The Foreign Service Journal, October 2008

TIPS FOR POLADS I LIFE AFTER THE FS I LETTER FROM HAVANA

$3.50 / OCTOBER 2008 OREIGN ERVICE FJ O U R N A L S THE MAGAZINE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALS

A COMMON MISSION The Peace Corps and the Foreign Service

OREIGN ERVICE FJ O U R N A L S CONTENTS October 2008 Volume 85, No. 10

F OCUS ON The Peace Corps

THE PEACE CORPS AT MIDDLE AGE / 20 The number of Peace Corps Volunteers has grown significantly in recent years, but is the agency living up to its promise? By Shawn Zeller

RESTORING AN AMERICAN ICON FOR THE 21ST CENTURY / 27 The Peace Corps should never be considered an instrument of day-to-day U.S. foreign policy. But it is a significant element of soft power. By James R. Bullington

THE SILK ROAD TO WASHINGTON / 34 Cover and inside illustrations by One FSO describes his transition from the Peace Corps to the Foreign Service. Philippe Béha / i2iart.com By James Waterman

FROM THE PEACE CORPS TO THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS / 39 PRESIDENT’S VIEWS / 5 FS employees and family members who have served with the Peace Corps A Professional Issue and Foreign Service offer their insights on how the two organizations By John K. Naland compare and contrast. By Steven Alan Honley SPEAKING OUT / 13 Mid-Level Hiring and the War for Talent FS FICTION By Kevin D. Stringer SAMMY AND I / 46 FS KNOW-HOW / 16 Events in Palavaria take an unexpected turn just after prospective embassy Maximizing the Value of the personnel learn its language, in this spoof about the vicissitudes of FSI training. Political Adviser Function By Michael D. Quinlan By John D. Finney and Alphonse F. La Porta F EATURES REFLECTIONS / 88 FROM KHARTOUM TO CONCORD / 52 Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes A stint as a politician was never part of my vision for life after the By Jonathan Rickert Foreign Service — and certainly not beginning at age 77. By Don Petterson LETTERS / 6 CYBERNOTES / 9 CUBA AFTER FIDEL / 55 MARKETPLACE / 11 So far, not much has changed since Fidel Castro’s retirement as BOOKS / 71 Cuba’s president. What are the prospects for the next U.S. administration? By George Gedda IN MEMORY / 73 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS / 86

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 3

OREIGN ERVICE CONTENTS FJ O U R N A L S

Editor STEVEN ALAN HONLEY AFSA NEWS Senior Editor SUSAN B. MAITRA Associate Editor FIRST CALL FOR AFSA GOVERNING BOARD NOMINATIONS / 61 SHAWN DORMAN U.S. PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION AND AFSA / 61 Ad & Circulation Manager ED MILTENBERGER EDITOR’S NOTE: AFSA NEWS CHANGES HANDS / 61 Business Manager ALICIA J. CAMPI NEWS BRIEFS: AGGELER, COMPARABILITY PAY / 62 Art Director CARYN SUKO SMITH VP STATE: THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES Editorial Intern AND THE FOREIGN SERVICE / 63 ARIANA AUSTIN Advertising Intern VP USAID: CAREER FOREIGN SERVICE HANS MULDER UNDER ATTACK FROM INSIDE / 64 EDITORIAL BOARD SLOUCHING TOWARD RETIREMENT? / 65 TED WILKINSON CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: INSIDE A U.S. EMBASSY / 66 Chairman JOSEPH BRUNS RETURNED PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS @ STATE / 67 STEPHEN W. BUCK JULIE GIANELLONI CONNOR ESSAY CONTEST INTRODUCES STUDENTS JIM DEHART TO THE OREIGN ERVICE F S / 68 JEFF GIAUQUE GET SET TO VOTE / 68 GEORGE JONES LAURIE KASSMAN CLASSIFIEDS / 69 YVETTE N. MALCIOLN DAVID MCFARLAND AL PESSIN

THE MAGAZINE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALS Foreign Service Journal (ISSN 0146-3543), 2101 E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037-2990 is published monthly with a combined July-August issue by the American Foreign Service Associa- tion (AFSA), a private, nonprofit organization. Material appearing herein represents the opin- ions of the writers and does not necessarily rep- resent the views of the Journal, the Editorial Board or AFSA. Writer queries and submissions are invited, preferably by e-mail. Journal sub- scription: AFSA members – $13 included in annual dues; others – $40. For foreign surface mail, add $18 per year; foreign airmail, $36 per year. Periodical postage paid at Washington, D.C., and at additional mailing offices. Indexed by Public Affairs Information Services (PAIS). The Journal is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photos or illustrations. Advertising inquiries are invited. The appearance of adver- tisements herein does not imply the endorse- ment of the services or goods offered. TELEPHONE: (202) 338-4045 FAX: (202) 338-8244 or (202) 338-6820 E-MAIL: [email protected] WEB: www.afsa.org; www.fsjournal.org © American Foreign Service Association, 2008. Printed in the U.S.A. Send address changes to: AFSA Attn: Address Change 2101 E Street N.W. Washington DC 20037-2990

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4 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

PRESIDENT’S VIEWS A Professional Issue BY JOHN K. NALAND

Earlier this year, the Foreign retary, the administration and the new president get elected and Service Journal polled readers, their appointed leader in share his worldview. Career officials, asking for suggestions on new Iraq.” on the other hand, rise through gov- topics to be covered. One re- • In August 2007, active- ernment ranks based on documented sponse, in particular, caught my duty Colonel Henry J. Fores- performance and demonstrated poten- attention: “How many senior man Jr. cited “the failure of the tial. They then use their years of expe- officers have sold their souls to senior uniformed ranks to rience to provide frank, nonpartisan the devil over Iraq to advance serve as a responsible check advice to political appointees whose their careers?” It is indeed true that, and balance to manifold civilian strate- job it is to make the final decision. until now, that issue has not been gic shortcomings — often hiding behind What is not supposed to happen is addressed in this journal. the principle of political neutrality to for career officials to abandon their However, the same question, as disguise cowardice and careerism.” apolitical orientation by allying them- applied to senior military officers, has • In February 2008, retired Lieu- selves with a politically appointed been the subject of vigorous discussion tenant General John H. Cushman patron in order to obtain a plum posi- in professional military publications called for an investigation of prewar tion ahead of their peers. Career offi- over the past few years. For example, planning to determine if “U.S. four- cials are not supposed to be compliant the Armed Forces Journal (“the leading stars ... [had] forcefully made known yes-men and yes-women who fail to joint service monthly magazine”) has their objections to the defense secre- meet their professional responsibility published numerous articles examining tary and, if necessary, to the president.” to speak up, behind closed doors, whether America’s senior military offi- The unifying theme of these essays about likely negative consequences of cers have fulfilled their duty to offer is that, due to timidity or careerism, pending policy decisions. professional advice to their politically- some senior U.S. military professionals Have these things taken place in appointed civilian superiors, especially failed to provide their political superi- recent years at the State Department? concerning initial operations in Iraq: ors with potentially unwelcome expert Have some senior career officials “sold • In April 2007, active-duty Lieu- assessments. Is the military alone in their souls” over Iraq and other issues tenant Colonel Paul Yingling wrote having senior officers who have failed in order to advance their careers? I that “generals have a responsibility to to stand up for their services, or can the believe that some have. I also believe society to provide policymakers with a same be said of some of our nation’s that it is appropriate for active-duty correct estimate of strategic probabili- senior career diplomats? To answer diplomats, like our uniformed col- ties.” He charged that, as a group, U.S. these questions, we need to put the leagues, to openly discuss this impor- generals had chosen conformity and issue in context. tant professional issue. career advancement over providing By law and tradition, the American I will do so in my November col- their frank, expert views. system of government makes a clear umn — not by looking backward at the • In July 2007, active-duty Lieu- distinction between politically appoint- historical details of Iraq policy formula- tenant Colonel John Mauk argued that ed and career officials. Political ap- tion, but rather by looking forward at “the failure of our generals in Iraq was pointees come and go with the elec- broader issues of enduring importance: a failure to stand up to the defense sec- toral tides. They are not selected What are the professional responsibili- because they are, by some objective ties of senior career officials? What John K. Naland is the president of the measure, the best prepared person for should happen to those who fail to ful- American Foreign Service Association. the job, but rather because they helped fill those responsibilities? I

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 5

LETTERS

One of a Kind of a kind in the Foreign Service. As a ment’s “Future of Iraq” project in I was pleased to see the recent pro- fellow southern “Buckeye,” I am shaping U.S. policy? file of Ambassador Thomas D. Boyatt proud to have had the opportunity to Rackmales reminds us of a lesson (“A Tireless Advocate for the Foreign work with an outstanding example of we never seem to learn: In a democ- Service,” July-August). I had the what President Theodore Roosevelt racy (or any other form of govern- honor of working for him while serv- called the “iron fist in a velvet glove.” ment, for that matter), demonizing ing as a Marine security guard in E. Alex Copher dissent ensures that the worst ideas, Bogota from 1981 to 1982. In those Information Management not the best, prevail. days, the M-19 guerilla organization Officer Arthur S. Lezin provided the embassy with daily secu- Embassy Rangoon FSO, retired rity challenges and nonstop death Bend, Ore. threats directed at Amb. Boyatt. He The Importance of Dissent never complained of the additional I thought the July-August issue The Plane Truth security we Marines provided. He was first-rate. The FS Heritage piece, I really enjoyed the July-August FS even carried a nickel-plated .38 cal- “‘Grace Under Pressure:’ John Paton Heritage article on John Paton iber “Detective Special” and knew Davies,” by Bob Rackmales, is an Davies. It prompted me to reflect on how to use it. example of Foreign Service Journal the institutional dysfunctions that he Embassy Bogota had only one writing at its finest: engrossing, evoca- and his colleagues experienced, and security officer at the time and a few tive of the era and, possibly most on how little they have changed in the Marine security guards who’d been important, timely. last half century. trained to form a personal protection Who can read this article, includ- However, I would like to report detail. We rode in the back seat of the ing the sidebar excerpt from Barbara two factual errors. First, Davies, Eric trailing car with an Uzi. Trying to Tuchman’s 1973 address to AFSA, Sevareid and their fellow passengers retain our balance while facing out “Why Policy Makers Do Not Listen,” bailed out of a C-46, not a C-47. (The the back window and fighting carsick- without seeing strong parallels to our majority of the dangerous flights “over ness became a routine challenge. invasion of Iraq and the fight against the Hump” were carried out by crews Additionally, we provided nightly Islamic radicalism? Once again, we in C-46s.) security patrols at Amb. Boyatt’s resi- have ideologues in power unwilling to Second, Rackmales says that the dence. We all admired and appreciat- accept a reality at odds with their C-46 was “a DC-3 in civilian life,” but ed his courage, his kindness and his worldview. this is also incorrect. Curtiss-Wright support of the Marine security guard It would be interesting to debate manufactured the larger C-46 “Com- detachment and the security program the question, “Which has done more mando,” first as a passenger aircraft in in general. lasting harm to the vital interests of the late 1930s and then as a freight Everyone knew who ran the the U.S.: the isolation of the China hauler during World War II. Douglas embassy, no question. His straight- hands in the 1950s and the branding Aircraft manufactured the smaller talking, no-nonsense style, combined of their analysis and reporting as trea- DC-3, for which C-47 was the military with “Monte Carlo” nights, cigars and son, or the total rejection by this designation. I have been in both humor, made Amb. Boyatt truly one administration of the State Depart- planes and know the difference.

6 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

L ETTERS u

Over 10,000 DC-3/C-47s were manufactured and many are still flying. The C-46 served as a cargo aircraft during and after the war but, because only about 3,300 were built, just a few have survived into modern times. In contrast, the DC-3 became one of the all-time most successful aircraft, a tribute to Donald Douglas’ vision and ingenuity. That said, I again offer kudos to the author and the FSJ for a most enjoyable profile of Davies. Bruce Byers FSO, retired Reston, Va.

Managing State Congratulations to John Naland on his July-August President’s Views column setting forth work requirements for the new Secretary of State. It is an important contribution for the next administration. I wonder if someone is keeping an eye on the involvement, if any, of career officers — Foreign Service and Civil Service — in plans for management of foreign affairs in the new administration. Secretary of State Colin Powell was especially sensitive to the importance of career officers in managing State, and his effectiveness in policy implementation and resource support was due in some measure to the support of the professional staff. (The New York Times recently did a piece on the foreign affairs advisers to the Obama campaign and there wasn’t a single career Foreign Service officer named, current or retired.) Hats off, as well, for publishing Bob Service and Dana Deree’s letters about Jack Service. The Bob Mc- Mahan review of M. Stanton Evans’ book was an unwelcome reminder of a tragic era. It happened that my own father (our families were in China together) — who knew and admired

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 7

L ETTERS u

Jack Service, as did all of the ‘China ing. Given the small number of can- lasting friendships was indeed re- crowd’ — had his own run-in with didates who pass the orals and are markable. At the memorial brunch McCarthy, but was “saved” by the offered employment, I believe we for her on March 30 at Ft. Myer in intervention of Rep. Walter Judd, R- should take the best candidates Arlington, Va., more than 40 people, Minn. regardless of race and gender. I am friends from all walks of her life, R.T. (Ted) Curran reminded of the statement former shared warm and humorous tales of FSO, retired Secretary of State Colin Powell made their relationships with her. One Frankfort, Mich. about his career — he preferred to could not possibly include all of these think he rose to his high rank through in an obituary. Foreign Service 2010 merit and ability rather than through But there is one tale that we feel I enjoyed reading John Naland’s an affirmative action program. needs to be told to make her memory June President’s View column, “The Robert A. Bishton complete: it is a true love story. Foreign Service Act of 2010,” as well FSO, retired Kjeld Hansen and Barbara met as Shawn Dorman’s article, “Who Is Albany, Ga. and fell in love some 45 years ago in the ‘Total Candidate’? FSO Hiring Bangkok. Their friendship lasted for Today.” We’ve Got Guys some time, but as their careers di- We may get a revamp of the As a 1998 graduate of Presbyterian verged they eventually drifted apart. Foreign Service Act in 2010, but College who worked as an admissions Five years ago, Kjeld was in the D.C. probably not along the lines suggested counselor for my alma mater for two area visiting friends and phoned by Mr. Naland. His suggestions make years before joining the Foreign Barbara, not knowing whether she too much sense. More area and lan- Service, I was pleased to see your would even see him. They agreed to guage training are the keys to making June 2008 sidebar on the Washington meet at the Dupont Circle Metro. a good Foreign Service officer who Monthly ranking of schools that He waited and waited there, think- can give the department the type of placed PC (as alums call it) atop its list ing she had changed her mind. At onsite analysis needed to make good of liberal arts universities. However, I last, he asked someone if there was foreign policy decisions, which the did raise an eyebrow when I saw it another entrance to the Metro. As it Secretary can then convey to the pres- described as a women’s college. happened, Barbara had been standing ident for his approval. We all know Undoubtedly, the 48 percent of at the other entrance, thinking that he the problems resulting from foreign male Blue Hose (our mascot) current- had, perhaps, changed his mind. officials telling us what they think we ly enrolled at PC would be similarly They both started walking to the other want to hear and the concomitant surprised. More information about entrance and met in the middle. problems of the inexperienced FSO this excellent institute of higher educa- It was as if they had never been passing it along as “gospel.” tion, including articles where its presi- apart! They renewed their friendship, Concerning the establishment of a dent, John Griffith, downplays the Barbara visiting Denmark and Kjeld training complement to enable more methodology used in such rankings, spending time in Washington. They area and language training, I fear that can be found at www.presby.edu. spoke almost every day when separat- the first time there is a budgetary Matthew Miller ed, and he traveled from Copenhagen problem it would be eliminated — FSO to be by her side as often as possible assuming we could ever convince Embassy Yaoundé during her illness. Congress to create it in the first place. Kjeld and Barbara related this Regrettably, the idea of a 10-per- Remembering story to us, and Kjeld repeated it at cent limit on the appointment of non- Barbara Johnson the memorial gathering. He asked career ambassadors is a non-starter. Thank you for the thoughtful obitu- that it be included here for Barbara’s The Constitution gives the president ary for Barbara Johnson (July-August many loving friends to read. I full power to name ambassadors, and FSJ), which sparked fond memories Joyce Blackmon I cannot imagine any president allow- for us. We started out with Barbara, in FSO, retired ing that power to be limited. Bangkok in 1963, and knew her as a Mineola, Texas Concerning the FS exam, I believe beloved colleague and friend through- Kay Youngflesh the department is placing too much out our careers and in retirement. Former FSR emphasis on minority and gender hir- Barbara’s capacity for deep and Alexandria, Va.

