of study-abroad programs; welcoming with management, public affairs, consular, medical, infor- about 1,300 international students and scholars from mation technology or security experience. Since my own over 100 countries to our campus; administering our uni- Foreign Service experience was in management, my new versity centers in Seville, Spain, and Quedlinburg, position as assistant vice provost for international affairs at Germany; operating our International Center for Arid Texas Tech University is a great fit. and Semiarid Land Studies here on campus; and pro- “Globalization” and “internationalization” are very moting outreach on international issues in regional com- trendy terms around campuses these days, as American munities, including presenting programs to over 20,000 colleges and universities are recognizing the importance K-12 students and bringing distinguished speakers to of preparing students for a globalized economy and cul- Lubbock. ture, with all their potential for borderless employment Just as we struggle with consular issues on overseas

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assignments, resolving difficulties related to visas and Academia 101: Understanding the Campus work permits for visiting students and scholars has Those interested in transitioning to academia can pur- become a major part of the workload on our side of the sue several strategies. I maintained contact with TTU “window.” Such functions are handled by international (my undergraduate institution) throughout my Foreign student/scholar advisers (ideal jobs for retired consular Service career. It was close to our U.S. home, so I did officers). Our staff also includes a management officer, a class presentations and guest lectures while on leave. general services officer, an information systems officer This history of involvement was a major factor in being and several office management specialists. selected for my current job. Serving a tour as a In addition, I teach at least one course on Africa each “Diplomat-in-Residence” is also tremendously useful, as year, because I feel the need to stir up interest about the it gives an excellent introduction to academia and allows continent among our students, and to promote overseas the DIR to get to know (and become known) at all of the U.S. government careers. institutions of higher learning in the region. However you get there, you will have to master the basics of campus life. Interestingly, there are a number Tibor P. Nagy Jr. was a Foreign Service officer from 1979 of parallels with the Foreign Service world. Academia is to 2003, serving as ambassador to Guinea and Ethiopia, just as hierarchical and rank-conscious as diplomacy, and among many other postings. Since retiring from the there is a professional chasm between “faculty” (teaching Service, he has served as associate vice provost for inter- and research) and “staff” (support) akin to that between national affairs at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, FS generalists and specialists. On larger campuses, many Texas. classes are led by graduate-student teaching assistants

THE REMINGTON

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Eight Tips to Break into Academia By Bob Fritts

Conventional wisdom says that it’s vir- ences. Be tastefully visible with public tually impossible for retired Foreign In seeking a teaching questions and post-event chit-chat. Service officers without Ph.D. degrees to Volunteer to recruit foreign officials and be hired as faculty on U.S. college cam- position, revert to the active or retired colleagues as relevant puses. Don’t believe it. The barriers can be speakers. Assist with conference man- overcome and the lifestyle is attractive. premise of your first agement — many colleges are under- Here are “Eight Inside Tips” on how to staffed administratively for special events. break in. Foreign Service post: (The Foreign Service knows all about 1. Learn the culture. Academia is a that!) culture; work it as you would foreign con- Get around. 5. Be realistic. There are few full-time tacts. The highest-status cult is composed non-Ph.D. positions in academia at FSO of Ph.D.-holding “scholars.” In general, salary levels, and such plums go to our they disdain real-worlders, who are usually star colleagues. Those with specific exper- regarded as vocational “practitioners.” The divide between the tise on a current hot spot — e.g., Iraq — can sometimes get a two is similar to Foreign Service vs. Civil Service stereotypes. useful jump-start. But beware: adjuncts at the College of William Accept it. & Mary who teach a basic three-credit course on international 2. Speak the jargon. “On the tenure track” applies to schol- relations earn about $4,000 per semester for preparing 30 lecture ars, while those on a “non-tenure track” are presumed less qual- hours from scratch. It’s only cost-effective if you do a course ified. “Adjuncts” are non-tenured persons teaching occasional more than once — as I can attest. classes or engaged in other academic activities on a part-time 6. Be opportunistic. An expanding field well-suited to Foreign basis. They may or may not have a Ph.D. degree. A “senior fel- Service skills is “development” — raising money. Every universi- low” (my title) means “non-tenure, non-threat.” ty does it and needs staff who are good at it. Development folk 3. Study the organization. Traditional academic departments use skills that FSOs mastered early on: how to plan conceptually, are the most difficult for practitioners to crack; e.g., international identify contacts, use talking points, write memcons (“contact relations, economics, political science, etc. Instead, look for orga- reports” is the fundraising term) and schmooze skillfully. Your nizations with “center,” “program,” “institute” or the like in their maturity will be a major asset in this area as prospective donors, titles. They are usually more open to interdisciplinary expertise usually older, are more comfortable discussing sensitive financial and “practitioner” skills. matters with presumed peers. Thus, ageism is less of an issue. 4. Start small. If you don’t have a mentor, get the college However, you’ll need to overcome the FSO’s Achilles’ heel: a reluc- catalog, scan it for areas of your competence, make the faculty tance to ask “The Question” and solicit the gift. rounds and chat about common expertise (just as you used to 7. Know your consular district. FSOs, including retired do on courtesy calls abroad). Ask to see the course syllabus. ambassadors, are a dime a dozen in the Washington area. But Think how you might fit in. If you’re deemed credible, it might farther from the Beltway, they are rarer. There are thus more lead to a guest lecture, which might lead to something more. opportunities to gain visibility through op-eds in local newspa- Business schools are open to “how-to” presentations on specif- pers, regional National Public Radio outlets, appearances in front ic countries and regions. For example, you might offer a of senior learning groups, and talks to local organizations and ser- provocative lecture on “How American Business Defeats Itself in vice clubs. Visibility leads to more public engagements that, in Country/Region X.” turn, lead to more contacts. Revert to the premise of your first Attend campus events such as public lectures and confer- Foreign Service post: Get around. 8. Cast a broad net. Community colleges are a major part of our American system of higher education. Many of their teachers Bob Fritts retired from the Foreign Service in 1991. He was ambassador to Ghana and Rwanda, among other postings. and professors don’t have a Ph.D. However, the number and vari- Since leaving State, he’s been the senior fellow in foreign pol- ety of courses related to foreign affairs are often sparse and the icy for the Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy at the pay is lower than in colleges and universities. Nevertheless, College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. He doesn’t teaching at community colleges can be fun and rewarding. have a Ph.D. Good luck!

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(universally known as TAs). Most campuses have an a vice presidential designation. Professional faculty begin their Then, depending on the size of careers as instructors, then international programs the institution, there are various progress through the ranks of vice presidents, vice chancellors, assistant professor, associate pro- office, though its activities vice provosts, and associate vice fessor, and finally to professor provosts (my title). Again, the (think Senior Foreign Service). may operate under exact organization can vary con- On most campuses, a Ph.D. siderably from campus to cam- degree is required to advance a variety of names and pus. beyond the instructor level. Departments are run by While no two university chief executive titles. “chairs” and schools/colleges by structures are identical, the fun- “deans.” Chairs are usually elect- damental working unit is the ed by their faculty, although deans department (e.g., chemistry), several of which make up sometimes use force majeur to place someone they want a college or school (arts and sciences, engineering, in charge (or remove them). Most faculty openings, etc.), and these collectively make up the university. deanships and senior administrative positions are filled by The entire organization is headed by a president or a search committee that reviews applicants and presents chancellor (if, for example, there is a school “system” recommendations to the selecting official. CEO (presi- made up of one or more university campuses, plus a dent/chancellor) vacancies are also filled by a search com- medical school or law school). The number-two mittee, but the selection is made by the institution’s administrator is usually the provost, who may also carry board of regents/governors.

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Top-level administrative officials, in addition to per- tees or collegial discussions, so someone accustomed to a forming their management functions, also maintain their real-time, command-and-control management style faculty status and may even teach a class or two (think would probably face constant frustration. Fortunately, in DCM as the function and FS-1 as the rank). Faculty can my case academic colleagues have been very supportive leave their administrative positions (chair, dean, provost, of someone coming from the “outside” to a relatively even president) and remain on campus in their professo- high-level position, and have been more than willing to rial role to teach or do research. provide guidance and advice. The mandatory retirement age — if there is one — Given the growing emphasis on globalization and also varies among institutions, but is usually quite high internationalization, Foreign Service skills are welcome (70 to 75). Tenure — originally intended to assure acad- and readily transferable to many academic positions. emic freedom — is a key issue. The trend is toward With thousands of campuses spread throughout the U.S., fewer tenure-track positions (now averaging about 45 academia can serve as an excellent transition to eventual percent — but, again, with a high degree of variation retirement almost anywhere you might like to settle. The among institutions), although faculty strongly support most comprehensive compendium of higher-level acade- creating more. Someone on a tenure track can expect to mic vacancies is found in the Chronicle of Higher wait about six years before making it. Education (http://chronicles.com/jobs/). Wherever you end up, in my experience, work in the Challenges and Opportunities State Department is just as ideal a preparation for Management in academia often resembles trying to academia as time spent on campus is for the Foreign herd cats. Most policies are developed through commit- Service. I

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RETIREES BUILD SUPPORT FOR THE FOREIGN SERVICE

FS RETIREES EXPLAINED THE IMPORTANCE OF U.S. DIPLOMACY TO MORE THAN 27,000 ATTENDEES AT PROGRAMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN 2005.

BY TOM SWITZER

etirees play a key role Retiree speakers receive talking points and issue in AFSA’s nationwide outreach programs, which are updates from AFSA, as well as promotional material for aimed at creating a domestic constituency for the Foreign AFSA’s excellent book, Inside a U.S. Embassy. Using Service,R resulting in expanded public support for funding this material, speakers typically emphasize the critical for diplomatic readiness. Retirees support outreach by role of diplomacy in advancing America’s vital security writing articles and op-eds for their local papers or by and economic interests around the globe. They encour- public speaking. One of our most effective outreach ele- age audience members to contact their congressional ments is the Speakers Bureau, which in 2005 deployed representatives to request increased funding for U.S. Foreign Service retirees to explain the importance of U.S. diplomatic readiness. Speakers also reach out to talented diplomacy to more than 27,000 attendees at over 480 pro- youth — especially minority-group members — to grams in 43 states and Washington, D.C. encourage them to consider Foreign Service careers. (A AFSA’s speaker corps comprises more than 490 number of speakers participate in State Department- retired Foreign Service officers, including 80 former sponsored recruitment fairs at colleges countrywide.) ambassadors, most of them still actively involved in inter- Retirees have also played a major role in educating national affairs as teachers, authors, business people and Americans on the vital role performed by U.S. diploma- consultants. cy in the ongoing struggle against terrorism. Since 9/11 Drawing on their expertise, personal experiences and we have deployed more than 650 retiree experts on coun- historical perspectives, they offer audiences an opportu- terterrorism, Middle Eastern and South Asian issues for nity both to explore the complex, often confusing inter- speaker and media programs nationwide. national order that has replaced the Cold War and to reflect on the evolving role of American diplomacy in the The Speakers Program face of global terrorism and other challenges. Their audi- As director of communications, I coordinate the ences range from major world affairs councils and uni- national speakers program here at AFSA, with the wel- versities to community-service organizations, town meet- come and able assistance of activist retirees in a number ings, business conventions, high schools and local media. of states, most prominently Florida, Virginia, California,

