FS FICTION REVIVING U.S. LEADERSHIP LATIN AMERICAN AID

$3.50 / NOVEMBER 2007 OREIGN ERVICE FJ O U R N A L S THE MAGAZINE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALS

IN THEIR OWN WRITE Books by Foreign Service Authors

OREIGN ERVICE FJ O U R N A L S CONTENTS November 2007 Volume 84, No. 11

F OCUS ON FS Authors

IN THEIR OWN WRITE: BOOKS BY FOREIGN SERVICE AUTHORS / 19 Once again we are pleased to feature our compilation of recently published books by Foreign Service-affiliated authors. By Susan Maitra

FS FICTION

LA VIE ABATI / 41 A bored political officer in a West African backwater volunteers to investigate a regional problem and, ultimately, learns a thing or two. By Hanscom Smith Cover and inside illustration by Marcia Klioze-Hughes F EATURES

CAN AMERICAN LEADERSHIP BE RESTORED? / 44 The world before us today is both unfamiliar and unanticipated. PRESIDENT’S VIEWS / 5 Here is a thought-provoking tour d’horizon. Telling Our Story By Chas W. Freeman Jr. By John K. Naland A MARSHALL PLAN FOR LATIN AMERICA / 49 LETTERS / 7 There must be a fundamental revision of our country’s role if we are to make development — and diplomacy — truly “transformational.” CYBERNOTES / 9 By Geoffrey Chalmers MARKETPLACE / 10 EWS SPEAKING OUT / 13 AFSA N Caution: Iraq Is Not Vietnam By David Passage AFSA-HQ UNDER CONSTRUCTION / 55 DISSENT AWARD NOTICE / 55 FS KNOW-HOW / 17 STATE IG SHOULD RESIGN / 55 Mail Handling Tips STATE VP: TIME TO MOBILIZE / 57 By Lee Ackermann RETIREE Q&A: SURVIVOR ANNUITIES / 58 BOOKS / 65 VP FCS: DOMESTIC TOURS / 59 MILESTONES: ED MILTENBERGER / 62 IN MEMORY / 67 CLASSIFIEDS / 62 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS / 74 REFLECTIONS / 76 Why We Were There By Janet Andres

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 3 OREIGN ERVICE FJ O U R N A L S

Editor QUESTIONS? Not sure whom to contact? STEVEN ALAN HONLEY Senior Editor FasTrax is your inside source to the right places. SUSAN B. MAITRA Associate Editor LETTERS TO MEMBERSHIP SHAWN DORMAN THE EDITOR For changes of address and other Ad & Cirulation Manager ED MILTENBERGER Printed letters may be edited for questions about AFSA membership, Business Manager space. E-mail to [email protected] or e-mail [email protected]. ANDREW KIDD mail to FSJ, 2101 E Street NW, Art Director FasTrax Washington DC 20037. ADVERTISING CARYN SUKO SMITH For details about placing either Editorial Intern MARC NIELSEN NEW! a display or classifed ad, Advertising Intern E-CLASSIFIEDS e-mail [email protected], LOES WIERSTRA www.afsa.org/classifieds [email protected]. FSJ EDITORIAL BOARD

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4 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 PRESIDENT’S VIEWS Telling Our Story BY JOHN K. NALAND

During my first week of A- burdens of the Foreign focused exclusively on building 100 orientation many years Service career costs us support for the day’s foreign policy ago, a classmate pointed out dearly on Capitol Hill. For initiatives, without also making efforts that when I said “Foreign example, only after years of to build a long-term constituency for Service,” I differed from my effort was AFSA able to diplomacy. Contrast that with the colleagues by putting the stress convince Congress that For- Pentagon’s teams of people dedicated on the first word instead of on eign Service members, like to generating positive press coverage the second. While I quickly the uniformed military, of, and long-lasting admiration for, the changed my pronunciation, I still feel should not have to pay tens of hard work and sacrifices of soldiers, that the defining characteristic of our thousands of dollars in capital gains sailors, Marines and airmen. profession is that we spend most of tax on the sale of a primary residence Other candidates to help educate our careers abroad. that their overseas postings had not outsiders about the realities of Certainly, overseas stationing has allowed them to occupy for the Foreign Service life include almost also become a characteristic of U.S. required two of the last five years. everyone reading this column. Yes, it military service since 2003. But, Similarly, while it is intuitively is the job of AFSA’s officers and small absent an invasion from Mars, the obvious to us that we should not take staff to take the lead on this. But next administration will likely seek to a nearly 20-percent cut in base pay there is no way for a handful of people return our military to what it was when we transfer abroad, few in to call on all 535 members of Con- when I served in the Army in the early Congress consider the issue in the gress, get letters printed on the 1980s: a mostly U.S.-based garrison context of the many burdens borne by editorial pages of every local news- force. That will never be the case for the Foreign Service. Instead, many paper around the nation, and single- the Foreign Service, which has consis- are guided by obsolete images of handedly undertake the many other tently maintained two-thirds of its diplomats spending their careers in possible outreach efforts. positions overseas. comfortable European capitals. This is clearly an endeavor that I mention this because I am often Of course, AFSA works hard to could benefit from more helping disappointed at how little credit the educate lawmakers and the American hands. For example, active-duty Foreign Service gets from the people about the realities of Foreign members could brief visiting con- American people and their represen- Service life. Just review our annual gressional delegations on the overseas tatives in Congress for the fact that we report published each March in this pay inequity. Retired members can spend so much of our careers far from Journal to gain an appreciation of how write to their local newspapers to home, often in very difficult places. often AFSA is quoted in the media, highlight the need to adequately fund Over a long career, that adds up to a how many speaking engagements we diplomatic engagement. And all lot of missed births of nieces, deaths coordinate around the nation, and members should contact their law- of family members, weddings of old how many congressional offices we makers to raise these issues, there- friends, and holiday dinners at grand- visit. But more needs to be done. by transforming AFSA’s once-a-year ma’s house. One obvious candidate to under- Day on the Hill lobbying blitz into a This lack of appreciation of the take increased efforts to “tell our year-round campaign. story” is the State Department’s Bur- There is plenty of work to go John K. Naland is the president of the eau of Public Affairs. Yet, with rare around, so any and all help will be American Foreign Service Association. exceptions in recent decades, PA has appreciated.

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 5

LETTERS

Another Insulting Vietnam. The only recognition of our the line do not have to face the same Homecoming sacrifice was a notice from the State homecoming that we did. I was part of the first team of DS Department that they had overpaid Richard E. Lubow agents to volunteer for a one-year us and wanted their money back. To Diplomatic Security assignment in Iraq to assist with the emphasize their point, we were also Special Agent, retired transition from the Coalition Pro- advised that should we contest this Herndon, Va. visional Authority to the U.S. em- matter, we could face criminal pro- bassy. We served from 2004 to 2005. secution. Historical Ironies: In November 2006, I retired as a I know this issue is old news, but Tehran & Peking special agent with the Bureau of what is unconscionable is the fact that Ex-hostage Moorhead Kennedy’s Diplomatic Security. Since then, I even after State admitted that the “The Boxer Siege: A Precedent for have been reading with a great deal of mistake was its own, it still demands the Iranian Hostage Crisis” (FSJ, interest newspaper articles and State repayment. The department main- September) is a welcome piece of his- Department notices regarding the tains that even though the new salary torical writing. The parallel between special incentives that are being cap was implemented during the time his detention by the Iranian students offered to encourage Foreign Service we were in Iraq, it did not apply to us together with 51 embassy colleagues employees to volunteer for high- because we did not get paid for those and the 1900 legation siege in Peking threat posts such as Iraq and Afghani- hours until 2005. (now Beijing) is replete with ironies. stan. Other DS agents and I have been For instance, Kennedy notes that it I wish to applaud the department contesting this action since April was the 1980 invasion of Iran by and AFSA for their efforts on behalf 2005. AFSA represented us at the Saddam Hussein that paved the way of employees/members and their will- initial hearing, and the Federal Law for the release of our colleagues in ingness to initiate innovative pro- Enforcement Officers Association has Tehran the following year. grams that range from modified salary now taken over the case. In the event However, Kennedy overlooked caps to counseling services to treat that the ruling should go against us, some tragicomic ironies related to Pe- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. we have secured legal representation king. In 1900, the U.S. was an un- Compared to the package current- and are prepared to take the matter to abashed imperialist power with a ly being offered to department federal court. garrison of 150,000 men who fought employees who volunteer for service I find it perplexing that the de- local “insurrectos” (freedom fighters) in Iraq, the original Iraq Recognition partment initiates new programs for in the newly occupied Philippines. Package was rather meager. How- those willing to serve in high-threat From there, a regiment was deployed ever, I should note that those of us posts, while at the same time to Peking under a German com- who stepped forward did so out of continuing to treat those of us who mander in chief of the allied forces. professionalism and duty, and not for responded to the initial desperate call After the legation siege was lifted, monetary gain, promotion or onward for volunteers with disdain, bureau- U.S. troops went on a search-and- assignments. cratic stonewalling and contempt. destroy mission. They were about to Unfortunately, our return to the It is my ardent hope that those blast with artillery the Wu Men U.S. was reminiscent of the welcome dedicated State Department employ- (South Gate) of the Forbidden City in I received when I returned from ees who volunteer to put their lives on order to engage Chinese defenders,

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 7 L ETTERS

who, it was later discovered, had of the Foreign Service Journal, which the State Department. Long ago, already fled to safety. Unbeknownst I read with great interest and pass before she came to State, I sent to the Americans, Vietnamese colo- along to others who think about our Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a nial troops manning French batteries many international problems. book about Charles III and the mistook U.S. troops for Chinese For almost two years, I have been Spanish Armada. I guess the old soldiers and shelled them, killing six trying to get a visa to go to Cuba in a saying that those who don’t learn and wounding 17. Ironically, French lawful way. I have written directly to from history are doomed to repeat it friendly fire saved the U.S. from the the U.S. Treasury Department’s holds as true today as when it was ignominy of invading and then Foreign Assets Control Board. I’ve coined. Are we still overwhelmed destroying the highly combustible also tried through the U.S. embassy in by the legacy of the Cuban fiasco of sacred buildings of the Forbidden Athens while in Greece and through a the 1960s? Will we be in the same City. Nobody was home at the time congressional office. boat with Iraq in 2050? except an unlikely enemy: scores of Of course, I could go to Cuba William Kuntz III eunuch caretakers. without a visa, as many have done. Nantucket, Mass. Jose Armilla But that would do little to facilitate FSO, retired my goal of obtaining payment on my Send your letter to the editor or Vienna, Va. Republic of Cuba Bonds, which were “Speaking Out” column to: [email protected]. issued in 1937 and defaulted in the Note that all submissions are Getting to Cuba early 1960s. subject to editing for style, Even here in Nantucket, I am The responsibility for authorizing format and length. often able to lay my hands on a copy travel to Cuba should be returned to

8 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 CYBERNOTES

Cyber Diplomacy Resources Bureau, to maintain a n terms of what’s going on in Embassy Colombo recently in- single Foreign Service officer overseas augurated its first Virtual Presence can average $400,000 per year. There IIraq or Afghanistan today, Post for the Republic of Maldives. At are currently 41 VPPs. what the Department of Defense a reception in Malé, Ambassador Rob- The VPPs are by no means State’s is doing is working. What isn’t ert Blake introduced Maldivian digni- only forays into cyberspace. Under working is the diplomatic side. taries and press to the VPP Web site Secretary of State for Public Diplo- (http://maldives.usvpp.gov/index.h macy Karen Hughes has begun to use — Former Secretary of Defense tml). There users can find informa- blogs, chat rooms and discussion for- Donald Rumsfeld, inter- tion on how to apply for a U.S. visa, ums to extend and deepen Ameri- viewed in GQ magazine, Oct. choose an American university, locate ca’s dialogue with the world. 2007, http://men.style.com/ a business partner, and access other On Sept. 27, the department’s first- gq/features/full?id=con- U.S. programs and activities of special ever blog, Dipnote, went live (http:// tent_5896&pageNum=1 interest. blogs.state.gov). Launched by In the Maldives, where the U.S. Spokesman Sean McCormack, who has no onsite representative, the VPP came up with the idea, Dipnote will credible personal voice in the foreign serves as a minimal but significant feature informal posts from key policy debate in a medium where the level of diplomatic engagement, offer- players in Washington and abroad in U.S. perspective is often unrepresent- ing many of the services available at an effort to make the practice of diplo- ed. traditional consulates and promoting macy more transparent. Each week a “The competition of ideas is fiercer interaction between Americans and new question will be posed for open and more crowded than ever before,” Maldivians. discussion, encouraging audience en- says Jeremy F. Curtin, coordinator for This VPP is the latest in what is gagement in the issues. Earlier in the the IIP Bureau. “Information out- proving to be a very successful State year, State’s multimedia coordina- reach, increasingly through the chan- Department e-initiative, according to tor, Heath Kern, set up a State De- nels of high technology, is a primary State’s Fiscal Year 2007 report on partment YouTube channel, where instrument of public diplomacy” implementation of The E-Govern- special briefings and interviews with (http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itp ment Act of 2002, released in late officials on key issues of the day are s/0207/ijpe/curtin.htm). September (www.state.gov/m/irm/ posted (www.youtube.com/user/st — Marc Nielsen, Editorial Intern rls/92584.htm). The E-Government atevideo). Act mandates agency-specific e- In the Bureau of International In- Iraqi Refugee Crisis Spotlighted government initiatives to increase formation Programs, where many of — Again efficiency and lower costs. The VPPs these initiatives are centered, the On Sept. 18, liberal and con- use information technology to extend Digital Outreach Team — a small unit servative lawmakers stepped up their the reach of diplomatic services and of analysts, FSOs and Arabic-language campaign to address one of the great- consular information to populations specialists — monitors and contri- est humanitarian crises of our time: not served by physical embassies or butes to high-traffic chat rooms, blogs the plight of more than four million consulates. and discussion forums such as those refugees created by the war in Iraq The first five VPPs, set up in Russia hosted by the BBC and Arab sites like and, in particular, the circumstances of as a demonstration program under the Al-Jazeera and Elaph.com. The Digi- many thousands of Iraqis marked for Office of e-Diplomacy, cost a total of tal Outreach Team members identify execution because of their coopera- $10,000 to establish. By comparison, themselves as being from the State tion with the U.S. there. according to the department’s Human Department and offer a casual but In the Senate, a bipartisan group

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 9 C YBERNOTES

led by Sens. Edward Kennedy, D- U.S., a fraction of those eligible. Mass., Gordon Smith, R-Ore., Sam Meanwhile, a new report by the Brownback, R-Kan. and Joseph Lie- Iraqi Red Crescent organization berman, I-Conn., introduced S. 1651, documents a surge of internal migra- the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act, as an tion in recent months. Tens of amendment to the FY-08 Department thousands of families have been up- of Defense authorization bill. In the rooted and forced to live in shanty- House of Representatives, Reps. Earl towns and makeshift shelters (www. Blumenauer, R-Ore., and Christopher nytimes.com/2007/09/19/world/mi Shays, D-Conn., introduced similar ddleeast/). In Baghdad alone, the legislation, H.R. 2265. Both measures report states, nearly 170,000 families, have been endorsed by the American accounting for almost a million Conservative Union. people, have fled their homes. U.S. The legislation would give Iraqis officials say the Iraqi refugee popula- facing potential persecution because tion is increasing by 60,000 a month. of ties to the U.S. the chance to apply On Sept. 19, the administration directly for admission to America, announced the appointment of two rather than forcing them to chance a new senior officials — immigration perilous flight to safety through law expert Lori Scialabba as a senior Jordan or Syria. These two countries, adviser at the Homeland Security already overwhelmed by an estimated Department and diplomat James Fol- 2.2 million refugees, have begun ey as the State Department’s senior deporting refugees back to Iraq. coordinator for Iraqi refugee issues. Just a day earlier, on Sept. 17, a At the end of the week, DHS cable from Ambassador Ryan Crocker counselor Paul Rozenzweig vowed denouncing the refugee process and that 12,000 Iraqi refugees would be the government’s halting response to settled in the U.S. over the next fiscal the crisis was leaked to the press. In year. it, Crocker said that the admission of Under a 2006 measure passed by Iraqi refugees to the U.S. remains Congress, 500 Iraqis who face parti- bogged down by “major bottlenecks” cular risk for having served in jobs resulting from security reviews con- such as translators for U.S. authorities ducted by the departments of State can settle in the U.S. with their famil- and Homeland Security. He also ies each year. But of that vulnerable made several suggestions for fast- group, only 384 have been admitted tracking the process. so far, with 54 more expected by the In February, in response to end of September. In contrast, since congressional hearings and pressure 2003 more than 250 Iraqi translators from lawmakers and NGOs, the have been killed. administration had promised to According to a Human Rights improve the processing of Iraqi refu- Watch estimate, there are presently gees, in particular those endangered nearly 150,000 Iraqis in this exposed as a result of collaboration with the position. About 65,000 Iraqis work U.S., pledging to resettle 7,000 during for the Pentagon under contract or the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. subcontract, and another 81,000 work But during the summer that number for U.S. reconstruction projects. was scaled back to 2,000, and as of late On Sept. 21, the U.N. said that September, fewer than 850 refugees Iraqi asylum applications had soared had been accepted. Since the start of to record levels, with twice as many as the Iraq War in 2003, only 1,521 last year (www.unhcr.org/iraq.html). refugees have been admitted to the In the first six months of this year,

10 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 C YBERNOTES

19,800 Iraqis asked to be resettled in Since 1995, more than 500,000 mittee that requested the investi- 36 Western countries. Almost half aliens from countries with low rates of gation as part of its review of the requested entry to Sweden, which has immigration to the U.S. have become immigrant visa process, has called for been taking about 1,000 refugees per legal permanent residents. But, says shutting down the DV lottery program month but is now experiencing a pop- the GAO, the program is also vulner- immediately. ular backlash. able to fraud committed both by and — Susan Brady Maitra, The U.S. pledge to increase refu- against DV applicants. In addition, Senior Editor gee resettlement to 12,000 in the the State Department has neither coming year was met with skepticism compiled comprehensive data on de- Waiting on Diplomacy: by human rights activists. “Given the tected and suspected fraud, nor Kosovo’s Uncertain Status size of this refugee crisis — and the developed a strategy to address the By Dec. 10, the six-nation Contact thousands and thousands of Iraqis problem. Group (France, Germany, Italy, Rus- who are at risk because of their work The GAO surveyed DVP opera- sia, the U.K. and the U.S.), which has for the United States itself — it is both tions at 11 overseas posts. At more been guiding the Pristina-Belgrade disappointing and shocking that the than half of the posts, consular officers talks on the future of Kosovo, will U.S. is not willing to bring more Iraqis said that visa agents and their deliver its report to U.N. Secretary to safety in this country next year,” widespread use of fake documents General Ban Ki-moon on the final Eleanor Acer, spokeswoman for the distort the process and make verifi- status of the troubled province. nonprofit group Human Rights First cation of applicants difficult. Nearly After eight years of uncertainty, the (www.humanrightsfirst.org/asylum/ 9,800 persons from countries designa- prolonged debate over Kosovo has lifeline/index.asp), told the Los ted by the U.S. as state sponsors of reached a crucial point. Declaring the Angeles Times. terrorism have obtained permanent status quo unsustainable, the U.N. Acer noted that when the political residency in the U.S. through the secretary-general has urged the Con- will exists, the U.S. has historically program. Although GAO found no tact Group to produce an agree- taken in far greater numbers of refu- evidence that DV immigrants from ment that clarifies Kosovo’s status and gees. Between 1948 and 1952, some these or any other countries posed a addresses the key concerns of all 250,000 Europeans displaced by terrorist or other threat to the U.S., communities in the former Serbian World War II came to the U.S., and in the prospect is not out of the question. province. 1975 America absorbed 131,000 Viet- “This places a premium on mitigating With Russia supporting Serbian namese refugees within a period of fraud risks,” the report concludes. claims to the region and the U.S. in seven months. The State Department did not favor of supervised independence, it — Susan Brady Maitra, concur with GAO recommendations falls to the European Union and its Senior Editor to compile better data and develop a Common Foreign and Security Policy strategy to combat fraud, claiming it to resolve the current gridlock. But Diversity Visa Program already has a robust screening pro- achieving consensus among all 27 Under Attack gram for DV applicants. Rep. Bennie members may prove difficult. The Diversity Visa Program, estab- Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the On Sept. 19, at a seminar hosted by lished by the Immigration Act of House Homeland Security Com- the Woodrow Wilson International 1990, differs from other visa programs in that it places no emphasis on employer or family sponsorship from 50 Years Ago... within the U.S. but uses a lottery The idea of a union for the Foreign Service may quite system to allocate visas. properly seem inappropriate to a majority of association In a report on the program re- leased Sept. 21, the Government members, but this does not mean that they would not welcome an Accountability Office found that occasional measure of militancy on the part of the association’s although it has been effective in board in championing their interests. diversifying immigrants, the DVP is vulnerable to fraud and could cons- — From “Our Association: What Should We Do? What Can We Do?” titute a security risk as currently FSJ, November 1957 implemented (www.gao.gov).