8 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

CYBERNOTES

A Cybersecurity Wake-Up Call? eorgia’s emergence as a young democracy has been part of an inspir- Whatever its ultimate outcome, the conflict between Georgia and Ging and hopeful new chapter in Europe's history. For the first time in Russia over the autonomous regions memory, Europe is becoming a continent that is whole, free and at peace. of Abkhazia and South Ossetia may be Unfortunately, Russia has tended to view the expansion of freedom and remembered, among other things, as democracy as a threat to its interests. The opposite is true: Free and pros- one of the first in which cyberwarfare perous societies on Russia's borders will advance Russia's interests by played a significant role. As such, it could qualify as a “Web security wake- serving as sources of stability and economic opportunity. up call,” in the words of Berlin-based — President George W. Bush, speaking in the Rose Garden on Aug. 15 about technology consultant Evgeny Moro- Russia’s invasion of Georgia, www.whitehouse.gov zov. “In terms of the scope and international dimension of this attack, it’s a paring President Mikheil Saakashvili collaboration with Harvard Law landmark,” Ronald J. Deibert, direc- to Adolf Hitler. To get around the School and Cambridge and Oxford tor of the University of Toronto’s blockade, Georgian officials relocated universities that tracks patterns of Citizen Lab, told the Washington Post national Web sites to addresses hosted Internet censorship in countries, such on Aug. 14. “International laws are by Google’s Blogspot, whose U.S. as China, that use filters. very poorly developed,” he added. “Is servers are less vulnerable to attack. As Deibert explained in an Aug. 26 an information blockade an act of Details of the attacks were com- Washington Post article, there are a war?” piled by researchers at the Citizen number of private companies that The assault against Georgia’s Lab (www.citizenlab.org/), opened specialize in cybersecurity, as well as Internet infrastructure began almost seven years ago by Deibert with grant nonprofit organizations that have two months before the first shots money from the Ford Foundation at formed cybersurveillance projects. were fired in South Ossetia, according the university’s Munk Center for One of the latter, shadowserver to researchers who monitor Internet International Studies. The organiza- (www.shadowserver.org/wiki/), a traffic into and out of countries. It tion serves as the technological back- group of 10 volunteers who post their consisted of “denial of service” bone for the operation of nearly 100 findings about cyberattacks online, attacks, where a particular site is bom- researchers — who call themselves spotted the first denial of service barded with millions of requests that “hacktivists” — in 70 countries who attack against the president of Geor- overload the server and cause it to are mapping Web traffic around the gia’s Web site on July 20. shut down. Cheap and easy to mount, world, monitoring how it is routed In Washington, the Bush adminis- such attacks are not uncommon; it through countries and identifying tration’s Comprehensive National was, however, the first time one coin- where Web sites are blocked. Cybersecurity Initiative — a highly cided with actual fighting. With colleague Rafal Rohozinski, classified, multiyear, multibillion-dol- Though Georgia is not as depen- Deibert also launched the Infor- lar project to secure government dent on the Internet as other nations, mation Warfare Monitor (www.info computer systems and prepare for the attack obstructed the govern- war-monitor.net/) to investigate future threats (www.securityfocus. ment’s communications with its citi- how the Internet is used by state mil- com/brief/733) — has taken pride of zens and others. For example, the itary and political operations. The two place in the proposed Fiscal Year Georgian Foreign Ministry’s Web site also helped begin the OpenNet 2009 intelligence budget, with the was disabled except for a collage com- Initiative (http://opennet.net/), a single largest request for funds.

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C YBERNOTES u

But lawmakers like Rep. Jim Lan- gevin, D-R.I., a member of the House 50 Years Ago... Intelligence Committee and chair- verywhere the State Department’s first African Seminar trav- man of the Homeland Security Eeled in Ghana during the first three weeks of June, [the coun- Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, try’s] new spirit was abundantly evident. ... The seminar, com- who sees cybersecurity as “a real and posed of 21 Foreign Service and departmental officers concerned with African growing threat that the federal government has been slow in addressing,” affairs, studied at first hand this newest African nation, the first British colonial expect debate over the initiative to territory south of the Sahara to achieve complete independence. extend into the next administration. — “A Letter from Ghana” by Edward W. Holmes, October 1958 FSJ. — Susan Brady Maitra, Senior Editor dards necessary for operation in imposed by individual E.U. member Unsafe Airlines: European skies. The list, which is states. These national lists are then Check Out the E.U. Blacklist updated regularly, most recently on vetted by the E.U. Commission, with In 2006, after a series of fatal air July 24, can be found online at http:// the help of experts on its Aviation crashes, the European Union estab- ec.europa.eu/transport/air-ban/ Safety Committee and in consultation lished a “blacklist” of airlines whose list_en.htm. with the European Aviation Safety safety records do not meet the stan- The E.U. list is based on the bans Agency, to determine whether a Europe-wide ban is justified. The evaluation is done airline-by-airline, Site of the Month: www.globalvoicesonline.org and is thus more specific than the Conceptualized at an international bloggers’ meeting held at Harvard U.S.-compiled list of states with inad- University in December 2004, Global Voices “seeks to aggregate, curate and equate aviation safety records. amplify the global conversation online — shining light on places and people For more information on this other media often ignore.” It is a nonprofit project based at Harvard Law extremely useful reference for inter- School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, a research think-tank national travelers, see http://ec.euro focused on the Internet’s impact on society. pa.eu/transport/air-ban/further International volunteer authors, regional blogger/editors and translators col- info_en.htm#2. laborate via the site to provide a venue for the many voices around the world — Susan Brady Maitra, and act as “your guides to the global blogosphere.” Each regional editor selects Senior Editor the most influential or credible bloggers in their region (and, when necessary, has their work translated into English). The Next Internet: According to the site’s comprehensive FAQ, Global Voices “collects, sum- What’s It All About? marizes and gives context to some of the best self-published content found on Just when you thought you were blogs, podcasts, photo sharing sites and videoblogs from around the world, with ahead of the technology curve (no a particular emphasis on countries outside of Europe and North America.” such thing!) the Internet is changing, Users can search by region, subject or blogger. Readers can delve into 20- upgrading and overhauling its current something Egyptian Marwa Rakha’s questioning of traditional Muslim tenets, system. Maybe the news isn’t quite Roy Rojas’s musings on the political situation in Costa Rica or Malawian Steve that dramatic, but in 2005 the Office Sharra’s exploration of Pan-Africanism and social justice issues. Or they can of Management and Budget mandat- subscribe to a daily “digest” containing an overview of the latest features, an e- ed that all federal agencies make their mail notification of updates or RSS feeds. systems ready for Internet Protocol As part of its advocacy and outreach efforts, Global Voices offers training and Version 6 by June 30, 2008 (www. online tutorials on how to use open-source and free tools to express oneself and whitehouse.gov/omb/memorada/ campaigns against censorship. fy2005/m05-22.pdf). With authors spanning the globe, discussing everything from agriculture to Why? The short answer: to relieve humor and translated from 15 languages, the site highlights those many, often conjestion and improve the efficiency unheard, global voices. As the site asks, “The world is talking. Are you listen- of electronic communications. For ing?” the long answer, including the move’s — Ariana Austin, Editorial Intern problems and implications, see the May issue of Government Executive

10 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

C YBERNOTES u magazine (www.govexec.com/fea For example, the Chinese used IPv6 tures/0508-01/0508-01s2.htm). when they created a new Internet Currently, the federal government structure to support the Olympic (like just about everyone else) uses Games. IPv4, developed 25 years ago when Domestic critics claim that the software engineers could not have address crunch is exaggerated, espe- estimated the popularity of the Inter- cially for American agencies that were net or explosion of electronic media. given large blocks of IPv4 space in the Today people around the world are early 1990s. Because the address not only plugged into the Internet in problem is not as severe in the U.S., rapidly increasing numbers, they are many have been reluctant to make the wedded to cell phones, Ipods and move. The biggest incentive has been other communication gadgets. the OMB mandate, which requires Under IPv4, users send informa- federal agencies to acquire IPv6-capa- tion across the Internet and via every ble network gear and have their core one of those devices with a 32-bit networks IPv6-enabled — ready to be number, which means that there are a transitioned to the new protocol — by maximum of about four billion differ- June 30. ent addresses. The limit is expected to Most federal agencies have met be reached in several years. IPv6, by that deadline, but it is the minimum contrast, uses 128-bit sequences, thus goal. In the words of Pete Tseronis, a exponentially increasing the number member of the IPv6 working group: of possible addresses (www.ipv6. “IPv6 is a marathon, and June 30 is org), and offering the opportunity to mile marker 1.” There are significant achieve fully networked functionality hurdles in the transition, including among all electronic devices. security. The new protocol also allows a bet- In August, the General Services ter, more systematic hierarchical allo- Administration became the first U.S. cation of addresses and efficient route civilian agency to fully implement the aggregation (http://en.wikipedia. new protocol. For federal IT man- org/wiki/IPv6). Other benefits are agers, the next steps are reserving improved security, network-manage- address space and meeting with other ment enhancements and advanced key IT people in their respective application and services. For exam- agencies to assure a successful ple, as Chief Information Officer in changeover to IPv6. the Office of the Secretary of Defense — Ariana Austin, Editorial Intern Kris Stance explained to GovExec: “In Iraq, when we initially went in, it took Doha Collapse: weeks or sometimes months to get What Lies Ahead? networks up and running. With IPv6, On July 29, the World Trade it would take hours, or at most days, to Organization’s Doha Development do the same task.” Round — which opened in Novem- OMB issued its mandate so the ber 2001 and was originally scheduled U.S. government would be in a posi- to conclude on Dec. 31, 2004 — tion to lead in the crucial transition. broke down for the fourth, and per- Asian and other countries that were haps final, time with the collapse of a allocated relatively few IPv4 addresses 30-nation ministerial meeting in at the outset of the Internet Age Geneva (www.wto.org). WTO offi- already feel the shortage keenly, and cials and delegates blame differences their governments have been quick to between the U.S., on the one hand, adopt the new protocol, investing mil- and India and China, on the other, lions of dollars in making the switch. over a special safeguard mechanism

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 11

C YBERNOTES u that would allow developing countries eign Affairs that the consequences are number of big players in deals that are to protect sensitive products under “grave” (www.foreignaffairs.org/ specific to the most important indus- certain conditions. e_newsltr/current.html). With the tries. But economist Carlos Perez del Bush administration’s key multilateral — Susan Brady Maitra, Castillo, Uruguay’s former permanent trade initiative blocked, the next Senior Editor representative to the WTO and chair- administration and Congress will face man of its General Council from 2003 a dangerous policy vacuum. Grassroots Campaign for a to 2004, insists in a Sept. 1 interview Further, he says, the India-China Bigger, Bolder Peace Corps with InterPress Service (www.ipsne alliance bodes ill for other interna- On Sept. 6, an unprecedented ws.net/print.asp?idnews=43751) tional negotiations, in particular on international conference call linked that that analysis is “oversimplified.” climate change, and there will be a more than 2,000 former Peace Corps Other issues would have come up to surge of bilateral and regional agree- Volunteers gathered at 110 house par- derail the meeting if the mechanism ments, further weakening the global ties in 44 American states and 16 for- had not — such as the levels of reduc- trading system and discrediting the eign countries. The event launched a tions in cotton subsidies and the num- WTO. campaign to reinvigorate the Corps ber of special products tariff lines that In an Aug. 3 feature in the New and double its size and budget by would be eligible for zero cuts. York Times (www.nytimes.com), 2011, the 50th anniversary of its Instead, he points to political con- “The World Beyond the Trade Pact founding (www.MorePeaceCorps. siderations. India dug in its heels on Collapse,” correspondent David E. org). food security and the SSM in a bid to Sanger reports that the event signals The grassroots campaign, designed strengthen the government’s political more fundamental changes in the as a response to Senators Obama and base, which now has only weak sup- world, where countries like China and McCain’s calls to expand the Peace port from the farm sector and faces India will have much more clout at Corps and national service, is spon- elections within the year. China, al- the bargaining table. “The era in sored by the National Peace Corps ready under pressure from liberaliza- which free trade is organized around Association (www.rpcv.org), a 90,000- tion measures taken to gain WTO rules set in the West — with develop- member nonprofit organization made accession in 2001, was happy to back ing nations following along — defi- up of returned volunteers, former staff up India to avoid further measures nitely appears over,” he says. and supporters of the program. that might threaten rural stability. Still, Sanger quotes Council on National Peace Corps Association The Bush administration was interest- Foreign Relations Senior Fellow President Kevin Quigley hosted the ed in concluding the package, but Adam Segal: “This doesn’t mean the call, which featured a keynote talk by only if it could be sold to Congress. breakdown of globalization, the end Harris Wofford, a former U.S. senator All major parties have called for a of trade, or [a descent] back into some and one of the founders of the Peace resumption of talks, however, and pre-World War II kind of protection- Corps. WTO Director General Pascal Lamy ism. The Chinese just feel that they The campaign aims to move the declared on Aug. 22 that he is consid- don’t have to put up with people lec- Peace Corps closer to the original ering getting senior officials to a table turing them anymore about how to vision of deploying 100,000 volunteers as early as mid-September to begin manage their economy.” to work alongside host-country nation- the effort to reach a compromise Sanger also cites Charlene Bar- als to create change and build good (www.freshplaza.com/news_detail. shefsky, the U.S. trade representative will, and simultaneously enrich the asp?id=27632). But meaningful in the Clinton administration, who has U.S. by returning a significant con- negotiations are unlikely to resume a different view: “The model of this stituency of men and women familiar until the second half of 2009, Perez kind of ‘global round’ is simply no with foreign cultures and dedicated to del Castillo says, when a new U.S. longer viable. ... You have trade surg- service. administration is in place, and elec- ing around the world — in financial Today the Peace Corps — a symbol tions in India and Europe are over. services, information technology, tele- of America at its best around the world Meanwhile, what are the implica- communications — and everything — operates on a budget of $331 mil- tions of the breakdown? C. Fred gets held up for years because you are lion, less than a tenth of a percent of Bergsten, director of the Peterson arguing about farm products.” the military budget. I Institute for International Economics Barshefsky favors a divergent ap- — Susan Brady Maitra, in Washington, D.C., writes in For- proach: the signing up of a limited Senior Editor

12 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

SPEAKING OUT Mid-Level Hiring and the War for Talent

BY KEVIN D. STRINGER

fter reading various statements in 1943, Winston Churchill observed and letters regarding mid-level The Foreign Service that the “empires of the future will be Ahiring for the Foreign Service must offer empires of the mind.” He might have generalist corps, dating back at least to added that the battles of the future the July 2007 issue of the Foreign opportunities for top will be battles for talent. In a 1997 Service Journal, I would like to fire a performers to bypass study that led to publication of a book longer salvo into this discussion. the entry level and titled The War for Talent (Harvard As numerous reports and a May University Press, 2001), the consulting AFSA statement note, since the 2003 join as middle firm McKinsey & Co. researched the invasion of Iraq staffing demands on managers. subject. It compiled critical recom- the Foreign Service have soared: some mendations for the personnel man- 300 positions in Iraq, 150 positions in u agement of any institution seeking Afghanistan, 40 positions in the State excellence and, ultimately, success in Department’s new office of the The gap is especially hard-felt in its defined missions and tasks. Coordinator for Reconstruction and the mid-level generalist category; The lessons of that study are highly Stabilization, more than 100 training many such positions remain unfilled pertinent to the Foreign Service. As positions to increase the number of or are occupied by inexperienced offi- an organization operating in a global- Arabic-speakers, and 280 new posi- cers. The March 25 issue of the ized labor market, the State Depart- tions in areas of emerging importance Federal Times noted that about one- ment has begun to shift gears to meet such as China and India. Despite fifth of the State Department’s mid- the challenge of attracting, developing these urgent staffing needs, Congress level Foreign Service positions are and retaining the best people — those has not provided the necessary fund- vacant, and the agency is coping with with high potential, or scarce knowl- ing. As a result, hundreds of Foreign the vacancies by leaving open posi- edge and skills, who can successfully Service positions are vacant. tions at lower-priority posts. lead transformation and change within In addition, the State Department I understand that a recent State an organization, adding direct value to calculates that the Foreign Service is Department Office of the Inspector a business’s position. But the depart- short 1,015 positions for overseas and General report predicts the current ment will not be able to address its domestic assignments and another mid-level staffing gap will be closed by massive personnel shortfall and need 1,079 positions for training and tempo- October 2009. Not having access to for skills unless it begins offering rary needs — this out of total staff- this report, I cannot verify the accura- opportunities for top performers to ing of just 11,500. FSO Mark John- cy of its methodology or the sustain- bypass the entry level and join the sen’s December 2007 Journal article, ability of this projection. In any case, Foreign Service as middle managers. “One Hand Clapping: The Sound of if State truly aspires to expand to a size Staffing the Foreign Service,” notes commensurate with its current and Behind the Curve that the actual cumulative deficit may future tasks, and build a viable training Indeed, one of the biggest impedi- be as high as 3,500 personnel. This gap float as well, its current intake process ments to transforming the Foreign has an enormous impact on U.S. diplo- will, in all likelihood, result in another Service for the current global environ- macy and the ability of the Depart- mid-level gap in the foreseeable ment is its personnel policies, ment of State to execute the transfor- future. Yet the obvious remedy, mid- designed as they are for a different mational measures advocated by level hiring, is highly contentious. kind of world with its own threats and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In a speech at Harvard University challenges. The department contin-