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Maryland, Washington, Texas, and Good speakers tailor their remarks Maine. AFSA speakers are offered to their audience based on its members’ free of charge to host groups, who are awareness of foreign affairs. Most audi- encouraged to assist with travel and ences seem to prefer clear, easily under- local accommodations where possible. standable descriptions of how diploma- Retiree speakers are free to accept cy is important to American interests. honoraria from host groups if offered. Photos and maps are useful program (AFSA pays limited travel and other tools. Anecdotes from a speaker’s own expenses to facilitate certain higher-pri- career experiences are well appreciated. ority programs.) For example, speakers have Who can be an AFSA speaker? All described how the actions of FS per- Foreign Service retirees from the five Ambassador Kenton Keith addresses sonnel might affect Americans: indi- foreign affairs agencies are welcome to the Sarasota Institute of Lifetime vidually (e.g., consular officers who res- enlist as participants in AFSA’s speakers Learning in Sarasota, Fla. cue Americans in trouble overseas); in program. All speakers should be able specific states or regions (e.g., Foreign to address various types of audiences, Commercial Service officers who pro- as well as be willing to travel moderate mote the export and sale of a region’s distances by auto or rail, for which they products); and the country generally may sometimes be reimbursed by (e.g., political and public diplomacy AFSA. Retirees are strongly encour- experts who protect and explain vital aged to contact their local high schools, U.S. security interests to foreign coun- colleges, civic organizations and media, terparts and publics). and offer to speak about how the Foreign Service contributes to promot- Energetic Outreach ing vital U.S. interests around the Examples abound of retirees’ out- world. standing contributions to AFSA’s effort How are audiences identified and Ambassador Tom Boyatt leads a to enhance the understanding of U.S. topics chosen? AFSA collaborates with press conference at AFSA head- diplomacy among key opinion leaders multiple regional and national organi- quarters. in government, business, education, zations that sponsor programs on inter- and the media. Among the best are national issues. These include: The World Affairs Amb. Grant Smith, Stephen Buck and David Reuther, Councils of America, the Foreign Policy Association who elicited glowing reviews from attendees at Johns (sponsors of the regional “Great Decisions” lecture Hopkins’ prestigious Evergreen Society adult education series), United Nations Associations, the OASIS Adult series in late 2004-2005 for their presentations on U.S. Education Program, Kiwanis, Rotary and Lions Clubs of policies in South Asia and the Middle East. They also America, as well as universities and think-tanks. In addi- described the attractions and challenges of careers in the tion, we list available speakers on AFSA’s Web site. Foreign Service, including considerations of family issues. AFSA responds to requests for speakers on specific Former USIA officer Patricia Kushlis has displayed topics by identifying the most suitable retiree speaker exceptional creativity in developing outreach programs from our database who resides near the host group, and throughout New Mexico. She has written frequent arti- arranging contact between the host and speaker, who then cles for leading newspapers and become, in effect, the work out the logistics of the program. voice of the Foreign Service in the state. She has lectured on foreign affairs at the University of New Mexico and Tom Switzer is director of communications for AFSA. other institutions. And she has also mentored students He was an FSO from 1969 to 1998, serving in Costa exploring Foreign Service careers. Rica, Mexico, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, Spain, the U.S. In the Houston region, Bill Cunningham has become mission in Kosovo and Washington, D.C. “Mr. Foreign Service.” Especially noteworthy was his

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arrangement of former AFSA president John Limbert’s generated scores of requests around the country for high-impact programs last year at colleges, international Foreign Service speakers. In 2005 AFSA’s Elderhostel trade councils, and media talk shows in the area. He has programs involved some 850 participants in 14 programs also placed numerous articles about the Foreign Service in Washington, D.C., and four other cities. A new and in the leading regional paper, The Houston Chronicle, and very popular feature of the program last year was the addi- in other media. In Nevada, Guy Farmer has been tireless tion of three one-day seminars in Washington, D.C., all in providing frequent op-eds explaining the importance of focused on Iraq. American diplomacy for leading newspapers. Retirees have also been instrumental in AFSA’s Three Goals Foreign Service Elderhostel Program. In 1996, Ambassa- All these outreach programs have promoted three dor Bill De Pree initiated these valuable seminars that important AFSA goals: broadening the Foreign Service explain the Foreign Service and foreign policy issues to constituency through outreach to the public, enhancing retired professionals nationwide through weeklong and public awareness of global affairs and of the key role of the one-day courses. Ward Thompson and many other Foreign Service and diplomacy, and activating the AFSA retirees made significant contributions to the program retiree constituency by involving it in significant programs over the years. Now coordinated by Janice Bay, and in that draw on their backgrounds and skills in telling our its ninth year of operation, the series is an overwhelming story to audiences nationwide. success. If you want to be involved with AFSA outreach, please Elderhostel has built understanding and public sup- contact me at [email protected] or call toll-free: (800) 704- port for the Foreign Service and U.S. foreign policy and 2372, ext. 501. I

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MOVING TO A SENIOR LIVING FACILITY

IN FACING UP TO THE FACT OF AGING AND THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF ITS CONSEQUENCES, THIS IS ONE OF THE CENTRAL ISSUES TO CONSIDER.

BY BILL HARROP

he idea of selling the When to Make the Move, and Why house or apartment in favor of a simplified life in a There are several basic questions you will want to compound designed for elderly people — with access answer as you begin to weigh this important transition. to medicalT support when needed — seems to come on Is your equity in your home greater than the cost of a unexpectedly. My wife and I are 76 and 77, and live in smaller apartment? Are current bills for maintenance, Washington, D.C. Several months ago we invited repairs, utilities and real estate taxes greater than the three couples over for dinner, old friends from our specified monthly fees at a retirement facility? Is first post in the 1950s. They had difficulty maneuver- arranging for nursing care in your home practical and ing our steep front steps, and we suddenly realized it affordable if the need arises, or does it make more sense was time to consider a change. We have been to move in advance to where the support is? At least we researching retirement facilities since that evening, Foreign Service folk have all moved plenty of times. It have toured six of them (five in the D.C. area and one is never fun, but we do know how. in New Jersey), and have committed to make the You may be motivated by a number of considerations, move. such as the following: While I am no expert on this complicated subject, I • Your present quarters seem unnecessarily large, share what we have learned below. This will be an costly or difficult to maintain; or may be increasingly try- introductory primer. Each situation is different and ing because of stairs, different levels, yard work, or the each family must do the research and review its own cir- expense of heating and cooling. cumstances. But it is important to face up to the fact of • You may have a desire to prepare for inevitable aging, and to the unpredictability of aging’s conse- health problems — particularly with dementia and quences. Alzheimer’s, to which all are subject — in an environ- One decision we reached early on was that moving to ment designed to help you cope with them. a smaller house or apartment, instead of to a retirement • You may be determined to avoid becoming a bur- complex with health care, did not make sense; this would den on your children, and to move while still a couple so have led, sooner or later, to a second move. that the survivor, when that moment comes, is settled in

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a familiar location with friends and support, situated to other can remain in their apartment and easily visit and carry on independently. take meals with the cared-for spouse. • You may want to simplify and pare down, to make The initial focus is upon independent living. There is the tough decisions on weeding out excess furniture and usually a minimum age of 60 or 62. In some cases apart- the paraphernalia of decades, so as not to leave that chore ments are sold as condominiums, in others as coopera- to others. tives. A few establishments offer separate cottages. • You may be interested in reducing unnecessary Senior living facilities always have apartment floor plans expenses in order to better conserve resources for travel, and pricing charts available for review, and you can study and entertainment, or for children’s needs. arrange to visit various models. Typically, there will be • You may have realized that, given markedly in- 150 to 250 apartments with extensive common recre- creased longevity and growing demand, most senior liv- ational, health and sports spaces. The health center, pro- ing facilities have a waiting list of two years or more; and viding many hospital services, is normally a separate that postponing the decision courts being unprepared wing. Prices vary, of course, among facilities and among when a health emergency strikes. the apartments in each, but senior living establishments run from the spartan to the truly luxurious. Common Characteristics of There are always one or more dining areas, as well as Retirement Facilities fitness centers, libraries, hobby workshops and studios, There are three basic levels of accommodation. They and some sort of auditorium or theater. There is usually are: a swimming pool, a garage and a game room. Often there Independent Living, which means a private apart- are gardening plots, a business center with computers, a ment or cottage on the premises, from a one-room studio hairdresser/barber shop, a bank branch and a conve- up to three bedrooms, with a study and two baths. You nience shop. All of the retirement facilities we visited live essentially on your own, but are usually required to provide shuttle service to a Metro station, and scheduled take at least one meal per day in the compound’s restau- shuttle trips to shopping centers, churches, outings to rant facilities. museums, sporting events, art galleries and concerts. Assisted Living, which means more modest quarters, Most facilities program weekly concerts, lectures and typically without a kitchen. You have some dependence movies on site for residents. All places we reviewed per- upon nurses or therapists, and perhaps reduced mobility. mit cats or dogs, although some impose rules about their You normally take all meals in the compound’s dining number and size. facilities. A sense of community seems to grow among the resi- Skilled Nursing, which resembles hospitalization, dents of most senior living facilities, and this is encour- often requiring round-the-clock attendance. This is nor- aged by the architecture and the recreational opportuni- mally in a designated wing of the facility, and usually there ties provided. For example, there are bridge, chess, gar- is a seperate ward for dementia/Alzheimer’s patients. dening, art and book clubs. Residents often publish a Most senior living facilities include all three levels and weekly newsletter. In one facility, we encountered an are termed “continuing care;” some, often linked to a amateur theater group. Fans watch football games hospital, have only assisted living and skilled nursing together on a large-screen television. Resident commit- options. An attractive feature of the continuing care tees arrange for outings and for cultural events in the arrangement is that a couple takes an independent living facility, and you have the impression that if the quality of apartment and then, if one of them suffers from, say, the food declines, a committee will spring up to put pres- Alzheimer’s, and shifts to the dementia corridor, the sure on the management.

A former AFSA president, Bill Harrop was an FSO from The Financial Equation 1954 to 1993, serving as ambassador to Guinea, Kenya, There are standard monthly fees that cover utilities, Seychelles, Zaire and Israel, and as inspector general of maintenance of grounds and public areas, use of sports the State Department and Foreign Service. He is on the and recreation facilities, taxes, security, garage, and so boards of five diplomacy-related organizations. forth. To assure sustainable funding for their restaurant

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facilities, most institutions include There are always one or taxes may be paid separately by in their monthly fees either a the owner of a condominium charge to cover 30 meals or a fixed more dining areas, as apartment, while they are includ- figure (we saw $600) to be drawn ed in the monthly fees in a coop- down for the meals during the well as fitness centers, erative system. month. All establishments vaunt Some senior living facilities the quality of their cuisine, but it libraries, hobby have continuing health packages is best to try it out, which you can whereby monthly fees continue do. Monthly fees, depending workshops and studios, at the same rate, or increase only upon the size of the apartment, modestly if a resident’s health generally run from under $2,000 and some sort of requires moving to one of the to about $4,000, with about $900 assisted living or skilled nursing in addition for the second resi- auditorium or theater. accommodations. In these cases, dent. a medical examination is re- When we added up the bills we quired at the outset to gain had paid at home the past year for electricity, natural gas, admittance to the facility and to qualify for such a pack- water and sewage, painting, roofing repairs, general age, which seems usually to be surprisingly economical. maintenance, lawn and tree care, firewood, extermina- By the way, those (unlike us) who had the good sense to tors, driveway repaving and a security contract, these take out long-term care insurance will find that a good monthly fees looked pretty reasonable — in fact, they chunk of their monthly fees may be covered by the would be quite a saving in our case. Individual real estate insurance. Demand is now so great, at least in the Washington Check Out the Possibilities Online area, that the more attractive senior living facilities are You will probably be astonished at how many senior liv- able to require a substantial refundable deposit, often ing facilities exist these days, and how many are within three $10,000, for the privilege of being added to the waiting miles of where you live without your being aware of them. This is a growth industry. As usual, the Internet is very help- list. In one case — a particularly handsome and com- ful. fortable facility planned but not yet under construction www.retirementliving.com takes you to the “Retirement in Bethesda, which will not be ready for occupancy until Living Information Center,” with a wealth of references. early 2008 — the developers are requiring a $10,000 www.retirement-living.com will take you to “Guide to refundable deposit and a non-refundable $300 inscrip- Retirement Living,” a tremendous source of information for tion fee to get on the waiting list. It is reportedly over- the mid-Atlantic region (D.C., Va., Md., Del., Pa. and N.J.). They publish magazines you can order online that list by loca- subscribed already. tion all retirement facilities and their attributes, and provide advice on consultants who can help you think through your Due Diligence: Questions to Ask priorities and guide you in realizing them. I assume there are You will want to question residents of a facility as to similar Web sites for other regions of the country, but did not how they like it, and what are the positive and negative take the time to scroll the 25,000-plus hits you find when you google this subject. aspects. But a warning from experience is in order: www.sunriseseniorliving.com is worth a look. Sunrise human nature is such that people will tend to give their Senior Living is the dominant enterprise in the field, either own facility high marks and downplay its problems. owning or managing some 425 senior living communities in It is not a bad idea to try — and to time — the drive 38 states, Canada, Germany and the U.K. This is a success- from a facility to locations you will often be visiting. If ful and experienced New York Stock Exchange company, with high standards. Their Web site will take you by Zip code to a you have a dog to walk, or if you like to be outdoors, listing and description of Sunrise facilities (some 30 in the look into adjacent paths and wooded lanes (and confirm Washington metropolitan area, in varied price ranges, but that dogs are welcome). Ask about balconies or terraces each probably of high quality in its class). or screened porches, none of which are as common as — Bill Harrop they might be in these communities. Higher-end apart- ments often have (gas) fireplaces.