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 11 C YBERNOTES

Center for Scholars, “Kosovo in the Balance: A Trial for Diplomacy” Site of the Month: www.librarything.com (www.wilsoncenter.org), partici- Part cataloging system and part online community, LibraryThing lets users pants discussed the challenge of catalogue and share their libraries and book lists. After starting an account reaching consensus on the E.U.’s (requiring only a user name and password), users can create lists and catalogues Kosovo policy. In addition to the fact using a book’s ISBN number or words from the title or the author’s name. that the E.U. once again finds itself A free account allows you to catalog up to 200 books. A paid account allows caught between Moscow and Wash- you to catalog an unlimited number of books. Paid personal accounts cost $10 ington, several member nations have for a year or $25 for a lifetime. expressed their opposition to recog- LibraryThing does not use any special software and draws information from nizing Kosovo’s independence. Yet the Library of Congress and Amazon.com databases, among others. Users can resolution of its status is urgent. The edit, sort, search and tag their titles to their liking. They can also view other prospect of still another conflict in the members’ collections, reviews and recommendations, a feature that has led to Balkans has stalled European inte- the site being described as “Facebook for books.” gration efforts. In addition, LibraryThing has an active message board that includes a book In a press release issued Sept. 20, swapping section. Some publishers, including Random House, provide the site the U.S. Helsinki Commission (http:// with advance copies of titles that members can request. www.csce.gov/) notes that although LibraryThing was created by Tim Spalding in 2005 in Portland, Maine, as a the final status of Kosovo is primarily a pet project, to catalog his own library and for academic and bibliophile friends. European problem, “The U.S. needs Before that, Spalding was a graduate student in Greek and Latin at the to be involved in the process to help University of Michigan, and worked for Houghton Mifflin in Boston and as a bring about an expeditious, yet stable freelance Web developer and Web publisher. and just result.” Spalding had no idea LibraryThing would explode as it did. Over 270,000 Officially part of Serbia, the pro- users have signed up, more than 18 million books have been cataloged, and vince has been administered by the users have applied over 23 million tags to their books. The site became a U.N. Interim Administration Mission business in 2006. on Kosovo since the end of the — Anna Wong Gleysteen, Editorial Intern NATO-led war in 1999. U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244 gave UNMIK a mandate to create substantial au- tonomy for Kosovo and eventually Annan appointed Martti Ahtisaari, outvoted on questions of vital interest. facilitate a political process to deter- former president of Finland, as special Though the proposal was sup- mine its future. envoy for Kosovo to lead the settle- ported by the secretary-general and Under increasing pressure from ment effort. Throughout 2006, the the State Department, the Security within Kosovo for independence, special envoy held more than 15 Council was unable to reach a con- UNMIK pursued a policy that re- rounds of direct talks between Bel- sensus once Moscow announced its quired local institutions to meet grade and Pristina. intention to veto. With a settlement benchmarks of good governance and On March 14, Ahtisaari presented at the U.N. unlikely, the U.S. and inter-ethnic accommodation. Mean- a final, comprehensive proposal for a other Western powers decided while, Serbia, supported by Russia, settlement (www.unosek.org/unose negotiations should be continued resisted any proposed compromise on k/en/statusproposal.html). The plan under the auspices of the informal its sovereignty. This standoff caused calls for supervised independence for Contact Group. greater frustration, and in March 2004 Kosovo and multiple safeguards to For additional reports and back- tensions spilled onto the streets with protect the rights of Serbian minor- ground, the International Crisis anti-Serb and anti-U.N. rioting. ities. It includes the creation of ad- Group has a useful overview, “Koso- In October 2005, U.N. Special ditional and expanded Serb-major- vo’s Final Status,” which includes Envoy Kai Eide concluded that ity municipalities, special protection policy recommendations. Monthly nothing would be gained from and prerogatives for the Serbian updates are also available on its postponing a decision over Kosovo’s Orthodox Church, and additional par- CrisisWatch database (www.crisis status, and negotiations were finally liamentary seats and double-majority group.org/home/index.cfm). initiated. Secretary-General Kofi rules to ensure that Serbs are not — Marc Nielsen, Editorial Intern

12 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 SPEAKING OUT Caution: Iraq Is Not Vietnam

BY DAVID PASSAGE

ver the past year, President strain the operations of most PRTs in George W. Bush and other The CORDS Afghanistan and Iraq. Osenior administration officials program could not The current operating environ- have on numerous occasions invoked ment in those two countries is so the U.S. assistance program in South have been successful dangerous — not only for PRT mem- Vietnam as an experience that offers in today’s Iraq or bers, but for their colleagues based in lessons for Iraq. Specifically, the Afghanistan. the capitals — that one must question Vietnam-era Civil Operations and whether civilian personnel can work Revolutionary Development Support safely at all, no matter how well program has frequently been held up trained and equipped they are. In as a model for the Provincial Recon- fact, I do not believe that the CORDS struction Teams currently operating and Afghanistan deal with their program could have been successful in Afghanistan and Iraq. internal difficulties and emerge as in today’s Iraq or Afghanistan. The CORDS teams administered functioning economies with demo- both security and development pro- cratic societies. The Importance of Training grams at the provincial and district A second critical difference be- levels in South Vietnam during the Security Constraints tween the CORDS program in Viet- late 1960s and early 1970s. Like First and foremost, it is the overall nam and the PRTs in Iraq and Af- today’s PRTs, they comprised military security environment that drives how ghanistan is the extensive training and and civilian personnel, the former U.S. teams function and what one can preparation that the personnel assign- always significantly outnumbering the realistically expect them to achieve. ed to the earlier program received. latter. The civilians came primarily In Vietnam, with few exceptions To prepare personnel for service from the State Department and the (such as the 1968 Tet Offensive), the with CORDS, the Foreign Service U.S. Agency for International De- Viet Cong rarely targeted CORDS Institute established a Vietnam Train- velopment, augmented by a limit- activities or personnel. They knew ing Center. Each class began with a ed number of direct hires from other that the Vietnamese people for the six-week introduction to the cultures, agencies (e.g., Commerce, Treasury most part welcomed reconstruction civilizations and economies of Viet- and Agriculture). There were also a and development projects to repair nam, other countries in Indochina limited number of personnel whom roads and dikes, get rice paddies back and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific USAID brought on board expressly into production, dig wells, build region. Lectures were given by for CORDS, with no promise of schools and clinics, and improve local American and Vietnamese instructors, career employment beyond Vietnam. public administration. as well as military and intelligence Yet despite basic similarities and The Viet Cong did regularly at- personnel. In addition, there were parallels between the CORDS teams tempt to penetrate and subvert ham- classes on guerrilla warfare that drew and today’s PRTs, there are also let and village administration, but on experiences in Vietnam and other important and sharp distinctions. villagers, by and large, were willing to insurgency environments. (Twenty Lest today’s policymakers be misled help government forces identify and years earlier, the U.S. had successfully into assuming that the earlier experi- eliminate those agents. The result helped the Philippines defeat the ence can be replicated today, I was that civilian personnel assigned to Hukbalahap insurgency, and the believe it is vital to identify several CORDS were remarkably effective British had dealt with the Malayan critical differences that affect the and generally did not face the sorts of emergency and the Mau Mau Foreign Service’s ability to help Iraq severe security problems that con- rebellion in East Africa.)

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 13 S PEAKING O UT

The assignment of FS personnel to PRTs simply for the sake of having the State Department appear to “do its part” doesn’t make much sense.

Next came language instruction, intended to enable CORDS partici- pants to communicate well enough to function in Vietnam. By the time we finished, we could find our way around town, order a meal, ask for directions, and work with and train villagers for self-help projects, econo- mic development, public adminis- tration, and so on. Those who show- ed real aptitude in tonal languages were given additional training, while those who had difficulty were allowed to leave early for positions where language mastery was less important. But the bottom line was that every effort was made to afford CORDS personnel the type of in-depth train- ing required for them to be effective. In addition, every member of every class was given instruction in basic self-protection, which meant familiarity with, and at least a limited degree of proficiency in using, the weaponry and communications equipment available to the combined military-civilian CORDS teams at district, province and corps levels. Most classes received this instruction at U.S. military facilities; my group did its self-defense training at Ft. Gordon, Ga.

14 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 S PEAKING O UT The New 2008 C-30 Now Available at Diplomatic Pricing!

Civilian Foreign Service personnel should never be used as “totems.”

STARTING AT $19,995 Finally, every class had a further “welcome to Asia” orientation and Call for program details and additional specials. Contact Dana Martens at briefing at FSI’s Regional Training 202-885-5312 or email [email protected] for more information. Center in Taichung, Taiwan, before arriving in Saigon. The upshot was a truly comprehensive training regi- men lasting four to six months, and sometimes longer if advanced lan- 4800 Wisconsin Ave. N.W. 202-537-3000 guage was involved. In contrast, the department’s www.MartensVolvo.com training program for those headed to Provincial Reconstruction Teams is limited and superficial. So a key issue today is the extent to which the State Department is prepared to provide appropriate training for Foreign Service personnel if it intends to continue to assign them to war zones such as Afghanistan and Iraq — or, one might speculate, Darfur and Somalia.

Mission Impossible? Even before the department con- templates training requirements, however, it needs to be realistic about the extent to which Foreign Service personnel assigned to PRTs in Iraq and Afghanistan are able to carry out reconstruction efforts and achieve the economic, political and societal ob- jectives this administration has set forth. To return to the situation nearly 40 years ago: although CORDS suffered its share of casualties in Vietnam, it was not targeted the way U.S. and other allied personnel — both mili- tary and civilian — are on today’s PRTs. While I realize some areas of

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 15 S PEAKING O UT

symbols of a decision by our govern- ment’s most senior political officials It is the overall security that every element of the U.S. govern- ment must be represented on the bat- environment that drives tlefield in order to signal our deter- mination to do whatever it takes to how U.S. teams function win. Foreign Service officers are not and what one can combat professionals, and no amount of training in combat skills, weaponry realistically expect and self-protection will ever enable them to be more than hostages to luck them to achieve. in a combat environment. As such, they will also never be more than a burden on those military and security forces who have to protect them, and they are unlikely to be able to sig- Iraq and Afghanistan are, relatively nificantly assist in postwar reconstruc- speaking, less dangerous than others, tion and the transition to democratic this is a shifting mosaic. One can institutions in the countries where reasonably expect our enemies to seek they serve. out and go after the least defended Assigning Foreign Service pro- and most inviting targets. fessionals to such environments does Many members of PRTs in Iraq not demonstrate commitment on the and Afghanistan have to be confined part of our government so much as a to heavily protected forward bases for lack of sound judgment. Nor does it their own safety, sometimes for send a signal that this administration months at a time. They can meet with intends to win in Iraq and Afghani- local officials and villagers only when stan. It merely endangers lives — and enveloped by overwhelming security not only those of Foreign Service forces (which defeats our broader personnel, but also those of the psychological and ideological object- military and security forces who have ives). And far too often, any concrete to protect them. progress they achieve on the ground — building schools, restoring elec- David Passage, a retiree member of tricity, etc. — is promptly destroyed the AFSA Governing Board, was a by a nihilistic enemy that doesn’t care Foreign Service officer from 1966 to about the consequences for affected 1998. Among many other postings, he villagers. served with the CORDS program in Under such circumstances, the Vietnam from 1969 to 1970; was assignment of Foreign Service deputy chief of mission and chargé personnel to PRTs simply for the sake d’affaires in El Salvador at the height of having the State Department of that country’s civil war in the mid- appear to “do its part” doesn’t make 1980s; served as ambassador to Bot- much sense. Worse, it needlessly swana from 1990 to 1993; and was the endangers (and, in a worst-case scen- political adviser at the U.S. Special ario, costs) lives under conditions in Operations Command from 1993 to which there can be no reasonable 1996. Since retiring from the Service, expectation of positive gain. Ambassador Passage has been a lec- Civilian Foreign Service personnel turer and mentor at several U.S. mili- should never be used as “totems” — tary schools and training facilities.

16 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 FS KNOW-HOW Mail Handling Tips

BY LEE J. ACKERMANN

letter to the editor from a asking to be taken off the mailing list. Foreign Service officer in the Go online to change Because it costs the recipient 82 A July-August Journal discussed your mailing address cents, not just 41 cents, merely to the difficulty of changing one’s receive this envelope, they will mailing address while posted overseas for commercial definitely do so. and asked for advice on ways to make addresses; it’s quick, Keep in mind the following the process less arduous. easy and gets guidelines for mail forwarding: I’d like to offer some tips on this • First-class letter mail is for- important subject. I speak as some- immediate results. warded for one year. one who spent 22 years in the Air • Priority mail packages are for- Force managing overseas post offices warded for one year. and performing related duties, and • Parcel post/media mail packages then worked for the United States are forwarded for 60 days. Postal Service for two years before personnel at my previous post to • Magazines are forwarded for 60 coming on board with the Depart- ensure they are no longer receiving days. ment of State. I’ve supervised APOs any of my mail. I wish everyone did • Standard, presorted, nonprofit and embassy mailrooms, and I set up this; in Moscow alone, we trashed mail is destroyed at post. the first Department of State diplo- hundreds of pounds of mail every If you are returning to the U.S. for matic post office in Budapest. month intended for people who had your next assignment, send a let- Start notifying your contacts of left post years before. ter addressed to: POSTMASTER, your upcoming address change at Use a database to keep track of NEW CITY, NEW STATE, NEW least 120 days before you will be those who regularly mail items to ZIP CODE explaining you are departing post. Waiting until the you. In the age of the Internet, moving to that city and giving your week you are leaving to take care of compiling and changing addresses are new address. (You do not need a that, as all too many people do, is a easier than ever. I maintain an street address for the postmaster; the surefire way to experience glitches. EXCEL database with the name, city, state and Zip code are enough.) In addition, keep in mind that mail- address, city, state, Zip code, 1-800 They will be more than happy to hold order catalogs are preprinted with telephone numbers, Web site and e- your new incoming mail for up to 45 your old mailing address 90 days mail address of every piece of mail I days before your arrival. (I even do before they are mailed, and magazine receive. Initially, it took time and this when I go home for R&R.) subscriptions are preprinted with effort to create the spreadsheet, but Use e-mail, call 1-800 numbers your old mailing address at least six to now that it’s complete, it is simple to or visit Web sites to change your eight weeks before mailing. update, correct and verify the infor- mailing address where possible. Change all of your addresses. mation every time I get a piece of It is quick, easy and gets immediate The embassy or consulate still has to mail. I keep this document with my results. (Unfortunately, the State pay to handle all the mail it receives important papers. Department Federal Credit Union after you are gone, even the “junk Use the company or publi- does not accept address changes via e- mail.” Not only is that a waste of time cation’s own prepaid envelope (if mail.) By contrast, change-of-address and effort, but it makes your one is available) to mail your notices sent via the unclassified colleagues wait longer to get their address label. Be sure to provide diplomatic pouch can take several mail. I always contact the mailroom your new address or enclose a note weeks to arrive and be processed.

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 17 FS KNOW-HOW

Consider renting a mail distri- mortgage, car payments, etc.) bution box from a private com- through your financial institutions. pany like Mailboxes R Us in your Each post has I have basically stopped writing hometown. Most of these com- checks over the past 10 years; in panies have a mail forwarding system: to pay to handle fact, I still have some from my initial you always keep the same address order with the credit union. With and, at predetermined intervals, they all the mail it receives online payment programs, I don’t will mail your accumulated mail to worry about my bills any more. your new location in one package. after you are gone, Before you depart post, please Such services are particularly useful if give the mailroom personnel your you are stationed in Africa, where even the forwarding address labels. (Usual- diplomatic pouch service can be ly 50 is enough; they will do the rest.) extremely slow and there are few if “junk mail.” With a little planning, address any alternatives. You will never have changes don’t have to cause upheavals to change your address again! and delays, either for you, those trying Ensure your banks, mortgage to reach you by mail, or the post you companies and financial consult- are departing. And that is in every- ants have your current e-mail financial transactions and take care of one’s interest. address. Because you can access problems much more rapidly. your e-mail just about anywhere in Set up automatic online pay- Lee Ackermann is the information the world, you can monitor your ments for vital bills (credit cards, programs officer in Damascus.

18 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 F OCUS ON FS AUTHORS

IN THEIR OWN WRITE Marcia Klioze-Hughes

WE ARE PLEASED TO FEATURE A COMPILATION OF RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS BY FOREIGN SERVICE-AFFILIATED AUTHORS.

he Foreign Service Journal is pleased to present our annual Foreign Service authors roundup in plenty of time for holiday orders. Here is an annotated list of some of the volumes written or edited by Foreign Service personnel and family members, past and present, in 2006 and 2007. The list was compiled with the help of Editorial InternsT Anna Wong Gleysteen and Marc Nielsen. This year’s selection contains a strong policy studies and issues section, four lively histories, a variety of engaging mem-

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 19 oirs, six works of fiction and several unusual specialty Washington and implementation, or lack thereof, in books. As in the past few years, a significant portion of Iraq … [and] is a vivid reminder of the limits of our titles are self-published. American power.” Our primary purpose in compiling this list is to cele- James Stephenson has had 28 years of experience brate the wealth of literary talent within the Foreign assisting states trying to recover from war. He was Service community, and to give our readers the oppor- USAID mission director in Lebanon and in Serbia & tunity to support colleagues by sampling their wares. Montenegro prior to his Iraq assignment. He also Each entry contains full publication data along with a served in Egypt, Grenada, El Salvador and short commentary. Washington, D.C. A decorated Vietnam War veteran, As has become our custom, we also include a list of he is a recognized expert on post-conflict transition, books “of related interest” that were not written by FS civilian-military cooperation and counterinsurgency. authors. He is currently a senior adviser for security and devel- While many of these books are available from book- opment at Creative Associates International, Inc. stores and other sources, we encourage our readers to The book is part of the ADST-DACOR Diplomats use the AFSA Web site’s Marketplace to place your and Diplomacy Series. orders. We have created a Bookstore there with links to Amazon.com. For the few books that cannot be Uneasy Neighbo(u)rs: Canada, ordered through Amazon, we have provided alternative The USA and the Dynamics of links and, when the book is not available online, the State, Industry and Culture necessary contact information. David T. Jones & David — Susan Maitra, Senior Editor Kilgour, Wiley, 2007, $27.95, hardcover, 352 pages. POLICY STUDIES & ISSUES How did Canada and the United States, neighboring Losing the Golden Hour: countries with deep-rooted re- An Insider’s View of Iraq’s spect for human rights, democ- Reconstruction racy and the rule of law, develop such different views on James Stephenson, Potomac social welfare, foreign policy and the military? Jones Books Inc., 2007, $23.95, and Kilgour, veteran diplomats from both sides of the hardcover, 224 pages. border, explore the history and dynamics of both coun- In emergency medicine, tries that have affected the creation of distinct national the “golden hour” is the first identities, institutions and ideologies. They maintain hour after injury, during which that the governments and societies of the U.S. and treatment greatly increases Canada have neither converged nor diverged over the survivability. In post-conflict transition terminology, long term; because of geopolitics, history and culture, it is the first year after hostilities end. After that, with- both nations are different and always will be. The out steadily improving conditions, popular support authors examine how the two perceive each other and declines and chances for real transformation begin to their respective roles in the international community. evaporate. They argue that even though each country pursues a In this book, James “Spike” Stephenson, a retired different vision of North America, “the differences are Senior Foreign Service officer who was USAID mission distinctive, defining — but not definitive.” director in Baghdad from February 2004 to March In addition to the $2 billion in daily cross-border 2005, gives an insider’s perspective on how America lost trade, the United States and Canada are bound togeth- the golden hour in Iraq. Stephenson’s USAID pro- er by culture and ancestry. Their mutual well-being gram, encompassing every area of capacity-building depends on how well they understand one another. from agriculture and private-sector enterprises to gov- With chapters addressing health care, education, mili- ernance, education, health and democracy initiatives. tary defense and more, Uneasy Neighbo(u)rs provides Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage Americans and Canadians a better look at each other, says in his foreword to the book that Stephenson’s promoting the understanding necessary for greater account “fills in the blanks between policy decision in cooperation.

20 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 David T. Jones is a retired senior FSO. His diplo- movement in Turkey. The Kurds — who number matic career of nearly 30 years focused on NATO and some 25 million, more than half in Turkey and the rest arms-control issues. From 1992 to 1996, he served as in Iran, Iraq and Syria — have long demanded an political minister-counselor at Embassy Ottawa. David independent state. Their struggle gained new Kilgour has served as a member of Parliament in both momentum in 2003, when the U.S. invasion of Iraq the Conservative and Liberal Parties during 26 years in laid the basis for Iraqi Kurds to establish a near- Canadian federal politics. He was assistant secretary of autonomous Kurdish land in the north of the country, state for Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, sec- giving a boost, in turn, to Kurdish nationals in Turkey. retary of state for Asia-Pacific, and deputy speaker of Author Aliza Marcus was one of the first Western the House of Commons. reporters to meet with PKK rebels. She covered the PKK for more than eight years, first as a freelance Blood and Belief: reporter for the Christian Science Monitor and later as The PKK and the Kurdish a staff writer for Reuters. She was put on trial in Fight for Independence Turkey for her reporting and also received a National Aliza Marcus, NYU Press, Press Club Award and a MacArthur Foundation grant 2007, $35.00, hardcover, for her work. This book is based on her interviews 368 pages. with PKK leaders and their supporters and opponents Reporting and scholarly re- throughout the world — including Palestinians who search are combined in Blood and trained them, intelligence services that tracked them Belief to give the first in-depth account of the PKK, and dissidents who tried to break them up. the Kurdistan Workers Party. A guerilla force found- Formerly an international correspondent for the ed in 1978 by a group of former Turkish university stu- Boston Globe, Marcus lives in Washington, D.C., with dents, the PKK radicalized the Kurdish national her husband, retired FSO John Lister.