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 13

S PEAKING O UT u ues to operate in the “old economy” in the benefit of the organization, and senior researcher at an international terms of recruitment, retention and, can also reduce critical shortages. consulting firm or investment fund, a more broadly, talent and skill manage- As several Foreign Service officers U.S. Army Special Forces officer, or a ment, ignoring the fact that there are have noted in letters to the Foreign desk officer from another internation- numerous other international profes- Service Journal concerning mid-level al organization are real examples of sional opportunities open to Ameri- hiring, many FSOs already bring a this “equivalency.” cans. complete “backpack” when they enter As a February Strategic Studies the Service and could perform at a Three Recommendations Institute paper titled “Developing higher level, drawing on their skills, In my view, three operating princi- Strategic Leaders for the 21st Cen- competencies and experience from ples need to be kept in mind before tury” documents, opportunities to live the private or public sectors. My own State embarks on a mid-level hiring abroad, learn a foreign language and A-100 experience mirrors these obser- program. First, such an initiative develop negotiating skills — all of vations. My class contained colleagues should not be conceived or conducted which have traditionally attracted whose level of experience would have as part of an affirmative-action or gen- young people to the Foreign Service allowed them to enter and perform der-balancing program. Such goals — are now widely available in the pri- admirably as mid-level officers. They can be pursued through existing pro- vate sector and at many nongovern- already possessed the skills and com- grams, awareness building and recruit- mental organizations. These competi- petencies to operate in the diplomatic ment initiatives for candidates regard- tors offer higher salaries, often lack the corps. This view was reinforced at my less of hiring rank. Rather, hiring level of austerity or danger faced by first post where, due to some mid-level should be based upon merit and the State Department employees, and staffing gaps and performance issues, a acquisition of those skills and compe- impose fewer constraints on two- few junior officers were privileged to tencies required to address current career families. occupy mid-level positions on an inter- critical needs. But this finding also means that im basis. They performed exceeding- Second, the consular cone should there are seasoned private-sector ly well. be a key beneficiary of such a program. managers in the market, with experi- The American Foreign Service One group of advocates for mid-level ence running international teams and Association and the State Depart- hiring seem to see it as a way to attract engaging in negotiations and cross-cul- ment should not overestimate what prime candidates by promising them tural interactions, who could bring real the entry-level Foreign Service officer they will not have to serve in “visa benefit to the Foreign Service. But phase brings to career development. mills” or perform other consular bringing them in at the entry level, as Participating in preparations for visits duties. This attitude misses the fact State currently does, would violate by congressional delegations, drafting that consular diplomacy is a critical basic human resource management cables, working the room at an factor in foreign affairs; indeed, it is principles. embassy event, and integrating into emerging as a major component of Ultimately, any civilian organization the Foreign Service culture are all soft power. (The Netherlands In- needs a portfolio of internally devel- skills learnable at any level. Further- stitute of International Relations has oped talent leavened with talent from more, there are plenty of individuals in published several papers demonstrat- the external world. As the McKinsey the job market with experience and ing the growing relevance of citizen study notes, this recipe aligns well with competencies that equate to those services, consuls and visa diplomacy in the human resource industry’s best found among mid-level FSOs. the international environment.) Thus, practices. Even where the dominant The previously mentioned SSI this field is where the large majority of strategy is to spot talent early and train study argues that expanding interna- mid-level hires should be placed. it within, companies should still con- tional requirements and the pressing Given increasing demand for consular sider regularly hiring executives from need to maintain a surge capacity services and rising visa application vol- outside. Rather than seeing this as a require more flexibility for admission umes, this would be a logical applica- failure of the internal development to the Foreign Service. For instance, tion for such a program. pipeline, they should view it as a way horizontal entry and exit should be Third, the senior leadership of the to accommodate rapid growth, refresh considered, whereby those with a par- State Department must expect strong the gene pool, and calibrate the inter- ticular background or linguistic skill and vocal resistance, including law- nal talent standard. Such outsiders could enter laterally at grades far suits, to such a program and have the bring broader skills and new insights to above entry level. A multilingual courage and resiliency to push through

14 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

S PEAKING O UT u such a decision. As Lee Hoskins and others) refutes the idea that promoting a-vis other agencies. With the appli- Phillip Kelly wrote in their seminal from within is the only way to grow tal- cation of a well-implemented mid- September 1988 article, “Lateral En- ent, and the modern labor market level hiring program, the Service try into the Foreign Service: Oppor- underscores the point. would initiate steps to solving its cur- tunity Lost,” in the American Review Of course, opponents of this rent and future personnel problems, of Public Administration, lateral entry change will see threats, inequity and and be able to “show up” when need- is viewed by the Foreign Service offi- worse. But they have not laid out ed. cer corps as a threat to the very objective arguments against imple- In the end, superior talent will be essence of their career system. Yet the menting such a program, given the tomorrow’s primary source of compet- Service’s failure to effectively assess current shortages and future chal- itive advantage — whether in the cor- and utilize lateral-entry techniques lenges. Instead, they are focused on porate board room or in the Foreign precludes the development of a per- trying to defend an increasingly Service generalist corps. I sonnel system designed to strengthen archaic system that does not fit into a functional competence, perhaps later- modern and globalized labor market. Kevin D. Stringer, a member of the al entry’s greatest forté. All stakeholders, particularly AFSA, 72nd A-100 class, was a Foreign would do well to evaluate this option Service officer from 1994 to 1997, How It Would Work objectively and transparently for the serving in London and Washington, Naturally, the implementation of a long-term health of the Foreign D.C. Now an international banker mid-level hiring program raises practi- Service. This step could also position and part-time professor, his academic cal difficulties that must be acknowl- the FS for a more robust role in the interests are consular and transforma- edged. Yet there are specialists in both nation’s foreign policy apparatus vis- tional diplomacy. the public and private sectors who understand these challenges and could provide solutions, guided by the following general principles: • Candidates would be selected based upon their professional experience and their performance on the FS oral exam. Certain skill components of professional experience could even be tested. • Mid-level hires would fill existing vacancies and certain designated positions. • Once hired, they would be fully integrated into the system and bid on assignments just like any other generalists. The evaluation and promotion of these mid-levels would also be iden- tical, following best practices from the corporate and government worlds. The war for talent has to be taken seriously. The competition for mid- level candidates may seem like a crisis, but like any crisis, it’s also an opportunity to seize — or squander. To conduct transformational diplomacy, the Department of State needs to trans- form its personnel system and practices for Foreign Service generalists. The original McKinsey study (among

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 15

FS KNOW-HOW Maximizing the Value of the Political Adviser Function

BY JOHN D. FINNEY AND ALPHONSE F. L A PORTA

ecretary of State Condoleezza SOUTHCOM in Miami, seek to inte- Rice has made support of crisis Here are some grate over a dozen new officers into Soperations a hallmark of her practical tips to their functional staffs, mostly in devel- “transformational diplomacy” initia- opment and humanitarian assistance tive. Toward that end, President help POLADs work functions. DOD’s new command for Bush’s Fiscal Year 2009 budget sub- effectively with Africa, USAFRICOM, is also request- mission seeks funding to fill 1,100 military commanders. ing a substantial number of Foreign new Foreign Service positions within Service detailees as it commences full the State Department, including 150 operations on Oct. 1. slots earmarked for political-military u In addition, an effort is being made or foreign policy adviser positions in to staff specialized functions in region- military commands within and out- Bureau is renegotiating the State- al commands below the political advis- side combat areas. Defense Exchange Agreement to pro- er level, especially in intelligence coor- This move to greatly strengthen vide for the assignment of more uni- dination. the political-military function — like formed officers to the State Depart- parallel efforts to enhance on-the- ment, easing restrictions imposed by POLADs as ground support in post-conflict stabi- former Defense Secretary Donald Diplomat-Warriors lization and reconstruction, to improve Rumsfeld. Until the current emphasis on the civilian-military coordination in Under the 2008 Iraq-Afghanistan transformational diplomacy in the national security policy implementa- supplemental appropriations bill Con- post-9/11 environment advocated by tion — is to be warmly encouraged. gress passed in July, a down payment Secretary Rice, political advisers By the Political-Military Affairs Bur- will be made on the expansion of the formed a subculture within the larger eau’s count, as of January there were political adviser function with the political-military function. Their work 26 foreign policy or political adviser establishment of 10 new positions to has long been considered arcane, ren- positions allocated to the offices of the be filled in next summer’s assignment dering those assigned to such positions four service chiefs in the Pentagon, six cycle. One major new political advis- uncompetitive in the annual promo- U.S. regional combatant commands er position will be re-established at tion sweepstakes. The tide may be (USPACOM, USEUCOM, etc.), four U.S. Coast Guard headquarters and turning, however, as the growing im- functional combatant commands one position will be reserved for a portance of civilian-military coopera- (USSOCOM, USSTRATCOM, etc.), management analyst position in the tion has boosted demand within the 12 major component commands, sev- POLAD office of the PM Bureau military for the skills Foreign Service eral subordinate commands in combat here in Washington. The remainder personnel and other civilians bring to zones, and NATO headquarters and of the positions are likely to be spread operations requiring the integration its key subordinate commands. An- among operational commands, in- of all elements of national power. other 17 State officers are assigned to cluding the Marine Corps expedi- These include stability and recon- military education and training insti- tionary force headquarters and other struction, peacekeeping/peace en- tutions and action officer positions in forward-deployed U.S. forces. forcement, counterinsurgency and the Pentagon. The demand for Foreign Service crisis-intervention missions. In addition to its intention to officers will not be sated with this Writing in these pages in Septem- increase these numbers in Fiscal Year modest expansion, however. Regional ber 1998, Ambassador Howard K. 2009, the Political-Military Affairs combatant commands, such as US- Walker, then vice president of the

16 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

FS KNOW-HOW u

National Defense University, predict- adviser to the commander of NATO ed: “A new type of leader will be Strike Forces in Naples, has com- required to manage these crises in the Foreign Service mented that in light of today’s com- 21st century. I call these hybrids sol- plexities, it is necessary to import the dier-diplomats and diplomat-warriors. political advisers interagency frame of reference into a They are soldiers who can also think major combat command’s daily oper- like diplomats and diplomats who can should think of ations. The incorporation of civilian think like soldiers.” He went on to mid-level officers from many agencies declare: “Diplomat-warriors will need themselves as (not only the State Department) into to understand and appreciate why the joint staffs and special mecha- and how the military can be used to diplomat-warriors. nisms, such as the joint interagency achieve diplomatic objectives and coordinating group on counterterror- what operational constraints the mili- ism, must occur. tary faces in trying to achieve those It is also desirable to import non- objectives.” official thinking into the commander’s Walker’s commentary referred pri- Advice for current POLADs: If you decision-making process through the marily to the need for foreign min- rarely travel with your commander political adviser’s relations with non- istries to work with their defense min- and do not participate in most policy governmental organizations, especial- istry colleagues to develop a joint cur- and coordination meetings, something ly those operating in military or riculum for the cross-training of civil- is fundamentally amiss in your adviso- humanitarian crisis areas, as well as ian and military officers. But in so ry relationship. think-tanks and academic institutions. doing, he touched on a key theme that To gain the trust and confidence of Even if the commander does not ac- Robert Murphy’s 1964 autobiography, military commanders, POLADs must cept specific recommendations, such Diplomat Among Warriors, addresses be able to contribute significantly to outside counsel will inform and broad- in depth: the ability to influence and the overall mission. Regional exper- en headquarters planning. Much of shape the thinking of a military com- tise, cultural knowledge and language this intellectual cross-fertilization can mander or defense policymaker on a proficiency are essential capabilities, be accomplished informally, but only “close up and personal” basis and pro- as are top-notch analytical and com- if sanctioned by a commander who is mote the value of military and diplo- munication skills (both oral and writ- open to advice and information from matic cooperation. Political advisers ten). The military places a premium outside his immediate command are in a unique position to develop on teamwork, so effective political chain. A skilled POLAD can facilitate and apply such expertise. advisers need to be proficient in this valuable process. Here are some tips to facilitate the working collaboratively with staff Advice to POLADs: A good work- process. members. In brief, respect and sup- ing relationship with the J9 or its port from the military commander are equivalent, responsible for interagency Bringing Added Value not extended automatically or freely. and NGO coordination at most senior Essential to a political adviser’s POLADs must earn them. commands, is essential in this regard. effectiveness is mutual trust and con- Advice to POLADS: Become very fidence, a military truism that charac- familiar with the military decision- Rank and Reach-Back terizes the close relationship that making process to better understand Although it does not supplant a should exist between a civilian foreign that approach to problem-solving, and close and personal relationship with policy adviser and his or her comman- learn to employ its principal tenets in one’s commander, rank is important, der (and key staff). Without frequent advising commanders on the political as those in the POLAD community access, and immediate entrée when and diplomatic dimensions of their can attest. The world of our military necessary, it is difficult to penetrate military responsibilities. colleagues is very hierarchical: gener- the phalanx of senior military officers. Shared perceptions of the political als talk to generals and colonels talk to Thus, the most successful POLADs adviser’s role and the interaction of colonels. Accordingly, State must not are those who are integral members civilian and military affairs should be assume that lower-ranking officers, of the command group, participate in reflected in how a POLAD and his or however knowledgeable and articu- key decisions and almost always travel her staff are treated in the headquar- late, can be effective political advisers with the commander. ters. Dr. James Bergeron, political to military commanders — especially

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 17

FS KNOW-HOW u at senior levels. retain an obligation to report to This factor makes doubly unfortu- department offices and bureaus, nate the trend over the past two The growing especially as they are increasingly decades for the size of the Senior assigned lower in the chain of com- Foreign Service and the FS-1 cohort importance of civilian- mand and perhaps have less political- of promotable officers to decline, thus military experience. On the other decimating State’s ability to fill politi- military cooperation in hand, the essence of a political advis- cal adviser and other civilian positions er’s effectiveness is his or her ability to in the defense establishment. As such the post-9/11 era has function as a “personal and confiden- positions are expanded, there should tial” adviser to the commander. An also be an expansion of the Senior boosted DOD’s insistence on formal reporting back to Foreign Service ranks. State is highly unwise and detracts Together with these elements demand for the unique from the necessary relationship of favoring success in working within the personal trust and confidence. military system, Foreign Service offi- skills FSOs possess. Together with the ability to pro- cers assigned to military organizations vide confidential advice goes loyalty. must understand that they are valued This nexus can be broken if a Foreign by their principals for their “reach Service officer, who is already suspect back” into U.S. embassies, the State because of his or her civilian status, is Department and other agencies with- most senior commands should, like seen to be reporting in any formal in the national security policy com- the commanders they are advising, be sense to State or other agencies in munity. They must be able to com- graduates of the National Defense Washington. While we would not municate rapidly and effectively with University or the service war colleges. argue that no contact with home base ambassadors and embassies overseas, Lower-ranking Foreign Service per- be allowed, such relationships should network with foreign diplomatic and sonnel assigned to operational or tac- be transparent to one’s commander multilateral organization representa- tical commands should have the ben- and must be handled tactfully so as tives, and provide succinct and easily efit of courses at the Joint Forces Staff not to violate confidences. assimilable briefs on current events, College or similar institutions. The fact that the commander underlying trends and policy issues. POLAD training should also fur- writes a political adviser’s perfor- To do these things successfully nish opportunities to sharpen region- mance evaluation (supported by a requires experience, a factor not al or country knowledge, update lan- reviewing statement from a senior always appreciated in the world of guage fluency and gain full apprecia- officer in the State Department or an Foreign Service assignments. tion of the mission of the military embassy) testifies to the need for a Likewise, it is important for politi- command and U.S. goals, objectives strong, mutually respectful relation- cal advisers to work skillfully within and programs involved. ship, a factor that should be recog- the military staff system, particularly Advice to POLADs: The U.S. mili- nized and rewarded in State’s perfor- to earn the confidence of the policy tary is the most highly trained in the mance evaluation system. and planning staff (J5) and, as appro- world and expects key players to be Advice to POLADs: A strong per- priate, the intelligence and operations properly prepared and ready to con- formance evaluation by a general offi- directorates (J2/J3), as well as the tribute significantly to the overall cer will be noticed by Foreign Service Joint Staff in the Pentagon. effort from beginning to end of assign- performance boards, whether for pur- Advice to aspiring POLADs: A ment. As part of your preparation, poses of promotion or performance good commander will expect no less learn about the values, tradition and pay. So work closely with your com- than superlative performance in all of culture of the military institutions and mander and immediate staff on this these areas, so act early in your tenure colleagues you will be advising. crucial annual obligation. to demonstrate your value-added. The United States national securi- Institutional Loyalty ty system, in the face of insistent calls Training One complex and potentially sen- for fundamental reform and the POLADs deserve proper training sitive issue is the question of alle- demands of a new international secu- before assignment to military com- giance. Some would argue that rity environment, is evolving toward a mands. Ideally, those working at the POLADs and State exchange officers more integrative or “blended” ap-

18 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

FS KNOW-HOW u proach, as evidenced in recent public with the CORDS program in Vietnam, statements by Sec. Rice, Defense as a POLAD to several U.S. military Secretary Robert Gates and Deputy The Foreign Service commands and to a service chief, and Secretary of State John D. Negro- as a State exchange officer in the ponte. Political advisers and other can make an expanded Pentagon. His last assignment was as State officers serving in defense organi- head of the Political Advisers’ Office in zations have an important responsibil- POLAD system work. the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. ity to bring the two institutions closer Alphonse F. La Porta served as together, bridge misperceptions, re- political adviser to the commander of solve misunderstandings and create a NATO forces in Southern Europe from more solid basis for increased effec- 2000 to 2003, when he retired from the tiveness and teamwork in the conduct With the proper vision, commitment Foreign Service. Prior to that, he was of military operations and the pursuit and tools to do the job, the Foreign ambassador to Mongolia and served of common policy objectives. This is a Service can make an expanded extensively in East Asia. tall order, but well worth the effort POLAD system work, both at the pol- The authors’ article, “Integrating required. icy level and in the field. I National Security Strategy at the To the degree the department is Operational Level: The Role of State successful in obtaining greater re- John D. Finney is political adviser to Department Political Advisers,” will be sources for the political-military func- the chief of the National Guard Bu- published soon in a new book by the tion, there will be added opportuni- reau. Before he retired from the U.S. Army War College Institute of ties to improve this vital collaboration. Foreign Service in 2004, he had served Strategic Studies.