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Are guest rooms or apartments available to rent on have a storage cubby for each apartment in the basement the compound in case you have overnight visitors? or garage, usually about 4’ by 4’ by 8’. Fancier apart- Another consideration: a relatively new establish- ments feature walk-in closets, but take a realistic look at ment will have younger, more active residents, and — how much storage space you will actually have for on a realistic, actuarial note — more men about. clothes, books, pots and pans, skis, suitcases, etc. As Ceiling heights seem to vary from floor to floor, so mentioned earlier, retirement living implies paring down. you will want to know whether the apartment model It is important to inquire closely about just what you buy will have the same height as the model you vis- expenses are included and not included in monthly fees. ited. On the whole, rooms in retirement living estab- For example, if a certain number of meals are included lishments are not spacious, so you will want to measure (as they almost certainly will be), to what extent are your furniture, rugs and pictures against the square these transferable to guests, and to what extent can they footage of apartments under consideration. be held over to the next month if you are away on a trip? Find out what extent of alteration and remodeling is What in-apartment maintenance of appliances, electri- permitted: you may want to remove a partition, build in cal or plumbing systems is included, if any? Are any bookcases, add hardwood floors, enlarge a kitchen. In state or local taxes left to be paid separately? this connection, there is a distinct advantage in looking Finally, check what restrictions may exist on your abili- at a facility that is new and under construction, or being ty to sell or to sublease. Are you required to list through remodeled, as you can then prescribe configuration, the management of the facility (what are the transaction/ colors, window treatment and so forth. commission fees?), or can you retain your own realtor? Storage is at a premium. Most senior living facilities Good luck! I

our search is over, choose a hotel where the federal Y per diem rate is available year-round.* State Plaza Hotel 2117 E. St. NW Washington, DC 20037 Telephone: (800) 424-2859 (202) 861-8200 Parking Available t Luxurious Suites t Full service restaurant 1 Rated ### /2 by AAA All rooms with full size Parking available t t www.stateplaza.com kitchen & stove tops t Across from Main State t Fit ness center t White House, The Mall, E-mail: [email protected] t Complimentary and Metro Foggy Bottom in-room coffee station (blue & orange lines) within walking *per night, single or double Accommoda tions distance occupancy subject to availability

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LIFE AFTER THE FS: RETIREES SPEAK UP

RETIREES SHARE STORIES AND ADVICE ABOUT RETIREMENT FROM THE FOREIGN SERVICE.

ozens of Foreign Service observed, “Gee, Larry, I don’t think I’ve ever known any- retirees responded to the AFSANET the Journal sent out one who fell from such a high place to such a low one in asking for insight and information on their experiences so short a time. I’ll be interested in seeing how you han- with retirement.D In fact, the response was so great — dle it.” (Understand, she was an edgy person.) It got me and so varied and interesting — that it will be presented thinking: “Yes, I’ve fallen quite a way, but try this inter- in two installments, the first in the pages that follow. pretation: it’s not a catastrophe, just a couple of setbacks. Part II will appear in the February 2006 issue of the FSJ. No reason not to be optimistic about what’s to come.” I — Susan B. Maitra, Senior Editor decided that I, too, was interested in seeing how I would handle these unwelcome setbacks in the course of the serial adventure of my life. Retirement: A Setback … at First Setbacks are inevitable. They test your resilience and Way back in 1987, at the tender age of 47, I retired resourcefulness. They build character. Now I had to from the Foreign Service — involuntarily. I had not suc- show I was made of good stuff, turning adversity into an ceeded in getting through the up-or-out window set up opportunity for growth and new self-actualization. by the Foreign Service Act of 1980, despite five years in That was many years ago. How have things worked senior-grade positions, glowing evaluations from my out since then? Very well, after a shaky start. At first I supervisors and recommendations for promotion by sev- relocated to New York City, where I had grown up, but eral selection boards. wasn’t able to parlay my Foreign Service experience or To make matters worse, my first marriage drew to a other talents into a second career track. Fortunately, my close at exactly the same time. It had been a successful Foreign Service annuity provided a decent base to ward marriage, but it was over. off penury. It gave me the luxury of being able to pur- That made major blows in work and in love — the sue work at my own pokey pace and without making two vital areas for mental health according to Freud. level of pay the primary consideration. (That’s the same I had dinner one evening with an old friend. I told approach that led to choosing a career in the Foreign her my sad story with as little self-pity as possible and she Service, wasn’t it?)

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A year after retiring I got a chance to work as a WAE 10 years after starting work, and then again about five for the State Department’s Office of the Inspector years prior to retirement. General. A few years later, I took a temporary position I moved to Falling Waters, W. Va., where I live in a with the Peace Corps. And when the Secretary of State house that looks out over the Potomac River. I came here appointed me to the Foreign Service Grievance Board, I because it’s beautiful, has four seasons and water sports (I jumped at the opportunity, even though it would reduce have a kayak), walking (I often walk along the towpath) my income. (I was paid by the hour and there weren’t and skiing is nearby. It’s close to family in Washington, many hours, but it was fascinating work.) D.C. (90 minutes away, if there’s no traffic on the D.C. I redirected old skills, becoming a writer of imagi- end), yet very rural — and I guess I am addicted to learn- native essays and fiction (instead of drafting reporting ing new cultures. My neighbors couldn’t be more differ- cables and memos). Just as importantly, I developed ent from my colleagues at USAID, but are just as inter- new skills as a certified mediator, applying alternative esting and wonderful people whom I’m learning to know dispute resolution methods not only to international and love. matters but also to disputes between divorcing couples I am very active in politics both locally and nationally: and in small claims court. And once I didn’t have to voter registration, campaigning, organizing local groups keep a regular schedule, I indulged myself with golf and participating in major political actions. I am an offi- and tennis on weekdays, when people in the 9-to-5 cer of my homeowners’ association. I have completed work force can’t play. extensive renovations on my home and recently started as Most importantly, I benefited from the love of a good a hospice volunteer. I paint, and hope to get a grand woman. Susan came along at just the right time, to be my piano soon. I still love opera at the Kennedy Center. validator (“You’re not a failure…”) and my agent of reali- Basically I’ve had a good experience with the ty (“… although you sometimes come across as too self- Retirement Division, except that I did not get the earn- satisfied”). And she brought me closer to our families: ings form for the year I was in Nepal and so had quite a the Foreign Service makes it easy to push family rela- large amount to repay, which was a bit of a pain. I’m tionships away from the center of awareness, and now signed up for the new RNet service (www.Rnet.gov), that I’m retired and married to Susan — and a grandfa- which should make things easier. ther — family life is richer. I have a few words of advice for those approaching I stand with Browning’s Rabbi Ben Ezra: “Grow old retirement. Get to know the real estate problems and along with me! The best is yet to be.” pitfalls before you start looking to buy in a new area. I Larry Lesser don’t really know how to do this, so I didn’t do a good job Washington, D.C. and ended up with a real lemon of a house that required extensive renovation. It all worked out okay, but cost me utu a couple of hundred thousand dollars I hadn’t counted on spending, and probably three years of day-to-day effort as Having Time to Stop and Say Hello I handled my own contracting — a real nightmare for I retired in 2001, worked for an NGO specializing in me. women’s health for a couple of years (in Washington, Also, take the Retirement Seminar as early as you are D.C., and Kathmandu), and then retired again to my allowed. Then take it again five years before you retire. home in West Virginia to write. I have finished two arti- Don’t be afraid to branch out into something entirely cles and submitted one for publication, but have not new. I love my life, and many of my retired-FS friends found the time or the energy yet to start on my book. My love theirs too. Give yourself two or three years to adjust: FS experience was very relevant for the NGO work, but retirement is a major change that requires some rewiring is not directly related to my writing. and relearning. Pay attention to your physical and men- I would strongly recommend the advice provided in tal health. Relax and have fun — you deserve it! the Retirement Seminar — probably the best training I have come to appreciate the slower pace, especially program I took in all my years in government — having time to stop and say hello to someone; time to do though it should be given to people earlier, say five to both my exercise and meditation each morning; time to

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be more considerate of others, take better care of my 1955 until I retired in 1980. They were good posts, but mother (who is 81) and enjoy the flowers and trees in the one I have now is best. summer, the snow in winter and the beautiful autumn Dick Underwood leaves. I have time each year for a quiet retreat of sev- N. Wilkesboro, N.C. eral weeks or months, time to be helpful to family and friends in their times of need. It is amazing for me to be utu able to select what I think is important to do today, and then have the luxury to do it. Life couldn’t be better! Retirement Is a Transition Kristin K. Loken Three years before full retirement was possible my Falling Waters, W. Va. wife and I discussed what we wanted to do and where we wanted to live upon retirement. My liberation from the utu daily work routine began in November 2004, when I was 56, and we moved to Asheville, N.C. We routinely partic- Hometown Newspaper Editor: ipate in activities as spectators and as volunteers, and in Coming Full Circle this period I had the good fortune of being a WAE over- I returned to my small hometown in North Carolina in seas for three weeks. 1980 after 26 years with USIA — not to retire but to Retirement is a transition. For those who can live most- take another job, as editor of the local newspaper. ly on their pension and savings and enjoy the pace of a Nothing can involve one in a community faster and small city, a transition to Asheville is easy — even if it more deeply than being the editor of a local newspaper. begins with a shipment of household effects. The positive It didn’t take long to fit back in. attributes of Asheville noted in the retirement publications Because I had to meet frequently with local leaders are true. Furthermore, I am reminded why we left D.C. in order to perform my work, it was relatively easy to whenever I get Washington traffic reports via the Internet. learn the dynamics of local politics, economic pressures, The best gift of liberation is being able to pursue char- social structure and cultural dreams. People who are itable activities. My wife and I volunteer with several concerned with big community issues gravitate to the organizations on a regular basis. They include the local newspaper editor. It was intense, but worth all the Arboretum, Habitat for Humanity, Appalachian Trail extra effort, and I enjoyed the limelight and the satisfy- maintenance, and the Guardian Ad Litem Program. ing sense of belonging. The Journal-Patriot was and is These activities provide exercise for the body and the the largest non-daily newspaper in North Carolina, and mind, as well as entertainment. We meet active people, I thoroughly appreciated the opportunity to contribute many of whom are fellow retirees. As a guardian ad to its value. litem, I have been applying new skills that directly bene- I retired again and have since spent much time with fit a child. The supervisors thank their volunteers for community service organizations and worthy projects, their work, and being away for an extended period to among them the library board, historic preservation attend to personal matters is not an issue. society, art gallery board, hospital development pro- We are learning about another interesting part of the jects, Kiwanis, the genealogical society, school support, country. We observe wildlife and plants during frequent church vestry and a local history project. walks on forest trails. The volunteer work and walks pro- Growing up in a small Southern town had its bene- vide many opportunities for photography, a hobby I pur- fits for someone in the Foreign Service. Patience is a sued in college. virtue, and I believe my finest moments at overseas I initiated the application for WAE work with DS posts had something to do with the fact that I found it before retiring, but the enrollment process was not com- easier to listen than did many of my more urban col- pleted for several months after. I receive notices about leagues. On the other hand, my Foreign Service expe- TDY jobs via e-mail and, as mentioned above, spent rience no doubt made me a better observer of events three weeks as a security engineer in Paris. It was work I and people here when I returned. had done before, and fortunately my technical and per- I served in Indonesia and Japan, primarily, from sonal skills were more than adequate. Having the prima-