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 21 A Moment of Crisis: Nations and nongovernmental Jimmy Carter, the Power organizations, the Guide for of a Peacemaker and North Participants in Peace, Stability, Korea’s Nuclear Ambitions and Relief Operations serves as a Marion Creekmore Jr., basic directory to understanding PublicAffairs, 2006, $26.95, the mission and responsibilities hardcover, 406 pages. of international organizations In June 1994, Marion Creek- that may respond to a crisis. It more accompanied former Presi- addresses the security issues for dent Jimmy Carter and his wife on their historic trip to all participants in such operations North Korea to meet with President Kim Il Sung about and provides examples of com- the country’s nuclear ambitions. With the U.S. pressing mon international involvement in stability operations, the U.N. to apply sanctions, considered a declaration of natural disasters and peace missions. war by North Korea, Carter was convinced war was It offers a straightforward exploration of the interac- imminent. Despite the objections of the Clinton tion and overlap of participating organizations. The administration and the South Korean government, Guide identifies who’s who among international organi- Carter intervened, brokering a deal that helped lay the zations, NGOs, civilian agencies and the military. It foundation for peaceful negotiations between Pyong- provides a basic understanding of the organizational yang and Washington. His dramatic intervention culture, values, codes of conduct and methods of oper- played a key role in resolving that nuclear crisis peace- ation specific to each organization. By dispelling mis- fully, possibly preventing a second war on the Korean conceptions and prejudices that may exist on all sides, peninsula. the book aims to facilitate interagency communication A Moment of Crisis tells the inside story of the and cooperation. Designed to fit easily into a pocket or Carter mission, undertaken during a period when the backpack, it will provide particularly relevant informa- U.S. and North Korea were on the brink of war and pre- tion for those serving in the field. serving the integrity of the Nonproliferation Treaty and Robert M. Perito is a senior program officer in the the credibility of the International Atomic Energy Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Agency were significant national security priorities. Operations at the United States Institute of Peace. He Drawing from Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter’s oral and also acts as coordinator for the Peacekeeping Lessons written recollections, Carter Center documents and the Learned Project and the Haiti Working Group. A for- author’s own notes — primary sources not previously mer FSO, Perito served as deputy executive secretary available to scholars — Creekmore delivers a gripping of the National Security Council (1988-1989). In firsthand account of the mission’s controversies and suc- 1990, he received a Presidential Meritorious Service cesses, providing insight into dealing with North Korea Award for his leadership of the U.S. delegation at the and other rogue regimes. This narrative outlines the Angola peace talks. He has provided program man- circumstances that can lead to war and profiles the agement and policy guidance for peacekeeping opera- resolve and power necessary to make peace. tions in Haiti, Bosnia, East Timor and Kosovo, and for Marion Creekmore is a retired diplomat who served post-conflict operations in Macedonia, Croatia and as ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Republic of the Albania. Maldives from 1989 to 1993. From 1993 to 1996, he was the Carter Center’s program director. Creekmore The Dragon Looks South: China and is currently distinguished visiting professor of history Southeast Asia in the New Century and political science at Emory University. Bronson Percival, Praeger Security International, 2007, $49.95, hardcover, 216 pages. Guide for Participants in Peace, Stability, In the last decade, China has dramatically increased and Relief Operations its influence in Southeast Asia. Bronson Percival exam- Edited by Robert M. Perito, United States Institute of ines and explains this continued transformation “from Peace, 2007, $17.50, paperback, 340 pages. the state most feared into a perceived partner.” He ana- Prepared by a guiding committee of representatives lyzes China’s comprehensive strategy for the region, from the State Department, U.S. military, United offering a distinction between Beijing’s mainland and

22 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 maritime goals. He covers Bronson Percival is the senior adviser for Southeast China’s relations with the Asia and terrorism in Asia at at the CNA Corporation’s Southeast Asian nations in the Center for Strategic Studies in Alexandria, Va. A for- last five years, addressing the mer FSO, he served in the Middle East and Southeast economic, political and “soft Asia. While a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, power” dimensions of the rela- he created the first War College seminar on modern tionships. Percival contends Southeast Asia. After 9/11, he returned to the State that each area of Southeast Department to help analyze and design counterterror- Asia constitutes a different ism policies for Southeast Asia. He has testified before political and cultural subsys- Congress and spoken at numerous seminars on mar- tem, which determines the itime and national security issues in Southeast Asia and extent of China’s influence in each region. He devotes a on counterterrorism in Asia. section to Beijing’s relations with each individual nation, and also discusses the role of major external players. Iraq: Policy & Perceptions The Dragon Looks South examines the importance Richard J. Schmierer, of China’s current strategic goals, and also clarifies Institute for the Study of American interests in Southeast Asia. The book priori- Diplomacy, 2007, $14.95, tizes American interests, creating a framework for eval- paperback, 237 pages. uating the implications of the ever-changing U.S. role in Richard J. Schmierer was the region. Percival compares several prominent inter- posted in Riyadh in the late national relations “schools of thought” with the realities 1990s and then in Baghdad in of China-Southeast Asian relations, and discusses their 2004, and observed firsthand relevance and utility. the factors, perceptions and

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 23 policies that led up to the war in Iraq as well as its after- turn the starving airmen over to the Japanese occu- math. Following his one-year assignment in Iraq as piers? minister-counselor for public affairs, he immersed him- The Airmen and the Headhunters is a gripping, you- self in the policy dialogues and debates in Washington. are-there journey into the remote world and forgotten This led him, as he states in the introduction to the heroism of the Dayaks. “A fascinating anthropology les- book, to a “sobering assessment of the connection — as son, delivered with the bonus of a dramatic adventure both cause and effect — between Iraq policy and the and a happy ending,” is how Kirkus Reviews character- current domestic political climate, and the impact of izes the book, adding that “few other writers could have this connection on the likely success or failure of our tracked down this captivating story.” current Iraq policy, as well as, more generally, on the The story told in this book “found me,” says author prospects of success for difficult foreign policy chal- Judith Heimann. “I stumbled upon the bare bones of lenges in the future.” the plot while I was researching the biography of an Schmierer outlines what he sees as the key elements eccentric polymath Englishman, Tom Harrisson, whom in the Iraq issue, starting with the first Persian Gulf War I had met when he was our next-door neighbor in and, drawing on his personal encounters with Saudis Borneo.” Her first book, The Most Offending Soul and Iraqis, argues that in the post-9/11 world, Western Alive: Tom Harrisson and His Remarkable Life security interests require an improvement in the politi- (University of Hawaii, 1999), was made into a docu- cal and economic conditions in much of the Arab world. mentary for BBC4. He believes that the international community has not Judith Heimann is a retired career FSO and writer yet come to terms with the realities of the post-9/11 who still works on special assignments for the State world, and that as the sole superpower in the world, the Department and splits her time between Washington, U.S. has been uniquely challenged by the attacks. D.C., and Brussels. With her husband, also an FSO, Schmierer also examines the challenges Western demo- she spent seven years in Indonesia, the Philippines and cratic principles face in the Information Age. Malaysia, and served as consul general in Bordeaux. In In 2005 Schmierer received the State Department’s Borneo, she learned to speak Malay and became Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public acquainted with many of the characters who appear in Diplomacy. His 27-year career in the Foreign Service her books. included postings in Riyadh, Berlin and Baghdad. He is currently assigned as a senior adviser at the Institute Courageous Dissent: for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University’s How Harry Bingham Defied Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. His Government to Save Lives Robert Kim Bingham Sr., HISTORY Triune Books, 2007, $20.00, paperback, 159 pages. The Airmen and the In 1940, America was not Headhunters: A True Story yet involved in World War II of Lost Soldiers, Heroic and was still trying to maintain Tribesmen and the Unlikeliest neutral relations with Ger- Rescue of World War II many. State Department policy held that the U.S. Judith M. Heimann, Harcourt, could not help people evade the Germans by issuing 2007, $26.00, hardcover, them visas, forcing many refugees to remain in Nazi- 289 pages. controlled Europe. Harry Bingham, a U.S. vice consul In November 1944, a team working in Marseilles at the time, was in charge of issu- of World War II Army airmen ing visas. set out in a B-24 bomber on what should have been an When Varian Fry, the American best known for easy mission off the Borneo coast. Instead they found helping Jews escape during World War II, arrived in themselves facing a Japanese fleet, and were shot down, Marseilles in 1940, Bingham was already there, stretch- scattered across the island’s mountainous interior. Then ing the rigorous and anti-Semitic visa criteria. Fry oper- a group of loincloth-wearing natives silently material- ated under the auspices of the Emergency Rescue ized out of the jungle. Would these Dayak tribesmen Committee, a group backed by Eleanor Roosevelt that

24 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 was formed to help prominent Jewish artists and intel- 2004, AFSA honored Harry Bingham posthumously lectuals win exceptions to American immigration policy. with a Constructive Dissent Award. While Bingham continued to issue normal visas, he and Fry worked closely on contacting the people Fry had Peter Strickland: New London been sent to rescue and issuing them emergency visas. Shipmaster, Boston Merchant, Bingham, Fry, French partisans and like-minded First Consul to Senegal Americans ran an underground railroad out of Stephen H. Grant, New Bingham’s villa, hiding refugees and coordinating their Academia Publishing, 2006, escape to America. $20.00, paperback, 236 pages. Bingham is estimated to have saved 1,500 people In 1883, the State Depart- before his reassignment to Buenos Aires in 1941, where ment appointed Peter Strick- he remained for the next four years. There, he added land as U.S. consul in Gorée to his nonconformist reputation by complaining in Island, Senegal. He was the increasingly strong terms to his superiors about the first American diplomat to work in West Africa, a major growing Nazi presence in Argentina. In 1945, he was French colonial area. Born in 1837 to a comfortable denied promotion and, ultimately, was hounded out of farming family in New London, Conn., Strickland the Service. became a merchant marine on ships going to Europe. Written by Bingham’s son Robert, Courageous He made his first visit to Africa during the last year of Dissent is illustrated with family photos, mementoes the Civil War. Later, after some hesitation amid con- and quotes from Bingham’s diary. The author led a cerns about the “African fevers,” he accepted an offer of successful campaign to have a commemorative stamp a long-term assignment on the coast of West Africa. issued with his father’s image (released in 2006 as part Initially unimpressed with Gorée Island — infamous as of the “Distinguished American Diplomat” series). In the place where slaves were loaded onto cargo ships for

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 25 the journey to the Americas — Strickland would remain Engert’s service was eventful and his life was long. in Senegal for more than a quarter of a century. He socialized both with Cyrus Vance and Ed Muskie Stephen H. Grant’s interest in Strickland was (Secretaries of State under Jimmy Carter) and with sparked after purchasing an envelope on eBay that had William Howard Taft’s Secretary of State, Philander been sent from Boston via Bordeaux to Strickland at C. Knox. He outlived all his Old World diplomatic Gorée Island in 1889. Strickland kept meticulously colleagues, as his granddaughter writes in the book’s detailed diaries, which help to show how the duties of a introduction, to become “an enchanting relic of a 19th-century consular office differ from today’s. more courtly period in American diplomacy, and of a Instead of issuing visas and replacement passports, the State Department still absorbed in the 19th century.” main objective of Strickland and his contemporaries Jane Morrison Engert drew extensively from her was to “monitor and facilitate American shipping grandfather’s papers housed and catalogued at abroad and … to look out for the welfare of American Georgetown University. She supplemented this rich seamen.” Strickland sent 272 dispatches to the State resource with research into historical and newspaper Department in his 23 years as consul, trying to inform archives to document context and details in this absorb- the U.S. diplomatic and commercial communities ing story. Engert attended Wellesley and Yale, and lives about the benefits of trade with Africa. and writes in Oregon. Stephen H. Grant served for 25 years with USAID and was posted in the Ivory Coast, El Salvador, MEMOIRS & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Indonesia, Egypt, West Africa and Guinea. He is also the author of three books that use old picture postcards Echoes of a Distant Clarion: to recount social history. He is currently a senior fellow Recollections of a Diplomat at the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. and Soldier This book is part of the ADST-DACOR Diplomats and John G. Kormann, Diplomacy Series. New Academia/Vellum Books, 2007, $46.00/hardcover, Tales from the Embassy: $30.00/paperback, 500 pages. The Extraordinary World An exciting era in the 20th of C. Van H. Engert century comes alive in this Jane Morrison Engert, autobiography of an adventur- Eagle Editions, 2006, $31.50, ous diplomat, soldier and intelligence officer, the sev- paperback, 286 pages. enth title in ADST’s Memoirs and Occasional Papers This biography is not only a Series. portrait of a larger-than-life Following combat in Europe in World War II, American diplomat, the author’s Special Agent Kormann goes behind enemy lines to grandfather, whose Foreign apprehend Nazi war criminals and uncover a mass Service career spanned two World Wars — from 1912 grave. As a U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps field to 1945. It also offers a fascinating glimpse into the evo- office commander in Berlin from 1945 to 1947, he lution of the State Department and Foreign Service searches for Martin Bormann, Hitler’s deputy, and the and major historical events. American traitor, “Axis Sally.” He rescues a German Cornelius Van Hemert Engert, who enjoyed creat- scientist from the Soviet secret police in a case that ing mystery as to his origins, began as a student inter- makes international headlines. preter in Constantinople and retired as U.S. minister in In 1950, as a new Foreign Service officer, Kormann Kabul. In his own words, his career “went from one is placed in charge of three counties in Bavaria during calamity to another” — including stints in Constan- the final days of the American occupation. Later he is tinople during the Balkan Wars and World War I, in involved in the abortive Hungarian Revolution, the U-2 Peking during the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, and spy plane affair and the U.S. response to erection of the in Addis Ababa when Mussolini’s troops conquered Berlin Wall. As a political officer in Manila, he witness- Ethiopia. There, he, his wife and several aides took up es the onset of the Marcos regime; as officer-in-charge arms and personally defended the unprotected at Embassy Benghazi, he directs its defense against a American legation from rioting mobs. mob that attacked and burned it during the 1967 Arab-

26 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 Israeli War; as DCM in Cairo, he facilitates Henry — including a reigning monarch — as a member of Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy negotiations; and as a staff the Foreign Service for 28 years. And, as he says in aide, he assists Director of Central Intelligence George the introduction to this lean and captivating memoir, H.W. Bush. this was not the typical FS career. John Godlove Kormann graduated from the High A former Airborne Ranger, Stahlman admits to a School of Music and Art in New York City and received tendency to seek demanding assignments. Yet, as he his B.A. in government and M.A. in public law from notes, “strangely, wherever he was assigned, violence Columbia University. He is a graduate of the Army War or disaster lurked or soon occurred.” In Colombia, College and a former president of the 17th Airborne his first and last post, it was ‘violencia’ by guerrilla Division Association. A military historian, he has writ- groups, the drug mafia and natural disaster. While ten on airborne warfare, denazification and U.S. mili- assigned to Panama, mobs attacked the embassy tary assistance to Africa. twice. In Central America, it was revolution and bor- der strife. While he was in Jordan, the Six-Day War The U.S. Foreign Service: erupted, and three days before his posting to From New Frontier to Bangladesh, India bombed Dhaka. In Dhahran, the War on Drugs effects of the Iran-Iraq War spilled over near his post John W. Stahlman, Xlibris and in Mecca. Corporation, 2007, $15.00, But in each assignment, Stahlman and his family hardcover, 152 pages. were rewarded with firsthand experiences getting to John Stahlman rose from a know the people, culture and natural beauty of their modest background as a lad in host country. And, he reports, his children recall Ohio in the 1930s to interaction their FS upbringing as “a blast.” with high government officials John Stahlman served from 1959 to 1986, with

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 27 assignments in South and Central America, the erick Irving, in Austria, New Middle East, Southeast Asia and India. In 1962 he was Zealand, Iceland and Jamaica. detailed to the Peace Corps for two years. The book She takes us with her in can be ordered from the author by phone or fax: (727) these essays as she feels the 863-0500. tension of life in an occupied city, teaches in a Rastafarian Distinguished Service: Lydia Chapin Kirk, school and enters a car with Partner in Diplomacy, 1896-1984 two armed gunmen — Edited by Roger Kirk, Syracuse University Press, 2007, because the resulting contact $22.95, hardcover, 216 pages. is in the interest of her coun- This historical memoir tells the story of a remark- try. She tells us why she washed windows in a New able woman living through a transitional time when Zealand school and scrubbed the walls in the embassy wives’ roles were different than they are today. It residence, and how she diverted a caller who wanted gives voice to the many women of her generation to kill her husband. She writes of the Icelandic chil- whose untold contributions will inspire readers of all dren who taught her their language, the Jamaican backgrounds. children whom she taught and of her own children In 1939, when her husband became a U.S. naval growing up in a Foreign Service life. attaché in London, Lydia Kirk packed up her family and In each country in which the couple served, Irving embarked on a lifelong journey in which she witnessed helped make a difference. In Reykjavik, the govern- firsthand the run-up to World War II and the subse- ment praised her role in improving American- quent events of the Cold War. She also describes her Icelandic relations during a stressful period when life as a young girl in Paris and Washington before retention of the American-staffed NATO base there World War I. was at risk. At three Cabinet meetings the Jamaican With vivid detail, she offers recollections of government approvingly discussed her wide-ranging President Theodore Roosevelt, Soviet Foreign Minister involvement in their country. Andrei Gromyko and Madame Chiang Kai-shek. She Dorothy Irving grew up in Providence, R.I. She paints a picture of Moscow during the early days of the has degrees from Mount Holyoke College and Cold War and Taiwan after the split from Mao Tse- Columbia University. She and her husband now live tung’s China. in the Greater Boston area, where they are often vis- She also shines a light on life in the diplomatic corps ited by friends from the countries in which they have and, in particular, the unique challenges and complex served. Irving continues her interest in foreign affairs managerial and social responsibilities of a diplomat’s and children’s education. She has written articles for spouse. An accomplished author, she wrote three nov- local newspapers and college publications. els and a book on life in Moscow that were published during the 1950s and 1960s. Nine Lives: A Foreign Lydia Kirk’s son, FSO Roger Kirk, edited this book, Service Odyssey which is part of the ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Allen C. Hansen, Diplomacy Series. He served as ambassador to Somalia New Academia, 2007, and Romania, as well as to the U.N. Organizations in $30.00, paperback, 430 Vienna, retiring in 1990. He is co-author of Romania pages. and the United States: Diplomacy of the Ab- Nine Lives is a window surd, 1985-1989 (Palgrave Macmillan, 1994). into the excitement, frustra- tions, satisfactions and — This Too Is Diplomacy: Stories of a Partnership sometimes — glamour of a Dorothy J. Irving, Author House, 2007, $15.00, Foreign Service career. It is paperback, 237 pages. also a contribution to the debate over public diplo- Written with grace and humor, Foreign Service macy that has raged since the events of 9/11. Allen spouse Dorothy Irving’s This Too Is Diplomacy shows Hansen’s memoir explains how the United States what “two for the price of one” can mean. Irving Information Agency, responsible until 1999 for what served with her husband, retired Ambassador Fred- is now called public diplomacy, conducted media, cul-

28 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 tural and educational exchange programs in nine A Globetrotter’s Collage countries during the Cold War. It contains detailed Marcelina O. Huesmann, descriptions of some successful public diplomacy pro- Rhombus Publishing, 2006, grams that could offer valuable lessons for current $9.00 plus shipping and PD practitioners. handling, paperback, 89 pages. Each chapter begins with Hansen’s arrival in a In this hand-lettered book, country, details the country’s relationship with the the author recounts stories U.S. and outlines the objectives and programs of the about more than 30 years of U.S. Information Service (USIA’s overseas arm) travel, including official post- there. He describes the achievements — and at times ings with her FSO husband. A the lack thereof — of both American and local per- native of the Philippines, Marcelina O. Huesmann pre- sonnel, as well as interagency relationships. He sents tales and anecdotes that span the globe — she has recounts such events as an earthquake in Mexico City, visited all seven continents. From eating fried flying a murder in Montevideo, coups d’etat in Venezuela ants in Uganda and hearing Mass in a click dialect in and Bolivia, and a civil war in the Dominican Swaziland to floating down the Amazon, her entertain- Republic. ing vignettes will delight anyone who has traveled and Allen C. Hansen joined USIA as a member of the stir the imagination of those who haven’t. second junior-officer training class in 1954, a year A Foreign Service spouse, Huesmann currently lives after the creation of the new agency. As a Foreign with her husband in Bethesda, Md. She was trained as Service officer for 32 years, he served in nine coun- an architect and worked for the Nigerian Ministry of tries and Washington, D.C. He retired in 1987. This Works and Housing. She has lived in Uganda, book is part of ADST’s Memoirs and Occasional Swaziland and Yemen, among other countries. She was Papers Series. inspired to write A Globetrotter’s Village for her 50th

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 29 high school reunion. The book can be ordered from the in the Caribbean for print and broadcast media. From author at 5809 Lenox Road, Bethesda MD 20817. encounters with Errol Flynn, Billy Graham, David Brinkley and Juan Peron, to a night in a Cuban jail in At Home in the World: 1960, the Hlavaceks tracked breaking stories on revolu- Memoirs of a Traveling tions, assassinations and other turning points in history. Woman “This is no mere vanity book — it’s a wonderful period Dorothy S. Conlon, Ingram, snapshot, rich in detail,” says Omaha World-Herald 2007, $19.95, paperback, columnist Michael Kelly. 160 pages. Freelancing in Paradise is the second volume in the From a lively, well-trav- memoirs of Pegge Parker, the pen name of Mrs. eled woman comes this col- Douglas Mackiernan, who was a vice consul at lection of well-written per- Consulate Lahore when she met her second husband, sonal tales that give a memo- foreign correspondent John Hlavacek. Her first hus- rable glimpse into our plan- band was a vice consul in Tihwa, Sinkiang province, et’s inexhaustible treasures of lands and peoples. China. Ordered to stay at the consulate, he escaped From Bolivia to Bhutan, from Tanzania to Thailand ahead of the Communist Chinese but was shot at the and beyond, many of Conlon’s global adventures are border of Tibet in 1950. based on volunteer projects with Earthwatch and Diapers on a Dateline (2002), the first volume of Global Volunteers, among others. They promise to memoirs, told the story of the Hlavaceks’ life and work intrigue the seasoned traveler or inspire the hesitant in India from 1952 to 1957. Freelancing was written in novice. Conlon’s zest for new sights and her enthusi- collaboration with her husband, drawing on her letters asm for getting to know people of other cultures are and clippings of the stories she wrote during the time contagious. they lived in the Caribbean. Dorothy S. Conlon was born in Japan. Her husband, Ned Conlon, was a career FSO whose postings includ- Old Gods, New Nations: ed Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, India and Pakistan. A Memoir of War, Peace Widowed in 1989, Conlon embarked on her own jour- and Nation Building neys, teaching, doing wildlife research and exploring Eugene Staples, iUniverse, new parts of the world. She gives frequent slide-show 2006, $24.95, paperback, presentations on her excursions at retirement facilities 386 pages. in Southwest Florida, where she lives. This highly readable memoir offers both a slice of Freelancing in Paradise: recent history and a com- The Story of Two American pelling look at the opportu- Reporters Who Supported nities, the richness of experi- Their Family by Covering ence and the unparalleled knowledge of the human Turbulent Times in the condition that a Foreign Service career offers. Caribbean, 1958-1963 Eugene “Rocky” Staples joined the Service in 1951 John Hlavacek and Pegge as an information officer after service as a Marine (Parker) Hlavacek, Corps fighter pilot in World War II, and was assigned iUniverse, 2007, $23.95, to the newly created U.S. Information Agency. In paperback, 350 pages. 1958, he was press officer for then-Vice President “Don’t read this book — Nixon’s controversial Latin American tour and, in the unless you are prepared to be green as a Caribbean log- 1960s, cultural counselor in Moscow during the gerhead turtle with envy over the life and adventures Kennedy-Khrushchev period. He then joined the that John and Pegge Hlavacek write about in Ford Foundation, and spent two decades helping Freelancing in Paradise,” says New York Times reporter manage its Asian development work, including on Anthony DePalma. During the late 1950s and early field assignments in Bangkok and New Delhi. 1960s, based in Jamaica with their five children and Staples returned to the Foreign Service in 1980 as Indian nanny, the couple covered the turbulent events USAID’s deputy assistant administrator for the Asia

30 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 Bureau and then as director of the USAID mission in also because being in the FS Islamabad. He retired in 1988, but returned to made them part of a much Washington yet again, in 1992, to help plan, launch and larger family, one made up of then serve as president of the Eurasia Foundation. all those who have lived Through this varied career, Staples describes the abroad in the Service. challenges and problems encountered in planning and Much of the writing was managing information and cultural programs and over- done by the late Rita Young- seas development work. He sets the context precisely, quist. Excerpts from her let- and insightful observations add depth. A penultimate ters to her parents, where she chapter suggests how we might reorder current foreign described in a direct and policy priorities more effectively. engaging style what life was like for her in Thailand in the mid-1950s, form the core Foreign Service Family of the book. Besides caring for her children, coping Harriet (Rita) Prince Parrish Youngquist and with a new and different culture and climate and enter- Eric V. Youngquist, Voyageur Publishing Co., Inc., taining, she taught English at the American University 2007, $22.50, paperback, 347 pages. Alumni Association, ran her own play school at home This is the story of Rita and Eric Youngquist’s first and started and supported a play-reading group. posting, to Thailand, and their subsequent return to Eric Youngquist served in Bangkok from 1955 to Washington to prepare for the next assignment, to 1957, first as vice consul, then as a commercial officer Finland. in the economic section, and later in the political sec- Youngquist explains that he titled the book Foreign tion dealing with Southeast Asia Treaty Organization Service Family because it describes how he and his affairs. wife and two children adjusted to living abroad, and Continued on page 35 Home Suite Home