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 19

F OCUS ON THE P EACE C ORPS

THE PEACE CORPS AT MIDDLE AGE Philippe Béha

THE NUMBER OF PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS HAS GROWN SIGNIFICANTLY IN RECENT YEARS, BUT IS THE AGENCY LIVING UP TO ITS PROMISE?

BY SHAWN ZELLER

resident George W. Bush’s first State of the Union address after the 9/11 attacks is mainly remembered for its denunciation of Iraq, Iran and North Korea as the “axis of evil.” But the president also called on America to show its compassionate side to the rest of the world, to “overcome evil with greater good.” He wentP on to cite the United States Peace Corps as a key element of this strategy. “America needs citizens to extend the compassion of our country to every part of the world,” Pres. Bush said. “So we will renew the promise of

20 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

F OCUS

the Peace Corps, double its volun- “One of the reasons the predominantly Muslim countries, teers over the next five years, and including Jordan and Morocco, ask it to join a new effort to encour- Peace Corps is thriving Tschetter told the Senate Foreign age development, education and Relations Committee last year — opportunity in the Islamic world.” today is because we have but most of those are in sub- Nearly seven years later, the Saharan Africa. organization is indeed larger: There kept true to the mission While a wide debate is raging are now roughly 8,000 Peace Corps among former volunteers and staff Volunteers, compared with slightly as set forth by Pres. over how, or whether, the Peace more than 6,600 in 2002. Yet that Corps should expand or refine its number is still only half what it was Kennedy back in 1961.” mission, Tschetter argues for stick- in the mid-1960s, and is unlikely to ing to the original goal of helping grow in the near term. (A total of — Peace Corps Director other countries with trained person- 190,000 volunteers have served in Ronald A. Tschetter nel, promoting a better understand- 139 countries since President John ing of Americans by foreigners and F. Kennedy created the Peace vice versa. “One of the reasons the Corps in 1961.) Peace Corps is thriving today is because we have kept And few observers believe the agency has been true to the mission as set forth by President Kennedy renewed. Instead of becoming a more integral part of back in 1961,” he said in a statement provided to the America’s effort to win friends in the Islamic world, as Foreign Service Journal. Bush once urged, the Peace Corps has struggled to over- John McCain and Barack Obama are both strong sup- come a succession of setbacks, ranging from a perceived porters of the agency: Obama has pledged to double its lack of security for its volunteers to allegations of politi- size by 2011, while McCain has not committed to a spe- cization. cific increase but has repeatedly praised the concept of The agency’s volunteers and career staff have perse- national service, calling for a push to recruit volunteers vered with the idealism that has always kept the Peace for the Peace Corps and other organizations. Corps’ reputation strong, but the organization continues to suffer from a lack of resources and from gridlock over Stay the Course? the best way to revitalize its mission for the 21st century. Though Tschetter doesn’t see the need for any radical The Bush administration, it would seem, is content to change in the way the Peace Corps operates, he has leave the hard decisions to its successors. The Peace taken steps to expand outreach to older Americans as a Corps’ current director, Ronald A. Tschetter, a volunteer way of increasing the pool of potential volunteers and in India in the 1960s, says the administration opposes taking advantage of the additional work experience of legislation by fellow 1960s-era volunteer Christopher J. the Baby Boom generation. The numbers of such vol- Dodd, now a Democratic senator from Connecticut, that unteers are growing at a rapid clip, though as of this would authorize a doubling of Peace Corps funding by summer they remained a tiny percentage of the overall Fiscal Year 2011. At the same time, a July 22 letter 8,079 volunteers. Tschetter sent to Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., a Tschetter has also established an Office of Strategic member of the House Appropriations Committee that Information, Research and Planning to better evaluate funds the program, warns that budget shortfalls are forc- the organization’s work. It is piloting evaluations of Peace ing the agency to consolidate regional recruitment Corps programs in the field this year while seeking feed- offices and pare other costs. back from host countries and communities served. Neither has the Peace Corps become a key player in When queried about existing metrics, though, outreach to the Islamic world. Volunteers serve in 15 Tschetter cited survey data — the proclaimed satisfac- tion of volunteers and host communities — rather than Shawn Zeller, a regular contributor to the Journal, is a results evaluating, for example, how well students taught senior staff writer for Congressional Quarterly. English by Peace Corps Volunteers had improved their

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language skills, or what effect Peace For many Peace Corps of getting involved in anything” cam- Corps efforts have had on slowing paign-related. the spread of HIV/AIDS. advocates, the Bush Peace Corps advocates such as “We know the real value can Dane Smith, a former president of never be measured,” Tschetter says, administration has the National Peace Corps Associa- citing the good will toward America tion and former ambassador to created by the Peace Corps brand of lost credibility as a Senegal, say these events seem more public diplomacy. like foolish mistakes by misguided But for many Peace Corps advo- catalyst for change. individuals than part of any concert- cates, the Bush administration has ed effort to politicize the agency. “I lost the credibility necessary to be a don’t think politicization has been a catalyst for change. They point to a 2003 investigation particular problem with the Bush administration, but I by the Dayton Daily News that found that the Peace do think that [job] positions in Washington have been Corps had taken a blasé attitude toward the safety of vol- politicized to a greater extent than necessary.” There is unteers, watching while reported assault cases involving widespread interest among Peace Corps advocates, Peace Corps Volunteers increased 125 percent from Smith points out, in reducing the number of political 1991 to 2002. The agency disputed the extent of the appointees — now about 30 — who serve at the agency. problem, pointing out that it had established an Office of Tschetter also downplays any concerns about politi- Safety and Security in 2002, but it did embark on a new cization. He says the Peace Corps “has a proud history security review. of nonpartisanship” and that its success is “contingent on Tschetter tells the Foreign Service Journal that Peace volunteers not becoming identified with controversial or Corps work carries an inherent risk, but every effort is political issues.” made to ensure volunteers’ safety. “All volunteers are given the knowledge and tools to perform their service Professionals vs. Volunteers? safely,” he says. Tschetter declined, however, to provide But two predominant schools of thought among for- any information about how often current Peace Corps mer volunteers and staff both take issue with Tschetter’s Volunteers are victims of crime. premise — that the Peace Corps is in good shape — and There have also been allegations of politicization. In argue that the agency must change radically to thrive February, ABC News reported that an embassy official once again. in La Paz had met the previous summer with a group of On one side are many volunteers like Chuck Ludlam, 30 Peace Corps trainees and instructed them to report a former aide to Independent Sen. Joseph Lieberman of on any encounters they had with Cubans in the field. Connecticut, who has advised Dodd on his legislation, Peace Corps personnel were quick to criticize the meet- the Peace Corps Volunteer Empowerment Act (S. 732). ing. “The Peace Corps is an apolitical institution,” Bolivia Having served as Peace Corps Volunteers in the 1960s in Deputy Director Doreen Salazar told ABC at the time. Nepal, Ludlam and his wife, Paula Hirschoff, decided to “We made it clear to the embassy that this was an inap- volunteer again in Senegal from 2005 to 2007. “We were propriate request, and they agreed.” shocked to see how the agency is run, the contempt for Then there was the Washington Post report last sum- volunteers, the poorly designed programs, the inade- mer that White House aides had held a “general political quate training and the nonexistent support of volun- briefing” at Peace Corps headquarters after the 2002 elec- teers,” Ludlam wrote earlier this year. tions. The March 2003 meeting, which came to light only Ludlam backs the Dodd bill, which would increase five years later, after an inquiry by Senate Foreign the size of the Peace Corps while empowering volun- Relations Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr., D- teers by allowing them to carry out demonstration pro- Del., involved 15 political appointees and amounted to a jects apart from their primary development work, to par- recap of the 2002 election results, Peace Corps spokes- ticipate in job performance reviews of the Peace Corps woman Amanda Beck told the Post. “It was a courtesy to country directors and staff, and to act as whistleblowers political appointees,” she said. “There was no suggestion (Continued on p. 24)

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(Continued from p. 22) Encouragingly, tion’s opposition, the bill has lan- when they observe wrongdoing, with guished. all the protections provided federal John McCain and Tschetter endorses Strauss’s pitch employees. for greater evaluation of Peace A National Peace Corps Associa- Barack Obama are Corps projects but rejects the rest of tion survey of returned volunteers his proposal, which he believes found widespread support for the both strong supporters would overly constrict the agency’s bill. It would also require a review of mission. the Peace Corps’ medical clearance of the agency. Significantly, even with a looming system, which some volunteers say is retirement crisis facing the govern- arbitrary and most agree has proved ment’s work force, the administra- an impediment to recruiting older participants. An April tion has done little to formally track whether Peace Washington Post story revealing that a Peace Corps Corps Volunteers move on to Civil or Foreign Service Volunteer had been dismissed after being diagnosed jobs. Tschetter says the agency encourages returning HIV-positive, underscored such concerns. Tschetter volunteers to consider applying for such positions, but declined to explain Peace Corps policy on volunteers he could cite only anecdotal information about how with HIV or AIDS, but he says the agency is following many actually do. up on the recommendations made in a March report by the Peace Corps Inspector General that found the med- The Way Forward ical clearance process to be overly burdensome for vol- On a more positive note, Kevin Quigley, the president unteers. of the National Peace Corps Association and a volunteer On the other side of the debate are some country in Thailand in the 1970s, argues that in one sense, the directors, such as Robert Strauss, who directed Peace Bush administration has pioneered a welcome change in Corps operations in Cameroon from 2002 to 2007. He melding Peace Corps objectives with those of the White agrees the agency needs to retool itself, but believes it House on HIV/AIDS prevention. The agency has set should recruit a more professional group of volunteers volunteers to work on the President’s Emergency Plan and empower its staff to monitor them more closely and for AIDS Relief in most of the 74 countries where it evaluate their work. An important corollary of this view operates, and receives specific funding for HIV/AIDS is the idea that the Peace Corps is first and foremost a work in more than 20 posts. By contributing to a princi- development agency, so its success in that regard should pal administration development goal, the Peace Corps be carefully examined. can make a better case for greater appropriations, says Strauss believes that, because of the difficulty in Quigley. securing new funding for the Peace Corps, the agency But he believes the Bush administration has missed should reduce its overseas presence from the current 74 other opportunities to use the Peace Corps more effec- missions to 50, while giving country directors more lee- tively. For instance, he advocates allowing more flexibil- way over their own budgets. Now, he says, when direc- ity in the traditional 27-month time commitment for vol- tors economize, they must return saved funds to unteers to attract greater numbers of older people, or Washington, providing little incentive for thrift. A better those with less time to dedicate. And he says the admin- system, he says, would grant country directors a budget istration’s dismissal of the Dodd bill means the adminis- that they could use with more discretion. tration is missing a chance to pursue more aggressively But both the Ludlam and Strauss proposals would the agency’s oft-ignored third goal: teaching Americans actually harm the Peace Corps, Tschetter responds. The about foreign cultures. Among other provisions, the bill Dodd bill, he argues, would undermine management’s would award grants to private nonprofit corporations flexibility and would create “administrative burdens” and to Returned Peace Corps Volunteers to enable them while raising “significant safety and security concerns” to develop programs and projects in the United States to and creating costs that Congress may or may not provide further understanding among cultures. funding to cover. In the face of the Bush administra- Most unfortunate of all, say Peace Corps advocates

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like Strauss and Ludlam, is the administration’s failure to when they are asked to continue with projects that host resolve the ongoing debate about the future role of the communities have not found useful, or to take on tasks organization as it relates to public diplomacy and devel- that easily could be performed by the communities opment. themselves. And because of lax supervision — many vol- Tschetter insists that the arguments for a major over- unteers in remote locations are only visited once or twice haul are weak. “The Peace Corps was never intended to a year — some volunteers ignore rules designed to keep be a development organization, and its mission to pro- them safe and productive, leaving their work sites and mote world peace and friendship is still at the core of treating the Peace Corps experience as an extended everything we do,” he says. vacation. At the same time, he points out, returned volunteers “It’s unrealistic and wildly naïve to expect individuals, report by large margins that their experience was a good most of whom are young and have never been overseas one, while surveys the agency has conducted in host before, and who are dealing with a new culture, new lan- communities — as well as the continuing high demand guage, and little structure, to succeed with so little ongo- in foreign countries for Peace Corps Volunteers — ing guidance,” he says. demonstrate that the agency remains a successful good- In Strauss’s view, the current situation poorly serves will ambassador. host countries. “What they want are qualified, trained, But Strauss’s and Ludlam’s views from the field are dedicated individuals to help get a job done.” The Peace far different. They argue that the Peace Corps is in dan- Corps risks its reputation, he says, if it continues to send ger of losing its relevancy abroad. out ill-prepared young people destined to fail. Strauss says that many volunteers grow disheartened An effective reform plan, Strauss suggests, would

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center on boosting “selection, sup- “Volunteers sit at the vail,” they told the Senate Foreign port and supervision.” It would Relations Committee last year. involve recruiting more experienced bottom of the pyramid, “Volunteers sit at the bottom of the volunteers, providing all volunteers pyramid, where their needs are often with extensive training and the sup- where their needs are ignored. What we need is an upside- port of development experts, and down hierarchy, an inverted pyra- dramatically boosting staff oversight often ignored.” mid, in which support of the volun- of volunteers to ensure that they do teers takes precedence.” the job they were assigned to do. — Volunteers Chuck Ludlam The Dodd bill would go a long Key to Strauss’s strategy would be and Paula Hirschof way toward fixing the problem, they a lifting of the current requirement argue, by giving volunteers a greater that limits most Peace Corps em- say in evaluating Peace Corps staff ployees to five years of service. The current system, he and by providing for confidential consultations with vol- argues, throws out the deadwood along with the good, and unteers on the merits of their development projects. erodes the Peace Corps’ institutional memory, destining it Longtime Peace Corps watchers say the debate over to try the same ill-fated reform plans time after time. the bill is just the latest chapter in a long-running Ludlam and Hirschoff, by contrast, put the blame for power struggle between agency staff and volunteers the ills they see less on ill-prepared volunteers and more that won’t be resolved anytime soon, if history is any on indifferent staff. “We see the Peace Corps as a middle- guide. Accordingly, it will be up to the next adminis- aged bureaucracy where hierarchy and rigid controls pre- tration to determine how to proceed. I

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F OCUS ON THE P EACE C ORPS

RESTORING AN AMERICAN ICON FOR THE 21ST CENTURY Philippe Béha

THE PEACE CORPS SHOULD NEVER BE CONSIDERED AN INSTRUMENT OF DAY-TO-DAY U.S. FOREIGN POLICY. BUT IT IS A SIGNIFICANT ELEMENT OF SOFT POWER.

BY JAMES R. BULLINGTON

here is widespread bipartisan agreement that a high priority for the next administration will be strengthening America’s “soft power”: the ability to influence, persuade and inspire, as opposed to coerce, in international affairs (a concept originally articulated by Harvard Professor Joseph Nye). OneT instrument of soft power that needs urgent attention is the Peace Corps, an important but somewhat faded icon of American global outreach. Created by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, it quickly captured the country’s imagi-

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nation and inspired a generation of Even those who are ished, have pointed out problems American youth to consider inter- such as: national public service. According friendly to the concept of • Unwillingness to close high- to Senator Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., cost programs and deploy volun- it was the accomplishment of which the Peace Corps and want teers flexibly, where they can have his brother was most proud. the greatest impact; Under the leadership of the to see it strengthened, not • Inadequate support and super- Peace Corps’ first director, Pres. vision for volunteers in many pro- Kennedy’s brother-in-law Sargent abolished, have pointed grams; Shriver, the number of volunteers • Uneven quality and high turn- quickly grew to 16,000. By the out problems. over of staff (at least partially 1970s, however, the Peace Corps’ because of the Peace Corps’ rule popularity waned as opposition to that staff members can serve no the Vietnam War grew, along with general mistrust of longer than five years, in order to preclude the develop- government programs. Appropriations declined, the ment of a career — and careerist — bureaucracy); and number of volunteers fell to around 6,000, and the orga- • Mediocre leadership by most of the political nization receded from public view. appointees at Peace Corps headquarters in recent years. During Bill Clinton’s presidency, the Peace Corps For more details, see “Think Again: The Peace experienced some growth, to around 7,000 volunteers. Corps” in the April issue of Foreign Policy by Robert But it has been under the current administration that the Strauss, a former Peace Corps country director in agency has received its strongest support in recent years. Cameroon who is now a well-informed and thoughtful It currently fields about 8,000 volunteers, the largest critic of the agency (www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms. number since the 1970s, in 74 countries. php?story_id=4295).