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ry and secondary contacts in the office that match assign- utu ments with retirees is important. Getting an ID for access to buildings and having a digital passport photo- WAE-ting for an Assignment graph ready to e-mail has been handy. The security I was an office management specialist in the habits for office work were not automatic, as before, and Environment, Science & Technology Section (ES&T) required attention initially. Working a few months each in Beijing from 1999 to 2001 and in the Economic year overseas provides a diversion with minimal burden. Section in Tegucigalpa from 2001 to 2005. I’m one of The Retirement Seminar was superb. The classes those who came into the Foreign Service as a second provided a framework for liberation. The fear of “losing career after retiring (early) from a management posi- my way” diminished as I thought about how I wanted to tion in private industry. I was 59 when I entered the fill my time. A couple of months after arrival, when the Foreign Service, and thus only had the opportunity for last few boxes were unpacked, I was ready to pursue the two tours (extending for six months in Tegucigalpa to activities mentioned above. work until mandatory retirement, at age 65). I retired Clarification of personnel matters has become easier in April 2005, began the process to become a WAE with RNet; though there are still wrinkles. The assistance before I left post, continued pursuing my interest with provided via the toll-free numbers is helpful. It may Washington and finally, after six months, am on WAE require several transfers to get an answer, but my queries status. have been resolved within a day if not in the first call. I am anxious to go out in the field again, and I am Jeffrey Dektor waiting for an assignment. I did not realize it was going Asheville, N.C. to be so difficult and take so long. I have kept in con-

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stant touch with my WAE coordinator (for WHA) and utu other bureaus and offices to let them know my interest and availability. It has not been very encouraging! I’m Life Is Good! not quite ready to be a “stay-at-home retiree,” but I fall into the category of being truly retired and liv- because an overseas WAE assignment is my first ing outside the D.C. area. My career in the Foreign choice, all my other options are on hold. For example, Service was from 1970 to 2000, and other government I would like to finish course work toward my B.A. employment made for 35 years of service. Although I degree (I am a senior at a university), but can’t register am from Wyoming, I chose to retire in Red Lodge, for classes in the event I do get called for an assign- Mont., after visiting an aunt during a few home leaves. ment. It was just too friendly to believe. In fact, the town I live in Brentwood, Calif., approximately 45 miles voted not to have the mail delivered to individual from San Francisco. The Bay area is home for me; it’s addresses because the Post Office is also a daily stop to where I grew up and have family and friends. I am so visit with people. happy that just before I retired I made the decision to I suppose I should start by saying that it is actually buy a house — a small house in a three-year-old Del impossible to truly retire in a small town — the oppor- Webb active adult community development, a gated tunity for volunteer and civic involvement is huge and community that reminds me of living inside a country varied. Red Lodge is an engaging town with a popula- club — in spite of the fact it was comparatively expen- tion of about 2,500 that has a touristy side, with a ski sive. It helped that before I retired I knew people who mountain and the Beartooth Pass leading to Yellow- lived here and was very familiar with the lifestyle. The stone National Park in its back yard. It is also a work- weather is wonderful, there’s a lot to do and a lot of ing town for local ranchers, farmers, small business people to do things with (if I want!). I enjoy aerobics, enterprises and construction and service-type trades. tennis, hiking and walking — all easily accessible in my It is in a beautiful setting, attracting artistic and active neighborhood. The negative aspect: now I have to pay outdoor people of all ages. for this house, which is another reason I would like to I looked upon Red Lodge as another posting, and do WAE work! from the outset took time to eat a meal in every restau- I couldn’t attend any of the Retirement Seminars rant and go into every shop, where I would chat with due to time and cost constraints, but would no doubt the staff or owners. I attended City Council meetings, have benefited. When I had general questions about read the newspapers word for word, became certified retirement, I did not feel there was anyone I could as an emergency medical technician for Red Lodge talk to. There was plenty of information on the retire- Fire and Emergency Medical Service, and participated ment paperwork process, but when I was confused in speaker evenings at the Friends of the Library and about something I didn’t know whom to contact. If I Historical Society. I took Red Cross classes, was e-mailed someone, I did not get a reply; when I appointed by the mayor to work on the Resort Tax called, usually no one was there, and my message was Review Committee, helped organize a local women’s never returned. It was frustrating, and it took a lot of health conference, served drinks at fundraising events, time (at post) to constantly follow up with the became a domestic violence advocate and got involved Retirement Division. with the Carbon County Democrats as secretary. I I am, however, impressed by the efficiency with worked the Planned Parenthood booth at the State Fair which I receive my annuity and TSP annuity payments. in Billings, went to Helena during the legislative ses- The instructions are straightforward, and when they say sion for Women’s Lobbying Day, sterilized instruments a payment is going to be made, it is there — the check at the annual Nip and Tuck (spay/neuter) Clinic, joined is in the mail. I am also impressed with RNet, and the a hiking group, played tennis, completed weather spot- effort being made to ensure that all retirees receive the ter training and more. same information. On a national level, some of my activities led to Muriel Luck going with the Red Cross to Florida in the 2004 hurri- Brentwood, Calif. cane season, and responding to a “fire-hire” with

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FEMA in 2005 as a result of Hurricane Katrina. without a hitch, and continue to do so. Pretty soon, it was impossible to go anywhere in Living in this small town and its greater community town without knowing someone. The problem was is not lonely or boring. I truly loved the Foreign learning how to say no to some activities when people Service, but there really is another life out here. And realized I was retired and available. I tried one paying I’m enjoying it thoroughly! position as a 911 dispatcher in the sheriff’s office, but Wanda Kennicott decided I really liked setting my own priorities each Red Lodge, Mont. day. I did not take the Retirement Seminar as I had not utu intended to go after employment in a formal way. Rather, I just wanted to move to Red Lodge, let life A Cautionary Tale unfold and pitch in any way I could to help the com- Four years after “retiring” from the Foreign Service, munity and fulfill my needs for physical and mental I’m in the kind of job that I imagined when I walked activity. I was looking forward to perpetual home leave out of the doors of Main State for the last time. I’m the without deadlines, and hardly noticed a transition and executive vice-president of the Santa Rosa (Calif.) didn’t experience an identity crisis. After a couple of Chamber of Commerce, working on government rela- years, though, I found that I missed the Foreign Service tions and economic development. In the middle of Journal as a way of keeping up with my former life. My some of the best vineyards on the planet, part of my job dealings with the Retirement Division were very easy. is to drink great wine and eat gourmet dinners. It’s like They handled all the paperwork and my questions what we hoped the diplomatic reception circuit would

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be: here in wine country, hosts would be ashamed to bruises along the way. And remember, little of what serve the cheap wine and dead-fish-on-a-stale-piece- they tell you in the Retirement Seminar about job of-bread fare we had become accustomed to. hunting applies beyond the Beltway. I admit to having “run away.” I deliberately chose a Chris Lynch location far removed, physically and psychologically, Santa Rosa, Calif. from Washington. That has given me the satisfaction of dealing with people on a more personal level. The flip utu side of the coin is that almost all of the people that I come in daily contact with, even relatively sophisticat- Running a Bed & Breakfast ed and traveled ones, have little or no concept of what Upon retiring as director of REDSO/West Africa in my life was like in the State Department. September 1982, I was selected as president of The lack of understanding by the average person of International House, near Columbia University in New the Foreign Service is a major hurdle that has to be York City. IHouse is a residential and program center for overcome in finding a new career. There are lots of 750 graduate students from nearly 100 countries studying stereotypes about FSOs (lazy government workers, or interning in over 50 schools or institutions in the U.S. dilettante cookie-pushers, etc.) After the Plamegate Our board chairmen have included Henry Kissinger, for- affair, a number of my friends are convinced that I was mer President Gerald Ford and John C. Whitehead. undercover CIA. They hope that as Mark Felt (Deep The IHouse appointment that just fell out of the sky Throat) turned up in Santa Rosa, I, too, must have made the transition out of the Service easy for me and my some juicy secret. They seem disappointed when I tell wife Barbara. In turn, our 25 years in the Service pre- them about the real work of an FSO. pared us for my stint as president of IHouse. In fact, the Getting over that lack of knowledge about the work Foreign Service experience probably gave me the nod of diplomats is certainly something that the Retirement from the nominating committee. A Fulbright fellowship Seminar didn’t begin to cover. We’ve been told to write in Norway, followed by 10 years in South Asia and anoth- up the management experience — employers ask er decade in West Africa with USAID gave me insights for about profit/loss responsibility; we had responsibility program activity and interpersonal relations with students for our employees’ lives. We’re told to stress organiza- from these three continents that were tional skills — how do you write about keeping a based on real experiences. CODEL on track despite a After a decade at IHouse, I retired famous senator’s fondness for “ice again. In 1993, my wife Barbara and I water?” (OK, I was naïve enough completed a 5,000-mile journey in our not to know it was vodka.) 29-foot boat through three of the So, when I arrived in the Bay Great Lakes, along most of the intra- area, I had to start from scratch to coastal waterway and back up the convince people of my skills. I spent eight rivers between Mobile and the first few years consulting. That Chicago. A year later, we opened a turned out to be a financial disaster, six-room bed and breakfast in but it built up my resumé. I quickly Interlochen, Mich., next to the realized I needed a more conventional Interlochen Center for the Arts. job. Job-hunting these days is like cold- calling. You have to have a very strong In Bed & Breakfast Journey — A ego not to take rejection personally — a Lifetime of Goodbyes (Village hundred nos for every yes. Press, Inc., 2005), Barbara and But, there was a happy ending. I love Gordon Evans explain the philos- my current work and the life here in ophy, process and technique of opening and running California. The moral is that if you want this type of small enterprise, and relate their career experi- to go this route, be prepared for some bumps and ences to all six B&B rooms and the library.