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The Ambassador: Inside the the book also suggests what can be learned from Life of a Working Diplomat missed opportunities. John Shaw, Capital Books Inc., Charles Pritchard is president of the Korean 2007, $25.00, paperback, Economic Institute. He has served as U.S. ambassador 188 pages. to, and special envoy for negotiations with, the Demo- Profiling the life and work of cratic People’s Republic of Korea. one of the world’s most accom- plished diplomats — Sweden’s Dealing with Dictators: Dilemmas former ambassador to the U.S., Edited by Ernest R. May and Philip D. Zelikow, Jan Eliasson — this provocative The MIT Press, 2007, $27.00, paperback, 243 pages. book offers an insider’s view of how modern diplomacy While the U.S. has proclaimed its support of shapes global political debate and affects the outcome democracy and opposition to tyranny, American presi- of major world events. dents have often sustained dictators who have allied John Shaw “opens the embassy doors to show the themselves with the United States. This book explores life of a working diplomat,” writes Sandra Day the chronic dilemmas central to U.S. dealings with dic- O’Connor in the foreword. “And he shows a genuine tators under conditions of moral ambiguity. picture of that life, rich with details about its scope and Offering in-depth analysis of six cases, Dealing with nature. Along the way, the reader gets to know one of Dictators examines: the U.S. and China, 1945-1948; the most impressive ambassadors to serve in U.N. intervention in the Congo, 1960-1965; the over- Washington, D.C.” throw of the shah of Iran; U.S. relations with the Amb. Eliasson provided Shaw, a Washington Somoza regime in Nicaragua; the fall of Marcos in the Diplomat reporter, with up-close access to his work. Philippines; and U.S. policy toward Iraq, 1988-1990. For two years, Shaw attended policy meetings with the Rather than focusing on whether decisionmakers were ambassador, watched him give speeches and interact “right” or “wrong,” each chapter seeks to deepen our with other senior diplomats. The result is an engaging understanding of the uncertainty that permeates the read, relevant and important for students of interna- interaction of intelligence analysis and policymaking. tional relations. Ernest R. May is the Charles Warren Professor of American History at Harvard University. Philip D. Failed Diplomacy: The Tragic Story of Zelikow served as counselor at the Department of How North Korea Got the Bomb State from 2005 to 2007. Charles L. Pritchard, Brookings Institution Press, 2007, $26.95, hardback, 228 pages. Council UNBound North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons Michael J. Matheson, raised fears of nuclear war on the peninsula and pre- United States Institute of sented the disturbing possibility of terrorists gaining Peace Press, 2006, $19.95, access to weapons of mass destruction. What went paperback, 422 pages. wrong? How was this isolated nation, a charter mem- Michael Matheson exam- ber of the axis of evil, allowed to develop nuclear ines the United Nations Secur- weapons? ity Council’s expansive exercise Charles Pritchard, who was intimately involved in of legal authority since the end developing North Korea policy under the Clinton and of the Cold War, and its devel- Bush administrations, presents an authoritative analy- opment of bold and innovative methods to stop nascent sis of recent events on the Korean Peninsula. He wars and threats to international security. He surveys assesses the Six-Party Talks and reveals how the Bush the many roles assumed by the council in post-conflict administration’s mistakes damaged the prospects of situations — from rebuilding wartorn countries and controlling nuclear proliferation. A stinging critique, reintegrating nations back into the world community to

32 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 prosecuting war criminals and providing compensation since the 1980s. At that time, to war victims. This book examines the body’s exercise as a Senate Foreign Relations of governmental authority in territories such as Committee staffer, he uncov- Cambodia, Bosnia, Kosovo and East Timor. It also ered and publicized Saddam explores the more recent controversies over Iraq, in Hussein’s genocidal campaign which disagreements among the permanent members against Iraq’s Kurds. have made decisive action difficult, and the investiga- According to Galbraith, the tions into fraud and abuse in various U.N. programs. Bush administration’s effort to Principal deputy legal adviser to the Department of bring democracy to Iraq and State from 1990 to 2000, Michael Matheson is now a transform the Middle East is member of the U.N. International Law Commission. doomed and will only leave the U.S. with an open- ended commitment in circumstances of uncontrollable U.S. Relations with Latin turmoil. “Peter Galbraith has seen, with balance and America During the Clinton clarity, the whole arc of America’s tragic and misman- Years: Opportunities Lost or aged relationship with Iraq. This is an essential book as Opportunities Squandered? the debate on what to do in Iraq continues to grow in David Scott Palmer, the Unites States,” writes Richard Holbrooke, former University Press of California, ambassador to the U.N. 2006, $24.95, paperback, Peter Galbraith served as the first U.S. ambassador 125 pages. to Croatia. He is currently the senior diplomatic fellow Reading like an insider’s at the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation account, this treatment of the in Washington, D.C., and principal of a Vermont-based Clinton presidency’s Latin America policy is based in consulting firm specializing in international negotia- part on interviews and roundtable discussions with tions. more than 50 participants in the Latin American for- eign policy process. Statecraft: And How to Palmer concedes that the Clinton administration Restore America’s Standing made some progress managing hemispheric relations. in the World But, he argues, Clinton failed to build on the favorable Dennis Ross, Farrar, conditions he inherited. By showing only sporadic Straus and Giroux, 2007, interest in Latin America, his administration failed to $26.00, hardcover, 384 pages. exploit the historic opening for a new approach to rela- Statecraft is as old as poli- tions. (Look for a full-length review of the book in the tics: Plato wrote about it; December FSJ.) Machiavelli practiced it. Yet, A professor of international relations and political after the end of the Cold War science at Boston University, David Scott Palmer pre- some predicted that it would become obsolete. Dennis viously served as director of Latin American and Ross, the Clinton administration’s Middle East envoy, Caribbean Studies at the Foreign Service Institute. contends that in a globalized world of fluid borders, terrorist networks and violent unrest, statecraft is more The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created necessary than ever — if only to keep the peace. a War Without End In this illuminating book, Ross maintains that the Peter W. Galbraith, Simon & Schuster, 2006, $15.00, Bush administration’s problems stem from its inability paperback, 275 pages. to use the tools of statecraft — economic, diplomatic Here is an account of Washington’s failed strategy and military — to advance America’s national interests. toward Iraq from the perspective of an individual who He examines case studies of foreign policy disasters has witnessed many of that country’s milestone events and triumphs to illustrate statecraft in practice and

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 33 OF RELATED INTEREST

offers detailed proposals on current dilemmas from the cy and conflict management, has more than 40 con- Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Iranian nuclear ambi- tributors seeking to provide “wide-ranging analyses of tions. The author is currently a distinguished fellow at the sources of contemporary international conflict, and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. the means available by which that conflict can be solved.” The major themes include: the sources of con- Nixon and Kissinger: flict and challenges to global security; the uses and lim- Partners in Power its of coercive action, statecraft and soft power; and the Robert Dallek, HarperCollins, role of international organizations and institutions in 2007, $18.95, paperback, conflict management. 752 pages. Chester A. Crocker is the James R. Schlesinger After making his reputation Professor of Strategic Studies at the Edmund A. Walsh as a great historian by writing School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. biographies such as Lyndon B. He was assistant secretary of State for African affairs Johnson (1999) and John F. from 1981 to 1989 and chairman of the United States Kennedy: An Unfinished Life Institute of Peace from 1992 until 2004. (2004), Robert Dallek presents Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power, a detailed portrait of the relation- The Price of Liberty: ship between one of the most controversial recent U.S. Paying for America’s Wars presidents and his influential foreign policy collabora- Robert D. Hormats, tor. Times Books, 2007, $27.50, Dallek depicts the unsteady alliance of these two hardcover, 350 pages. clever, insecure men. At the height of their power, In this thought-provoking their collaboration and rivalry led to a series of policies history, Robert D. Hormats, a that would define the Nixon presidency. It is a collab- leading expert on international oration that, Dallek says, “tells us as much about the finance, shows how U.S. presi- opportunities and limits of national and international dents from both parties — from conditions as about the men themselves.” Or, as Jefferson down to the current president — have fol- Margaret MacMillan points out in a Washington Post lowed principles meant to secure the nation through review, the book is also “very much a history of the sound finance. Drawing on historical lessons, Hormats period as seen from inside the Beltway.” argues that the rampant borrowing to pay for the war Robert Dalleck is a professor of history at Boston in Iraq and the shortsighted tax cuts in the face of a University. long war on terrorism run counter to American tradi- tion and place the nation on dangerous ground. Leashing the Dogs of War: During each of America’s previous wars, U.S. presi- Conflict Management dents have altered fiscal policy to meet military needs. in a Divided World Today, the United States is confronting the challenges Chester A. Crocker, Fen Olser of a post-9/11 world with a pre-9/11 monetary policy. Hampson and To meet the threats facing us, Hormats maintains, we Pamela Aall (eds.), United must realign the nation’s economic policies on taxes, States Institute of Social Security, Medicare, pork-barrel spending, ener- Peace Press, 2007, $45.00, gy use and oil dependency. paperback, 726 pages. Robert Hormats is vice chariman of Goldman Sachs Since the end of the Cold (International). He served as assistant secretary of War, international conflict has become more fragment- State for economic and business affairs (1981-1982) ed and more complicated. Leashing the Dogs of War, and as ambassador and deputy U.S. trade representa- a textbook aimed at students of international diploma- tive (1979-1981).

34 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 Continued from page 31 Rhodesian lion dog. And, what really happened at the River Lip in Turkey, where a girl plunges from a POETRY & FICTION precipice into the depths of a chasm, “landing on the jagged rocks at the edge of the river, a rushing tor- Two Days of the Adder: rent that would drown out the sounds of the impact And Other Stories from or cries of anguish, if there were any”? Around the World Ken Byrns has published numerous short stories, Ken Byrns, AuthorHouse, articles and poems. Two of his stories have 2007, $14.49, hardcover, appeared in the FSJ. His first novel, The Daughter 216 pages. of Ramon Godoy (2002), is based on his experience These tales of romance, as a vice consul in Mexico City. The second, A Spy adventure and suspense are Sat Down Beside Her (2006), is an espionage thril- set in countries all over the ler, portraying events in Occupied France during world. The collection in- World War II. cludes 12 short stories and three poems inspired by The author began his diplomatic career in Mexico the author’s experiences during a 23-year Foreign and served in a half-dozen posts abroad before fin- Service career that took him from Iceland to ishing his service in Izmir, Turkey, where he was con- Vietnam, Colorado to Belgium, and Kansas to sul general. He helped negotiate the U.S. Defense Canada. Agreement with Iceland for a naval base in Keflavik. The stories are varied and full of esoteric and Later, he served as the lead negotiator for the U.S. entertaining detail. For instance, in South Africa, an agreement with NATO for the procurement of off- adder is used as a murder weapon; in Mexico, it’s a shore military equipment from Europe. Byrns lives bull; in France, a grenade; and in Zimbabwe, a in Powell, Ohio, with his wife Ginny.

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 35 Jade Phoenix country. Both risk all for each other, but give up every- Syd Goldsmith, iUniverse, thing for the love of Jade. 2006, $19.95, paperback, 326 Syd Goldsmith weaves a plot line of loyalty and pages. treachery in the lives of these three characters, against Pen strokes shatter dreams the background of the monumental change that even- of nationhood, foreign devils tually brought democracy to Taiwan. Jade Phoenix, challenge ancient Chinese cus- Goldsmith’s first work of historical fiction, was a finalist toms, and love blooms in a for the New Voices in Literature Award and a semi- wilderness of misunderstand- finalist in the William Faulkner Competition. ing in this cross-cultural adven- The author served as an FSO from 1963 to 1989, ture. When Taiwanese millionaire Ko-sa Ong shows up mostly in South America and China. As the unofficial with Jade Phoenix in Washington, D.C., to meet Nick U.S. consul general in Kaohsiung, he took part in Malter, the lives of all three interconnect in a struggle of Taiwan’s transformation from a martial-law dictatorship love, betrayal and misunderstanding. to the first-ever Chinese democracy. After retiring, he Nick, an American reporter, wants to be understood returned as a management consultant to Chinese state- and accepted by the Chinese as much as he wants to owned and private companies. He lives in Taipei with understand them. Ko-sa has everything, except a son his wife Hsiu-chen and their and a nation; and Jade has nothing after her father, a two children. senior Nationalist general, commits suicide. Best friends, Ko-sa and Nick share an abiding hatred of Assignment Sahara: Chiang Kai-shek and the cynical American Secretary of Chad and Sudan State who would forever deny the Taiwanese their Anne Kimbell, iUniverse, Inc., 2006, $14.95, paperback, 204 pages. Ordering through afsa.org After lobbying her father relentlessly, the daughter of a Here’s how it works: prominent U.S. senator gets 1. Go to the AFSA Web site, www.afsa.org. permission to join a church group aiding refugees in 2. Click on the Marketplace tab (second brown tab Sudan. While delivering food and medical supplies, the from the right). girl mysteriously disappears. Her father and the 3. Click on the “AFSA and Amazon Books” icon. embassy are desperate to track down her whereabouts, 4. Click on “FS Authors” and then go directly to and Janine Simms, an experienced CIA operative, is book listings by subject. called in. 5. Shop away! Simms is sent to Chad under the auspices of the American embassy. She is given the job of backing up Not only is this a thrifty, efficient way to do your holiday aid missions to Sudanese refugees as cover to embark on shopping, but AFSA receives a 5-percent commission her dangerous mission. She treks north to the unchart- from Amazon on every item (books, CDs, toys, etc.) ed Tibesti Mountains of Chad, aided by Barx, her expe- ordered in this manner. Books selected from the AFSA rienced bush pilot, and Lilli’s father, the frantic senator. Web site bookstore generate an even higher commis- Determined and incredibly skilled, Simms confronts the sion payment. And treacherous terrain and even an insurgent stronghold in ordering through search of the senator’s daughter. AFSA doesn’t cost Anne Kimball is the executive director of the you a cent. So Westcliff Center for the Performing Arts in Colorado. bookmark the AFSA site, use the link Assignment Sahara: Chad and Sudan is the third and help your thriller she has written following The Ibeji Twins: association — London and Nigeria (2004) and To Catch a Spy (2000), and yourself! set in Tunisia. The former wife of retired FSO James F. Relph Jr., the author has lived and worked in all of these countries.

36 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 Permanent Interests Interests is “a frightening story that gets you thinking, James Bruno, Lulu.com, 2006, $23.95, paperback, what if …,” writes author Tim Green. 392 pages. A retired FSO, James Bruno has worked as a military In Permanent Interests, diplomat Bob Innes is intelligence analyst at the Pentagon and as a news plunged into a web of political intrigue and murder. reporter with CBS News and UPI. He has experienced Corrupt White House officials have sold out to coups d’etat, conducted peace negotiations and served American and Russian racketeers to re-elect a weak in Guantanamo as liaison with the Cuban military. He President Corgan at all costs. The U.S. officials and currently serves as a member of the Diplomatic KGB officers who stand in the way are murdered. Bob Readiness Reserve. He lives with his wife and two Innes and his young aide, Colleen McCoy, become the daughters in Upstate New York. next targets of hired assassins and Russian mobsters. On the run, trying to expose the cover-ups, they fall Chasm in love. They work with a beautiful Russian escort and James Bruno, lulu.com, 2006, a colorful New York mob boss who becomes an unlike- $17.99, paperback, 312 pages. ly ally, and team up with the FBI to bring down the men Peace in the Balkans is frag- in the president’s inner circle and the Russian mob’s ile. Pinning its political fortunes godfather. The story climaxes with a plot to assassinate on ensuring the success of a a popular presidential rival known as the “Cajun shaky peace deal, the White Kennedy.” House agrees in a top-secret James Bruno captures political intrigue, greed and codicil to take in war criminals. treachery at the highest levels of government and brings This clandestine program, it crashing down in the face of relentless pursuit of the named Operation CHASM, gets out of hand as import- truth by the system’s would-be victims. Permanent ed war criminals go on a rampage of arson and murder.

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NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 37 When Mike Gallatin’s young daughter is almost killed verse,” Proctor presents this in one attack, this Cleveland investigator resolves to pur- new collection with sharper sue the case. Drawing on his detective skills, he finds focus. Dark Thoughts explores out about CHASM. But the ruthless national security the more frightening aspects of adviser orders Gallatin’s “recall,” and he will have to risk the mind and humanity. his life to get to the bottom of the conspiracy. The 39 poems are grouped Chasm is a thriller about Washington powerbrokers in two divisions: “Earth, Na- and what can happen when one average citizen, a vic- ture, Creatures” and “You, Me tim of their policies, embarks on a quest to expose and Other People, Other their hypocrisy and lies. It shows how malicious poli- Places.” The poems showcase cies can overwhelm their implementers, dragging the dichotomy of human them into self-destructive behavior. The book can be nature, the bright and dark, violent and peaceful and ordered from www.lulu.com. resolved and disjointed, representing the author’s per- ception of the world as “incredibly beautiful and Poems: Dark Thoughts uncompromisingly harsh, and with a belief — still sub- Robert W. Proctor, Mesilla Valley Press, 2006, $15.00, ject to change — that man himself is the primary source paperback, 34 pages. of all his delights … and woes.” While exposing the Only by openly grappling with “the shadows of a shadowy influences and characteristics of our minds man’s nature” do we come to fully appreciate his and mankind, Proctor reassures us that “darkness, as a brighter, more compassionate attributes, writes Robert force, has no equal — except light.” Proctor in the introduction to his first full book of poet- Robert Proctor is a retired teacher and FSO who ry. Following his earlier work, Selected Poems, 2001- served in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. His poems, 2004, intended as a selection of “hors d’oeuvres in short stories and essays have appeared in regional and

38 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 national publications, including the FSJ. He lives in La Service community — including officers, specialists, Luz, New Mexico, with his wife, Etrennes. spouses and one articulate teen — explore such topics as housing and schooling abroad, intercultural mar- SPECIALTY riage, spouse employment, political discussions with host-country nationals and the rising number of unac- Realities of Foreign companied assignments. Service Life, Volume 2 Like the first volume, this book serves as a “reality Edited by Melissa Hess, check,” detailing both the positive and negative aspects Patricia Linderman and of Foreign Service life, for partners and children as well Marlene Monfiletto Nice, as employees. iUniverse, 2007, $20.95 Co-editors Melissa Brayer-Hess, Patricia Linder- plus shipping and handling, man and Marlene Monfiletto Nice are longtime paperback, 250 pages. members of the Foreign Service community. Brayer- This is the second volume of Hess, an FS spouse, is currently deputy director in the popular and very useful the Crisis Management Training Division of the title sponsored by the Associates of the American Leadership and Management School, National Foreign Service Worldwide. The first installment, Foreign Affairs Training Center, Arlington, Va. released in 2004, contains more than 30 essays by FS Linderman, also an FS spouse, is editor in chief members and their spouses on every aspect of life in the of Tales from a Small Planet (www.talesmag.com) and Foreign Service. Monfiletto Nice, a former newspaper reporter and This new volume also focuses on the realities faced editor, accompanied her husband to three overseas by diplomats and their families outside the embassy or posts before becoming a Foreign Service officer her- consulate walls. Here, 29 writers from the Foreign self in 2005. Executive Lodging Alternatives Interim Accommodations for Corporate and Government Markets Apartments, Townhouses & Single Family Homes “FOR THE EXECUTIVE ON THE MOVE” [email protected] Locations throughout Northern Virginia and D.C. Units fully furnished, equipped and accessorized Many “Walk to Metro” locations Pet Friendly 5105-L Backlick Road, Annandale, Virginia Tel: (703) 354-4070 Fax: (703) 642-3619

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 39 Desert Island Wine 1990). The later is considered the definitive work on Miles Lambert-Gócs, Ambeli the history of Greek wine. He lives in Virginia. Press, 2007, $14.95, paperback, 190 pages. Basics of Clause and Sentence Structure: Here is a witty look at the A Handbook for New and Experienced Writers world of wine. “A delightful James R. Wachob, Vantage Press, 2007, $8.95, book, well-written and highly paperback, 50 pages. entertaining. Wine geeks will In the mold of Strunk and White’s classic “little love it, but it’s a fun read even if book,” The Elements of Style, this 50-page handbook on you can’t tell a Cabernet from a the basics of clause and sentence structure is a pithy Merlot!” says Larry Walker, associate editor of Wines & primer for the dilettante and a refresher for the sea- Vines magazine. soned wordsmith. The different categories of English A varied collection of pieces about wine apprecia- clauses and conditions that must be met when they are tion, Desert Island Wine is an unusual book. The last combined are presented in a step-by-step way. chapter, “Wine Bore Bonus (No Funny Business),” is an James R. Wachob, a retired Senior Foreign Service entirely serious presentation of the author’s discovery of officer, received State Department Superior Honor the Greek grape that is the ancestor of the Cabernet awards during the course of his 37-year diplomatic Sauvignon. This meticulously researched report can be career for performance in activities with significant expected to cause a stir among enophiles. writing components. In retirement, he was an instruc- Miles Lambert-Gócs, a former Foreign Agri- tor for grammar and writing skills in English-as-a-sec- cultural Service officer, is also the author of Greek ond-language schools for nearly two decades before Salad: A Dionysian Travelogue (Wine Appreciation becoming a public high school tutor. Wachob now lives Guild, 2004) and The Wines of Greece (Faber & Faber, in Somerset, Md., with his wife.

40 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 FS FICTION LA VIE ABATI

A BORED POLITICAL OFFICER IN A WEST AFRICAN BACKWATER VOLUNTEERS TO INVESTIGATE A REGIONAL PROBLEM AND, ULTIMATELY, LEARNS A THING OR TWO.

BY HANSCOM SMITH

he mud-brick room somehow smel- installed himself on a stool and waited for someone to led of lavender and mothballs. Cole’s emerge from the door behind the bar. As if to taunt him relief at escaping the blazing Sahe- with his unraveling schedule, the electric timepiece watch- lian afternoon only partially offset his ing over the room captured Cole’s gaze. frustration at another unexplained The clock advertised Abati, the ubiquitous national brew delay. His driver, Mr. Oumaru, had hawked with the slogan: “La vie Abati. On vous attend.” taken the sputtering Land Cruiser to ... to wherever vehi- The Abati life: We’re waiting for you. On billboards, the Tcles are repaired in the West African desert. slogan complemented beguiling spreads of slick profession- Almost as an afterthought, Cole was left to an indefinite als relaxing in nightclubs or lounging on beaches. Here, the wait. He tried not to think of the relative comfort of the words seemed surreal as they beamed their promise to the provincial capital’s frayed Hotel Sofitel, over three hours dull earthen walls. away by rutted dirt piste: air conditioning and satellite tele- vision, cold beer chilling serenely in the minibar. Cole’s eyes adjusted to the shadows of the forlorn village restaurant. He’d be lucky to find a warm bottle of Coke Cole was surprised by the quiet appearance of a here. The few rickety tables were bereft of settings. The woman behind the bar, and even more startled that she entire back wall was fronted by a wooden bar, although any was Asian. alcohol to be had was apparently kept out of sight. Cole “Bonjour, monsieur.” Her French was heavily accented. Taking his cue from the clock, Cole asked for an Abati This story won fourth place in the Journal’s 2007 Foreign and was relieved when the woman swiftly produced a frost- Service fiction contest. ed brown bottle. She looked to be in her 40s, and was Hanscom Smith entered the Foreign Service in 1990 dressed modestly in a jacket and trousers made of faded and has served in Cameroon, Denmark, Thailand, local fabric, the vibrant prints now dulled to muddy red, Cambodia and Washington, D.C. He is now at the Tai- green and brown. Lank hair was gathered at the nape of pei office of the American Institute in Taiwan. her neck. The woman was striking only by her very pres- ence, presiding calmly over this mudhole of a saloon.