Falling Short of Its Potential The Right Stuff? Even so, many supporters believe the Peace Corps is One of the problems Strauss flags is volunteer quali- falling well short of its potential. Pres. Clinton called for ty. The recruitment process is not very selective, he says, 10,000 Peace Corps Volunteers, and President George and during his tenure as country director he found there W. Bush was even more ambitious, proposing expansion were only “a few highly motivated and capable individu- to 14,000 volunteers. The problem in meeting such als.” He states that the “vast majority … weren’t sure goals has not been inability to attract recruits or a lack of what to do with their lives, were fresh out of school and demand for their services, but insufficient congressional seeking a government-subsidized travel experience or appropriations. something to bolster their resumés,” or were looking for Quantity is not the only area in which the agency is a way “to escape a humdrum life or recent divorce.” falling short of its potential; there are quality issues, as Admittedly, any assessment of this sort is highly sub- well. Even those who are friendly to the concept of the jective. I can only report my own, far different, evalua- Peace Corps and want to see it strengthened, not abol- tion of the quality of the 434 volunteers I led as Peace Corps country director in Niger from 2000 to 2006. James R. Bullington was a Foreign Service officer from Having come to the position from a university job, my 1962 to 1989, serving as ambassador to Burundi among frame of reference for assessing the volunteers was pri- many other postings. After a stint in academia, he was marily graduate students, people of comparable age and Peace Corps country director in Niamey from 2000 to background. In general, I found the Peace Corps 2006, an experience he recounts in Adventures in Service Volunteers to be at least their equal in intellectual abili- with Peace Corps in Niger (BookSurge Publishing, ty and far superior in motivation, dedication and charac- 2007). Ambassador Bullington is currently editor of the ter. And the better I got to know them, the more I online magazine American Diplomacy (www.american admired and respected them. diplomacy.org). Niger presents arguably the most difficult environ-

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ment of any country where Peace Corps Volunteers are training, only about 5 percent resigned before complet- currently posted. It ranks at or very near the bottom of ing their two years of service (usually because of health almost all indexes of poverty and human misery, with issues or family problems back home), and some 15 per- two-thirds of the people living on less than a dollar a day, cent actually stayed on for longer than two years. (These one child in four dying before its fifth birthday, and adult percentages are better than worldwide Peace Corps literacy at about 20 percent. averages.) Located on the edge of the Sahara, the country rou- Of those who did not resign, on average just one vol- tinely experiences temperatures of 120 degrees or more, unteer had to be sent home each year because of behav- which rarely drop below 90 even at night. Most volun- ior or performance issues. Another dozen or so were teers live in one- or two-room huts built of mud bricks ineffective, but managed to complete their service. The and thatch, without electricity or running water. rest, in my judgment, were at least adequate performers; Sanitary conditions are so poor that of the 74 nations most were very good; and many were outstanding. I with a Peace Corps presence Niger ranks highest in the believe these rates of job success and failure would com- incidence of acute diarrhea among volunteers. pare favorably with those for any large group of young About 10 percent of the approximately 60 Peace adults, especially those placed in highly stressful initial Corps recruits assigned to Niger each year during my assignments. tenure discovered they could not tolerate the country’s It was gratifying to watch these young people rapidly harsh conditions, either physically or psychologically, gain self-confidence and maturity as they overcame the and resigned and went home before the end of the 11- challenges of living in Niger. In this process, those who week training program. Of those who made it through may have arrived without much sense of purpose soon

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gained both direction and dedication. Most of the The Peace Corps is not only about As they were leaving at the end of two years of volunteer work abroad. their service, all of them told me the volunteers I worked It very often serves as basic training experience was profoundly positive and a launching pad for a lifetime of and life-shaping. with in Niger public service. Most of these Niger Peace Corps Volunteers went on to careers focus- went on to public The Development Issue ed on public service of some kind. The most fundamental and persis- Many entered teaching, social work service careers. tent criticism of the Peace Corps or the medical profession. Some revolves around its role as a develop- went into the Foreign Service or ment organization. It is often seen as other government careers. Large numbers found jobs having little impact on poverty and other host-country with international humanitarian organizations such as problems it claims to address. CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, etc. It is undeniable that the most efficient way to drill wells, for example, is to hire a professional well-drilling team — not to send out Peace Corps Volunteers to organize projects in villages where wells are needed. The Peace Corps has never been the most cost-effective instrument for building infrastructure projects. And it never will be. Moreover, it’s correct Top: Peace Corps Volunteers Ana Ferera (left) and that Peace Corps personnel Jen Rice (right) with neighborhood children. are unlikely to have more Bottom: Amanda Goetz with village women prepar- than a marginal effect on ing for a wedding. macroeconomic statistics, such as per capita GDP, or social indicators, such as literacy and child mortality rates. To change such metrics in any but the tiniest of countries would require volunteers in numbers that would not be realistically feasible or acceptable to host countries. But such criticism is irrelevant and mis- leading, because it is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the Peace Corps’ nature and its reason for being, as well as an incomplete concept of what constitutes “development.” To try to turn the agency into a socioeconomic development organization, a sort of village-level USAID, is to doom it to failure.

Photos by James Bullington The Peace Corps is not a development

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program with a people-to-people component, as many struggle” against malignant forces that have a concept of critics suggest it should be, but a people-to-people pro- human society profoundly different from ours, as well as gram with a development component. against mankind’s perpetual enemies, such as disease and ignorance. Kennedy’s Challenge That said, the Peace Corps should never be consid- On the campaign trail in 1960, speaking at the ered an instrument of day-to-day U.S. foreign policy. University of Michigan, candidate John F. Kennedy said, Nonetheless, it has been from its beginning, and remains “We need young men and women to spend two or three today, a significant element of American soft power. It is years abroad spreading the cause of freedom.” This gen- an important expression of our values, what Abraham erated an enthusiastic response. Then, in his inaugural Lincoln called the “better angels of our nature” as address, Pres. Kennedy said: Americans. It embodies and projects abroad our ideal- “To those peoples in the huts and villages of half the ism, enthusiasm, generosity, compassion, optimism, and globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we support for human freedom and individual dignity. It pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for puts a positive face on America for millions of people whatever period is required — not because the commu- whose only other images of Americans are formed by nists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, Hollywood and hostile propaganda. It’s easy to hate an but because it is right. … Now the trumpet summons us “ugly American” stereotype acquired from these images; again — not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need but it’s difficult to hate the young woman who lives in — not a call to battle, though embattled we are — but a your village, speaks your language and helps get a new call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle year in school established, or the young man who lives down the and year out. … And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not street and teaches English to your kids. what your country can do for you — ask what you can do Many critics argue that because the world has for your country.” changed dramatically since the 1960s, the Peace Corps It is only in that spirit that the Peace Corps can thrive needs to change as well. This is certainly true in the today. While communism is no longer the principal sense of changing tactics and harnessing modern tech- enemy, we remain deeply engaged in a “long twilight nology when possible. But the organization’s bedrock

Left: Virginia Emmons at the village school she started. Right: Leah Smith at her house.

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principles and guiding philosophy A common criticism of Such stories are a constant of the must remain constant. Otherwise, it Peace Corps experience, not just in will die. the Peace Corps Niger but worldwide. The Peace Corps’ second and third Peace Corps Volunteers can be goals — to help promote better revolves around its very successful in promoting develop- understanding of Americans on the ment without leaving behind a single part of the peoples served and a bet- role as a development thing that one could take a picture of ter understanding of other peoples on or point out to a visitor. Their most the part of Americans — remain just organization. important legacies are people who as important as the first goal — to think and act differently. It does not help interested countries meet their require a high level of technical skill needs for trained men and women. Or to put it another or training to achieve the most important sort of devel- way: The Peace Corps is primarily about building rela- opment: inspiring positive change in people. tionships, not about building things. In this broader sense of “development,” volunteers have an impact that can be significant even on a national A Different Sort of Development basis over long periods of time, though it is not easily Another fundamental flaw in much criticism of the measured. Peace Corps is the equation of development with infrastructure projects such as wells, schools, roads and clin- Rejuvenation Needed ics. Infrastructure is indeed an important part of devel- Although the Peace Corps should be counted as one opment, but it is not the only part — perhaps not even of America’s great international successes, the agency the most important one. could use some rejuvenation as it approaches its 50th Development, at least for the purposes of the Peace birthday in 2011. Toward that end, here are some con- Corps and similar organizations, can best be thought of crete recommendations: not as a project in which things get built, but a process in • Soon after taking office, the next president should which people are changed. Even the best infrastructure issue a call to national and international service compara- projects are only successful in the long run to the extent ble to Kennedy’s “ask not” challenge, coupled with they facilitate changes in people — new attitudes, new greater high-level public recognition of Peace Corps knowledge, new ways of doing things. Volunteers. When I was in Niger, we emphasized this approach to • He should then follow up on that rhetoric by seek- development in our training. Most of the volunteers ing sufficient congressional appropriations to achieve came to understand it, not just as an intellectual principle gradual but steady growth to at least 10,000 volunteers by but on a personal, experiential level. Examples include the end of his first term. After all, we are not talking big Korey Welch and Katie Dick, who created the first girls’ bucks here; the Peace Corps’ Fiscal Year 2008 budget soccer teams in Zinder, the most religiously conservative comes to just $331 million, a sum that could be lost as a part of this overwhelmingly Muslim country; Don rounding error in the total federal budget. Johnson, who got Niamey bar owners to install condom • The new Peace Corps director should be someone machines — the first coin-operated vending machines of who can rekindle the enthusiasm and optimism of the any sort in Niger — as part of an HIV/AIDS prevention agency’s early years — the can-do spirit that led Time campaign; Scott and Andrea Webb, married volunteers magazine to put Peace Corps Director Sargent Shriver who helped the women of their village organize a savings on its cover in July 1963 under the headline, “The and loan group to finance their own small entrepreneur- Peace Corps: A U.S. Ideal Abroad.” That article called ial projects; and Carol Grimes, who told me about her the Peace Corps “the single greatest success the gratification in overhearing one of the women in her vil- Kennedy administration has produced.” How did lage explaining to some neighbors almost word for word Shriver and his colleagues achieve this success? In his what Carol had been telling her for several months about 2004 biography of Shriver (Sarge: The Life and Times the benefits of breastfeeding. of Sargent Shriver), Scott Stossel says, “The early

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Peace Corps didn’t cut red tape An expanded, rejuvenated unteers are over 50, and the medi- so much as shred it.” In contrast, an age is 25.) These individuals when I was country director in Peace Corps could be just have additional skills to share, but Niger, I found Peace Corps man- usually require organizational agement in Washington to be as relevant to America’s flexibility and accommodation overly cautious, unimaginative because they are often not a good and prone to micromanagement. contemporary challenges fit for the jobs and locations of the • The agency should focus on “typical” 20-something volunteer. countries that are both among the as it was to those of the • A special effort should be world’s poorest and have adopted made to spur the re-enlistment of the sorts of policies that tend to Cold War era. retiring baby boomers who were make development assistance most Peace Corps Volunteers as young effective. This would suggest people. making a large Peace Corps program part of the package An expanded, rejuvenated, debureaucratized, strate- offered to those countries selected to receive additional gically focused, better inspired and supported Peace U.S. foreign aid resources under the Millennium Corps could be just as relevant to our contemporary Challenge Account. challenges as it was to those of the Cold War era — and • Recruit greater numbers of older, retired people as just as inspiring to the American people today as it was Peace Corps Volunteers. (Only 5 percent of current vol- to me and my young contemporaries in the 1960s. I

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F OCUS ON THE P EACE C ORPS

THE SILK ROAD TO WASHINGTON Philippe Béha

ONE FSO DESCRIBES HIS TRANSITION FROM THE PEACE CORPS TO THE FOREIGN SERVICE.

BY JAMES WATERMAN

he tiny Daewoo microbus into which I had crammed myself, along with the driver and several old women, rolled along out across the flat and dusty countryside as we passed the endless cotton fields. We were outside Gulistan, Uzbekistan — in other words, the middle of nowhere — and I was not quite sure where we were going.T I had shown up at the bazaar with only the name of a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer and her town, and was hoping that some taxi driver would have an idea of where to take me (and that my poor Russian would hold

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up in this area where most people preferred their native A Moment of Clarity Uzbek). Until that point, however, I had thought of things dif- Three days earlier, on the night of Sept. 11, 2001 (for ferently. On the ride out, I played back in my mind the those of us in Uzbekistan, the attacks will always be calls from my parents on Sept. 11 and the days afterward. remembered as happening in the evening), we had been I remembered the quaver in my mother’s voice as we’d ordered to “stand fast” at our respective sites. But it was spoken, and I couldn’t get out of my mind what difficult to reach people like Stephanie, who were Stephanie’s mother must have been going through, assigned to villages where phones were still something of knowing that there was no way she could just pick up a a luxury. The Peace Corps office in Tashkent had tried phone and call her daughter. to send her a telegram, but because they had the incor- I’d already had a lot of jobs at that point in my life — rect address on file, it fell to me as the site warden to bartender, teacher, hardware store clerk — but my time track her down. So that’s why I was thigh to thigh with as a Peace Corps Volunteer was the first time I felt I was the Uzbek grannies in the back of the microbus. doing something genuinely important. That was an unex- When I arrived in Gulistan, I was immediately sur- pected bonus, because I’d joined the Peace Corps not so rounded by Uzbeks, most of them very sympathetic, just much out of altruistic motives, but because it seemed like as I’d come to expect over the last couple of days. I was an interesting way to better my chances of making it into again touched by how many people asked about my fam- the Foreign Service. ily. I no longer took the time to explain how far I was fully aware that Returned Peace Corps Wisconsin was from Washington and New York; I just Volunteers make up a sizable portion of the U.S. diplo- said everybody was fine, “Slava Bogu” (Thank God). matic corps (though I do not have any statistics on just The ride to Stephanie’s town took an hour, which is a how many). And yes, I admit that during my oral exam, long time to think about things once you’ve already used I leaned on that crutch at every opportunity and halfway up all your Uzbek by saying “Good morning” to your fel- expected my examiners to say, “Okay, enough about that low passengers. I hadn’t yet seen any footage of the already!” Yet as I rode out to Stephanie’s village, I was not attacks, but what I’d heard didn’t sound good, and thinking: “Wow, this will look great on my Statement of rumors were flying among the volunteers. We heard Interest!” I was only concerned about getting to the per- that the State Department building had been bombed, son I thought needed help, in spite of the fact that there that Muslim gangs were rising up against Westerners in wasn’t much to do upon arrival. Uzbekistan and that we were going to be evacuated to Of course, there was much more to my Peace Corps Russia. I could only imagine what our colleagues in service than that one ride. And there were certainly plen- remote villages were thinking. ty of times over the next several years when I wondered As it happens, Stephanie hadn’t been thinking much whether and how it was really going to be useful. But the about it at all, because news had barely made it out to her. experience of assisting a fellow American who might be She’d heard about some explosions in New York, but that in trouble was a clarifying moment for me that solidified was about it. I filled her in as best as I could, and we my desire to become an FSO and help others. And in the agreed on a schedule for her to get over to the next town end, I think that the Peace Corps was an ideal way to pre- to use a phone and check in with me every couple of days. pare for my career as a Foreign Service officer. As a crisis response, it was a bit of a nonevent — she had not been expecting me, wasn’t expecting any information, A Wide-Ranging Education and I didn’t have much to give her anyway. Upon my arrival in Uzbekistan as a Peace Corps Volunteer in August 2000, I was given language instruc- James Waterman entered the Foreign Service in 2006. tion, cross-cultural exercises, personal security training He recently completed his first tour in Hermosillo and is and much more. All of that preparation would eventual- now in Almaty. Prior to entering the Service, he was a ly help me adjust to the Foreign Service, as did total Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan from August 2000 immersion in a world of acronyms and specialized jargon. until September 2001, when he was evacuated following So while I currently pepper my conversations and writ- the 9/11 attacks. ing with terms like PDAS, 214(b) and ConGen, I come

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from the world of PST (pre-service training), ET (early Department officials with my Peace Corps group during termination, or “dropping out” of Peace Corps before our pre-service training, and certainly no contact after your scheduled end of service), and COSing (close of going off to our sites.) service, used as a verb to describe going through the Peace Corps Volunteers are expected to be self-suffi- administrative processes wrapping up your Peace Corps cient. This means that there’s no motor pool to rely on service). for travel needs, no work order to write up when elec- Perhaps more than anything else, however, I found tricity goes out, no medical officer just down the hall the more mundane daily experiences of Peace Corps life when you contract giardiasis — which you will (fre- the best preparation for the life of the Foreign Service quent illness is only one of the hardships that typically employee serving overseas. Admittedly, volunteers typi- mark Peace Corps service). In Uzbekistan, my apart- cally do not enjoy the same level of daily support as ment featured neither air conditioning nor a refrigera- Foreign Service personnel — much the opposite, in fact, tor, and the electricity seemed to be off as much as on. because the idea is for PCVs to live as “normal” people Still, with a private phone and running water, my abode in-country. was pretty cushy, compared to many other Peace Corps Unless problems arise, there is remarkably little con- residences. tact with the office, let alone the embassy. In my whole Like all volunteers, I lived with a host family for much time in Uzbekistan, I don’t recall ever meeting anybody of my service; in fact, I lived with three different fami- from the Department of State. (While it’s possible that lies. That day-to-day contact gave me a crash course on an embassy briefing was given while I was out sick one life in the former Soviet Union, a more wide-ranging day or something, I don’t recall any contact from State education than I could have imagined.