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Running a B&B is in no way retirement, but we Studies and Training in both capacities was valuable, enjoy the Grand Traverse Region thoroughly. A num- and now I moderate two of the Great Decisions classes ber of my colleagues in the Foreign Service have visit- at Northwestern Michigan College each fall. ed us, including former Ambassadors Jack Matlock and I am convinced that Foreign Service officers should Galen Stone. be at the helm of most international houses around the Our Between the Lakes Bed & Breakfast rooms world, and would be delighted to assist in any way I could reflect our FS experience, featuring such themes as in advocating for this, though we are now located in the Valhalla (Norway), Treetops (India and Pakistan) and remote north woods of Michigan. African Adventure (West Africa). Though most of our Retirement from the Service should be relished, not guests are from the heartland, we’ve had clients from feared. all over the world. They all seem to like our global per- Gordon Evans spective. Interlochen, Mich. We’ve had over 9,000 guest nights, and are still open. As for innkeepers, a solid marriage with both utu committed to the adventure is the only way to make it fun. Building the Beach House Meanwhile, my dealings with the Retirement of Our Dreams Division have been nothing but positive. The Foreign My retirement after 24 years in the Foreign Service, Service Journal is an informative delight to read. effective Sept. 30, 2004, has been a joy. I had joined Participating with the Association for Diplomatic USIA in 1980. Following its consolidation with the

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Department of State, I worked in the International plan under control makes pretty much everything else Information Programs and Human Resources bureaus, possible, no matter what you want to do. with postings in Accra, Belgrade, Rio de Janeiro and La Some people know for sure that they want to contin- Paz, as well as assignments in Washington. ue working. But if there’s another project calling your After retirement, my husband and I focused primar- name it is wonderful to have the freedom to concentrate ily on building a beach house in Nags Head, N.C., as a on it without having new workplace demands on your second home. But we have also spent time with fami- time and attention. This is the second half of your adult ly, helped my mother move into an assisted living com- life; perhaps it’s time to mentally stretch a bit and do munity, watched my nephew graduate with honors something completely unrelated to the tasks of the last 25 from the University of Michigan and hosted various or so years. I found it very refreshing and personally family members at our new home. Our nieces loved rewarding to be so creatively involved in the design and the pool! furnishing of our new beach house. I took the Job Search Program in August and Gloria S.N. Lloyd September 2004 prior to retirement, and found it very Nags Head, N.C. helpful as a tool to decompress and transition into this new phase of life. The section on resumé writing was utu very useful, forcing me to think through what I might like to do next. I’m not particularly interested in looking for An Opportunity to Contribute a full-time job again, so found the speakers from various to National Security nonprofits and other volunteer organizations very inter- I must admit that as I contemplated retirement, I esting in planting some seeds for potential activities other imagined taking on part-time work to maintain my than full-time work. involvement with foreign affairs people and issues. When we started building our dream beach house, I However, my current position, which the Bureau of found it brought out a new kind of creativity in space Political-Military Affairs helped me identify, has turned planning, color coordination and construction budget- out to be professionally challenging, personally very satis- ing that had not been called on in government work. fying, and of some importance — a combination that has As we tweaked the basic plan for the house to add made continued full-time work more than palatable. I more utility for very little additional square footage, I was very much appreciate the opportunity to continue con- delighted to concentrate totally on this project without tributing to our national security. having the demands of my former job. And the result has I work at the U.S. Special Operations Command been even better than we had hoped for. Our builder headquarters in Tampa, Fla. My employer is a privately- entered our house in the Outer Banks Parade of Homes owned company (Gemini Industries, Inc.) that has a mul- in October, and won two awards: one a Special Feature tifaceted contract with USSOCOM to provide a variety of Award for “overall design and use of space,” which was a services and expert personnel. My role is to serve as a direct result of our changes to the basic plan, and the liaison between the State Department and the DOD’s other, the prestigious “Judges’ Award for Excellence” for Center for Special Operations — an integrated intelli- the best construction quality in our category (four bed- gence, planning and operations entity — in a position rooms, three-and-one-half baths — considered a “small” that is separate from and in addition to that of the active- house in the area). All the time we took to find and then duty Foreign Service political adviser to the commander. wait for the availability of this meticulous builder was well My particular work focuses on counterterrorism worth it. strategic and operational planning. My primary contacts My advice, particularly to colleagues who are five or back at State are in the Counterterrorism Coordinator’s more years away from retirement, is to save, save, save office and in the regional and political-military bureaus. your money, as much as possible. Contribute to the As the lead combatant command for planning, synchro- TSP to the maximum possible, and to other savings nizing and, when directed, executing the U.S. military plans or accounts as well. Having the flexibility and part of the global war on terrorism, USSOCOM is inter- peace of mind that come from having your retirement ested in close coordination with its interagency partners

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in combating terrorism worldwide and seeks to benefit Employers do not want to wait while time-consuming from a range of expertise in foreign affairs. I draw heav- background investigations and updates are performed. ily on my previous FS experience in Washington and at Mort Dworken all of my posts overseas to help perform that function. Tampa, Fla. I found the Retirement Seminar and the Job Search Program to be outstanding. The Transition Center really utu does what it says. I arrived from overseas unsure of my worth to the world outside the FS, uninformed about what Not Fully Retired the opportunities were, uncertain of recent commercial I am a WAE and am also employed as director for aca- developments and unschooled in the best techniques of demic programs at the Washington Internship Institute. self-marketing. The Center’s courses, taught by skilled As I have two jobs, I guess I’m not fully retired! personnel, along with the two months of paid time to con- I have been a WAE in the Bureau of Political and sider and pursue options, helped a great deal on all counts. Military Affairs for almost two years, working with the My wife and I were underwhelmed by the Retirement 24/7 “PM Action Team.” This group is mostly WAEs, and Division, but our sense is that under David Dlouhy things it was easy to get in once I proved my experience in PM have turned around and the division is now pro-active, work. That led to my getting my security clearance user-friendly and helpful. RNet is a great development. renewed. The work is very satisfying and always interest- A last word of advice: One’s most marketable attribute ing, always changing because we are, to some extent, on may well be a security clearance, including access to the front line, acting as the key liaison between State intelligence material, so be sure to keep it current. and the Department of Defense. In that sense it is dif-

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ferent from most WAE work. “Grow old along start a downtown farmers’ market, I have been at the internship pro- and I organized a nonprofit film soci- gram for nine years. It is very satisfy- with me! The best ety — as well as becoming active in ing and links well with my former the local Unitarian-Universalist career and the WAE work. It also is yet to be.” church, the local historical society and links with my own past as a professor social action efforts such as the city’s before I joined State. Many of my — Robert Browning Coalition for Racial Unity. Service on former students in the internship Winchester’s Board of Architectural program say it was the key link Review also makes me appreciate the in opening doors to professional delicate balance between historic careers, especially in international affairs. Several now preservation and homeowner concerns. Who says that a work for State, CIA, DIA, etc. Unfortunately, it is a field diplomatic career ends with retirement? that is difficult to get into if you don’t have a Ph.D. In fact, small American cities are not “small” in the My advice is to begin preparing for your transition out way they once were. There is the Internet, where I can of the Foreign Service at least a year in advance. Be real- read the New York Times every morning — not to men- istic and take your time: start slowly and work your way tion the papers from Brazil, my last overseas post. Also, into the new situation. The retirement program was use- like many regional centers, Winchester has benefited ful and the Retirement Division is helpful most of the from the dispersal of facilities that were once only avail- time. able to larger communities. The city’s new medical cen- Gene Schmiel ter is one of the largest in this tri-state region. Washington, D.C. Shenandoah University has both an excellent music con- servatory — eat your heart out, Kennedy Center! — and utu good adult educational opportunities. Such institutions bring a new cosmopolitan touch to life in the northern Life in Small-Town America Valley: for example, we’ve kept up our Portuguese with When we retired in 1997, my wife Sandy and I want- Brazilian neighbors, enjoy excellent professional and ed to stay reasonably close to Washington, D.C. Our community theater and participate in frequent foreign grown children are nearby. We enjoy the city and old policy discussions at the university. friends in the area. At the same time, after 32 years of life So in sum, set in the rural beauty of the Valley but with abroad and in the Northern Virginia suburbs, we longed Washington only 90 minutes away, Winchester has to try life in small-town America. The answer for us was become a fine adopted home “on the other side of the Winchester, Va., a picturesque town of around 23,000 mountain,” as the natives here say. located at the head of the Shenandoah Valley about 75 Mark Lore miles west of Washington, D.C. Winchester, W.Va. The key to Winchester for us was our love of history and of community involvement. The city’s early-18th- utu century origins, its role as a training ground for the young George Washington and its bloody trial-by-fire during the Is There Life After Retirement? Civil War all rekindled my undergraduate interest in You bet there is! But each person has a different con- American studies. As for community, we found the city cept of what such a “life” should be for him or her. just large enough to support all sorts of cultural and social Many Foreign Service people decide they would like activity, but small enough to need new hands and new to continue some sort of involvement with world affairs, ideas. either through a job, volunteer work or travel. Others Winchester is conservative, no doubt about that. prefer a return to their roots, or perhaps just avoiding However, its long tradition as a regional center and cross- world affairs while they tend to their roses … or grand- roads help make it relatively open to newcomers. We’ve kids. Whatever you choose, there are lots of possibilities worked on downtown revitalization — Sandy helped to out there — just organize yourself, with the help of the

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State Department’s Job Search Program. But do not ty, sent me as a WAE to Luxembourg for three months expect that program to find the right job for you — or any where there was a persistent staffing gap. That was fol- job. You’ve got to do that yourself using, your communi- lowed a half-year later with another two-month stint cation skills and networking. there. And about that time I was asked to join a new My own experience has included jobs and volunteer- understaffed office working on Southeastern Europe ing as well as travel. In my first days of retirement, I sent cooperation, which I did for over three years. Wandering out hundreds of letters to a variety of companies and around EUR periodically, I then landed a WAE slot on organizations. I received several nibbles, but then some- NATO affairs. one tipped me off about a new scholarship/fellowship In my spare time, the AFSA Speakers’ Bureau began program for Americans to study abroad that was going to to use me to speak on a variety of topics, some to schools, be run out of the Pentagon (using funds that were cut in civic organizations and other groups. That was a very 1991 from the Department of Defense budget). I called rewarding turn of events, especially as over the years in up that office and was immediately hired because no one the Foreign Service I had done hundreds of speaking of the 10 to 12 people working there had any real inter- engagements in various parts of the world. AFSA gets national experience. That lasted three years, until we got hundreds of requests from around the country every year the first recipients (about 500) selected and on their way. for speakers. And that, too, is part of networking. One of the letters I sent out early on produced my In 1999 AFSA put me in touch with a group in next job: improving election procedures in Asian coun- Northern Virginia that was looking to add a one-hour- tries. Then EUR, one of three bureaus (the others were per-week session on world affairs. We are now into our AF and EAP) to which I had written about my availabili- 16th eight-week series, and I have managed to provide

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many distinguished speakers: This is the second half of writing letters, passing out my diplomats from other countries, calling cards and talking with Foreign Service people, journal- your adult life; perhaps it’s people I knew. ists, scholars, international orga- I repeat — do not expect any- nization representatives, etc. time to mentally stretch a bit thing to magically appear unless My wife and I love to travel. you are already out there doing Although as a nurse she has done and do something completely something about your future. a lot of international travel Remember the old adage, for accompanying handicapped peo- unrelated to the tasks of the those of you sharing a marriage ple or Europeans who become or a relationship, about being seriously sick or injured in the last 25 or so years. “married for love but not for Western Hemisphere, we contin- lunch.” ued our own travel program, — Gloria S.N. Lloyd In our major cities there are a enhanced in 1996 when I was great deal of interesting — and asked to be a lecturer on a cruise often non-costly — things to ship for the first time. I have since lectured on over 20 keep one occupied, and some of them may lead to work cruises and three air tours. These are not easy to come by, (paid or unpaid) based on your background and interests. but for a start simply contact the directors of entertain- Just do not get dismayed. Get your pals to help. And keep ment of the various cruise lines. off that couch! Yes, a few of those opportunities seem to have fallen Gil Sheinbaum into my lap — but all because I was out there looking, Vienna, Va. I

68 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/JANUARY 2006

THE DOMINO EFFECT OF IMPROPER DECLASSIFICATON

A RETIRED FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICER CONFRONTS FALSE ALLEGATIONS THAT HE WAS A CENTRAL FIGURE IN U.S. ASSISTANCE TO OPERATION CONDOR WHILE SERVING IN LATIN AMERICA DURING THE 1970S.