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 41 Cole pulled on his beer and cussion toward the ridwan. He smiled. He produced a cigarette and thought he remembered that Christ- left it poised briefly on his lips. When Cole decided not to be ianity is common in Korea. the woman made no display of fur- “Have you met any of the nishing a light, he fumbled for match- aghast that she already Americans at the Lutheran missions? es and did it himself, exhaling impa- They tell me the ridwan’s men have tience in a torrent of smoke. knew of the limping been very active lately. Do the for- “Your vehicle is being repaired, eigners have a way of contacting each no?” she said. Land Cruiser. other if there’s a problem?” Cole decided not to be aghast that Only yesterday, the ridwan’s forces she already knew of the limping Land had stopped and briefly detained a Cruiser. The smaller the village, the Scandinavian missionary convoy, and faster everyone seemed to have the Cole was trying to track rumors that news. His reporting instincts stirred. some of the missionaries had been “Yes, we’re hoping to have repairs area?” Cole opted for an indirect physically attacked. He had a hard done so we can get back to the city by tack. time picturing his new friend chatting sunset. I’m from the American em- “My husband brought me here with the doughty Minnesotans at the bassy, visiting a few of the Lutheran three years ago, when we married. I Lutheran mission, tucking into a missions.” am from Korea.” A readiness for con- casserole and borrowing tattered Cole didn’t mention the other rea- versation seemed stymied by the copies of Ladies’ Home Journal. son for his desert foray. The local rid- woman’s meager French. She stared “My husband is from this region. I wan, or clan chieftain, had been ter- at Cole earnestly. see his family. There are few foreign- rorizing the region for weeks. He considered a barrage of ques- ers here. I do not know them.” Shedding even the pretense of oper- tions: Why did you leave Korea for The hands on the Abati clock ating under central government con- this mud-brick purgatory? How can approached 4:00. As if responding to trol, his forces were commandeering you possibly be happy here? Can you his gaze, the woman produced anoth- commercial convoys, raiding private tell me where to find some informa- er brown bottle. Cole welcomed the houses and, reportedly, even detain- tion about the ridwan so I can finish fresh beer, even as he grew increas- ing villagers in private jails. Although my work and get back to the capital? ingly anxious about getting back to none of the area’s smattering of He snuffed out his cigarette. He the provincial capital before dark. Americans had been affected, the could hear the dull hum of the clock Where was Oumaru? Were there no embassy was worried by the implica- behind the bar. “Do you have any other patrons? Perhaps the woman tions of eroding government control. children?” he asked. was a lousy cook. He laughed under Eager to break the routine of a JO “I have no children. My husband his breath, and decided on a direct political tour in a West African back- found me this place. This is my approach. water, Cole had volunteered to inves- work.” “You must have heard about all the tigate. After three days of notary ser- Cole tried to imagine local shep- attacks by the ridwan’s forces. Some vices, tedious meetings with local herds and shopkeepers at the empty Scandinavian missionaries were stop- officials and diarrhea, however, he tables, nursing Abatis beneath the ped yesterday. It is becoming dan- was chafing to go home. No one Korean’s benign gaze. He attempted gerous here.” He lit another ciga- seemed to know anything about the to conjure a vision of her husband, rette and waited for the woman to ridwan. Or, more likely, no one was and came up blank. Perhaps they speak. foolhardy enough to talk. Even the met online, he mused, barely sup- “I am safe here. The ridwan pro- missionaries changed the subject pressing a smirk. tects us.” After a pause, she added: when he broached the issue. “Do you ever get homesick? Can “The American embassy is concerned “Are there any security problems I you cook Korean food here?” His about our security.” should worry about when we drive questions made her smile even Cole could not tell if the sentence back to the city?” he asked. brighter. The woman touched her was a question or an observation. “Everything is good here.” The forehead. Beer, heat and dehydration were con- woman grinned in a way Cole found “My home is here. I know how to spiring to make him feel lightheaded. almost foolish. make Korean food. I do not need to The clock seemed to glow. His mind “How long have you lived in the eat it.” Cole tried to steer the dis- drifted to the Abati billboards in the

42 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 capital ... lush beaches and chic night- centrate on the lavish dinner he clubs. On vous attend. He emptied would soon enjoy at the hotel. Oum- the second bottle. Where was aru was studiously vague on the ques- “All I can say is” — and as he tion, but Cole knew they would make spoke he knew his tone sounded Oumaru? Were there no the last part of the journey in the more ominous than he intended — dark. “the ridwan should be careful. If any- other patrons? Perhaps The Land Cruiser rounded a cor- thing happens to an American, then ner into a small cluster of buildings, we’ll get involved.” the woman was a the last hamlet before an unpopulat- Of course the embassy would have ed stretch of the trail led to the to get involved if anything happened lousy cook. provincial capital, still nearly an hour to an Amcit, he thought. But Cole away. A final sliver of sun doused the had no idea what the embassy might horizon. Cole could faintly make out actually do about the ridwan. He a battered roadside billboard. “La vie had another sudden overpowering Abati. On vous attend.” longing to be in the Sofitel. Air con- Oumaru finished recounting what ditioning, a drink with ice, a room- composed but rudimentary French, he had learned around town and service club sandwich and, maybe, the woman wished him a safe jour- clenched the steering wheel with another Abati ... ney. atypical ardor. After a long pause, he The Korean woman watched Cole “We will wait for you,” she added stole an expectant glance at Cole. intently, a flickering smile still playing as Cole followed his driver out the “So, monsieur, what did you learn across her lips. He hesitated to meet door. My God, he thought, did she from the ridwan’s wife?” her gaze and instead found himself learn her French by parroting ad staring at the tired print on her jack- campaigns? et. He quickly shifted his eyes to the Cole turned and saw the Korean’s clock above her head. Nearly 4:30. If absurdly grinning face. Against the Oumaru returned now, there might somber mud brick, it appeared sus- barely be enough time to make it to pended between the bar and the the hotel by dark. clock. “You are staying at the Sofitel.” Again, Cole could not discern if this was a question or a statement. He was considering going out to look The normally garrulous Oumaru for Oumaru when another Abati was unusually subdued, which was appeared before him on the bar. just as well. Cole felt no need to “No, please. No thank you,” he mention that he’d been discussing stammered as what looked like disap- their trip with a North Korean bar- pointment registered on the woman’s tender. As the Land Cruiser sped face. Fear of boredom must have down the narrow road into gathering made her so quick on the trigger, twilight, Oumaru began to share his Cole decided, and out of pity he tried own intelligence. Cole was faintly to revive the conversation. “Where embarrassed to find that he had are you from in Korea?” gleaned more information on the rid- “Pyongyang,” she replied artlessly. wan’s activities than Cole himself. Cole took a gulp of the beer. As if Understandably, the spate of road- magically aware that he was needed, side ambushes by the ridwan’s men Oumaru arrived to announce that the made Oumaru especially uneasy. Land Cruiser was repaired and ready Stories of violence against the Scan- to complete the day’s journey. Cole dinavian missionaries were apparent- dropped some crumpled bills on the ly more than just rumors. Cole ner- bar and affected a careless demeanor vously ran his fingers up and down as he walked toward the door. In her the taut seat belt as he tried to con-

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 43 CAN AMERICAN LEADERSHIP BE RESTORED?

THE WORLD BEFORE US TODAY IS BOTH UNFAMILIAR AND UNANTICIPATED. HERE IS A THOUGHT-PROVOKING TOUR D’HORIZON.

BY CHAS W. F REEMAN JR.

hen our descendants look back Assessing the Collateral Damage on the end of the 20th century Much more has been destroyed than just the social and and the beginning of this one, political orders in Iraq and Afghanistan. The term “col- they will be puzzled. The end lateral damage” was invented to denote the undesirable of the Cold War relieved side effects of actions on the battlefield. But it certainly Americans of almost all inter- applies to the consequences of our confused and counter- national anxieties. It left us productive conduct and the misdirection of our armed free to use our unparalleled economic power, military forces since 9/11. We have greatly devalued our political Wmight and cultural appeal to craft a world to our liking. We and moral standing with our allies and friends, and fool- did not rise to the occasion. Nonetheless, almost the whole ishly degraded the deterrent value of our military power. world stood with us after 9/11. The world now fears our savagery but has lost confidence There is still no rival to our power, but almost no one in our fair-mindedness, judgment and competence. What abroad now wants to follow our lead, and our ability to are the consequences of this, and how can we overcome shape events has been greatly, perhaps irreparably, enfee- them? bled. In less than a decade, we have managed to discredit A common concern about the belligerent unilateralism our capacity to enlist others in defending our interests and of the world’s greatest military power is driving lesser forfeit our moral authority as the natural leader of the powers to look for political and economic support from global community. countries who are distant, unthreatening or unlikely to There is no need for me to outline to this expert audi- back American agendas. So, for example, Venezuela, ence the many respects in which our prestige and influ- Brazil, Saudi Arabia and key African countries are all ence are now diminished. Historians will surely wonder: courting China; Europe is flirting with Asia; and all are How did this happen? But for now, how we got into this seeking the affections of the oil and gas producers of the mess is far less important than figuring out how we can get Middle East, as well as wooing Russia and India. In most out of it. countries, politicians now see public spats with the United States as the easiest way to rally their people and enhance Chas W. Freeman Jr., a retired member of the Senior Foreign their prestige. The result is the progressive displacement Service and former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, is president of our previously indispensable influence and leadership of the Middle East Policy Council. This article is excerpted in more and more areas of the world. from Amb. Freeman’s remarks to the Washington Institute of Sagging demand for our leadership may be a good thing Foreign Affairs on May 24. to the extent it relieves us of the burdens of our much-pro-

44 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 claimed status as the sole remaining superpower. But we’re blunders in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon. Saudi Arabia has clearly bothered by being seen as less relevant. Our answer awakened from its traditional risk-averse passivity to fill the to this seems to be to build an even more powerful military. diplomatic vacuums we have created. Israel is even more Some of you will recall newspaper reports that our defense despised and isolated than we are, and together we are spending is only about 3.6 percent of GDP, reflecting a rapidly multiplying the ranks of terrorists with regional and defense budget of only — I emphasize only — $499.4 bil- global reach. And so it goes. lion. But a lot of defense-related spending is outside the Defense Department’s budget. In Fiscal Year 2007, we will An Unfamiliar and Unanticipated World actually spend at least $935 billion (or about 6.8 percent of The world before us is both unfamiliar and unanticipat- our GDP) on our military. ed. Our military-industrial complex securocrats and pun- Outside DOD, the Department of Energy will spend dits keep arguing for more carriers, submarines and fighter $16.6 billion on nuclear weapons. The State Department bombers. This is good for the defense industrial base. But will disburse $25.3 billion in foreign in terms of stopping terrorists, it is, I military assistance. We will expend am afraid, an American equivalent of $69.1 billion on defense-related home- the Maginot Line: the building of an land security programs and $69.8 bil- impregnable deterrent to the threat of lion for treatment of wounded veter- The world now fears our the past, not the future. Like the ans. The Treasury will pay out $38.5 French generals of World War II, our billion on unfunded military retire- savagery but has lost defense planners are preparing for the ments. We will allocate $206.7 bil- return of a familiar enemy, some new lion for interest on war debt. Other confidence in our fair- version of our sadly vanished Soviet bits and pieces, including satellite adversary, that will rise to compete launches, will add another $8.5 bil- mindedness, judgment with us for global hegemony and that lion. we can hold to account for failing to Altogether, I repeat, that’s about and competence. constrain attacks on us by lesser ene- $935 billion. But there’s no sign that mies. But that is not what is happen- all this military spending, though ing, and it must now be doubted that vastly more than the rest of the it ever will. world’s combined, and the power- In the world of the early 21st cen- projection capabilities it buys are regaining international tury, the major ideological contest is between those who leadership for us. share our past faith in the rule of law and the new American In Latin America, Brazil is assuming the mantle of contempt for the notion that we should, like others, respect regional leader, even as Hugo Chavez and other defiant the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions and nationalists seek to gain influence at our expense. other elements of international law. In some senses, we In Europe, transcontinental integration is proceeding have met the enemy, and he is who we used to be. We can without reference to us or our views about the roles of count on no common threat to rally the world behind us. In strategically important countries like Turkey and Ukraine in the new era, there are no blocs and no clear battle lines. the European Union. New relationships are being forged Those who are our allies for some purposes may be our with Russia. European policies toward such problem states adversaries in respect to others, and vice versa. For all of as Iran, Iraq and Israel increasingly diverge from our own. our military strength, the demands on our diplomatic skills Asia is returning to its pre-modern status as the center of will be the greatest in our history. The stakes are high, and gravity of the world economy. Events there are being dri- the margins for error of our foreign policies are steadily nar- ven not by us, but by the restored wealth and power of rowing. Yet we are training our diplomats for the transfor- China and India, a newly assertive Japan, strategic reposi- mative tasks of imperial administration. Like our military tioning by both parts of Korea, growing partnerships planners, our diplomatic leadership has it wrong. Our between Muslim nations in Southeast Asia and the Arabs empire was stillborn. We just didn’t notice. and Persians, the de facto reintegration of Taiwan with the Our post–Cold War global hegemony is being under- rest of China, and a bloom of pan-Asian political and eco- mined, not by a peer competitor but by a combination of nomic arrangements from which we are absent. our own neocon-induced ineptitude and the emergence of In the Middle East, Iran has been empowered by our countries with substantial power and influence in their own

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 45 regions. These regional powers dis- India and Japan, and includes no trust our purposes, fear our mili- Muslim nation or group of nations tarism and reject our leadership. We can count on no among its permanent members. The Distrust drives them to reaffirm the U.N.’s difficulties are compounded principles of international law we common threat to rally by the contemptuous treatment it have now abandoned. Fear drives now receives from Washington, and them to pursue the development or the world behind us. by the effects on its image here and acquisition of weapons with which to abroad of our using it primarily to deter the policies of pre-emptive In the new era, there fend off international condemnation attack and forcible regime change we of outrageous behavior by Israel. We now espouse. (If the weak think the are no blocs and no can and must do better than this. powerful consider themselves above To regain both credibility and the law, the only protection for the clear battle lines. international respect, we Americans vulnerable is to arm themselves. So must, of course, restore the vigor of scofflaw behavior in the name of halt- our constitutional democracy and its ing or reversing the proliferation of respect for civil liberties. But that in weapons of mass destruction actually itself will be far from enough. The promotes it.) economy. It still discusses global willingness of others to follow us in All this is creating a world of trade and investment imbalances. the past did not derive from our abil- regional balances in which we play a But without Chinese participation, ity to intimidate or coerce them. lessened role. Some of these region- this amounts to little more than inef- Instead, we inspired the world with al balances, as in South Asia today fectual whining. our vision and our example. Now we and the Middle East of the future, Or consider energy and the envi- know what we’re against, but what involve dangerous nuclear standoffs ronment, other issues of broad con- are we for? Whatever happened to between two or more middle-ranking cern. With the fastest-growing new American optimism and idealism? To powers. energy consumers like China, India be able to lead the world again, we and Brazil outside the Organization must once more exemplify aspira- Misalignment of for Economic Cooperation and De- tions for a higher standard of free- Power and Institutions velopment and its affiliated Inter- dom and justice at home and abroad. As new centers of economic and national Energy Agency, there is no We cannot compel, but must per- political power emerge around the way to coordinate an effective inter- suade others to work with us. And to world, global institutions designed to national response to energy shortages lead a team, we must rediscover how include countries whose participation or crises. And when the United to be a team player. is essential to problem-solving are no States absents itself, as we have from longer in alignment with the actual the Kyoto regime and from some Toward a Concert of Powers distribution of either the world’s parts of the U.N. system, even less When President Franklin Delano power or its problems. They reflect can be accomplished. Roosevelt first proposed what be- the past rather than the present inter- The same pattern of growing mis- came the United Nations, he envis- national pecking order. Because they alignment between power and insti- aged a concert of powers that could exclude key players, they can’t con- tutions exists throughout the interna- foster a harmonious and largely trive workable solutions or secure tional system. The membership and peaceful world order, increasingly buy-in from those who must support voting arrangements of the U.N. free of both want and fear, and them or, at least, refrain from wreck- Security Council, for example, reflect respectful of individual and collective ing them if they are to succeed. both the colonial era and the out- rights as well as of the cultural diver- The problem is most obvious in come of World War II far better than sity of humankind. That vision organizations devoted to economic they mirror current realities. A body remains both relevant and com- matters. charged with the management of pelling. The bipolar struggles of the Take the Group of Eight, a self- global security and other vitally Cold War strangled it at birth, but constituted Euro-American-Japanese important issues is obviously handi- that conflict is over. The world that is club of democracies plus Russia. The capped in its ability to make, legit- emerging, though it contains multiple G-7, as it was until 1998, once played imize and enforce its decisions if it strategic geometries, needs a com- a central role in managing the global overweighs Europe, inflexibly slights mon architecture that can flexibly

46 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 address its problems and sustain its not yet implemented, almost every- peace and development. where. Embedding it firmly in the As currently constituted, the U.N. The membership and structure of the emerging world does not serve these purposes well. It order should be at the very top of our is time to admit that it has lost the voting arrangements of foreign policy agenda. It must be at confidence of many of its members. the center of any reaffirmation of the We need to update it, as we must the U.N. Security U.N.’s purposes through its reform or reform other institutions, such as the replacement. G-8, the World Bank and the Inter- Council reflect both the But if America and Europe, which national Monetary Fund, to be able originated and sponsored the idea of to manage the challenges before us. colonial era and the a tolerant, rule-bound international And if we cannot bring these organi- order as an alternative to the law of zations into alignment with emerging outcome of World War II the jungle, are no longer united in realities, we should not shrink from support of the rule of law, it is unlike- starting over by creating alternatives far better than they ly to survive, still less to prevail, as the to them. international system evolves. And as Like our own country, the United mirror current realities. European arrest warrants for U.S. Nations was founded on the belief agents engaged in officially sanc- that liberty, tranquility and the gener- tioned kidnappings and torture attest, al welfare are best secured by the rule the Atlantic community is now seri- of law — universal adherence to rules ously divided. If we Americans that provide predictable order and democracy, is a unique contribution renew our adherence to the rule of protect the weak against the strong. of Western culture to global civiliza- law at home, as I believe we must, we That concept, like parliamentary tion. It has been embraced, though would find the European Union

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 47 ready to work closely with us in pro- States a certainty, not a matter of con- moting it abroad. jecture. Nowhere has the utility of consul- We face perplexing The Palestine problem cannot be tative processes been more convinc- solved by the use of force; it requires ingly demonstrated than in Europe, choices in every region much more than the diplomacy-free where a democratic common political foreign policy we have practiced since culture respectful of human rights of the world. But the 9/11. Israel is not only not managing has spread across a continent. A club this problem; it is severely aggravating of democracies like the G-8 may not policies that have it. Denial born of political correctness be able to manage the world’s econo- will not cure this fact. Israel has my, but regular meetings at the sum- brought discredit upon shown, not surprisingly, that if we mit of such a grouping could have a offer nothing but unquestioning sup- major impact on the world’s political us center on one region, port and political protection for what- evolution if they focused on harmo- ever it does, it will feel no incentive to nizing and promoting global stan- the Middle East. pay attention to either our interests or dards for the rule of law and parlia- our advice. Hamas is showing that if mentary democracy. The ground- we offer it nothing but unreasoning work for such an effort is already in hostility and condemnation, it will place. only stiffen its position and seek allies Finding common ground with among our enemies. In both cases, Europe and Japan will also be key to rorism, we must address the issues we forfeit our influence for no gain. curing our deficit of leadership with that give rise to it. There will be no negotiations respect to global climate change. Principal among these is the brutal between Israelis and Palestinians, no China is about to overtake the U.S. as oppression of the Palestinians by an peace and no reconciliation between the world’s largest emitter of green- Israeli occupation that recently them — nor any reduction in terror- house gases. The prerequisite for per- marked its 40th anniversary and ism — until we have the courage to suading Beijing to behave responsibly shows no sign of ending. Arab identi- act on our interests. These are not the is to join the other industrial democra- fication with Palestinian suffering, same as those of any party in the cies in behaving responsibly ourselves. once variable in its intensity, is now region, including Israel. We must talk Only then can we insist that China and total. American identification with with all parties, whatever we think of other newly industrializing nations do Israeli policy has also become total. them or their means of struggle. likewise. Those in the region and beyond it who Refusal to reason with those whose detest Israeli behavior, which is to say actions threaten injury to oneself, Focus on the Middle East almost everyone, now naturally extend one’s friends and one’s interests is I have been talking about how to their loathing to Americans. This has foolish, feckless and self-defeating. reassert our leadership on the global had the effect of universalizing anti- That is why it is past time for an active level. But, in the end, we face the Americanism, legitimizing radical and honest discussion with both Israel paradox that the world, though global- Islamism and gaining Iran a foothold and the government Palestinians have ized to an unprecedented degree, is among Sunni as well as Shiite Arabs. elected, which — in an irony that made up of a series of regions in For its part, Israel no longer even escapes few abroad — is the only which regional powers increasingly pretends to seek peace with the democratically elected government in call the shots. And all diplomacy, like Palestinians; it strives instead to pacify the Arab world. all politics, is local. We face perplex- them. Palestinian retaliation against But to restore our reputation in the ing choices in every region of the this policy is as likely to be directed region and the world, given all that world. against Israel’s American backers as has happened, and to eliminate ter- But the policies that have brought against Israel itself. Under the cir- rorism against Americans, it is no discredit upon us center on one cumstances, such retaliation — what- longer enough just to go through the region, the Middle East. To restore ever form it takes — will have the sup- motions of trying to make peace our reputation, we must correct these port or at least the sympathy of most between Israelis and Arabs. We must mistakes. And the problem of terror- people in the region and many outside succeed in actually doing so. There is ism that now bedevils us has its origins it. This makes the long-term escala- no more urgent task for American in the same region. To end this ter- tion of terrorism against the United diplomacy.

48 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 A MARSHALL PLAN FOR LATIN AMERICA

THERE MUST BE A FUNDAMENTAL REVISION OF OUR COUNTRY’S ROLE IF WE ARE TO MAKE DEVELOPMENT — AND DIPLOMACY — TRULY “TRANSFORMATIONAL.”