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Without a Net thing that he wanted to buy (inventories fluctuated wild- Beyond language and culture, I picked up regional ly at the bazaar) and a novel, for the inevitable wait he’d history, economics and geography on the job. I also encounter at some time during the day. I remember one learned how to use public transportation in Central Asia instance of waiting four hours to get our money when we (no mean feat for a suburban boy from Wisconsin), how went to collect our monthly stipends at the local bank — to haggle when shopping, and more than I ever wanted which, even by Uzbek standards, was a bit long. Hand in to know about pit toilets. In sum, I learned to live over- hand with the patience one develops in such situations seas “without a net,” which I can say really makes me comes a sense of what can reasonably be accomplished in appreciate the administrative support we get as Foreign a day — and if you guessed that it was a process of always Service members. lowering the bar, you’d be right. By working and living in the local communities, with For me (and, I suspect, for other Returned Peace no embassy buffer against local red tape and suspicious Corps Volunteers), my job as an English teacher at officials, Peace Corps Volunteers develop the patience Gulistan State University represented a fairly small por- needed to work overseas without a continuous nervous tion of my overall Peace Corps experience. But it pre- breakdown. For Americans, accustomed to easy access pared me well for life as an FSO. After a year of (seem- to almost everything 24 hours a day, patience may not be ingly) hundreds of students dropping by every day to ask a virtue. But in the small towns many volunteers inhab- me questions, the dubious claims to have finished home- it, things can move at a glacial pace. work but forgotten the documentation at home, and the One of my Peace Corps colleagues never left the constant struggle to get stuff done in spite of my imperfect house without two items: a bag, in case he found some- language skills, working on the visa line felt like home.

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Grassroots Diplomacy diplomacy,” which I think is an excellent way to describe I don’t mean to make light of the situation, however, what volunteers do. While all volunteers have primary because the experience prepared me well for my current projects, such as teaching English, the Peace Corps goes work. In fact, a theme I’ve seen in my work, both as a con- to great lengths to make sure that trainees understand that sular officer and as a Peace Corps Volunteer, is that our they are also full-time, 24/7 representatives of America. contacts really do appreciate the work that we do, even if What better preparation for a career as a diplomat than the people who know what that is add up to an extremely being urged to go out into the countryside and set a good small number, and even if we’re never able to do as much example, hopefully without making any mistakes bigger as we would have hoped. than mixing vodka and pear-flavored Fresca (a pretty dis- As a volunteer, I had students come up and give me gusting combination)? handwritten letters in which they thanked me for teaching As much as I enjoy being in the Foreign Service, I still them already outdated American slang and helping them see my Peace Corps service as a watershed moment in my decipher song lyrics. In other words, for nothing worth life, one that continues to pay dividends. Did it make me mentioning. As an FSO, I have had to deliver the worst a better FSO than I would have been otherwise? I’m con- news imaginable — your mother has died, your husband vinced it did. has died, your child has died — and have had the recipi- So for me the only question remaining (which will have ents thank me for that, as well. That sort of thing also to wait a few more years for an answer) is whether a career nagged at me as a Peace Corps Volunteer and still does. as a diplomat prepares one well for a repeat tour as a The Peace Corps is often said to perform “grassroots Peace Corps Volunteer. I

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FROM THE PEACE CORPS TO THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS Philippe Béha

ozens of Foreign Service employees and family members who are also Returned Peace Corps Volunteers responded to the AFSAnet the Journal sent out this summer soliciting their insights as to how the Peace Corps and Foreign Service experiences compare and contrast. In fact, the response was so great — and so varied and interesting —– that it will be presented in two installments. Part II will appear in the NovemberD issue. — Steven Alan Honley, Editor

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A SMALL HITCH You Go (Ten Speed Press, 2000). A second edition is due My first assignment with the Foreign Commercial out in the spring of 2009. Service was to Lagos. I figured they picked me because Dillon Banerjee I was an ambitious new officer who had lived in West Senior Commercial Officer Africa before (the fact that I had a pulse and they could Embassy Lisbon direct-assign me may also have played a role). In fact, my wife and I had met in the Peace Corps usu about six years earlier, when we were both serving as volunteers in Cameroon. We figured that Nigeria would be THE NEED TO BE FLEXIBLE similar in many ways, except this time we’d have a few Based on my experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer perks like indoor plumbing and electricity. in Russia from 1997 to 1999, I would say one of the In some ways, that turned out to be true. Although strongest similarities between the Peace Corps and the we were unprepared for how lavish our housing and Foreign Service is the existence of high levels of ambigu- work environment were in comparison with what we’d ity. Members of both organizations operate with varying had back in our volunteer days, the overall atmosphere degrees of uncertainty about their surroundings, roles, of the city was familiar and comfortable to us. I ate daily responsibilities and communities. In fact, comfort with with my Foreign Service National employees in local this aspect of overseas life is probably one of the single chop houses across from the consulate, and was even best indicators of whether Peace Corps Volunteers and able to use the pidgin English I’d spoken in Cameroon Foreign Service personnel will thrive and succeed. to break the ice with counterparts and haggle in outdoor The biggest difference between the two organizations markets. is the weight and inertia of the State Department’s But a key difference quickly became apparent. One bureaucracy. Getting a $500 educational grant approved weekend I was trying to get to the American Club to meet as a Peace Corps Volunteer is easier than pitching a new a friend for tennis. My wife had the car, and it was too idea — even a cost-free one — at an embassy or con- long (and hot) to walk, so I did what I would have done on sulate. any given day anywhere in Cameroon: I stuck out my Stetson Sanders hand as a motorcycle was passing by and hopped on the Vice Consul back to hitch a ride. The driver took me right to the club, Consulate Chennai I “dashed” him the equivalent of about 20 cents, and he thanked me and zoomed off. usu The following Monday, I was called into the regional security officer’s office. Apparently I had been seen — THANKS, SILVIA! and reported. Riding local transport was a big no-no in As a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Jamaica in 1988, Lagos. My initial reaction was disbelief. Could the I was on the mailing list for the monthly newsletter from embassy really be this paranoid? I griped to my wife that Embassy Kingston. One issue mentioned that the evening, but complied with the RSO’s rules from that Foreign Service Written Exam would be given in the point forward. USIS library and had instructions on how to register. On Though I’m still not convinced that taking a moto-taxi the appointed date, I rode my usual overcrowded bus to that day was grounds for reprimand, I do appreciate that town and took the exam. At the break, I met a woman approaching a Foreign Service assignment through a named Silvia, who told me she was the ambassador’s sec- Peace Corps lens is not always appropriate. But those of retary. us with that background can definitely draw on our vol- I asked her a plethora of questions, like “Do you have unteer experience to enhance our role as official repre- a car? A telephone? Air conditioning?” These were all sentatives of our government. things I missed, yet I knew I loved living abroad. She Incidentally, I have written a book (available via cheerfully answered all my questions and must have Amazon.com) for prospective Peace Corps applicants: So sensed a kindred spirit, for after the long exam was over You Want to Join the Peace Corps: What to Know before she offered to drive me in her car (a rare pleasure for me)

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to the bus park. On the way, I continued to pick her triates and don’t make an active effort to travel within the brain. As she told me about her job and her lifestyle, I country, you may see only a veneer of the host culture. realized it was exactly what I was looking for. A key lesson that has served me well is that to get I went on to become a consular officer at six overseas things done, relationships matter. As a Peace Corps posts, always managing to avoid a domestic assignment. Volunteer, this meant chatting with the village chief, tak- It was a real blast, and I never would have known about ing tea with the local bureaucrats, or spending time play- it without the embassy newsletter and Silvia. ing games with the children. The players and activities Linda Eichblatt are different for me now — paying courtesy calls on local FSO, retired government officials, having lunch with company execu- Amarillo, Texas tives, or chatting with office staff — but the impact is the same. Often people want to know who you really are usu before they commit to supporting your projects, no matter how important, or pressing, the initiative seems to be. LESSONS LEARNED Francis “Chip” Peters As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania from 1987 Commercial Officer to 1991, I taught English as a foreign language in a small Consulate General Shanghai village in the middle of the Sahara. Here are a few lessons learned that I still use in the Foreign Service: usu Know your audience. I was posted to a Muslim country, so I read the Quran and bought an English-Arabic BOTTOM UP, NOT TOP DOWN concordance. That facilitated questions (and answers!) Dealing with poor farmers as a Peace Corps Volunteer and helped me tailor my approach in the classroom. in Guatemala, I quickly came to realize how many farm- Learn the local language(s) if possible. It isn’t easy to ers were smart and had truly enviable leadership skills. learn an obscure dialect, but even mastering a few phras- They were people who could see possibilities and whip es will help. I learned enough expressions to get every- up enthusiasm in their colleagues for any endeavor. one to laugh, and then I had their attention. Largely because of that experience, as an FSO with Listen and observe. Remember that you are going to USAID I have always relied heavily on getting the views be there a long time, so be sure to listen and observe of people at the village level via direct interviews. This more than you talk. After all, while you have something can sometimes take a bit of digging because my inter- to teach, you also have things to learn. locutors’ communication skills may not be the best, due Be open. Audiences are much more receptive if you to a lack of formal education. However, their experiences show appreciation for their culture. And the more you and perceptions are critical when deciding what inter- are accepted, the further you may get. ventions in any given project make the most sense. Paul Dever Similarly, regular follow-up with the people directly Contracting Officer affected by a development project to get their feedback Embassy Manila is critical to making sensible modifications along the way. Good project design is usually bottom up, not top down, usu because people at the very lowest level, closest to the ground, know the facts. The rest of us only think we do! RELATIONSHIPS MATTER In Mali, we were on the verge of chucking a small My experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali hand-pump irrigation project because our technical from 1986 to 1988 was at the grassroots level, literally and advisers were saying the pumps had too many problems figuratively. I lived in a mud hut, rode in crammed and farmers, after purchasing them, weren’t using them. trucks, and ate many meals of millet porridge with my Yet during on-the-ground demonstrations and inter- host family. Now, as a Foreign Commercial Service offi- views, purchasers said they liked the pumps. In addition, cer, I recognize how easy it is to distance myself from the sales continued at a fairly decent rate. I felt there must host country. If you live in a compound with other expa- be some disconnect between our technicians and the

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farmers so, after much debate, we ended up maintaining to redefining the best way to achieve a goal, everything our minimal support. Today this USAID “graduate” pro- changed for the better. ject is an expanding, private-sector success. And while I was at it, it never hurt to check to be Alex Newton sure that my Ukrainian counterpart and I were actual- Mission Director ly talking about achieving the same goal. USAID/Bamako Emily Ronek Public Affairs Section usu Embassy Caracas A DIFFERENT REALITY usu Before I began my Peace Corps assignment in Kharkiv, Ukraine in 2002, I thought it was going to be SPIES R US the easiest experience ever. Though I had never lived When I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the early overseas before, I had traveled a lot outside of the 1990s in Tunisia, we bought into the idea that folks from United States. I also had a few years of work under my the embassy, including the USAID mission, were all spies belt. And as if all that weren’t enough, I’d grown up and couldn’t be trusted. Any request for a conversation around people of other cultures: not only is my father or information was to be carefully considered, analyzed an immigrant, but he’s from Slavic Eastern Europe. for its ulterior motive, and perhaps avoided. This line did Considering myself a sophisticated New Yorker not come from the Peace Corps leadership. Rather, it (OK, you caught me — Long Islander), I remember was lore among the youthful volunteers, perhaps based worrying about a fellow volunteer I’d met during the on some grain of truth from a different time. pre-departure orientation. Adam was from Alabama, Now, as a Foreign Service officer on the other side, I and I was sure he was in for a huge culture shock when see how wrong we were to be so suspicious, and how we landed in Ukraine. valuable good communications between volunteers and Naturally, I was wrong. Adam adjusted with no the embassy really are. Talking to volunteers helps us problem, while I was the one who struggled. But I understand what is going on at the local level. promised myself I’d stay at least a year, and if I was still David Thompson lost and confused then — well, life is too short to stay Director, Municipal Development and someplace where you are not happy. Democratic Initiatives Office Fortunately, a few months into my stint I started to USAID/Tegucigalpa find my way, settle in, do meaningful work and make real friends. Two things helped me do that. The first usu is, I stopped asking “why?” For instance, Ukrainians don’t smile on the street or stand in a line, and in a IT’S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL business situation it may take a while before someone For my first two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in will be up front with you (if ever). Once I learned to The Gambia (1980-1982) I was an audiovisual adviser to stop being upset about all that, take it for what it is, and the Department of Cooperation’s Training Center in work within their context — after all, I am a guest in Yundum, just outside the capital. There I taught my their country — things really came together quickly. counterparts how to edit the monthly co-op extension (And now I, too, wonder why Americans smile so worker newsletter and trained them to teach groundnut much. They must be a bunch of happy idiots.) (peanut) farmers to read the scale. The second lesson I learned is that what we think is The editorial training went well, but the scale-reading rational behavior is actually culturally defined. The instruction was an abysmal failure. It turned out that the correct reaction to a given situation seems ridiculously extension workers didn’t want the farmers to read the obvious to us, so it can be really frustrating when peo- scale, because they were cheating them when they sold ple act “irrationally.” But once I realized I was in a dif- their groundnuts. But that’s another story. ferent reality, and understood that I needed to be open In 1983, while serving as a third-year Peace Corps

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Volunteer Leader, I attended a trainers workshop in They were also learned in a context quite different Cotonou. At a reception the chargé d’affaires, Charles from the Foreign Service Institute. FSI teaches culture Twining, held for our group, we had the chance to chat a via language instruction and area studies, but that doesn’t bit about being a diplomat. come close to equipping you to speak about the weather The next year my spouse, Ed — also a Peace Corps in the local language while a rainy season gale is blowing Volunteer in The Gambia (see next item) — entered the through the open classroom window. Foreign Service and was assigned to Douala as adminis- Those skills have helped me tremendously as a trative officer. Unfortunately, there was going to be an Foreign Service officer. I now have a template that unavoidable two-month gap between him and his prede- assists me in understanding any culture, in the same way cessor — not a good thing at a post that supported all that learning one foreign language helps you learn incoming and outgoing shipments to five other posts. another. Although I have gone on to live in many Feeling cocky after my Peace Corps experience, I pitch- places, it is to The Gambia that I most often make com- ed the idea that I come to post in advance of Ed and do parisons. For instance, when I went to Bombay for my his job. I would then move into my position as budget consular tour, I found many things different from back assistant when he arrived. in the United States, but some were closer to the It happened that Charles Twining had become Gambian context. Douala’s consul general! He remembered me from our I’ve found my Peace Corps experience so important, brief meeting in Cotonou, and welcomed my offer. so useful to my current career, that I think it should be After Douala, I accompanied Ed on his tours to listed on my employee profile. (At least time spent as a Bombay, Bridgetown, Dakar, Abidjan, Djibouti and Peace Corps Volunteer counts toward State Department Berlin — working at interesting jobs at each post. In retirement.) A volunteer’s performance probably tells as 2003, while in Berlin, I became a direct-hire Office much about his or her diplomatic potential as a universi- Management Specialist. ty transcript. My first Foreign Service tour was for 14 months in My experience as a management officer is that former Kabul, sans spouse. But Ed and I reconnected in Stock- volunteers make for happy FSOs. The transition from a holm in 2005, and are now both back in Washington. mud-brick thatched hut to an embassy-funded house Susan H. Malcik with a generator and running water is pretty easy. The GSO Training Assistant frame of reference for what former volunteers expect in Foreign Service Institute living standards overseas is not purely American, but tempered by what they see the locals have — because usu they have lived as locals in another country. Thus, I find that former volunteers are pleased with their housing and DIPLOMATIC BOOT CAMP willing to put up with small inconveniences that drive Much of my Peace Corps experience (The Gambia, other Americans batty. 1980-1982) was fun. But a lot was tough, like hunkering Former volunteers also can make for happy local down during the 1981 coup d’etat or living with the con- employees because they are not reticent about shaking stant threat of malaria. The Peace Corps advertises that hands with the facilities maintenance guys when they it is the toughest job you will ever love, and that is not show up at the door! hyperbole. Ed Malcik In fact, a Peace Corps assignment is diplomatic boot FSO camp: two years of intense, full-contact, sandals-on-the- Director IO/OIC ground, cultural immersion. The skills a volunteer acquires are not bookish but experiential, and immedi- usu ately put to use: eating without utensils, taking a bucket bath, knowing when shaking hands is appropriate, COMING FULL CIRCLE butchering a chicken, speaking Mandinka and Woloff. The Peace Corps is a perfect preparation for the These were survival skills. Foreign Service. All too many Americans serving over-