BY JAMES J. BLYSTONE

ears before I joined the Foreign Department and then was kicked around for nearly three Service, standing watch as a Marine years between Justice and State before being passed to me guard in Buenos Aires in the early — without any guidance or annotation as to how (or 1960s showed me the career path I whether) I should respond to the summons. I replied that I wished to follow and the part of the did not wish to answer the questions, and the department world I wanted to concentrate on. In assured me it would pass my reply back to the Argentine the past year, however, my Latin government. American assignments have come back to haunt me with a Several months later, in August 2005, I became aware of Yvengeance. the publication in the United States of a book, Predatory Two events in rapid succession shocked me out of a bliss- States: Operation Condor and Covert War in Latin ful retirement. First, in April 2005, I received an e-mail America, by Professor J. Patrice McSherry of Long Island from the State Department Legal Adviser’s office forward- University. The thesis of this book is that the U.S. govern- ing a summons from the Argentine Justice Ministry. The ment secretly condoned and assisted the implementation of document called me to make a sworn statement answering Operation Condor, a covert Latin American military net- seven questions having to do with the penetration of left- work created during the Cold War to facilitate the seizure wing guerrilla organizations by Argentine security forces in and murder of political opponents across state borders. the 1970s. The order, originated by an Argentine judge in McSherry identifies me as a linchpin in the alleged U.S. liai- September 2002, had been transmitted to the U.S. Justice son with this shadowy multinational entity. As best as I can tell, my name first came to the attention James J. Blystone retired from the Foreign Service in 1994 of both the Argentine judge and McSherry as a result of a after 28 years of service as a security and administrative 2002 decision by the State Department to declassify and officer in posts including Santiago, Buenos Aires, Rome, release under the Freedom of Information Act thousands of Cairo and Riyadh, where he served as administrative documents concerning exchanges between Embassy counselor and acting DCM. His Washington assignments Buenos Aires and the department during the 1970s. These included a tour as deputy executive director for the communications dealt with the conduct of Argentine securi- Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Since retiring from the ty services in combating two left-wing guerrilla organiza- Service, he has been held various positions both overseas tions, the ERP and the Montoneros, during the period com- and in Washington as a WAE annuitant. monly known as “the dirty war.” They included reports I

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had submitted from 1978 to 1980 in asserts that my source may have been my capacity as the regional security an army officer named Col. Jorge officer based in Buenos Aires. I feel aggrieved that Osvaldo Ribeiro Rawson, a high-rank- Inexplicably, these papers were ing Argentine military intelligence released without redacting (blacking State casually passed officer, who she says was involved in out) the names of the drafting offi- the coup in Bolivia and later com- cers. along a judicial inquiry manded Argentine covert forces in When the documents were first Central America. released, the Washington Post excerp- based on information I • In another conversation, I sup- ted and published some of them in posedly “jokingly asked” my source September 2002. Alarmed, I called had compiled in the for details concerning two Monton- the office of Under Secretary for eros who had disappeared on a trip Management Grant Green and spoke course of my official from Mexico to Rio, whereupon the with a special assistant to protest the source proceeded to tell me how they release of declassified documents that functions. had been seized at the Rio airport and contained my name. I asked the taken to a secret army jail in Campo department to consider what practical de Mayo in Argentina. steps it should take to ensure there McSherry claims that these con- would be no ramifications against offi- versations add further evidence to the cers who had faithfully drafted classi- testimony provided earlier by the fied reports. But I received no reply. Condor in Chile. Chilean defector that I was a central As of this date, I have not respond- • A source in Argentine Army figure in a presumed U.S. relationship ed to the Argentine inquiry. The only intelligence allegedly informed me in with Operation Condor. She acknow- practical effect, I suppose, is that I advance that several Argentines were ledges having been told by several should not plan on taking a vacation about to be abducted in Lima in June State Department people she consult- there any time soon! But now the 1980 and then transported to Argen- ed that I did nothing outside of my appearance of the book has me con- tina for interrogation and eventual liq- official duties. Yet she rejects this cerned as to what other “domino uidation. Among them was a Mother defense and concludes that I consort- effects” I should expect from the of the Plaza de Mayo named Noemi ed with Operation Condor either as department’s decision to release offi- Gianetti de Molfino who was in Lima an “intelligence liaison officer or sim- cial reports identifying me as the working with a Peruvian human rights ply someone trusted by the Condor drafter. Already my name has been group. Mrs. de Molfino had previ- apparatus.” Beyond that, she faults sullied as a direct consequence of the ously given testimony to a United me for not taking any action when release, and I feel abandoned by a Nations body concerning the disap- given advance warning of an impend- department that cavalierly passes me pearance of her son and daughter-in- ing murder, which she concludes is an inquiry from the judiciary of a for- law. A month later, Mrs. de Molfino’s crossing the line into complicity, and eign country concerning my faithful body was found in Madrid. for allegedly not having expressed any and official service as a U.S. Foreign • In this same conversation, I objection, which is tantamount to Service officer, then leaves me high allegedly briefed my source on the “providing a green light.” and dry. political situation in Bolivia prior to the 1979 coup overthrowing the gov- Embassy Security 101 A Bill of Particulars ernment, clandestinely planned and At this juncture, I need to clarify Prof. McSherry’s main charges carried by out by undercover Argen- the role of an embassy security officer against me can be summarized as fol- tine agents as an Operation Condor and detail what I did in Chile and lows: action in cooperation with a notorious Argentina as a State Department • A Chilean named Juan Munoz Bolivian drug kingpin. From this employee who had no relationship Alarcon, a defector from the secret McSherry concludes that I was in- with any of the intelligence services of police agency known as DINA, in tes- volved in the coup plot. the United States. My principal func- timony given in 1977 to a church vic- • Furthermore, this source also tions were to provide security for the ariate in Santiago shortly before being allegedly briefed me on his impend- ambassador and mission personnel, murdered, reportedly identified me ing trip to Central America on behalf ensure the security of the embassy as “very important” to Operation of Operation Condor. McSherry compound, protect classified docu-

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ments and investigate any improper behavior on the part of embassy per- sonnel. An inherent part of the job was to develop relationships with the security services of the host country in order to collect intelligence on any potential threats to the embassy or its personnel. During the time that I was in Argentina (1978-1980), in the course of carrying out these functions, I stumbled onto the fact that the Argentine security services were car- rying out some operations in neigh- boring countries. But I do not recall ever hearing the term “Operation Condor” used, either there or in Santiago, by any of my contacts or embassy colleagues. I also did not know the extent of Argentine or Chil- ean military networking, either with each other or with the security ser- vices of other Latin American coun- tries. Nor was I aware of any U.S. role in relationship to that coopera- tion. With the exception of the claims concerning my role in Chile, Prof. McSherry’s claims are all based on two memoranda of conversation I drafted while in Buenos Aires that were subsequently released to the public under FOIA. From these she has concocted the theory that I was a central figure in a multinational enterprise called Operation Condor. I turn now to responding to each of her particulars: • During my tour in Santiago, which preceded that of Buenos Aires, I had limited contact with Chilean intelligence officials. In fact, I met with DINA just twice: once, to see what information the agency had in its files on followers of the Allende government who had requested to be paroled into the United States on political grounds; and the second time, to coordinate security arrange- ments for the Organization of American States conference held in Santiago in 1976. I never met Juan

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Munoz Alarcon nor have any idea how he learned of my name or why he accused me of having a connection to a multinational operation of which I had no knowledge. Without access to the testimony he gave to the vicari- ate, I do not know whether he even made those comments, or whether they are fanciful embroidery added by Prof. McSherry. • Regarding the disappearance of Mrs. de Molfino in Lima on June 14, 1980, I had asked my contact on pre- vious occasions why the government had found it necessary to permanent- ly “disappear” exiles it had captured aboard. His answer was that many of them had already been captured once before and placed into jail or prison, only to be released by civilian govern- ments. (I did not necessarily take this explanation at face value.) In the Molfino case, I reported the informa- tion I received concerning her im- pending abduction on June 19, 1980, in a memo to U.S. Ambassador Raul Castro. The issue of whether Washington should have intervened actively in this Argentine action was a policy matter above my pay grade to decide. • In any case, I never obtained any further information as to Mrs. de Molfino’s fate. But it is inconceivable to me that the Argentine security forces would have murdered her there and then gone through all the trouble of dumping her body in Madrid when they could have easily disposed of it in their own country, as happened in so many other cases. I can only assume that she was brought back to Argentina and then, instead of killing her, for some reason she was released and permitted to travel to Spain. While this did not happen often, there are other cases in which it was determined after interrogation that the victim was not directly or actively connected to a subversive organization and was let go, on the promise he or she would go into exile

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abroad and stay quiet — or in some cases in return for being pressured to carry out intelligence missions on behalf of Argentina abroad. In this particular case, McSherry reports that Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon opened an inquiry into her death in Madrid, so perhaps there are more details available in the public record concerning this matter. • Regarding the allegation that I was involved in a coup in Bolivia, I traveled to La Paz to arrange security for Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who was attending an OAS confer- ence held in that capital city. The coup plotters politely waited until Secretary Vance left town before they proceeded. I had no knowledge nor did the embassy of the impending action until after the fact. So when my Argentine source asked me about the political situation in Bolivia prior to the coup, I had no idea that he was attempting to learn whether the U.S. was aware of Argentina’s involvement in the plot. Now, having learned of Argentina’s involvement from Mc- Sherry’s book (if this information is accurate), I understand why he asked the question. • Without revealing my source’s identity (though I can say his name was not “Ribeiro,” as McSherry claims), I can confirm that he was a civilian contract employee of the Argentine Army, not an Army officer. He was a source for the embassy’s security office long before I was assigned to Buenos Aires. I took pains to cultivate a social relationship with him and got to know him, both as a contact and a personal friend. On those occasions when he revealed some intimate detail concerning Argentine “dirty war” operations, it was often in a casual moment while we were discussing other matters more central to my function concern- ing the security of embassy personnel in Buenos Aires. I do not believe he was under instruction to reveal these

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details to me. It was more a function a latent threat against our personnel of our personal relationship. I would from the Argentine security forces. even venture to say he crossed the My own discussions with On one occasion, my military con- line and told me some of these stories tact informed me of an impending because he was personally troubled my Argentine military action to arrest all of the Mothers of by the excesses being committed by Plaza de Mayo on the grounds that the Argentine forces in the course of intelligence contact they constituted a subversive threat their war against subversive organiza- and that many of them were aware of tions. As for his planned mission to focused on the potential the locations where armed guerrillas Central America to gather intelli- were in hiding. I told my source that gence there, he never suggested to threat against U.S. this was a mistake that could only me that it was in connection with bring further harm to Argentina’s Operation Condor or anything similar. personnel from radical already sinking reputation abroad, but • Regarding my query concerning he said there was nothing that could the two Montoneros who were seized insurgents. be done to reverse this decision. in Rio, Prof. McSherry reports accu- When I reported this to Amb. Castro, rately that I approached this in a casu- he immediately telephoned Argentine al, seemingly indifferent manner. Army chief of staff General Viola to However, this was to put my contact protest this harebrained scheme, and at ease in order to maximize the The U.S. had an interest in reduc- the action was called off. Of course, chances he would respond to the ing the human rights violations com- this did not win us any friends with my question. I agree this was no joking mitted by Argentine forces during this source’s superiors in Army military matter, and I should not have armed struggle. The large number of intelligence. described it that way. messages that were released under At another point, my source The ERP and the Montoneros, the FOIA reveal that almost every office revealed to me that Argentine Army two militant organizations engaged in in Embassy Buenos Aires was involved intelligence was interested in bring- a struggle to overthrow Argentina’s in reporting on the human rights viola- ing the embassy’s human rights offi- military government by force, en- tions taking place, making representa- cer (and later president of AFSA), gaged in violent attacks against the tions to the Argentine government to F.A. “Tex” Harris, in for questioning military and police and their families. conduct itself in a more civilized and about his contacts with the Mothers These were not Mahatma Gandhi-like humane manner, and making inquiries of Plaza de Mayo and other human groups, but an armed insurgency as to the welfare of specific prisoners rights organizations — even abduct- against the government that did not of special interest to the United States. ing him if necessary. I succeeded in represent the ideals of liberal democ- The Argentine military did not appre- neutralizing this threat by having my racy. If they had ever succeeded in ciate these efforts, of course, and contact engage instead in an informal seizing power, they would have resented the fact that they did not conversation with Tex as to the ratio- installed a dictatorship, most likely on have the full support of the United nale of United States human rights the model of Castro’s Cuba, possibly States in what they had convinced policy. During that exchange, he even bringing Argentina within the themselves was an epochal battle of explained why it would have been orbit of the Soviet Union. Western civilization against interna- foolish and counterproductive for the It goes without saying that both tional communism. Argentine military to attempt to groups were hostile to the United interfere with the embassy’s contacts States and to American interests in Defusing Tensions with human rights groups. Argentina. So there was no reason My own discussions with my The embassy’s extensive contacts why the United States would want to Argentine military intelligence con- with Argentine trade unions were also see these people come to power. Yet tact focused on the potential threat viewed with suspicion and hostility by while the U.S. respected the right of against American personnel from rad- the army’s intelligence service. To- the Argentine government to defend ical Argentine insurgents. I deter- gether with the AFL-CIO, the em- itself from this rebellion, it was also mined early on that this threat was bassy labor attaché was cultivating the shocked by the extrajudicial and even minimal, and that continued to be my Peronist labor leadership and bring- criminal methods used by the military assessment until the end of my tour. ing about a rapprochement between to deal with this insurgency. However, I discovered that there was it and the democratic international