BY GEOFFREY CHALMERS

uring the past year, a period described must be better understood if the United States is to succeed by The Economist as “The Battle For in making development “transformational,” as called for by Latin America’s Soul,” the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. An evaluation of these Agency for International Develop- trends points to the need for a fundamental revision of our ment attempted to reform the devel- country’s role in the region — specifically, a serious redou- opment assistance process while also bling of our commitment to economic development in order linking it more closely to America’s to stem the migration flow, encourage democratic participa- strategic interests, both short- and long-term. In parallel, tion in a globalized world, and reclaim our influence in the Dthe Millennium Challenge Account, a Bush administration hemisphere. initiative to reward countries that meet certain criteria, has taken off and often works side-by-side with USAID. Solving the Migration Issue During the same period, American politicians approved Much emphasis has been placed on the two aspects of legislation mandating the construction of expensive, high- migration as Americans view it: how to handle the legal sta- tech barriers to keep mostly poor Mexicans from entering tus of the immigrants currently living in the U.S. and how to the United States. Hundreds and even thousands of miles secure the border to keep future migrants out. Largely left from the U.S.-Mexico border, rural Mexicans and Central out of this debate is any discussion of our long-term vision. Americans languish amid lack of economic opportunity. If one believes that reducing the flow of migrants — espe- Virtually untouched by the new opportunities created else- cially illegal migrants — from the south is a desirable goal, is where by the North American Free Trade Agreement and there a systematic way to achieve that reduction without other free trade measures, they are driven to make the per- spending billions of dollars building a wall, alienating a close ilous trip north in search of a livelihood. friend and neighbor, and maintaining indefinitely what This confluence of political, economic and social trends would have to be one of the world’s most sophisticated secu- rity apparatuses? Geoffrey Chalmers has worked for USAID since 2001, spe- The most important statistic in the U.S. migration debate cializing in development programs in the area of economic is one that is rarely heard: the border between the U.S. and development (with a focus on micro/small enterprises and Mexico, where per capita income is only a fourth of that of microfinance). He currently serves in Mexico City. The the United States, represents the world’s greatest absolute views expressed here are the author’s own and not necessar- income disparity line. The absolute difference in average ily those of the U.S. Agency for International Development, income between the two countries is greater than it is along the U.S. embassy in Mexico or the U.S. government. any other land border in the world. Until this disparity is sig-

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 49 nificantly reduced, the wall will have the people” with his foreign aid. to be extraordinarily tall to keep out Recently, Chavez offered the new the natural effects of supply and Chavez has challenged Evo Morales government in Bolivia demand and to dampen the desires of $100 million to implement a micro- poor people living in rural areas in the longstanding role credit program, to be modeled after Mexico, where the only hope for their Venezuela’s highly distortionary and children’s future currently lies in their and image of the U.S. politicized program. This example is neighbor to the north. particularly telling because Bolivia is as the region’s most the birthplace of Latin American Disaffection by Exclusion microfinance, and one of its most suc- A second sociopolitical phenome- important and generous cessful case studies. Following the non that must be better understood is example of Nobel Peace Prize winner a variant of a commonly heard theme: donor country. Muhammad Yunus, Bolivia has been the disaffection with globalization in the “Bangladesh of Latin America,” developing countries. In contrast to creating a diverse and competitive the highly visible role of anti-global- microfinance sector that serves the ization activists, it is a subtle disaffec- poorest members of society with tion. What we are seeing is a frustra- much-needed financial services such tion that has existed for dec- gence of populism, on both the left as microenterprise loans, safe savings ades, even centuries, and a disap- and right, as the defining shift of the and insurance. pointment that this new model of eco- last five to 10 years. In any case, politi- USAID is commonly credited as nomic development does not appear cians are responding — both positively instrumental in bringing about the to be any better than past models at and negatively — to the electorate’s Bolivian success story. Indeed, for addressing the question of socioeco- demands for governments to address decades the U.S. has been widely rec- nomic exclusion. the exclusion in their societies. ognized as the most important donor To be sure, benefits have come as a Clearly, encouraging more demo- throughout the region, enjoying sig- result of the region’s embrace of fiscal cratic regimes in Latin America is nificant good will among the people of discipline and more open economies: important in ensuring a friendly, col- Latin America for bringing them namely, more stability and fewer laborative and safe hemisphere. It improved health care delivery sys- crises. But Latin America’s “man and would follow, therefore, that it is in tems, better schools, broader access woman in the street” have not missed the strategic interest of the United to financial services and better eco- the fact that these benefits have been States to contribute to inclusive soci- nomic opportunities for the excluded. highly concentrated among the rela- eties where such authoritarian ten- Equally important, this support did tively better-off, those with more dencies do not gain traction. not consist of paternalistic giveaways, access to education and, quite often, nor was it motivated by who was or those fortunate enough to live in cer- The New Donor in Town was not allied with the United States tain geographic zones. In Mexico, this The noisiest of the new generation at the moment. It was long-term in has generally translated to more of political leaders who are capitaliz- nature and oriented toward leaving opportunity for those in the north and ing on this disaffection, of course, is sustainable development in its wake. parts of the center of the country, Venezuelan President Hugo Cha- But now our status as the hemi- those in urban areas, and those near vez. As he moves closer to Fidel Cas- sphere’s most generous neighbor is certain markets or infrastructure. tro, and as he recruits new “Bolivar- being challenged by a donor with a Some of today’s more astute politi- ian” partners in South America, he fundamentally different view of how cal leaders are quite adept at capital- gets even more attention. Chavez has best to raise the living standard of the izing on disaffection. The Economist challenged the longstanding role and region’s most vulnerable populations. and other commentators have noted image of the U.S. as the region’s most With his targeted support, Chavez that the most significant pendulum important and generous donor coun- may well undo the success of Bolivian swing in the region is not so much a try, offering cheap oil, cash and social microfinance (by flooding the market resurgence of the left, but the emer- programs modeled after his own, to with cheap, subsidized loans that do gence of democratically elected auth- friendly governments. He has even not need to be repaid) and simultane- oritarian and pseudo-authoritarian offered cheap oil to poor U.S. com- ously demonstrate his ability to “out- rulers. Others emphasize the re-emer- munities in an effort to go “directly to give” the United States.

50 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 Dual Economies and the tively large and thriving middle class. national growth; that is, an increase of Rural/Urban Divide For these groups, free trade and 5 percent in agricultural output leads If there is one characteristic of democracy has been a boon. The to 10-percent growth nationwide. Latin American societies that has same goes for those regions of Mexico Thus, the stagnation we see in the changed remarkably little over time, it fortunate enough to be located near Latin American countryside repre- is their dual nature. It is not the fault the right markets, roads, schools and sents not only misery for rural resi- of globalization or the Washington other infrastructure. dents, but also a lost opportunity to Consensus (the pro-free trade views Yet those excluded from these jumpstart the overall economy. that emerged from the Washington- gains are numerous; similar to most Those migrating to the U.S., not based institutions such as the World countries in the region, more than 40 surprisingly, are largely from these Bank and IMF) that Latin American percent of the Mexican population areas. According to Manuel Orozco societies are divided, nor that their live below the poverty line. They are (“Remittances to Latin America: Is- economies reflect these fault lines. disproportionately from rural areas, sues and Perspectives on Develop- But fairly or not, the Washington and often from certain regions, such ment”), 10 predominantly rural states Consensus is widely blamed for failing as the south of Mexico. The rural/ account for the majority of emigration to narrow the massive equality gap in urban divide is one of the defining from Mexico. Between 1993 and Latin America. characteristics of the dualistic Latin 1997, 46 percent of Mexican migrants Consider Mexico, which in many American economies. It is also one to the U.S. came from towns with ways is a wealthy country. Some of of the most damaging, particularly fewer than 2,500 inhabitants. For the the world’s richest men and women because research (see de Ferranti and 2001-2004 period, this proportion (including the world’s wealthiest indi- Perry, “Beyond the City: The Rural grew to 51 percent. vidual, Carlos Slim) are Mexican; the Contribution to Development”) sug- The income gap between rural and large cities are filled with expensive gests that improvements in agricultur- urban Mexico is intimately related to cars and houses; and there is a rela- al output cause a doubling of overall the U.S.-Mexico income gap. To

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 51 make a dent in both income gaps, and that to the $40 million to $70 million to reduce and regularize the flow of per year that was provided in aid to migration to the United States over Most importantly, such a Mexico from 2002 to 2006, right on the long run, the benefits of global- our 2,000-mile-long border — only a ization must be brought to those who plan would be based on a small fraction of which goes to eco- have been excluded and left behind, nomic development activities. throughout the region. Focusing new urgency, a sense that Possibly more relevant to the U.S.- only on border security as a way of Latin America relationship, however, addressing the migration problem is the gaping disparity is the development assistance that simply not enough. poured into southern and Eastern between the U.S. and its Europe over the past two decades — A Marshall Plan for and its results. For the period from Latin America neighbors is dangerous. 2000 to 2006, according to a United Conducting a serious, sustained Nations study, European Union effort over several years to raise the funding for rural development in the standard of living in the Western south and east amounted to more hemisphere could be an extremely than $68.4 billion. Today, according high-return investment for the United to a European Commission report, States, according to Jeffrey Davidow, Bush have made trips to Latin the income disparity between West- former U.S. ambassador to Mexico. American countries (Reid to Bolivia, ern Europe and its poorer neighbors He and Luis Rubio, a Mexico-U.S. Peru and Ecuador; Bush to Mexico), to the east and south (which was not expert, wrote in the September/Octo- during which they have called for a nearly as big to begin with as the ber 2006 issue of Foreign Affairs: redoubling of our attention and U.S.-Mexico difference) has been “The immigration mess is a direct efforts to support the expansion of reduced, and employment and real result of the lack of growth and oppor- opportunities to the poor in our income have increased. In short, all tunity in Mexico. As long as Mexico neighboring countries. Finally, there of Europe is benefiting today from a remains poor and the lure of oppor- are calls from Senators Robert Men- less divided union. tunity across the border persists, endez, D-N.J., John Kerry, D-Mass., Unlike the European plan, the workers will continue to head north.” and others for a new “Social and U.S. budget for development in Latin Davidow goes so far as to recom- Economic Investment Fund for the America (including all assistance mend the creation of a major fund for Americas,” whose purpose would be except counternarcotics support to infrastructure and other develop- “to reduce poverty and foster in- Colombia and other Andean coun- ment goals, “along the lines of what creased economic opportunity in the tries) has always been relatively small the wealthier northern European countries of the Western Hemi- — and could now be reduced even nations created for their poorer sphere.” further. From 1980 to 1990, accord- European Union colleagues.” For the past several decades, U.S. ing to “U.S. Overseas Loans and Senate Majority Leader Harry support for economic development in Grants, Obligations and Loan Auth- Reid, D-Nev., has likewise been call- Latin America has been effective in orizations” (commonly known as ing for a large increase in aid to Latin some cases — but not overwhelming “The Greenbook”), total U.S. assis- America, specifically to promote and certainly not transformational. tance to Latin America averaged microcredit lending, small business Funding levels are extraordinarily about $1.4 billion per year in constant and entrepreneurial development, low compared to the resources the dollars. Between 1990 and 2000, this small farms and farmers, and a sys- U.S. invested in Europe following figure fell to $929 million, and from tem of private property ownership in World War II. 2000 to 2005, it was only $671 million rural communities. Reid argues that According to the American — a reduction of more than 50 per- “the United States should assist the Association of Arts and Sciences, U.S. cent in real terms over 20 years. neighboring country of Mexico ... investments in Western Europe after The Millennium Challenge Account because the assistance would have a World War II under the Marshall was designed to complement USAID positive impact on the United States Plan amounted to a total of $13.3 bil- funding in those countries that pass by reducing the flow of illegal lion over a four-year period — the the test of being well governed. (In migrants.” equivalent of $450 billion if measured Latin America, these include Bolivia, Both Sen. Reid and President in constant 2002 dollars. Compare Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salva-

52 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 dor.) If we count MCA funding, the support for bringing assistance as • The new approach would draw total development assistance figure high as 10 percent of the federal bud- heavily on lessons learned from past was $885 million in 2005, but this still get. work in economic development, such represents a decrease from previous Of course, more money is not the as the importance of sustainability, decades. solution by itself. Previous periods of longer horizons and building lasting The MCA is a good start, but a increased aid were generally not suc- institutions. much larger investment is needed. cessful in significantly reducing social Clearly, development profession- In addition, the increased funds must exclusion. A Marshall Plan for Latin als would have different ideas on how benefit more than a handful of coun- America would need to be well con- best to structure such a plan, and how tries in the region. The MCA may ceived and well designed, and focus- to best use such resources. continue to reward high-performing ed on projects and ideas with proven But the first step is to create a countries, but the overall assistance success as well as promising new sense of political urgency, and to program needs to have a broader approaches. make the case that these political and base of beneficiaries. And the larger Related initiatives in the areas of economic trends are closely related. initiative must be focused on the democracy and governance (reducing Ignoring them will risk squandering a kinds of assistance that can, if corruption, promoting justice reform once-in-a-generation opportunity to designed well, contribute to wealthi- and the rule of law, increasing com- follow in the tradition of Secretary of er and more just societies in Latin petitiveness by ensuring a level play- State George Marshall by developing America — especially in countries ing field), health and education (con- a policy that, in his words, is “direct- with large numbers of emigrants. tributing to a healthier, better educat- ed not against any country or doctrine ed populace that can better take but against hunger, poverty, despera- Some Broad Characteristics advantage of economic opportuni- tion and chaos.” of the Proposed Plan ties) and the environment (ensuring Such a policy would be in line with Like the two historical initiatives that natural resources are well man- America’s tradition of helping those mentioned here (the Marshall Plan aged and thus able to play a sustain- less fortunate — and with our own and the E.U. plan), this program able role in economic development) self-interest. would be based on the idea that would be important complements to prosperity elsewhere — in this case, in such a program. Mexico and its neighbors — is inher- Careful steps would need to be ently good for the donor country. The taken to avoid the corruption and potential benefits for the U.S. would graft that can accompany significant include decreased immigration, a con- new flows of resources. Such a plan tribution toward global and hemi- might look something like this: spheric social peace and democracy, • It would be focused mostly on and the economic benefit of an rural economic development as well expanded market for U.S. goods. as on helping governments improve Most importantly, such a plan would rural infrastructure, and its objective be based on a new urgency, a sense would be broad-based economic that the gaping disparity between the growth (i.e., integrating the previous- U.S. and its neighbors is dangerous, ly excluded) in rural areas with an morally unacceptable and fundamen- emphasis on positive linkages to tally against our interests. urban areas and the rest of the econ- Most polls suggest that Americans omy. believe foreign aid accounts for • This aid would be new. It would between 15 and 25 percent of the not replace, but complement, funds federal budget, when in fact it repre- currently designated for important sents less than 1 percent. Yet if they programs in health, democracy and are properly informed about current governance and the environment. aid levels and the benefits of foreign Nor would it replace resources cur- aid, there is evidence that Americans rently designated for Africa, Asia or would be willing to fund more assis- other regions whose development tance. Some surveys show public needs remain great and urgent.

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 53

AFSAAmerican Foreign Service NEWSAssociation • November 2007

UNDER CONSTRUCTION AFSA-HQ Relocates During Renovation In This Issue: BY SHAWN DORMAN BRIEFS: FS BOOK NEWS...... 56 n Sept. 19, the AFSA Governing STATE VP: TIME TO MOBILIZE...... 57 Board approved plans for the ren- RETIREE Q&A: Oovation of AFSA headquarters. In SURVIVOR ANNUITIES ...... 58 late October, the building was closed so VP FCS: DOMESTIC TOURS...... 59 work could begin. If the schedule holds, MILESTONES: ED MILTENBERGER.....62 employees will be back at work in the new CLASSIFIEDS ...... 62 and improved building by May 2008. The AFSA building, located at 21st and TAKING A STAND E Streets NW, across from the State Department, is one of AFSA’s most valu- AFSA Calls on State able financial assets: prime real estate in downtown Washington, owned debt-free building since it was purchased in 1968, and IG to Step Down by the association. But the physical plant it shows. From the squirrels building nests n Sept. 19, AFSA issued a press is in dire need of renovation, both for cos- in the bathroom window to the electrical release calling for State Department metic and structural improvements and for hazards from old wiring, no one who has OInspector General Howard J. safety and energy-efficiency upgrades. The visited headquarters in the last few years Krongard to step down, the day after Rep. 26-person staff working in the headquar- could deny the need for a major upgrade. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., released a letter ters building has been squeezed into tiny Until now, we have spared you the to the IG listing numerous allegations of workspaces, including closet-size work sta- details of the multi-year quest by succes- interference with investigations. AFSA tions. sive Governing Boards to determine exact- spoke out after numerous current and for- No major work has been done on the Continued on page 61 mer OIG employees stepped forward with detailed allegations that questioned the integrity of the current inspector general. “The fact of the matter is this Foreign Service needs Several came to AFSA while a larger num- ber approached the relevant congression- more dissenters, not fewer. And it needs to encourage al oversight committee. — not discourage — them.” The Waxman letter to the IG stated: “Officials from your office told my staff that Former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger you have consistently failed to pursue alle- gations of wasteful spending or procure- ment fraud in any contract involving Iraq Call to Honor Dissenters and Afghanistan.” As AFSA President John Do you know anyone in the Foreign Service who deserves to be recognized for con- Naland explains, “Of particular concern to structive dissent? Let AFSA know. AFSA are allegations that he blocked Look for the official call for nominations for the AFSA Constructive Dissent Awards investigations into possible substandard in the next issue of AFSA News and on our Web site at www.afsa.org/awards/index.cfm. construction at the new U.S. embassy in Continued on page 60

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 55 A F S A N AFSANEWSBRIEFS E W FS BOOK NEWS S Inside a U.S. Embassy: FS Authors Seeking Input This issue of the Foreign Service Journal features reviews of books by The 2003 AFSA publication Inside a U.S. Foreign Service-affiliated authors (beginning on page 19). We encourage you Embassy, updated in 2005, is still selling to support your colleagues by purchasing the books you see on these pages. well through Amazon and other book- You can access them by going to the AFSA Web site at www.afsa.org/ sellers (go to www.afsa.org/inside/). The ads/books/. State Department continues to send the We invite authors to send their new books for review to: Foreign Service book to all candidates who pass the Journal, 2101 E St. NW, Washington DC 20037-2990. Foreign Service Written Exam. Numerous military institutions purchase copies for training courses. More Books may be submitted at any time, but in order to be included in next than 30 universities have adopted the book for courses, and it year’s compilation, they should reach the Journal by Sept. 1, 2008. continues to be popular with students and others considering a Foreign Service career. U.S. embassies use the book for out- reach purposes. AFSA is exploring options for additional content to enhance The Kids’ Guide to the next edition. If you have suggestions on topics that should be included that are not in the current volume, please send an Living Abroad e-mail to [email protected]. For the profile section — each Written for kids, this new book from type of FS position illustrated through one person serving in the Foreign Service Youth Foundation, such a job — recommendations for outstanding Foreign Service The Kids’ Guide to Living Abroad, employees are most welcome. Include contact information for shares the excitement and fear kids the person being recommended if possible. We appreciate your experience when they learn they are input. going to live overseas. The book, by Realities II Released Martine Zoer, seeks to help children On Oct. 23, a book launch was held at the State Department understand and cope with the harsh for the second volume of Realities of Foreign Service Life, pub- realities of homesickness and culture shock, and lets them know what to expect on re-entry to their home lished by The Associates of the American Foreign Service country. Worldwide. Edited by Melissa Hess, Patricia Linderman and The latest in FSYF’s collection of publications to assist globally- Marlene Monfiletto Nice, Realities sells for $20.95 and is avail- mobile families, the Kids’ Guide is available through Amazon, and able from Amazon and other major booksellers. For more can also be ordered online at the FSYF Web site (www.fsyf.org/pubs/ information, contact AAFSW at (703) 820-5420 or publications.html). The price is $12. [email protected] (also see page 39 of this issue).

AFSA HEADQUARTERS: Staff: Governing Board: (202) 338-4045; Fax: (202) 338-6820 Executive Director John Mamone: [email protected] Business Department STATE DEPARTMENT AFSA OFFICE: PRESIDENT: John Naland (202) 647-8160; Fax: (202) 647-0265 Controller Twee Nguyen: [email protected] STATE VP: Steve Kashkett USAID AFSA OFFICE: Accounting Assistant Jon Reed: [email protected] (202) 712-1941; Fax: (202) 216-3710 Labor Management USAID VP: Francisco Zamora General Counsel Sharon Papp: [email protected] FCS AFSA OFFICE: FAS VP: Vacant Labor Management Attorney Zlatana Badrich: [email protected] (202) 482-9088; Fax: (202) 482-9087 Labor Management Specialist James Yorke: [email protected] FCS VP: Donald Businger Grievance Attorneys Neera Parikh: [email protected] and Holly Rich: [email protected] AFSA WEB SITE: www.afsa.org RETIREE VP: Robert W. Farrand Office Manager Christine Warren: [email protected] FSJ: [email protected] USAID Senior Labor Management Adviser Douglas Broome: [email protected] SECRETARY: F.A. “Tex” Harris PRESIDENT: [email protected] USAID Office Manager Asgeir Sigfusson: [email protected] TREASURER: Andrew Winter STATE VP: [email protected] Member Services STATE REPS: Oscar DeSoto, David Firestein, RETIREE VP: [email protected] Director Janet Hedrick: [email protected] USAID VP: [email protected] Representative Cory Nishi: [email protected] Michael Guest, Jim McRea, Nick Pietrowicz, FCS VP: [email protected] Web-site & Database Associate: vacant Margaret Riccardelli, Sandy Robinson, Administrative Assistant Ana Lopez: [email protected] Daphne Titus, Andrea Tomaszewicz AFSA News Outreach Programs Editor Shawn Dorman: [email protected] Retiree Liaison Bonnie Brown: [email protected] USAID REP: Michael Henning (202) 338-4045 x 503; Fax: (202) 338-8244 Director of Communications Thomas Switzer: [email protected] FCS REP: Stephen Anderson Congressional Affairs Director Ian Houston: [email protected] On the Web: www.afsa.org/news Executive Assistant to the President Austin Tracy: [email protected] FAS REP: Vacant Scholarship Director Lori Dec: [email protected] IBB REP: Al Pessin How to Contact Us: to Contact How Professional Issues Coordinator Barbara Berger: [email protected] RETIREE REPS: Harry Geisel, David Passage, Elderhostel Coordinator Janice Bay: [email protected] Herman Cohen, Howard Jeter

56 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 A F V.P. VOICE: STATE BY STEVE KASHKETT S A Time to Mobilize N E ne of the frustrating realities that AFSA faces every day important special-interest group. We W is that, unlike private-sector labor unions, we lack lever- are, after all, a unique corps that plays S Oage. When we disagree with a management policy or seek a critical role in representing our coun- to change something, we cannot summon our members to strike, try overseas. AFSA members all over the stage a work slowdown, or organize a sick-day protest. Not many world need to start writing letters and of our members would be willing to go out and picket the C Street e-mails directly to department man- entrance of the Department of State. We are highly unlikely to agement and to Congress about the sue the U.S. government in federal court. In some cases, we have issues that they consider vital. limited options for filing institutional grievances, unfair labor prac- We at AFSA hear from our members tice petitions, or impasse disputes, but these are slow, cumber- all the time about their concerns over hot-button issues such as some processes that rarely bring about the kinds of sweeping Iraq, directed assignments, unfairness in bidding rules, limited changes many of our members believe are necessary to address promotion opportunities and the dwindling family-friendliness major concerns affecting the Foreign Service career. of the Foreign Service. AFSA brings all these issues to depart- Mostly, we must rely on our ability to persuade department ment management. Maybe now it’s time for the DG, the under management that a particular change would facilitate the goals secretary for management and the Secretary of State’s office to of the Secretary of State, would save the department money or start receiving hundreds of e-mails and letters on these subjects. would significantly advance the interests of the Foreign Service. A groundswell of direct communication from the people of the Our strength lies in the fact that we can claim to speak for the Foreign Service would be hard for senior officials to ignore. vast majority of members of our profession, which includes many At the same time, the of the same senior management officials sitting across the nego- 13,000-plus active-duty tiating table from us. Increasingly, the things members of the Foreign But sadly, in recent years this has often been insufficient to Service at State and other bring about results. Persuasion and appeals to fairness have not that we are trying to agencies hail from every succeeded in getting the department to budge on many of the corner of our country obtain for our members action items on the “wish list” that AFSA submitted to the direc- and could be quite effec- tor general just over a year ago. require legislative action. tive by writing directly, en Moreover, increasingly, the things that we are trying to obtain masse, to their respective for our members require legislative action. Much of our personnel members of Congress system — salary, assignments, promotion numbers, leave, trans- on key issues. (Just don’t do it on government letterhead, from portation/shipping rules — is dictated by the provisions of the government e-mail accounts or on government time!) Foreign Service Act, which only Congress can modify. Some of For example, there are bills before Congress that would grant our regulations depend on the laws governing all federal employ- our long-sought goal of overseas comparability pay, as well as other ees. And, of course, any initiative involving money requires con- objectives we have fought for, such as tax breaks for civilians serv- gressional authorization and appropriation. ing in combat zones, changes in maternity/paternity leave rules Unfortunately, few members of Congress pay much atten- governing federal employees and provisions to allow same-sex tion to the unique concerns of the Foreign Service because we partners of federal employees to enjoy certain family benefits. constitute such a thin sliver of the federal work force and because Letters or e-mails from Foreign Service employees around the we are already unfairly perceived as an overpaid, pampered minor- world to their respective members of Congress could help push ity. We barely number 13,000 in total, and we have no natural the latter to get on board with these initiatives. For more infor- constituency within the general public. Even including thousands mation about specific bills that affect the Foreign Service and how of FS retirees and family members, there are not enough cham- to reach out to the appropriate member of Congress to urge sup- pions of the Foreign Service in any one legislative district to have port, please contact AFSA Legislative Affairs Director Ian Houston much impact on the support of any single member of Congress. ([email protected]). There is a way, however, for us to maximize the influence of A mass letter-writing campaign might give a fresh impetus the Foreign Service and to increase our chances of getting both to our agenda. We at AFSA will keep fighting the good fight, but department management and Congress to sit up and pay more AFSA’s lobbying efforts need a boost from the articulate, persuasive attention to our demands: by mobilizing ourselves as a small but and usually not very shy people of the Foreign Service.