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seas, especially in the Third World, are shocked and And I’m especially thankful for the great, free Foreign upset when the electricity, air conditioning or water goes Service housing, the fact that we usually have hot water, off. State has done a wonderful job in recent years in our generous shipping allowances, and access to the minimizing problems for its overseas employees, but they diplomatic pouch or military mail services. still exist. The complete cultural immersion I received in the Many Peace Corps Volunteers have lived with no elec- Peace Corps also instilled knowledge of how other cul- tricity, running water or indoor plumbing. When I was a tures see the world and how they see the United States. volunteer in a small town in northern Dahomey (now Although developing nations differ substantially, the Benin) from 1969 to 1970, I had to pay the landlord to infrastructural and procedural challenges they face are build an outdoor pit toilet. Hence, when we join the often surprisingly similar. Therefore, experience working Foreign Service we tend to be much more tolerant about at a grassroots level in one developing country teaches overseas hardships than many of our colleagues ever are. lessons that can be applied throughout the developing Another benefit is that a stint with the Peace Corps world. It has also afforded me a degree of understanding between college and graduate school can make getting a of, and empathy with, the challenges other countries master’s degree a piece of cake. During my two years in face, even as it equips me to view them more realistical- the School of International Affairs at Columbia ly. University, I based most of my term papers on my Peace My time with the Peace Corps also taught me to truly Corps experiences. love America. Ever since, I’ve been acutely apprecia- Finally, Foreign Service folks should consider getting tive of the extraordinary privileges, rights, opportunities involved with helping to set up Peace Corps programs. and responsibilities that come with U.S. citizenship. When I was chargé d’affaires in Moroni from 1987 to Being a Peace Corps Volunteer taught me to do more 1990, I was able to draw on my experience as a Returned with less, to value intangible assets such as freedom and Peace Corps Volunteer to help in an appropriate manner, education, and to be patient when the bus broke down. and I enjoyed hosting periodic lunches and dinners for It reminded me to concentrate on what I had, not what the volunteers. I didn’t. Karl Danga Finally, it instilled in me an unquenchable desire for FSO, retired travel and expatriate living, which led me to join the St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Foreign Service. For that matter, without the Peace Corps, I wouldn’t have even known what the Foreign usu Service was. Lisa W. Cantonwine CULTURAL IMMERSION Executive Assistant to the Ambassador If the Foreign Service can be described as insular, Embassy Bamako bureaucratic and removed from a host culture, then the Peace Corps is expansive and loosely defined, and usu requires complete cultural immersion. Peace Corps Volunteers are expected to live off the local economy, TRULY TRANSFORMATIONAL learn the language and approximate the same standard of DIPLOMACY living as host-country nationals, all while receiving mini- Being a Peace Corps Volunteer, as I was in Bulgaria, is mal support from headquarters. all about living in a small community, adopting the local I spent two tours with the Peace Corps as an English dress, drinking the local wine and using the local toilet teacher, and that experience more than prepared me for paper (if any) — in short, integrating into the local soci- the Foreign Service (particularly extremely undeveloped ety, including its sights, sounds, tastes and (sometimes hardship postings such as Mali). I am now tolerant of unfortunately) smells. The experience demonstrates how procurement delays, differences in cultural work stan- societal and cultural beliefs buried deep below the sur- dards, construction problems, and the dozens of minor face can provide insights into how people think and act in annoyances that plague life in so many countries. particular situations.

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My Peace Corps service taught me to be wary of sta- United States; then the 9/11 attacks and their after- tistics and those who bear them, for they rarely tell the math added fuel to the fire. entire story. For that matter, most work plans and For many volunteers, this was a shock for which they action plans are best used to start fires. My service also were unprepared. “We’re here to help, and they treat taught me that there are at least five sides to every us like this?” The hostility, along with the difficulty of story, and finding the right one sometimes depends on launching projects and the tortoise-like pace of change, where you’re standing — except when it doesn’t. sent many well-intentioned volunteers back home Above all, I believe the Peace Corps has instilled in early. me, and my fellow returned volunteers who are now in Yet despite all of these challenges, the Peace Corps the Foreign Service, the knowledge that there is a wide Volunteers who remained in country did amazing work, world outside the embassy gates. As we work in offering a vision of the United States that was drastical- embassies and consulates, often overburdened by the ly different from the one Mauritanians knew (or weight of Washington-mandated reports, it’s tempting thought they knew). By their words, but even more so to see the world as a series of three-minute visa inter- through their actions, the volunteers peeled away lay- views. And when you’re offered almost all the creature ers of distrust, replacing stereotypes and misconcep- comforts available in the U.S., it can sometimes be tions with individual faces. challenging to remember that your purpose is not just Every time I hear the phrase “transformational to push paper, but also to form real connections with diplomacy,” I cannot help thinking of my former Peace other people, exchange ideas, and thereby promote Corps colleagues, who taught me to recognize two dis- American ideals and values. tinct types of idealism, a lesson I’ve carried with me Peace Corps Volunteers have crossed cultures into the Foreign Service. before and know that, though difficult, it can indeed be First, there is the naïve sort of idealism, the kind done — and the time investment is well worth it. The that people often associate with Peace Corps more returned volunteers we have in the Foreign Ser- Volunteers. This variety expects the best from people vice, the more likely that FS personnel will move be- but needs the adulation of others to sustain itself, so it yond the embassy walls and truly engage with locals, in seldom lasts long. And when the world doesn’t change the tradition of the Peace Corps. And the better posi- overnight, these idealists are disillusioned — as hap- tioned we will all be to engage in truly transformation- pened to many volunteers in my former host county. al diplomacy. The second kind of idealism is more enduring Tyler Sparks because it understands human shortcomings and does Vice Consul not expect too much from people. It is hardened by Embassy San Jose real-life experiences and knows that partnerships take time to develop. This kind of idealism still dares to usu make the world a better place, but it has a longer hori- zon and is not expecting praise or even tangible results TWO TYPES OF IDEALISM along the way. It sustains itself with nothing more than Some Peace Corps Volunteers find welcoming com- a belief in its mission and unshakeable perseverance. munities in their host countries and leave two years Now that I am a Foreign Service officer, I try to later with a genuine extended family. But this was not remember this distinction. No matter how hesitant our my experience in Mauritania between 2000 and 2002. partners may be, no matter how slow progress may Everything was difficult about our Peace Corps seem; this second, patient strain of idealism is the one experience there: the living conditions, the oppressive worth guarding. Though the path may be long and heat, but most of all, our interactions with the host- winding, why else would we be serving our country country nationals. We encountered pervasive hostility, abroad — if not to make a positive difference? I both in the form of groups of rock-throwing children Erik J. Schnotala and more subtle manifestations. The second Palestin- Vice Consul ian intifada had riled public sentiment against the Embassy San Jose

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FS FICTION SAMMY AND I

EVENTS IN PALAVARIA TAKE AN UNEXPECTED TURN JUST AFTER PROSPECTIVE EMBASSY PERSONNEL LEARN ITS LANGUAGE, IN THIS SPOOF ABOUT THE VICISSITUDES OF FSI TRAINING.

BY MICHAEL D. QUINLAN

f you had read the cable — with prophetic phras- as the proud people of Palavaria were waving their banners es like “insurgency movement” and “breakaway and stretching their wings toward their newfound freedom at tendencies” splattered Jackson Pollock-like across home, half a world away, a middle-aged Palavarian émigré by its pages — you would have known to expect the the name of Babanu Samilakana (“Sammy” for short) was maelstrom in the Andaman Sea. But you didn’t, cursing the pigeons standing in his way. so like everyone else, it took seven protracted It was August in Washington. The humidity was high, and months of protests, halted elections and a bril- sweat was spilling down the sides of Sammy’s wide head. He liant, Aussie-brokered peace accord for it to sink in: the tiny was lumbering up North Lynn Street to meet some fellow Iisland-state of Palavaria was, after decades of colonial rule, Palavarian ex-pats for gossip and meatball subs at the finally taking its rightful place on the world stage as an inde- Quiznos in Rosslyn. pendent nation. Sammy spent many a long afternoon chatting in his native It was a watershed for Palavariaphiles. Over the years, tongue with his friends, commiserating about the sorry state pioneering Palavarian immigrants had carved out a tiny niche of the world. It is a time-honored Palavarian tradition to in America, making the leap one tourist visa at a time to build keep good news strictly to one’s self and family, so gatherings up somewhat inconsequential ethnic presences in towns like were mostly a depressing series of pooh-poohing that drove Reseda, Calif., St. Paul, Minn., and the neighborhood around the older attendees to drink. This would have been the the Dunn Loring Metro stop in Falls Church, Va. But now a inevitable future for Sammy, had he not decided to stop by new era of respectability and opportunity was at hand. And first at Cosi for an iced coffee. Waiting in line behind two broad-shouldered gentlemen sporting crew cuts and badges with badly faded lettering This story won second place in the Journal’s 2008 Foreign repeated along their lanyards, DEPARMELT O SIAT3. Service Fiction contest. Other winning stories will appear Sammy overheard the following: in future issues of the FSJ. “They’re going to open an embassy there.” Michael Quinlan has been with the State Department “Yeah, and I hear it’ll all be LDP.” since 2005. He is married to an Office Management “But nobody in the department actually speaks Specialist and has two children. His first posting was in Palavarian, do they?” Hermosillo. He is currently a vice consul in Tokyo, where Sammy’s ears perked up. he is trying to find the least expensive golf course in Japan. “It doesn’t matter. They’ll just find somebody to teach the language at FSI. Not a bad deal. Spend a year learning how

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to say ‘hello,’ ‘goodbye’ and ‘thank you.’ All while the govern- Next to arrive was Eleanor, a single, 30-something, emo- ment pays for everything.” tionally fragile economic officer who had just broken off a Sammy stood frozen in line, eyes closed, half-translating three-year fling with Juan, the general services officer at her and half-scheming. Palavarian embassy? Teach language? last post. She was hoping to make a fresh start in a place as Government pays? Two hours later, on Google, Sammy man- far away as possible. aged to find a department notice advertising what looked like I arrived last, a vice consul just out of A-100 — in jeans, no a dream job. He could hardly believe his fortune. less. Like many of his compatriots, Sammy had a storied past. Sammy walked in 10 minutes late and, upon seeing his stu- He had arrived in the United States 32 years ago and, one dents seated before him, immediately cursed us. “Never do amnesty bill later, stumbled into his new citizenship. He had this again!” He made us all get up, walk outside and come held a number of odd jobs previously, back into class, greeting him with a such as driving a gypsy cab in Chicago, salute. He then began a very short lec- working as an unlicensed barber in ture on why he considered it almost Raleigh, N.C. and — if you believe his impossible for non-Palavarians to learn resumé — as a salesman of ancient He then began a Palavarian: “My beautiful language is Persian curios and landscape designer to too hard for your brains,” he noted dryly. the stars. very short lecture on “I learned my language from baby time, But being a “Palavarian Language just like my father and all Palavarian Instructor” was something Sammy was why he considered it men. It was easy. We learned as babies. born to do. Naturally, he aced the job But you are not babies. Your brains are interview. A professor of obscure linguis- almost impossible for old and like … bricks. No way to learn. tics from Georgetown was brought in to You should all give up.” determine Sammy’s fluency. He began non-Palavarians to He paused. “But they pay me to his interview by singing a line from his teach, so I will see how badly you do. family song and listing the last seven gen- learn the language. You, tell me your name.” erations of his lineage. He then launched “All right, well, thank you for your into a sprawling, memorized diatribe of kind words. To begin, my name is Pat sociopolitical analysis lifted directly from and, as some of you may know, I am slat- the pages of an old copy of Palavaria ed to be the ambassador to …” Digest, which had ceased publication 15 years ago. He pep- “Next!” pered his briefing with allusions and word play, veering dan- “Um, okay. Well, hello, my name is Eleanor, the …” gerously into rhetorical flourishes. It was breathtaking. “Next!” He then fielded a number of questions in English about “Do you even want to … ?” his job history. “Yes, always I am work as teacher. I can teach “Good. Now we will watch a video.” anything right now. What do you want? I will give you the It was a “National Geographic” special about dinosaurs. best deal. I have very best deals for you.” Sammy turned out the lights and stepped out of the class- He was confident, and with good reason. No one else in room, appearing about two minutes before the video fin- the local Palavarian community found out about the job open- ished, waving away cigarette smoke from around his counte- ing, thanks to Sammy’s habitual secrecy. He ended up being nance. He announced that the next hour would be a reflec- the only applicant and was offered a one-year contract. tion period in which we would write an essay about our Shortly thereafter he was sharing office space on the third favorite animal. “Now, break time,” he said, slipping out the floor of the Foreign Service Institute, waiting to teach his first door. class. Pat, Eleanor and I remained in our seats, looking blankly uru at each other. “What are we doing?” I asked. Sammy was scheduled to teach three students for four “I have no idea how this is supposed to help us learn a lan- hours a day, every day. Pat was the first to get to class. She guage,” Pat said with gritted teeth. was a well-respected career bureaucrat who’d had little trou- “Maybe it’s a cultural thing?” Eleanor offered. ble getting confirmed to be the ambassador to Palavaria. “This is ridiculous. Aren’t we at least going to learn how After multiple tours in wartorn capitals like Bougané, Wanfan to say ‘hello’?” and Serill, she had climbed the ladder at Main State in the “Does anyone know what Palavarian sounds like?” Pat prestigious Z and Q bureaus. Tiny, remote Palavaria was her asked. reward. “I heard it’s tonal.”

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“I heard it’s based on a Cyrillic “How? Out and About in Palavar- product, bauxite,” said Pat in stilted alphabet.” ia?” I asked. Palavarian. “I would be satisfied give “I heard it’s even harder than a “Yes! And with whatever else we out bauxite ore sample.” super-hard language.” can get our hands on,” replied the “Thank you, Pat,” Sammy grinned “Silent!” boomed a voice from ambassador. “Come on, people. We as he gathered her notes, crossing out beyond the doorway. It was Sammy. have six months. I propose we get her name and scribbling his own in its “You should be thinking about home- started right now and not let that man place. “You two now comment.” work; but no, you talk like children. stand in our way.” Desperate to say something illumi- Listen to you! You are not ready for Pat’s path to proficiency involved a nating, Eleanor could only recite a few Palavarian. You are brick heads. great deal of self-study. She called on phrases she had learned in week two: Come back tomorrow. Early dis- a couple of former OMSs to gather “I like Pat words. Pat has big voice. miss.” every book, article and film ever cre- Bauxite is interesting thing.” The first week stretched on much ated about Palavaria. It took them They turned to me. like the first day. Sammy would find a about two hours. Over the next few “Well, with no direction whatsoev- reason to end class early, then make a months, Pat pored over these er it’s amazing how little one can learn, beeline to the Portuguese section to resources, turning herself into a walk- even with all the time in the world,” I flirt with the Brazilian teachers. We ing encyclopedia entry. She would said in English. “Sorry, we haven’t huddled together and walked toward come to class armed with a battery of learned how to say that in Palavarian.” the cafeteria. “This is not going to be esoteric information, delighting “Good. Now we watch video,” an easy language to learn,” said Sammy with grammar and culture Sammy said without a hint of emotion. Eleanor. lessons that he quickly realized he Later that day, Pat sat me and Pat stomped a foot and flung could appropriate to create a Eleanor down for a heart-to-heart. around. “Look. If he’s not going to Palavarian Area Studies curriculum. “Listen, guys. I know it’s been rough, help us learn Palavarian, we’re just “Now conclude my presentation but you really have to try harder. I going to have to do it on our own.” around Palavaria third big export don’t want to be the only one at post who knows this language. I expect more from you.” Eleanor began sobbing. “I’ve told you before! I’m an auditory dyslexic. It takes twice as long for me to hear what people are saying, especially if they’re speaking in jargon or a foreign language.” “You’ll just have to spend more time studying,” Pat retorted. “But I’ve sacrificed so much for this language! I’ve already missed two happy hours at Café Asia because I’m in the lab all the time! What about him! He doesn’t even try to speak in class!” “I know how to say ‘no,’” I shot back, “and if I’m going to be doing visas all day, that’s all I need to know.” “That’s enough!” Pat hissed. “I’m the one signing your EERs. If you two don’t start learning this language and learning it well, I swear, I’ll use second-rate verbs and passive voice construction when writing your reviews!” Pat’s words stung our ears. That night, Eleanor decided to take a novel,