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trade union movement headquar- representative receded. not have been initiated in the first tered in Europe, which was railing place if my reports had not been against the Argentine military dicta- One-Way Loyalty? made public without any care as to torship in international fora. The I served in Argentina during a very protecting the identity of the draft- AFL-CIO office in Buenos Aires, difficult and challenging period. I ing officer — and then failed to pro- known as AIFLD, was surreptitiously realize there is lingering controversy vide any advice or support to one of broken into several times by Argen- surrounding whether the embassy its loyal employees who had been tine security forces, and the AIFLD and the Department of State should placed in a compromising situation representative in Argentina was have done more to intervene in this and possibly even subject to sanc- placed under surveillance and even internal war in Argentina. But this tions by a foreign court as a result of threatened. does not give Prof. McSherry the its actions. I have been loyal to the At the same time, the embassy right to let her imagination to run department, but the department has labor attaché was summoned one wild and spin theories that are not not been loyal to me. day through a ruse to federal police substantiated by the evidence she I do not know how many other headquarters for a “friendly chat” has accumulated. In my particular Foreign Service officers may have with the army colonel in charge. As case, I feel aggrieved by her false been placed in similarly compromis- soon as I learned of this, I paid a call conjectures about my performance, ing situations in the past as a result on the colonel and warned him he especially because she could have of similar circumstances, but I was playing with fire — Argentina consulted me before going ahead believe the department should play was in danger of having its exports to with her book. a more positive role in such cases the United States dumped in the I also feel aggrieved that State than it has so far. I also believe that New York harbor by the American casually passed along a judicial AFSA, our union and professional labor movement. I made some inquiry based on information I had association, should play a supportive arrangements to defuse the tension compiled in the course of my official role in seeing to it that this issue is and the threat against the AFL-CIO functions — an inquiry which would raised in the department. I

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BOOKS

is Nevins’ exposure of the deliberate other international powers to insist on The Price of policy choices made by officials in Indonesian accountability for the Realpolitik Washington, Tokyo, Canberra and crimes against humanity that victim- London that failed even as realpolitik. ized not only the people of East A Not-So-Distant Horror: Those decisions, which entailed Timor but also the international com- Mass Violence in East Timor ignoring Indonesian military brutality munity and its U.N. mission in East Joseph Nevins, Cornell University and sacrificing Timorese fundamental Timor. What remains unexplained in Press, 2005, $18.95, paperback, rights and well-being, were intended this otherwise excellent account is the 273 pages. to promote economic and geopolitical failure of the U.S. and other interna- ties with Jakarta. In fact, the policies tional powers to demand that the REVIEWED BY of Washington and its allies exacerbat- Indonesian military behave responsi- EDMUND MCWILLIAMS ed and made inevitable an ultimate bly in the period leading up to the confrontation with Jakarta that deeply Aug. 30, 1999, vote. Insisting that the Rarely do contemporary histories scarred those key relationships. Indonesian government provide secu- address foreign policy from the per- U.S. provision of air-to-ground air- rity in East Timor, as it had pledged to spective of human rights and justice. craft (OV-10 Broncos) and small arms do in its May 5, 1999, agreement with Even rarer is a book like Joseph and ammunition from 1976 to 1978 the United Nations, was an obvious Nevins’ A Not-So-Distant Horror: replenished the Indonesian military’s and low-cost option. Mass Violence in East Timor, which armory, enabling it to consummate its Our failure to demand the disarm- compellingly makes the case that the post-invasion assault on the Timorese ing and disbanding of Indonesian mili- failure to give such concerns adequate resistance and civilian population. tias not only set in motion the slaugh- weight in Washington’s policy formu- (Around the same time, it also used ter, but also assured disruption of the lation has led to ruinous results. The those planes against villages in West very bilateral relationship upon which quarter-century-long tragedy that Papua, which Indonesia had seized in U.S. policy-makers like Ambassador befell the people of East Timor fol- 1969.) Roy put such priority. Further, it rein- lowing the Indonesian invasion and Some have sought to rationalize forced the near-total impunity that the occupation of that small country in U.S. support for the brutal, rightist Indonesian military continues to enjoy 1975, and the barbarous violence they Soeharto military regime by placing there (as shown by Secretary of State endured at the hands of the that policy in the context of the Cold Condoleezza Rice’s recent announce- Indonesian military and its militias War. However, continued U.S. back- ment of the restoration of Jakarta’s eli- following their vote for freedom in ing for that regime — in particular, gibility for bilateral military aid), 1999, have been well documented. continuing support for Jakarta’s occu- notwithstanding its notorious history Where Nevins’ riveting and often per- pation of East Timor — after the col- of human rights abuses, anti-democra- sonal narrative of that history breaks lapse of the Soviet Union reveals U.S. tic conniving and continuing corrup- new ground is in its meticulous, ana- policy as oblivious and bankrupt. Con- tion. Once again, U.S. policy-makers, lytical review of the miscalculations of sider former Ambassador J. Staple- in their reluctance to confront the the major powers that facilitated the ton Roy’s explanation, cited in Nevins’ Indonesian government, or at least its Indonesian military’s rape of East book, for the timid U.S. response to military, seriously undermine their Timor from 1975 to 1999 and its near- the post-electoral bloodshed: “Indon- stated desire to encourage the emer- strangling of that new nation at the esia matters and East Timor doesn’t.” gence of a stable and democratic moment of its birth. Nevins documents with equal pre- Indonesia. Most revealing and most damning cision the refusal of the U.S. and This book should be read by all

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B OOKS u

those concerned that Washington’s keting, mass-consumption mind-set rejection of U.S. power and inten- eager embrace and empowerment of of 20th-century America. This expor- tions, just as it had in parts of Europe rogue militaries in the so-called “war tation of “Babbittry,” Victoria de during the first half of the century. on terror” — as we did during the Grazia argues in her latest book — Alienation and globalization became Cold War — will again strengthen Irresistible Empire: America’s Ad- synonymous with the excesses of regimes characterized by their cor- vance through Twentieth-Century Americans’ unbridled greed. Similar ruption and hostility to democracy Europe — had just as big an impact disconnects help account for the fail- and human rights. around the world as the military or ure of our public diplomacy following diplomatic prowess of the world’s only the 9/11 attacks: Our campaign to Edmund McWilliams entered the remaining superpower. combat “Islamic extremism” was dis- Foreign Service in 1975, serving in No one can underestimate the missed as little more than a hollow, Vientiane, Bangkok, Moscow, Kabul, influence that American mass media self-serving product in slick packag- Islamabad, Managua, Bishkek, Dush- (and American corporate power) have ing. anbe, Jakarta (where he was political around the world. Though intellectually ambitious, counselor from 1996 to 1999) and As early as the 1920s, European Irresistible Empire at times falls well Washington, D.C. He opened the critics were disparaging the “Holly- short of the mark in execution. Some posts in Bishkek and Dushanbe and wood Invasion,” but people came out of de Grazia’s chapters are simply was the first chief of mission in each. in droves to see American films in long, turgid histories of various capi- In 1998, he received AFSA’s Christian their theaters. Scores of other talist ventures, or overextended analy- Herter Award for creative dissent by a American products (from detergent ses of the activities of groups such as senior FSO. Since retiring as a Senior and razors to supermarkets and the Rotary Club in Europe. The core Foreign Service officer in 2001, he has restaurants) soon followed in this of her argument — that innovations worked with various U.S. and foreign path. As de Grazia points out, these (both in terms of products and their human rights NGOs as a volunteer. U.S. models, with their associated marketing) created greater change marketing and name-branding, creat- than the might of the 1st Infantry — ed strong impressions in countries seems stretched to the point of break- throughout the old Continent that ing. Made in the USA were catching up economically to the De Grazia is a historian at American standard. Exportation of Columbia University, and her book Irresistible Empire: America’s the American consumer culture seems better suited for one of her Advance through Twentieth- empowered individuals in Europe, graduate-level classes than to mass Century Europe offering choice (democracy), compe- audiences. She does, however, offer Victoria de Grazia, Belknap Press, tition (liberalism) and independence a useful (if counterintuitive) per- 2005, $29.95, hardcover, 586 pages. (liberty). These standard-bearers of spective about the nature of the cur- the “American Way” acted as a revo- rent U.S. ascendancy, one that ties in REVIEWED BY CHRISTOPHER TEAL lutionary force overseas, altering the the importance of trade and com- lives of European consumers and merce and the unique American Aspirations to cultural hegemony directly refuting the Soviet model of perspective celebrating these pur- have been one of the constant accusa- communism. suits. While that perspective is only tions leveled against the United States The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 part of the picture, it’s a part that has during its rise to superpower status seemed to mark the triumph of this been too often caricatured or over the past century, as the perva- irresistible force. Ironically, just as obscured until now. I siveness of American popular culture many in Europe had flocked toward has fueled changing trends in art, this new way of consumption, U.S. Christopher Teal, an FSO since 1999, music and fashion around the world. materialism also sowed seeds of dis- is currently a desk officer in the In addition, the U.S. corporations content in other parts of the world, Bureau of European and Eurasian behind those products made inroads which were then fortified by the mar- Affairs and a member of the Journal’s into the farthest reaches of the globe, keting machinery. The fear of a loss of Editorial Board. The opinions and brought with them the mass-mar- identity and tradition created violent expressed here are his own.

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IN MEMORY

Frances Ellen Coughlin, 84, a Calif. She spent her retirement trav- Department of State in Washington, retired FSO, died March 26, 2005. eling the world and visiting the many D.C. In addition to Japanese, Dr. A graduate of San Diego State friends she made throughout her Dur was fluent in French, German College, with honors in Latin Ameri- career. and Spanish. can Studies, Ms. Coughlin earned an Ms. Coughlin is survived by her He retired from the Foreign M.A. in history from Claremont sister Barbara, brother-in-law Bob, Service in 1965, and accepted an College in 1946. She went on to and her nieces and nephews: Tim, appointment at the University of complete postgraduate work in for- Steve, Keith and Karen. Louisiana at Lafayette as the Jefferson eign language studies at Stanford Caffery Honor Professor of Political University in 1952. Science. He is best remembered by In 1944, Ms. Coughlin joined the u former students for his offerings in Women Air Force Service Pilots (the Dr. Philip Dur, 91, a retired FSO diplomatic history and the conduct of “WASPs”), a wing of the Air Force and professor emeritus of political sci- diplomacy. During his tenure at ULL that took on non-combat flying duties ence at the University of Louisiana in and following his retirement, Dr. Dur such as ferrying aircraft around, to Lafayette, died Oct. 5 at his home in published many articles in learned free up the male pilots. She was Lafayette, La., of congestive heart journals on the distinguished career of trained to fly a variety of aircraft, and failure. Ambassador Caffery, whom he met maintained an interest in and enjoy- Born in St. Louis, Mo., Dr. Dur and befriended in 1948 while both ment of flying throughout her subse- earned his bachelor’s degree (summa were posted to France. quent career in Europe and South cum laude) and his doctorate in his- He was a member of Phi Beta America. In 1947-48, she used her tory from Harvard University. He Kappa, a Rotarian and a member of aviation training and ability to speak was commissioned as an intelligence the Council for the Development of Portuguese to become an instructor officer in the U.S. Navy and, after French in Louisiana. for the Brazilian Air Force. Japanese language training, partici- Dr. Dur’s wife, Maria Elena Ms. Coughlin joined the Foreign pated in the interception, decryption Delgado of Camaguey, Cuba, preced- Service in 1952, and was posted to and translation of Japanese naval com- ed him in death in 1993. Buenos Aires as a cultural affairs munications during World War II. Survivors include his children, assistant. Subsequent postings in- Dr. Dur entered the Foreign Elena (Mrs. Philip A. Morris) of cluded Rome, Florence, Santiago, Service in 1947, and served in diplo- Henniker, N.H.; retired Rear Admiral Lima and Madrid. After 28 years in matic and consular posts in France, Philip A. Dur, USN, of Pascagoula, the Service, she retired to La Jolla, Germany, Panama, Japan and at the Miss.; Stansbury S. Dur of Houston,