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 57 A F S A entitled to a survivor annuity beginning the day after the death of N the annuitant. E Q&A Q: How does the Retirement Accounts Division handle this allo- W cation? S In order to stop an annuity payment the following month A: and avoid an overpayment, RAD must receive notifica- tion of the death of an annuitant by the processing deadline of the Retiree Issues 14th of the month. Survivor Annuities: Q: What happens if notification of death is received after the 14th of the month, the annuity check is not stopped in time, and The Mechanics it is automatically deposited in a joint account? If, upon reviewing its pay records, RAD determines that BY BONNIE BROWN, an annuity payment was made after the death of the annu- RETIREE COORDINATOR A: itant, RAD notifies the Treasury Department. If this happens, accord- ing to Treasury regulations, the entire annuity payment for the month Q: What should a surviving spouse do in the event of the death in which the annuitant died must be reclaimed. of an annuitant spouse? Treasury begins the reclamation process by requesting a refund The first step is to promptly report the death to the from the financial institution where the annuity payments were auto- A: Retirement Office by phone: (202) 261-8960, or toll-free matically deposited and taking payment from the account. The finan- 1 (866) 224-9053; or by e-mail: [email protected]. Return to cial institution is required to mail a copy of the notice requesting the State Department any uncashed annuity checks received after return of funds to the last known address of the account owners. the death. HR/RET will enter the death into the annuity system If the annuity payment is not returned to the Treasury within 120 database to place a hold on future annuity payments to the annu- days, Treasury will begin other administrative offset and collection itant. procedures.

Q: When will the survivor begin receiving a survivor annuity? In order to stop an annuity payment the following After HR/RET reviews its records and sends an autho- month and avoid an overpayment, RAD must A: rization for a survivor annuity to the Retirement Accounts Division. RAD then processes a final payment to the eligible sur- receive notification of the death of an annuitant by vivor, beneficiary or estate and initiates the survivor annuity. Again, the processing deadline of the 14th of the month. this authorization must be received by the processing deadline (the 14th of the month) in order to make the change in payments effec- tive the following month. Within 24 to 48 hours, HR/RET will fax a report of death to the Retirement Accounts Division in Charleston, send a survivor ben- Q: What is a final death benefit? efits package to the surviving spouse and, if he or she is eligible to A final death benefit is a payment for the number of days continue health benefits, change FEHB enrollment to reflect the A: the annuitant lived during the month in which he or she appropriate coverage for the survivor. died and was entitled to an annuity. After adjudication by HR/RET, RAD pays the final net annuity payment to the designated benefi- Q: When will a survivor become eligible for a survivor annuity? ciary, which in most cases is the surviving spouse. The survivor will be eligible for an annuity the day after A: the death of the annuitant. Q: Whom should I call if I need an explanation of my survivor However, annuities are paid a month in arrears: the payment payments? received at the beginning of the month is for the previous month. You can contact RM/RAD by phone: (843) 308-5552, That means that, if the annuitant died at some point during the A: or 1 (800) 521-2553; or by e-mail: [email protected]. Both month, he or she had been entitled to an annuity for that portion RAD and HR/RET are always available to assist retirees and fami- of the month when he or she was alive, and the survivor became ily members during this very difficult time.

58 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 A F AFSANEWSBRIEFS V.P. VOICE: FCS BY STEPHEN J. ANDERSON, FCS REPRESENTATIVE S A Apply now for Should Commercial AFSA Scholarships N High school seniors and college under- Officers Do Domestic E graduates who are children of Foreign Tours? W Service employees can now apply for one- S time-only Academic and Art Merit Awards s your new AFSA representative, I am directly concerned and need-based Financial Aid Scholarships. about domestic tours outside of headquarters. Awards range from $1,500 to $3,000. The A Commercial officers hired after 1994 are required with- applications submission deadline is Feb. 6, in the first seven years of service to begin a two-year assignment at U.S. Export Assistance 2008. Visit AFSA’s scholarship Web page Centers. I am now serving on such an assignment at USEAC Baltimore. To com- at www.afsa.org/scholar/index.cfm for plete my full disclosure, I barely made our flexible deadline, receiving my assignment complete details, or contact Lori Dec at at the end of my seventh year of service. As I have come to expect, the needs of the Service result in considerable flexibility in the “seven-year rule.” [email protected], or 1 (800) 704-2372, ext. 504. For newly hired officers, the seven-year rule for USEAC assignments results in ambi- guities for tenure, promotions and career planning. In a recent survey, management AmericanDiplomacy.org asked about the impact of these assignments on commissioning and tenure. The sur- vey itself was conducted by an executive-level development team at Commerce to com- American Diplomacy, an Internet-based pare C&T procedures at FCS with those at the State Department and Department of professional journal, is seeking new authors. Agriculture. This Webzine publishes articles of commen- The survey asked junior commercial officers, senior commercial officers and tary and analysis, feature stories, Foreign Commissioning and Tenure Board members about mentoring and evaluations, and Service memoirs, scholarly research of general also addressed domestic assignments prior to tenure among other career-path issues. interest, reviews of books and Internet articles, The survey results indicated that SCOs and JCOs appeared to agree that mentoring comments from readers and announcements. had improved. The target audience includes the Foreign SCOs said that the three-to-five-year window under current C&T policy should not Service community, educators, students and be expanded. JCOs thought that evaluations should be more standardized. C&T Board others interested in foreign policy and the members (only three responses) found room for improvement in the evaluation nar- practice of diplomacy. Articles are peer- ratives addressing candidate potential: in general, the narratives showed a “lack of courage” reviewed by professionals or scholars in the by raters and reviewers, and used “nuanced language” that left the board guessing about relevant field. New material is posted weekly whether to tenure JCOs. The survey did not address the impacts of domestic assignments on promotion (see on the Web site at: www.american the April FCS “VP Voice”) or the directions for renegotiating the “seven-year rule” (see diplomacy.org. the AFSA Web site’s FCS page for the March 2007 proposal). In responding to “Please Launched in 1996 by a group of retired indicate the number of domestic tours you believe that one should have prior to being FSOs in the North Carolina Research Triangle considered for C&T,” commercial officers were split: 14 of 30 JCOs (47 percent) thought area, it is published with the active coopera- one domestic tour was appropriate and 14 of 34 SCOs (41 percent) thought one domes- tion of the Triangle Institute for Security tic tour appropriate. On the flip side, 16 of 30 JCOs (53 percent) would consider less Studies and the Curriculum in Peace, War and than one tour acceptable, and 20 of 34 SCOs (59 percent) considered less than one Defense Studies, University of North Carolina, tour a good idea. While the percentage differences are relatively small, they indicate Chapel Hill. Visits to articles appearing on the that SCOs ascribe on average less importance to USEAC domestic tours for tenure, American Diplomacy Web site have increased and probably for overall career path and promotion as well. steadily, now totaling more than 200,000 One of my projects as FCS representative will be to focus on domestic assignments per year. and the need for more clarity about tenure, USEAC tours and career paths. The recent The editors welcome and encourage submis- survey shows some divergence of opinion and shared concern about the domestic tours. We will stay in touch via AFSAnet, the Web site and future columns, and I hope to sions from active and retired Foreign Service hear from commercial officers (as well as encourage them all to become AFSA mem- professionals, as well as from scholars. bers!). I would also like to survey all commercial officers and incorporate your opin- Submissions may be sent to the editor, ions in appropriate and focused questions to as many of our colleagues as possible. Please Ambassador (ret.) Jim Bullington, at: let us know your reactions and any concerns so that AFSA may better represent com- [email protected]. mercial officers in Washington.

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 59 A

F IG Resignation Call • Continued from page 55 S AFSA President John K. Naland, noting the 13-page list of alle- A Baghdad, which may leave our members there even more vulner- gations released on Sept. 18, 2007, by Henry A. Waxman, chair- able than they already are. Because OIG can only do its vital work man of the House Committee on Oversight and Government if it maintains independence, credibility and objectivity, AFSA con- Reform, revealed that AFSA also has been approached in recent days N cluded that the public interest required new leadership at OIG until by several concerned former State Department employees with direct E the allegations have been resolved.” knowledge of some of the events in question. The allegations against W AFSA’s call for the IG to step down was reported in a Sept. 19 Mr. Krongard cover all aspects of the work of the Office of Inspector S Associated Press article that was picked up by many newspapers General: investigations, audits and inspections. They include alle- nationwide. gations of his blocking investigations into possible substandard con- The text of the AFSA press release follows: struction at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, which may leave employees there unacceptably vulnerable. State Dept. Inspector General Must Step Down Naland commented: “The worse-case scenario in corruption WASHINGTON, D.C.: The president of the American Foreign is when it endangers lives. The worse-case scenario in public ser- Service Association today called on embattled Department of State vice is when the watchdog becomes the suspected violator. Both Inspector General Howard J. Krongard to surrender day-to-day con- of these allegations have been leveled against Mr. Krongard. As long trol of State’s vital Office of the Inspector General pending the res- as he maintains day-to-day control, his office’s ability to do its vital olution of grave allegations of malfeasance leveled against him by job with full credibility will be compromised. He should step down numerous current and former career government officials. until the allegations are resolved one way or another.”

AFSANEWSBRIEFS E-Classifieds on the Way Update on IRS Rule Change for Be on the lookout for a new addition to Foreign Earned Income Support AFSA with the AFSA Web site. Coming soon and The April edition of AFSA News reported on a change in the calculation of the Foreign Earned available exclusively to AFSA members are Your CFC Gift Income Exclusion that allows U.S. citizens who Please consider sup- the all-new E-Classifieds, www.afsa.org/ are not government employees and who live classifieds/. Members will be able to post porting AFSA programs outside the U.S. to exclude a significant portion advertisements in a variety of specific cate- of their foreign-source income for tax purposes. with your 2007 Com- gories similar to those in our print version This change could increase the tax liability for bined Federal Campaign donation. The of classifieds within the AFSA News sec- some Foreign Service families. Scholarship Fund (#11759) provides grants tion of the Journal. For a limited time, all In order to help AFSA develop an advocacy to Foreign Service children to help pay for approach and gauge the depth of the problem, AFSA members can post ads for no charge. President John Naland highlighted the issue in their college education (www.afsa.org/ The benefits of electronic ads will be the his Aug. 3 AFSAnet, and asked that members scholar/CFC11759.cfm). The Fund for rapid turnaround time to reach the tell us if they have been affected by the American Diplomacy (#10646) educates the Foreign Service community and beyond. changes. The response was strong and identi- public on the critical role of U.S. diplomacy Have an apartment to sublet; a house to fied an initial group of 50 members who have sell; furniture to pass on? In lieu of posting been affected and want to help work to reverse in the world (www.afsa.org/CFCFAD.cfm). the new rule. a notice on the bulletin board in the Simply designate #11759 and/or #10646 AFSA then worked to connect members of Truman Building (we all know how con- on your CFC pledge card. this core group (representing 14 states) with venient that is!), AFSA is offering this pilot State Department employees (active-duty their House and Senate members, and is now classifieds program as a service to mem- developing other ideas to raise the profile of or retired) can obtain a CFC pledge form or bers. As an added bonus, the option to this problem with Congress. If this rule will return their card to Shelly Kornegay in the insert a picture will be available. The basic have an impact on your tax liability but you Office of Employee Relations at (202) 261- interface is designed to be concise, effective did not respond to the request earlier, please 8166 or [email protected]. Contri- send an e-mail to Legislative Director Ian and, hopefully, user-friendly. Contact FSJ Houston at [email protected] with details, butions will be accepted through Dec. 14. Business Manager Andrew Kidd with including the names of your congressional rep- Thank you in advance for your support. questions ([email protected]). resentatives if possible. Success on Educational Travel Allowance AFSA, working with the State Department, helped convince once a year during trips to post (away-from-post Education Congress to pass legislation that provides a long overdue group of Allowance). The measure also extends educational travel to children enhancements to education and travel allowances that benefit FS mem- attending graduate-level programs prior to their 23rd birthday. bers and their families. The new benefits cover certain dependents’ After congressional passage and presidential signature into law (PL travel to the U.S. and now, for the first time, to a third country, for 109-472), AFSA then engaged on the implementation plan. The changes their secondary or post-secondary education. The measure covers stor- to the educational travel benefit took effect on July 22. Details were age of personal effects at or near the school, or shipment of those effects included in a July 22, 2007, State ALDAC allowance biweekly.

60 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 A F Renovation • Continued from page 55 AFSA needs an improved face. The new S ly how to handle, and fund, a major AFSA- building will be a more welcoming place A HQ renovation. The initial debate inside not only for those who work inside, but for AFSA concerned whether to renovate the members and visitors as well. AFSA will existing space or to build up from the three- be open for business throughout the con- N story footprint to create space that could struction, with some staff members and offi- E be sold or rented to outside parties. cers working out of temporary offices in W Experts were hired, committees were Rosslyn and others S formed and countless meetings were held. telecommuting. The In the final analysis, the numbers did not Labor-Management point to a guaranteed profit that would Office in the Truman make adding new floors worth the cost and Building (Main State) the risk. will remain open. There was also much debate about The AFSA e-mail sys- whether to add an elevator to the building, tem will remain oper- a costly proposition. AFSA’s legal counsel ational throughout, and staff strongly urged the inclusion of the and all employees elevator, not only for the convenience of will access their ac- the staff — who pitch in daily to haul boxes counts from outside of magazines, mailings and pamphlets, even The board is still considering options for the headquarters building. The temporary copy machines and other equipment and the second million, but will likely decide to AFSA-HQ office is located at State Annex furniture, up the three flights of stairs — borrow, at market rate, from the scholar- SA-15, 1800 N. Kent St., Arlington, Va. but for visiting members, many of whom ship fund. Thank you for your patience during the are advanced in years. Liability concerns As the voice of the Foreign Service, renovation. were also highlighted. The elevator was approved and is included in the plans. The renovated building, unlike the current one, will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Governing Board met on Sept. 19 in a special session to consider the recom- mendations from the Finance and Audit Committee on the reconstruction plans and budget. Votes were taken on which con- struction company to select from three viable bids, and on how to fund the $2-mil- lion project. The board agreed to take the first million from the AFSA reserve fund, which was created for just such a purpose. Photos: Shawn Dorman

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 61 A F S MILESTONES: HONORING 10 YEARS OF SERVICE TO AFSA Fellowship Program at the Foreign A Agricultural Service, focusing on the coun- Ed Miltenberger: A Great Fit tries of the former Soviet Union. BY SHAWN DORMAN In 1996, a temp job assignment to N AFSA introduced Ed to his future E d Miltenberger has been the Foreign section. His team employer and colleagues. While work- W Service Journal’s circulation and puts together adver- ing in Bosnia with the Organization for S Eadvertising manager for 10 years. tising information charts to make naviga- Security and Cooperation in Europe in Responsible for the yearly expansion of tion of information easier, and has added 1997, he got a fateful phone call from advertising support for the magazine, he has “Marketplace” to the AFSA Web site AFSA. It was his first day in Brcko, and raised annual ad revenue from $344,000 in (www.afsa.org/ads) to offer an online he was attending a regional team meet- 1997 to $531,000 today. Editor Steve compilation of advertiser information. Ed ing. He closed the deal on the new posi- Honley notes that thanks to Ed’s hard work has sought to maximize the potential of the tion right then and there, and hasn’t and creativity, the magazine covers approx- Internet to bring advertisers — and their looked back since. imately 70 percent of its costs through services — and the Journal ’s unique read- “I have a lot of freedom and inde- advertising. ership together to benefit both. pendence to make decisions,” Ed explains. Ed enjoys seeking out the most appro- Originally from Cumberland, Md., Ed As long as his sales goals are met, he says, priate advertisers to serve the Foreign Service came to AFSA from years of internation- he is free to try new things, experiment community and forming new relationships al work and travel. After graduating from with innovative ideas. “The best part with advertisers who offer things that AFSA Frostburg State College in 1986, he joined about AFSA is the people that you work members need, such as housing, insurance, the Peace Corps and served in Ecuador and with here. I actually like to come to the transportation, schools, etc. He established then Bolivia, spending a total of six years office.” He adds that it’s hard to imag- the Journal’s popular twice-yearly Schools in Latin America. Following his return to ine working anywhere else. And it’s hard Supplement and the property-management the U.S., he worked for the Cochran to imagine AFSA without Ed. CLASSIFIEDS LEGAL SERVICES LEGAL SERVICES TAX & FINANCIAL SERVICES

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NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 63 A F S A CLASSIFIEDS N E W REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE SHOPPING S CHEVY CHASE, MARYLAND FOR SALE: $649,000, or rent: $2,500 per Sale: 5 bedrooms, 4 full baths & 3 half-baths; month. Annandale, Va. Inside Beltway. 4-bed- CRAVING GROCERIES FROM HOME? 1 Visit www.lowesfoodstogo.com. We ship 2 miles to D.C.; elegant & spacious; oversized room 2 /2-bath single-family home. Close to rooms; formal dining & living rooms; 4 fire- public transportation & Fairfax County Schools. non-perishable groceries to you via the places; in-ground pool; hot tub; 4-car garage; Tel: (703) 626-3066. Dulles mail-sorting facility or your choice of private, tree-lined .68-acre lot; gourmet shipping facility. For more information, kitchen — cherry/granite/stainless steel; min- VACATION E-mail: [email protected] utes to park, Metro, shopping; PRISTINE! BARBADOS: PEGGY’S LUXURIOUS $1,995,000. Call Margaret Rudy Weiss at West Coast sea-view home (sleeps 6). 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64 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 BOOKS

In Praise of Balance a universal value, he writes, and he Sarkozy urges the French to em- alludes to the failings of China and brace globalization and change, argu- Russia — but without suggesting any ing that growth is required to address Testimony: France in the foreign policy implications. He urges unemployment. He opines that Twenty-First Century action on Darfur, but discusses Africa France has adopted the worst ele- Nicolas Sarkozy, edited and mainly in terms of his thesis that de- ments of two neighboring economic translated from the French by Philip velopment aid, not unchecked immi- systems: the “inequality and poverty of H. Gordon; Pantheon Books, 2007, gration, is the solution to that conti- the Anglo-Saxon model” and the high $24.95, hardcover, 251 pages. nent’s problems, and to Europe’s taxes of the Nordic system — but with REVIEWED BY DEBORAH CAVIN problems with Africa. none of the benefits of either model. In three pages on the broader The new president has given con- In July 2006, just as Parisians Middle East, the author offers scant siderable thought to the French- packed up beach reading for the long evidence of rethinking traditional American relationship. He takes on summer vacation, the French politi- French policy (perhaps because the the leftist critics who dubbed him cian Nicolas Sarkozy released a book section was called “Rethinking Our “Sarkozy, the American” by arguing titled Témoignage that was part mem- Foreign Policy Message” in the origi- cogently for strong relations with the oir and part political vision. Shortly nal French). Balance is the order of United States, while defending his before his election to the presidency the day. Recalling the violence in European sensibilities. Alluding to in May 2007, Sarkozy released an Lebanon in 2006, Sarkozy defends his status as the son of an immigrant, English-language version: Testimony: President Jacques Chirac’s decision to he praises the U.S. for its social mobil- France in the Twenty-First Century. send troops, criticizes Hezbollah, and ity and diversity among elites, for This version includes a new preface for presents a nuanced understanding of valuing work, and for political checks American readers and incorporates Israel’s legitimate defense needs — and balances. But he prefers France’s two chapters from Sarkozy’s 2001 book and “disproportionate” actions. He public health-care system, its strict Libre (Free). A new edition of Testi- also carefully describes the Palestin- handgun-control laws, and its tradi- mony is being released this fall. ians’ right to a state as non-negotiable. tion of giving immigrants a “new iden- Like its author, Testimony is direct, Sarkozy defends Chirac’s decision not tity as French citizens.” unabashed and often persuasive, with to join in the invasion of Iraq, Foreshadowing his efforts as presi- a heavy focus on French domestic although he slams his predecessor’s dent to reach out to Washington — challenges. With early chapters cov- threat to veto a U.N. resolution autho- while challenging the U.S. to lead — ering topics such as politics, schools, rizing U.S. intervention. he diplomatically assigns some blame work and social issues, it’s tempting to Turning to Iran, he insists that the to both countries for poor relations. skip straight to the penultimate sec- “outlaw regime” must be prevented He tells his countrymen that they tion, “Rethinking Foreign Policy.” from developing nuclear weapons and should refrain from systematically Unfortunately, that chapter, reflecting stoking a regional arms race. Ideally, opposing or criticizing the U.S., a the original work’s purpose as an it should be blocked through diploma- good friend and ally, but he notes that appeal to voters focused on domestic cy, but with all options on the table to Americans have an irritating habit of issues, reads like an annotated check- strengthen chances for success. Sar- always thinking they are on the side of list compared to the detailed sections kozy’s one novel idea is a corollary to good, “and thus everyone else is on on economic and social issues. that position: he proposes the creation the side of evil.” Still, it offers some insight into the of a “World Bank for civilian nuclear Despite occasional lapses into new president’s thinking. France fuel,” under the auspices of the utopian political rhetoric, notably in must strongly defend human rights as International Atomic Energy Agency. the concluding section, Testimony