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Texas; Carmen (Mrs. Norman B. USAID official Lawrence Harrison in diplomatic career from 1955 until Conley Jr.) of Lancaster, Ohio; Jac- 1990, the year in which she opened 1991 included tours as counselor of queline Dur Sheppard, also of Lan- Harrison’s Restaurant on the wharf at public affairs at U.S. embassies in caster; and John J. Dur of Henniker, Oak Bluffs, Mass. In the fall of 1993, Lagos, Tehran, Ottawa and Tokyo. As N.H. He is also survived by 18 she started an intensive course at the a junior officer, he served as director grandchildren and six great-grand- Cordon Bleu School of Cuisine in of the American cultural center in children. Ottawa, Ontario. In the summer of Nagoya, as a branch public affairs offi- 1994, she apprenticed at Lydia Shire’s cer in Moulmein and as an informa- Pignoli Restaurant in Boston, and then tion officer and counselor at the U.S. u completed her Cordon Bleu studies mission to the European communi- Patricia Crane Harrison, 71, a with honors in London. She started ties in Brussels. retired FSO with USAID, died Nov. 9 Vineyard Haute Cuisine the following At the Voice of America, Mr. at home with her family in Vineyard spring. Shellenberger served first as a Haven, Mass., after a four-month bat- Over the past 11 years, Mrs. regional editor for Europe in the tle with cancer. She was the owner Harrison catered some 75 weddings Worldwide English Division from and chef of Vineyard Haute Cuisine, a and innumerable cocktail and dinner 1962 to 1964. There, he edited a catering business she started in 1995. parties. She earned a reputation as a news and current affairs broadcast, Born in 1934, Mrs. Harrison grew chef who produced the highest-quali- “Report to Europe.” He returned to up in Waban, a village in Newton, ty food, beautifully presented by a the Voice a decade later as chief of Mass. She graduated from Mills Col- staff committed to gracious service. policy and was promoted to director lege in Oakland, Calif., and did grad- Her files are filled with effusive letters of programs at the international net- uate work in French studies at the from grateful brides. work the same year, 1974. He University of Paris and in cultural She will be remembered for the directed all of the Voice’s program- anthropology at American University amazing crab cakes she served every ming during the U.S. withdrawal in Washington, D.C. year at the Taste of the Vineyard, from Vietnam and the final months She began her career with the U.S. wearing her signature floppy red of the Watergate crisis. Agency for International Develop- chef’s hat. But it was the style and A scholar and writer, Mr. Shel- ment in 1960 in Laos during a civil beauty that graced everything she did lenberger earned a master’s degree in war. She married USAID official for which she will be best remem- international public policy at the Jacob L. Crane III in 1962, gave birth bered by her friends, family, staff, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced to two daughters, Lisa and Nicole, brides and numerous clients. International Studies in Bologna, and relished her life in the Foreign Mrs. Harrison loved golf — she Italy, where he studied from 1964 to Service in Senegal, Afghanistan, had a hole-in-one in 2001 — and 1965. He was appointed dean at the Jordan, Nepal and Zaire, until Jake’s duplicate bridge. She continued to be School of Area Studies at the Foreign death in 1980. In those years, she a world traveler, and particularly Service Institute in 1988. became an accomplished high-Hima- enjoyed driving trips to the West In 1977, Mr. Shellenberger was laya trekker, an avid and adventurous Coast and Canada with her husband assigned as counselor and country cook and a seasoned sailor, cruising in and their dogs. public affairs officer in Tehran, the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Besides her husband Larry, Mrs. where he served until July 1979, a Aegean Seas, and across the Atlantic Harrison leaves daughters Lisa and few months after the fall of the shah. to the Caribbean aboard a 36-foot Nicole; stepdaughters Julia, Beth and A month later, he was assigned as ketch with her husband and daugh- Amy; sister Karen and brother Chuck; public affairs officer in Ottawa, ters. and 11 grandchildren. where he served for four years. After serving in Haiti from 1981 to During those years, he was the USIA 1983, Mrs. Harrison returned to work White House liaison and coordinator at USAID headquarters in Washing- u for the Ottawa, Versailles and ton. She retired from government ser- Jack H. Shellenberger, 77, a Williamsburg G-7 economic summit vice in 1988, and moved to her home retired senior FSO with USIA, died meetings. in Vineyard Haven. She married Oct. 25 at his home in Great Falls, Va. In 1983, Mr. Shellenberger was author, Tufts professor and former Mr. Shellenberger’s distinguished assigned to Japan. After 10 months of

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Japanese language study at FSI in Arthur W. Tunnell Jr., 89, a Yokohama, he became counselor for retired FSO with USAID, died Sept. public affairs and director of the 5 in Ft. Myers, Fla. USIS section in Tokyo. Mr. Tunnell was born in South- Following his retirement in 1993, ampton, N.Y., and graduated in 1937 Mr. Shellenberger became director of with a bachelor’s degree from Drexel the Japan-America Student Confer- Institute of Technology (now Drexel ence, located at DACOR in Washing- University) in Philadelphia, where he ton, D.C. He held that post for 10 studied accounting. He became a years, during which hundreds of certified public accountant, and was a Japanese and American students par- longtime member of the American ticipated in summertime academic Institute of Certified Public Account- exchanges aimed at increasing under- ants and the New York State Society standing between the younger gener- of Certified Public Accountants. ations of both countries. During World War II, Mr. Tunnell Toward the end of his career, Mr. served in the U.S. Navy as a lieu- Shellenberger was described by a tenant (second class) in the Pacific, senior agency official as “a consum- and was honorably discharged in mate professional who can do it all.” 1946. After practicing accounting in The official wrote: “He has handled New York with Peat Marwick, Mr. the myriad details of presidential Tunnell worked for Standard Vacuum visits with alacrity, and has a relaxed Oil Company (now Mobil Oil Co.) in yet firm and disciplined manner that Sungel Gerong, Sumatra, Indonesia, almost masks the magnitude of this for 10 years. effort and achievement.” Mr. Tunnell joined the Foreign Born in Amsterdam, N.Y., in 1927, Service in 1958, and served as comp- Mr. Shellenberger spent his youth in troller for USAID in Taiwan, Ethio- Yonkers, N.Y., and Los Angeles. He pia, Sudan, Nigeria, Turkey and Ne- graduated from Northwestern Uni- pal. He retired to Ft. Myers in 1975. versity in Evanston, Ill., in 1952. He Mr. Tunnell’s wife of more than 50 received the President’s Meritor- years, Amelia Hamilton Cornell ious Service Award in 1984. He and Tunnell, from Charleston, S.C., pre- the USIA Japan staff received USIA’s deceased him in 1993. He is survived Superior Honor Award for their role by his son, Arthur W. Tunnell III; his in the Tokyo Economic Summit of daughters, Louise Torri and Margaret 1986. O. Tunnell; his sisters, Julia L. His marriage to Jill Shellenberger Tunnell and Adelaide E. Tunnell; and ended in divorce. three grandchildren. Mr. Shellenberger is survived by The family suggests contributions his wife, Soodabeh Azar Shellen- in Mr. Tunnell’s memory be made to berger of Great Falls; two daughters the Salvation Army (for “Katrina from his first marriage, Katie Sch- Relief Effort”), P.O. Box 4857, wieger of Purcellville, Va., and Karen Jackson MS 39296-4857, or online at Oliver of Capistrano Beach, Calif.; a www.salvationarmysouth.org. I stepson, Karan Lofti of Washington, D.C.; a stepdaughter, Sara Berenji of Send your “In Memory” submission to: Foreign Service Journal; Attn: Susan Maitra Indianapolis, Ind.; a brother, Rolfe 2101 E Street NW, Washington DC 20037, Shellenberger of Palm Desert, Calif.; or e-mail it to [email protected], or fax it and six grandchildren. to (202) 338-8244. No photos, please.

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JANUARY 2006/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 87

REFLECTIONS The Mystery of the Hidden Files

BY KIMBERLY KRHOUNEK

Rarely does a Foreign Service offi- game of “To Tell the Truth” with our The Czech archivists were stunned cer come across a genuine Cold War FSN employees, who took great relish and thrilled by the discovery of our mystery. But one damp, cold day in in identifying the photos of our com- documents. In 1971 the Justice December 2004, my colleagues and I munist-era gallery, pointing out those Ministry had ordered the destruction stumbled across a decades-old secret, who ended as crooks, died in prison or of all political case files from the hidden within the embassy itself. were airbrushed out of history. 1940s and 1950s, so it appears that It all began when the political-eco- Our files provided a fascinating our small cache is one of the few to nomic section of Embassy Prague worm’s-eye view of the amazing trans- have escaped the purge. We can only took on the task of cleaning out and formation of the former Warsaw Pact assume that some brave Czech took reorganizing our five bulging office countries. Imagine, if you will, a file the considerable risk of bringing the safes. Shortly after Christmas, while on one of the Czech Republic’s citi- files to the embassy for safekeeping. all was quiet on the Washington front, zens, Vaclav Havel, that began, We are proud to say that we fulfilled several of us dressed in our oldest “Vaclav Havel, an unemployed play- our task, although we kept them so jeans and took on the herculean task. wright…” and ended with “President safely that their very existence had Once we got into the swing of of the Czech Republic” (a country passed out of our collective memory. things, the fun of discovery began. that did not exist prior to 1993). In June 2005, following approval My personal favorites were the bio- We finally came to the bottom by the department and amid much graphic files, with pages of newspaper drawer of our last safe, and to our sur- press fanfare, Ambassador William clippings and memos of secret meet- prise, it revealed a stack of decades- Cabaniss hand-delivered our formerly ings with dissidents. These were a old legal documents written in Czech. hidden treasures to the eager staff at treasure trove of memorabilia for the There was no letter or memo in the the Czech National Archives. Not hard-core Cold Warrior, with dozens files explaining what they were, or only do they provide a fascinating of files on long-dead Communist how they ended up in our safe. insight into a period of lost history, but leaders, each of which seemed to Puzzled, we launched our own inves- some have relevance even today for come with an obligatory 5”x7” black- tigation. families seeking restitution for com- and-white photo of a jowly, serious, A historian at the Czech National munist-era abuses. middle-aged functionary with thick, Archives later confirmed that we were Still, how these documents got to dark eyeglasses. We salvaged the in possession of some 283 original the embassy remains a mystery. No photos and later had an excellent court case files from the 1940s and Czechs have come forward since the 1950s from the Olomouc region in the press announcement to claim the Kimberly Krhounek is a political offi- eastern part of the Czech Republic. credit for saving the files from cer who joined the Foreign Service in The files were marked with a red “P” destruction; perhaps they are long 1994. She has served in Haiti, for “political” and dealt with cases of since dead or emigrated. Our hope is Prague (where she is currently on political persecution relating to illegal that one of our embassy predecessors her second tour), the Sinai Desert, border crossings, opposition to collec- will remember this incident and can the U.S. mission to the United tivization of land, and punishments describe the day a mysterious donor Nations and Washington. The stamp for those who made derogatory state- arrived on our doorstep. Only then is courtesy of the AAFSW Bookfair ments against the communist regime can we close the book on the “Mys- “Stamp Corner.” or listened to “Voice of America.” tery of the Hidden Files.” I

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