NOVEMBER 2007/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 65 B OOKS

provides American readers with a society guided by values? Is our gov- 2008 (America’s Second Chance),” clear outline of the new French pres- ernment structured in a way that is asserts that Washington missed two ident’s personal and policy prefer- congenial to effective long-term glob- grand historical opportunities in the ences. These center on action, plain al leadership? On the latter point, I post–Cold War period. All three talk and calculated risk-taking, along am giving nothing away to note that administrations failed to shape and with what Sarkozy terms a “balanced” he has doubts that it is. institutionalize an Atlantic community approach to governance. Overall, the author gives Bush 41 with a shared strategic focus and to high marks for his conduct of foreign move decisively on the Israeli- Deborah Cavin, an FSO since 1983, is relations. But he does criticize him Palestinian problem. currently serving as a Foreign Service for a lethargic response to growing Brzezinski argues that no other assessor in the Human Resources evidence that existing restraints on power is yet capable of playing our Bureau’s Office of Recruitment, nuclear weapons proliferation were dominant role, providing some room Examination and Employment. starting to crack. In particular, he for maneuver. He summarizes the cites Bush’s slowness to recognize the landscape as follows: Europe still danger of the India-Pakistan nuclear lacks the requisite political unity and Missed Opportunities rivalry and North Korea’s progress will to be a global power, while Russia toward acquiring a nuclear capability. cannot decide whether it wishes to be Clinton’s report card is mixed. an authoritarian, imperialist, socially A Second Chance: There was some progress on nonpro- backward Eurasian state or a genuine- Three Presidents and the liferation issues, such as safeguarding ly modern European democracy. Crisis of American Superpower nuclear stockpiles in the former China is rapidly emerging as the dom- Zbigniew Brzezinski, Basic Books, Soviet Union, but the president left inant Asian power, but it has a rival in 2007, $26.95, hardcover, 240 pages. much undone. A chapter titled “The Japan; nor is it clear that Beijing can Impotence of Good Intentions” sets resolve the basic contradiction be- REVIEWED BY HARRY C. BLANEY III forth Brzezinski’s view that most pres- tween its freewheeling economic idents, including Clinton, have not momentum and the bureaucratic cen- Zbigniew Brzezinski’s new book is accompanied offers of inducements tralism of its political system. a highly personal tour of the strategic with sufficiently potent or credible The author is adept at identifying political landscape of the last 15 years, threats to change the decisionmaking the shortcomings of the past and the covering the presidencies of George process of rogue states. But he weak- challenges of the future, though he H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George ens his case by not spelling out what puts the emphasis on useful ap- W. Bush. we should do when neither carrots proaches rather than detailed recom- True to his policy-planning heart, nor sticks work. mendations. However, his attempts the national security adviser to Jimmy Few (if any) readers will be sur- to thread the needle between realism Carter frames his analysis in terms of prised that the current president gets and idealism are not always success- how well each of these leaders han- poor or failing grades pretty much ful. For instance, despite his criticism dled three broad sets of tasks: shaping across the board in a chapter titled of recent U.S. military actions, one or managing central power relations; “Catastrophic Leadership (and the gets the sense that he might be among containing or terminating conflicts, Politics of Fear).” The author is the first to resort to that option in preventing terrorism and controlling scathing about the decision to invade some cases. Yet he does offer a clear the proliferation of weapons of mass Iraq and the disastrous impact of the path forward, based on “intelligent, destruction; and promoting collective war on America’s global capabilities. cooperative governance, reinforced peacekeeping. In his judgment, Bush 43’s overall by power that is viewed as legitimate.” Along the way, Brzezinski some- strategy in the Middle East, including In that spirit, his policy recommenda- times succumbs to the temptation to the campaign to impose democracy, tions deserve thoughtful considera- defend old battlements. But he does has been devastating, both in its tion and, in many cases, adoption. take into account the landscape in effects on the ground and because it which each leader operated, including has pushed so many other pressing Harry C. Blaney III, a retired FSO, is emerging trends. He also asks strate- issues off the diplomatic agenda. a senior fellow at the Center for gic and moral questions: Is American The book’s final chapter, “Beyond International Policy.

66 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 IN MEMORY

Ralph Nelson Clough, 90, a the 1950s he was sent to Geneva and Taiwan Strait (1999). He became retired FSO, died on Aug. 10 at the to Warsaw to attend talks with the well-known internationally as an ex- Sunrise Assisted Living Center in Chinese. pert on the history and contemporary Arlington, Va. He had been a resident Following a posting in London, affairs of Taiwan. of Arlington for 40 years. Mr. Clough was assigned to Taipei in In addition, during the 1970s and Mr. Clough was born and raised in 1961. There he rose to be deputy 1980s Clough advised the House Seattle, Wash., where he developed a chief of mission, spending two years Committee on Foreign Relations’ lifelong passion for the outdoors, as chargé d’affaires. In 1965, he was Subcommittee on Asian Affairs. In expressed in mountain climbing (he detailed to the Harvard Center for that capacity, he accompanied Rep. made many ascents in the Cascades) International Affairs. He ended his Stephen Solarz, D-N.Y., then chair of and bird-watching. He graduated Phi diplomatic career with three years on the subcommittee, to talks with Presi- Beta Kappa from the University of the Policy Planning Council under dent Kim Il Sung of North Korea in Washington in 1939, and completed Zbigniew Brzezinski from 1966 to 1979 and wrote the report on the visit. an M.A. in international relations at 1969. Mr. Clough’s first wife, Mary Lou the Fletcher School of Law and After retirement, Mr. Clough Sander Clough, died in 1950. He is Diplomacy at Tufts University in began a second career as a writer on survived by his wife of 54 years, 1940. Asian affairs and American foreign Awana Stiles Clough of Arlington, Va.; In 1941, Mr. Clough joined the policy toward Asia. During that 30- two sons, Frederick of Santa Barbara, Foreign Service. His first posting was year period he had appointments at Calif., and Marshall of Greeley, Colo.; as a vice consul in Toronto. He was the Brookings Institution, the Wood- two daughters, Laurie Clough Schuda transferred to Tegucigalpa in 1942, row Wilson Center for Scholars and of Arlington, Va., and Drusilla Clough and to Puerto Cortes in 1943. Mr. the School of Advanced Inter- Hufford of McLean, Va.; six grandchil- Clough was fluent in Chinese, and national Studies at Johns Hopkins dren, Gregory, Carrie, Christopher, also spoke some Japanese and University. At the time of his second Alexander, Stephanie and Susannah; Korean. During the remainder of his retirement in 2003, he was teaching his brother Ray Clough of Bend, Ore.; 28-year diplomatic career, most of his the graduate seminar on Taiwan and and numerous nieces and nephews. assignments were in the Far East. organizing the China Forum, a In 1954, he was posted to Kun- speaker series, while working at SAIS ming, moving to Beijing in 1946. in Washington. From 1947 to 1950, he served in Mr. Clough wrote and edited a Jay Robert Grahame, 73, a Nanjing; he was then transferred to number of books on the Far East and retired Foreign Service officer, died Hong Kong, where he served until American foreign policy, including on Aug. 6 at the Potomac Center Nurs- 1954, when he was detailed to the East Asia and U.S. Security (1975), ing Home in Arlington, Va., of com- National War College. In 1955, he Deterrence and Defense in Korea plications from diabetes. was named deputy director of Chin- (1976), Island China (1978), Reach- Mr. Grahame was born in Brook- ese affairs at the State Department, ing Across the Taiwan Strait (1993) lyn, N.Y., and grew up in Jamaica, becoming director in 1957. During and Cooperation and Conflict in the N.Y. He received a bachelor’s degree

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in political science from Queens Martin Y. Hirabayashi, 91, a talks with Japan. Following the nego- College in Flushing, N.Y., and a mas- retired FSO, died peacefully in his tiations, he was named chief of the ter’s degree in American history from sleep of natural causes on June 14 in Special Trade Activities and Com- Columbia University in 1957. After Edina, Minn. mercial Treaties Division, Bureau of graduation, he served in the U.S. Mr. Hirabayashi was born in Seat- Economic Affairs, in Washington, Army Reserve. tle, Wash., and grew up with seven D.C. In 1969, Mr. Hirabayashi was In 1958, Mr. Grahame joined the younger brothers and sisters on a assigned to Helsinki as counselor for Foreign Service. After a two-year small farm outside the city. He grad- economic and commercial affairs, assignment at the State Department uated from the University of Wash- where he remained for two tours. In in Washington, he was posted to ington in 1939 with cum laude hon- 1974, he was assigned to Stockholm in Chennai (formerly Madras). Later, he ors, receiving a B.A. degree in busi- the same capacity. Retiring in 1976, was assigned to posts in Kolkata (Cal- ness and economics. He subsequent- he moved with his wife to the Minn- cutta) and Mumbai (Bombay), where ly pursued graduate work at the uni- eapolis suburb of Edina to be close to he served as economic-commercial versity with an emphasis in interna- their families. officer. Other assignments included tional trade and economics, followed In retirement, Mr. Hirabayashi Luxembourg, Malta and Cyprus. by Japanese-language training at stayed active, serving as a board mem- In August 1974, he was in the Kyoto Imperial University. ber of the Minnesota World Trade embassy in Nicosia when, during a In 1942, Mr. Hirabayashi married Association, the United Nations Greek Cypriot demonstration, it was Joyce Higuchi, whom he had met and Association of Minnesota and the attacked by Greek forces. Ambas- courted at the university. During Minnesota International Center. He sador Rodger P. Davies and his ad- World War II, Mr. Hirabayashi work- was executive director and later pres- ministrative section assistant were ed as a Japanese-language instructor ident of World Trade Week, Inc., a killed by sniper fire in the attack. Mr. and also as a research analyst and board member and president of the Grahame, who was slightly injured, translator for the U.S. Navy, moving Japan America Society of Minnesota, was given an award for valor. He also frequently with his wife and including and a volunteer for the Service Corps helped Americans get out of Cyprus stays in Boulder, Colo., New York City of Retired Executives, where he during the disturbances that year. and Cambridge, Mass. Following the assisted small businesses and entre- In the late 1980s, Mr. Grahame war, he was assigned to Japan. There, preneurs interested in international worked with an Afghan coordination he worked for the U.S. War Depart- business opportunities. unit and visited an Afghan refugee ment on the Strategic Bombing His wife, Joyce, who had been in camp in Pakistan. His last postings Survey, helping to assess the im- declining health following a stroke, were Israel and Tunisia, both as an pact of American bombing on the passed away on Dec. 5, 2006. Besides economic officer. He retired in the facilities and people of that country. five brothers and a sister, survivors early 1990s. In 1946, he moved to Washington, include two sons, Tim of Monroe, He returned to school and receiv- D.C., where he joined the State Mich., and Jim of North Potomac, ed a master’s degree in social work Department as an economic research Md., and four grandchildren. from Catholic University in 1995. Mr. analyst. Grahame volunteered at the Washing- In 1956, Mr. Hirabayashi joined ton Home. He was a member of the the Foreign Service and was assigned American Foreign Service Association. to Tokyo as a economic-commercial William Carter Ide, 88, a retired His marriages to Marcia Grahame officer. In 1961, after two tours, he Foreign Service Reserve officer, died Moss and Joyce Grahame ended in joined the Far Eastern Bureau’s Japan on July 27 of a heart ailment after a divorce. Survivors include three chil- Desk as an economist. In 1964, he fall at his home in Vienna, Va. dren from his first marriage, Peter was appointed a member of the U.S. Mr. Ide was born in Redlands, Grahame of Palm City, Fla., Laura delegation to the sixth round of the Calif., and graduated from Pomona Grahame of New York City and General Agreement on Tariffs and College in Claremont, Calif. He Nicholas Grahame of Indianapolis, Trade negotiations, held in Geneva, interned for the federal government Ind.; and three grandchildren. where his focus was on U.S. trade in Washington until the outbreak of

68 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/NOVEMBER 2007 I N M EMORY

World War II and served in the Army, Cooperation Agency and later at the War College before retiring from the rising from private to major in the U.S. Agency for International Devel- Foreign Service in 1980. transportation corps. He served in opment. In 1961, he was named dep- Though Mr. Ide’s post-government England, France and Germany. uty regional operations director for work was in real estate investment After the war, he received a mas- the Near East and South Asia at and management, he also enjoyed the ter’s degree in political science and USAID. In 1964, he left his position arts. He sang in the Wareham Chor- economics from Harvard University as a deputy assistant administrator at ale and played the flute. He also did in 1948. He taught political science USAID headquarters to become mis- watercolor painting, acted in commu- and Russian history at Claremont sion director in the Dominican Re- nity theater and served as president of Men’s College in California, and then public, also serving as counselor for the Vienna Arts Society. He volun- returned to the Washington, D.C., economic affairs. In 1965, he was teered for what is now Capital Hos- area in 1951. Mr. Ide joined the for- transferred to New Delhi as deputy pice, the Northern Virginia Men- mer Bureau of the Budget as an econ- director of the USAID mission there, tal Health Institute, Housing Coun- omist and, in 1952, began working and in 1969 was assigned to Kath- seling Services of Washington and overseas for the federal government mandu as mission director. OAR of Fairfax County, and also help- in Copenhagen, Paris and Karachi. He returned to headquarters in ed out in the Pennywise Thrift Shop From 1956 to 1964, he held a vari- 1974 as deputy director for public in Vienna. ety of positions in the old Economic affairs. He also taught at the National Mr. Ide attended an Episcopal

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church in Vienna, Va., and the Unitar- College in Carlisle. He retired from tage of the many cultural and enter- ian Universalist Congregation of the Foreign Service in 1987. tainment opportunities available in Fairfax, Va. He enjoyed reading the In retirement, Mr. Marthinsen did that exciting city. The program fea- social sciences and humanities and consulting work and was also engaged tured interviews with Berlin luminar- was interested in his family genealogy: in a number of civic activities, includ- ies and visiting Americans, such as he was a descendant of Nicholas Ide, ing supporting the local theater and James Michener. who was at Plymouth Rock with Miles the Old Neighborhoods League. He Pat Olson thrived on the challenge Standish, and was distantly related to was a member of the Harrisburg of meeting new people and adapting William Brown Ide, the only presi- Foreign Policy Association, as well as to different cultures. That included dent of the Republic of California. the Torch Club, where he served as shifting from the warmth of Latin Survivors include his wife of 58 president for one year. American “besos” and “abrazos” to years, Helen Louise French Ide, of Survivors include his wife of almost the cooler cultures of Germany, and Vienna, Va.; seven children: Gretchen 48 years, Kate, of Carlisle, Pa.; two even Boston, while Mr. Olson had an Ide Kossack of Shrewsbury, Mass.; sons, Guy of Pittsford, N.Y., and Hugh academic year at the Fletcher School David Chandler Ide of Arlington of Tampa, Fla.; and two grandsons, of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts County; Jennifer Taylor-Ide of Frank- Grant and Adam. University. Her children recall fondly lin, W. Va.; Rebecca Ide Lowe of Ojai, her admonition to “bloom where you Calif.; Peter McDonald Ide of Falls are planted,” which helped them cope Church, Va., and Tunis; Susan Ide with Foreign Service life. Patton of Vienna, Va.; and Nicholas Patricia Whipple Olson, 73, the After their retirement from the Carter Ide of McLean, Va.; and 11 wife of retired FSO Oscar Julius Foreign Service, Mrs. Olson entered grandchildren. Olson Jr., died on Aug. 14 at her home Wesley Theological Seminary in in Springfield, Va. Washington, D.C., and was ordained Born in Milwaukee, Wis., Mrs. as a United Methodist minister. Her Olson grew up in Texas — eventually pastoral appointments were in Charles Edward Marthinsen, moving to Corpus Christi, where she Culpeper and Fauquier counties in 76, a retired FSO and former ambas- met her husband — and graduated Virginia and at the United Methodist sador to Qatar, died on July 12 in from the University of Houston with a Church in Springfield, Va. Following Carlisle, Pa. radio/TV degree. The couple was her retirement, she remained active in Mr. Marthinsen was raised in Erie, married in Bremerhaven, where Mr. ministry, preaching, teaching, leading Pa., the son of Kathleen and Alexan- Olson was serving in the Army. His retreats and serving as chaplain at der Marthinsen, and the brother of Foreign Service career subsequently Inova Fairfax Hospital. Robert Marthinsen, Sandra Maries took them to Venezuela, Spain, Mexi- Survivors include her husband of and Alan Marthinsen. After graduat- co, West Berlin, Panama and Ecua- 51 years, Oscar, three children and ing from Academy High School in dor. four grandchildren. 1949, he attended Gannon University, Besides raising three children, where he received his bachelor’s de- Mrs. Olson’s activities included lay gree in 1953. From 1953 to 1955, he ministry on three continents, a stint as served in the U.S. Army, after which community liaison officer in Quito, Dar Jalene (“Dar”) Prybil, 71, a he entered the Foreign Service. and work as assistant to Elizabeth retired FSO, died on June 25 in Paris, Mr. Marthinsen’s 32-year diplo- Campbell helping to put Washington, France. matic career was spent largely in the D.C., radio’s WETA-FM on the air. Ms. Prybil was a native of Enid, Middle East and included postings to During their Foreign Service assign- Okla. Her early career began in the Bangladesh (then East Pakistan), ment to West Berlin, she was asked to U.S. section of NATO headquarters in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, air her own show, “People, Places and Paris, and she continued with that Libya and Qatar. His final posting was Pat,” on Armed Forces TV. It was an office when it was moved to Brussels. as deputy commandant for interna- effort to encourage military personnel In 1970, she was transferred to the tional affairs at the U.S. Army War and their dependents to take advan- Los Angeles District Office of the

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International Trade Administration, Bamako (1980-1981), Tunis (1986- tico, Va., and Yale University, as well U.S. Department of Commerce, 1987), Abu Dhabi (1987-1989), Doha as at area churches and the Washing- where she was an international trade (1989-1992) and Manama (1992- ton, D.C., branch of the Society for specialist. Her responsibility was to 1997). In 1998, the couple settled in Intercultural Education, Training and assist southern California firms with Fairfax, Va., and, from 2000 until her Research. export development. After a very suc- death, she was a linguist and, later, a Besides her husband, Donald, cessful 15 years in Los Angeles, she language analyst for the Department Hadia Roberts is survived by her joined the Foreign Service and was of Justice. mother, three brothers, two sisters, transferred, in 1985, to Brasilia as Hadia Roberts was active in the and three sons. Her father, Maj. Gen. commerce attaché. American community overseas, serv- M.G. Jilani (Pakistan Army, retired), One of Ms. Prybil’s major accom- ing as president of the American died in 2004. plishments was her successful negoti- Women’s Club in Bogota and in vari- ation of a $4 billion contract with the ous positions, including chairman of Brazilian government for the Amazon the Bahrain School’s Local School Surveillance System in favor of the Advisory Committee. She participat- Charles G. Sommer II, 88, a American company, Raytheon. On ed in choral and drama groups at all of retired FSO, died on May 22 at his Oct. 23, 1997, she was awarded the her overseas posts, taught English as a home in Escondido, Calif., of conges- Order of Merit from the Brazilian second language in Ankara and Bama- tive heart failure. government for “notable services ren- ko, and worked in the consular sec- Mr. Sommer was born in Lake- dered to Brazil.” tions in Doha and Manama. She was wood, Ohio, on July 15, 1918. He From there, she was transferred to active in International Junior Diplo- attended Western Reserve University Paris, where she served as commer- mats of Washington and, later, in in Cleveland, graduating in 1940 with cial attaché from 1998 to 2000. She International Diplomats of Washing- a B.B.A. degree. He served in the retired in 2000 and continued to live ton. She was also a frequent contrib- Army Signal Corps during World War alternately in Paris and Mougins, out- utor to the newsletter of the Foreign- II. He was awarded the War side Cannes, until her death. Born Spouse Network. Department Certificate for his partic- From 1981 to 1986, Hadia ipation in the Manhattan project. Roberts was a guest lecturer at the Mr. Sommer’s 30-year Foreign U.S. Foreign Service Institute in Ros- Service career was spent at Embassy Hadia J. Roberts, 56, the wife of slyn, Va., where her lectures on Mus- Mexico City and at the consulates in retired FSO Donald A. Roberts, died lim women in South Asian societies Tijuana and Merida, and in Brisbane. on July 12 of cancer at their home in formed part of the junior officer He served as consul general in Cara- Fairfax, Va. training course for FSOs assigned to cas. After Mr. Sommers retired, in An ethnic Pashtun, she was born South Asian countries. During over- 1976, he and his wife settled in Hadia Jilani to a prominent family on seas postings, she developed a series Escondido, Calif. the Pakistani side of the “Pashtun of lectures on different aspects of Mr. Sommer is remembered for Belt” that straddles the border be- Islam and the status of women in his love of family, humor, sports and tween Afghanistan and Pakistan. She Islam, delivering these to foreign and music. A celebration of his life was earned a master’s degree in English expatriate organizations. She also held at his home on his birthdate. literature and language from the briefed U.S. military personnel Survivors include his wife of 61 University of Peshawar in Pakistan, assigned to Bahrain. years, Frances, who accompanied him and did postgraduate study in political In recent years, she spoke on the to all of his posts; four children, and science at Mount Holyoke College in topics of Islam, women in Islam and their respective spouses; seven grand- Massachusetts. Muslims in America at Diplomatic sons; one granddaughter; and one Following her marriage, she be- and Consular Officers, Retired, the great-grandson. came a U.S. citizen and accompanied American Association of Foreign her husband on assignments in An- Service Spouses, Peace Corps head- Send your “In Memory” submission to: [email protected] or fax (202) 338-8244. kara (1976-1978), Bogota (1978-1980), quarters, the FBI Academy in Quan-

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