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if not desperate, approach to her lan- ried on like guests on “Oprah.” Sam- guage learning. She sat down at her my encouraged them with intermit- laptop and connected onto Palavar The ambassador, who tent interjections like, “I know what ianFriendFinder.com. “My name is you mean!” or “You go, girl.” Eleanor. I am young American wo- had in the meantime I asked Eleanor, “You did talk to man. I like moonlit walks and I want to DS about this Rodrigo guy, didn’t learn Palavarian.” hired a Palavarian you?” She received 378 responses in the “Worry don’t. Rodrigo’s father first half-hour. After innumerable first housekeeper, was also worker at George Washington Uni- dates, usually to a sandwich shop, versity. Everything is secure,” she Eleanor began routine meetings with showing marked replied. “And you can at least try to one particular conversation partner, a say something in Palavarian!” tall Palavarian boy with an impeccable improvement. It was now four months into lan- complexion and a talent for rolling his guage training and I had yet to speak a r’s. She wasn’t sure of his real name, single word of Palavarian in class. but she called him Rodrigo, as his Eleanor and the ambassador had screen name was RDRG69. Soon stopped trying to engage me in their enough, Eleanor’s sentences grew in The ambassador, who had recently daily dialogues. Sammy, who had complexity. hired a Palavarian housekeeper, was never even taken note whether or not “Rodrigo and me last week went to also showing marked improvement. I attended, was content to let the class recent Tom Cruise movie. We had “Eleanor, you seem going steady with mosey toward completion without a popcorn and hot dogs and ate dinner Rodrigo. I hear Palavarian wedding word from my lips. The less the stu- and wine and my apartment.” She conch shells in the future?” dents talked, the happier Sammy was. giggled nervously. “Lots of fun!” She and Eleanor laughed and car- Indeed, his greatest joy was creating

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 49

opportunities for field trips, including Palavaria were so …” a visit to the Home Depot at Seven “All right, all right, that’s great, but Corners. I have to go in for my test now,” said “Today we go to Home Depot for Eleanor, picking up her things. “Wish supplies.” me luck!” “Supplies for what?” I asked. “Best of luck to you, my dear “We do community outreach. friend! May your heart sing a song of Help repair house of good Palavarian purity and triumph on this sacred day woman, my cousin. Practice speaking. of proficiency testing!” The ambas- Exercise. Field trip.” sador uncoiled her sentence with flu- “This appears to be beneficent idity and nary an American accent. opportunity to engage local audience,” “She’s in for some trouble if she said the ambassador, using the appro- talks about that kid she’s dating,” Pat priate Palavarian conjugation. whispered. “It’s completely at odds “I agree with whole heart,” said with Palavarian culture to boast about Eleanor. “I love workouts while I your love life, you know.” speak Palavarian.” “She’ll be fine.” “I bet you do,” I said under my “Maybe. But what about you? I breath. don’t think I’ve heard you say more “Remember!” Sammy warned as than 10 Palavarian words since we he piled us into his Dodge Caravan. started this class. Frankly, I’m scared “Do not tell course coordinator where for you. And quite disappointed. You we go.” haven’t made much use of your time uru at FSI, have you? Really, what do you The morning of our proficiency expect to do once you get to post?” exam, the ambassador, Eleanor and I “Trust me, Pat. I’ll be fine.” met in the FSI cafeteria to provide An hour later, Eleanor came racing each other with moral support. Pat back. “I got a 3/3! Can you believe it! was the first to test. I did it!” Eleanor and Pat hugged and “Good luck, Madam Ambassador! continued going over the details of May you grace the testers with your their tests. They almost didn’t see me immense knowledge and immaculately stand up. constructed sentences!” Eleanor “I’ll see you back here in an hour, cheered in an easy Palavarian patter. okay?” I asked. “You know she’s doomed if she “Oh, of course! And good luck!” starts talking about ancient Palavarian they both chimed. As I turned the cave drawings in there,” Eleanor con- corner I could almost hear them fided after Pat had left. “They’ll die of adding, “You’ll need it.” boredom.” An hour or so later, as I emerged “She’ll be fine.” from the testing room I heard foot- “I think it’s best to speak from your steps galloping down the hallway. It heart, you know, with feeling,” was Pat and Eleanor. “Come quick! Eleanor said. “Like my dear Rodrigo.” You have to see this!” An hour later Pat came running “But I’m waiting for my test score.” back to the cafeteria, beaming. “A “Just come!” 3+/3+ you guys! A 3+/3+! I did it!” It was all over CNN. After more “Congratulations!” I said. “How than six months of political gridlock was it?” over budget allocations, military uni- “Not so bad. Oh! You’ll never be- forms and deciding which Beatles lieve! I got the greatest briefing topic song would become the national possible — art — and so I talked anthem, the opposition People’s about how the cave drawings in Non-Democratic Party of Palavaria

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had staged a coup. Upon taking over every day in class. “Have you seen the the presidential palace they issued a news?” he asked. statement, which read: “The Pala- The three of us were “Yes, just now.” varian people have had enough of the “This world is full of fickle, crazy complications brought about by inde- in shock. Wordless, we people. They don’t appreciate what pendence and freedom. We have they have until it’s gone.” He paused. heard our people speak, and what stared at the TV screen, “I guess this means there’s no job for they want is a return to simpler times. you back in Palavaria?” Today, we give them what they want.” shaking our heads. “Sadly, it looks like that’s the case.” Then, as news cameras rolled, the “That’s too bad. In any case, you’re coup leaders formally rescinded Pala- now officially a 5/5 Palavarian speak- varia’s independence vote and de- er. Congratulations. You’re off lan- clared the country to be, once again, guage probation.” Sammy smiled. a colony. What? Dulles? You have to go back? “Yeah, I figured as much,” I said The three of us were in shock. Be with your family? Wait! You’re with a grin. “Thanks, Uncle Sammy.” Wordless, we stared at the screen, married?!” She hung up the phone “Don’t mention it, my boy.” shaking our heads. “Unbelievable. with disgust. I suddenly realized what this meant Just unbelievable,” Pat mumbled, “Well,” she said, hitting her speed for Sammy. “Wait a minute. This reaching for her cell phone. She start- dial button. “I hear Madrid is lovely means you’re probably out of a job ed walking away slowly. “Hello there! this time of year. Juan, mi amor! I’ve too!” Yes, it’s me, Pat. Say, is that Baghdad missed you so much!” “Don’t worry about me. I’ll find job still open?” I went back to the testing room something. In fact, I hear they’re hir- Eleanor’s phone rang. “Hello? where Sammy was waiting with the ing at Quiznos.” Sammy lowered his Rodrigo, my love! Where are you? same look of ennui he had affected voice, “But don’t tell anyone!” I

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FROM KHARTOUM TO CONCORD

A STINT AS A POLITICIAN WAS NEVER PART OF MY VISION FOR LIFE AFTER THE FOREIGN SERVICE — AND CERTAINLY NOT BEGINNING AT AGE 77.

BY DON PETTERSON

t 6:30 on a cold midwinter day, it’s on Sudan. I wrote a book about it; traveled to Khartoum and dark when I roust myself out of bed. Nairobi in 1997 with another former American ambassador, By 7:45, I’ve showered, shaved, had the late Bill Kontos, to see if we could develop some ideas breakfast, donned suit and tie, packed for ending Sudan’s civil war. I also worked as a consultant for my briefcase, kissed Julie goodbye, a Sudanese charitable organization, chaired an international and begun my 40-minute drive to the commission in relation to the peace agreement that ended capital. the civil war in 2005, and went to Juba in 2007 in connection A Foreign Service member getting ready to commute to with the commission’s work. Athe State Department? No, a freshman member of New State issues lay largely outside my range of interests. I Hampshire’s House of Representatives going to work in said as much in the early fall of 2007 when, to my surprise, Concord. Democratic Party officials asked me to run for a vacant seat A stint as a politician had never been a part of my imag- in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. “You’ve inings about life after the Foreign Service — and certainly got the wrong guy,” I replied. “There are others in Brent- not beginning at age 77! Since coming to New Hampshire wood [my town] who know a lot more about New Hamp- from Sudan in 1995, when I retired from the Foreign shire than I do.” And I gave them a couple of names. But Service, and returning in 1999 after serving as chargé d’af- after some friends urged me to run, I capitulated. faires in Monrovia for about a year, I’ve maintained a focus On the Campaign Trail Don Petterson, a Foreign Service officer from 1960 to 1995, A day later, I had a call from Jim Webber, elected to fill a was ambassador to Somalia, Tanzania and Sudan, among 10 vacant House seat in nearby Seabrook several months earli- overseas postings, and also served as a deputy assistant sec- er. I readily accepted his offer to give me some pointers, and retary of State. He is the author of Inside Sudan: Political we met at a nearby coffee shop. A few minutes into our con- Islam, Conflict and Catastrophe (Westview Press, 1999) and versation, I asked him to be my campaign manager, and he Revolution in Zanzibar: A Cold War Tale (Westview, 2002). accepted. A man at a nearby table, Ed Cunningham, came In 2005 he chaired the Abyei Boundaries Commission. He over, plunked down a $20 contribution, and offered to knock was elected to New Hampshire’s House of Representatives in on doors for me (which he did, several hundred times). The 2007. campaign was off and running!

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A couple of days afterward, Jim and I drove 40 miles to labels to the cards and saw to their mailing. Concord to talk to a state party official. The three of us walked to the secretary of state’s office in the capitol build- Retail Politics ing to file for the election. Asked to produce $2 for the fil- Perhaps the most important part of our campaigning was ing fee, I was chagrined to find nothing but a dead moth in knocking on doors (Brentwood’s 4,000 residents live in my wallet and ended up borrowing the money from the about 1,300 houses). I originally planned to cover every party official. I signed a pledge to limit my campaign spend- house myself, but it didn’t take very long for me to realize ing to 50 cents per registered voter for the upcoming prima- how impractical that idea was. Fortunately, an energetic ry (I was unopposed, but the Republicans had two candi- party official named Kari Thurman organized the can- dates) and the same for the subsequent general election. vassers, who included young volunteers from the Obama This came to about $2,400, more than I would spend. I was campaign. not going to tap special interests or All this extraordinary assistance for Hollywood celebrities for hefty dona- a candidate for the state legislature tions. came about because of New Hamp- In addition to $500 from Julie and shire’s presidential primary, which took me, an unexpected like amount from When approached to place less than two months after the New Hampshire Committee to Brentwood’s Nov. 13, 2007, special Elect Democrats, and some financial run for a vacant seat election. The state was swarming with help from the state party, I raised $717. volunteers and staffers for the many Name recognition was very impor- in the state legislature, presidential hopefuls. Some of them, tant because independents in the dis- as well as the two major parties, want- trict outnumber Republicans, who out- I replied: “You’ve got ed to help determine the outcome of number Democrats. So my first outlay the Brentwood election, the only one was $395 for lawn signs, the local the wrong guy.” in the state. equivalent of TV ads. I assigned to My opponent, the winner of the myself the job of putting them up and, Republican primary, declared he in the process, got much better wanted to go to Concord to protect the acquainted with Brentwood’s 17 square rights of gun owners and the sanctity miles of rolling hills. I have to admit I of the home. In a letter, he charged felt a rush, albeit a mild and controlled one (as one would that I was “a career political Clinton appointee” and would expect from a former FSO), from seeing the countryside “likely rubber stamp vote with the liberal and tax happy dotted with signs — in red, white and blue, of course: Democrats in charge in Concord.” Responding, I wrote a DON PETTERSON letter to the area’s newspaper pointing out that there was State Rep nothing political about any of my U.S. government appoint- Brentwood ments and explaining how I had become a career Foreign Using his computer, Jim produced hundreds of colored Service officer. And I declared: “I am not now, nor have I fliers featuring my smiling face with leafy green trees in the ever been, anybody’s rubber stamp.” Otherwise, the cam- background, which went well with one of my campaign paign was pretty tame stuff. pledges: “Preserve the rural character of Brentwood.” On Election Day, I showed up at the community center Other stated objectives included affordable and accessible polling place shortly before it opened at 8 a.m. Following health care, improved education opportunities for all New New Hampshire custom, a few of my supporters and I stood Hampshire children, and a “bipartisan approach in resolving in near-freezing weather holding one of my signs until the tough issues” (often lacking in the state legislature). voting ended at 7 p.m., leaving only for a lunch break. The state party paid for the printing of three “Elect Don By most standards the voter turnout of 664 that day Petterson” postcards. That message was emblazoned on the might seem small, but Brentwood had never had that many front of the card, while the reverse was a paean to Governor people — 27 percent of registered voters — vote in an off- John Lynch and the Democratic Party, with a subtext that I cycle special election. Once the voting closed, my opponent would work with them to “Help Continue to Deliver and I and our respective entourages traipsed into the Results.” One card had a picture of me with the governor. warmth of the polling station, and about 20 minutes later the He had a practiced politician’s wide smile, while I looked as town clerk announced the result: 372 to 292 in my favor. if I suddenly realized my fly was open. My campaign fund “Now,” I joked, “what do I do?” My erstwhile opponent did paid for the postage, and party workers affixed address not seem amused.

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 53

A week later the governor swore analyze issues and put forward ideas me in. A couple of days later I was or arguments on how to deal with back in Concord to fill out various The governor had them. And to pass a piece of legisla- forms, including a medical history, and tion, I’ll need to create a negotiating obtain ID badges, a parking permit a practiced politician’s stance compelling enough to achieve and state representative license plates, broad-based support from different, along with a ton of reading material. wide smile, while sometimes opposed, elements in both At least no typhoid, yellow fever or the House and the Senate. other shots were required — not even I looked as if I suddenly I was pleased to find that there was one against exposure to bloviation. no partisanship in the committee’s realized my fly work (unlike on the floor of the On-the-Job Training House). Instead, there is a refreshing, I had only a vague notion of what was open. good-humored, bipartisan collegiality. being a state representative would After I had listened to debates and entail, but had heard that it was not a voted on hundreds of bills, participat- full-time job. After the legislative ses- ed in dozens of committee hearings, sion began in January, I quickly put in became fewer — about 40 dur- and worked in conference commit- learned that, to the contrary, I would ing the last week of January, for exam- tees, the 2007-2008 legislative bienni- have to put in many hours to do the ple. And I enjoyed my new occupa- um ended in June. job right. In my first week I spent 54 tion. I got to know a lot of people rep- In the New Hampshire House, hours attending committee hearings resenting a cross-section of New members can introduce new bills only and full sessions of the House, com- Hampshire residents; got an educa- in the first half of the biennium. muting to and from Concord, and tion about a wide variety of issues; and Because I arrived on the scene in its responding to constituent requests. learned what it was like to be a part of second half, I had no opportunity to As I learned the ropes, the hours I the legislative process. And I got paid initiate any legislation. As the weeks — a whopping $100 a year. passed, I began collecting in my mind I served on the Executive Offices statewide problems I believed needed and Administration Committee, to be addressed and could be reme- which has responsibility for legislation died in part or in whole by new laws. affecting all the offices of the state’s My first six months in the House have executive branch and commissions taught me how to go about doing that. established by the governor. Three But first, I’ll have to be re-elected. major issues the committee dealt with It will be more difficult to run this during my term were an overhaul of time. I’ll not have much help from the state’s retirement system, an audit the party, which will be immersed in of the medical board, and regulation work to elect Barack Obama. I’ll be of gambling enterprises. just one of about 400 Democratic can- Bills touching on foreign policy are didates running for the House, so rare in the legislature, but one did resources from the party and the come before ED&A (as it is generally Committee to Elect Democrats will known). I found myself testifying be slim. I’ll have to create my own before my own committee on a bill fliers and other materials. And there calling for the retirement system to won’t be any Obama volunteers to divest itself of securities from any give me a hand canvassing or carry entity having business ties to — of all signs at “visibility” opportunities. places — Sudan. Still, I’ve got a new campaign man- My years in the Foreign Service ager in mind (Jim will be running for helped me in my political incarnation. his own re-election) and will gather To win office I had to put together a friends together to give me a hand. functioning organization and then And I’ve got most of my lawn signs convince voters that my ideas were resting in our garage, ready to be sound. In the legislature I have to planted once again. I

54 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

CUBA AFTER FIDEL

SOFAR, NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED SINCE FIDEL CASTRO’S RETIREMENT AS CUBA’S PRESIDENT. WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS FOR THE NEXT U.S. ADMINISTRATION?

BY GEORGE GEDDA

illboards around Havana show a picture of portation, a historic headache for Cubans, has been eased Fidel Castro and the words “Vamos bien”: with the arrival of hundreds of Chinese buses. “We’re doing well.” Obviously, many Cub- Still, the average salary of $19 a month is a major source ans would disagree, judging from the com- of resentment. And in addition to inflation and food short- plaints one hears on the streets about infla- ages, there is a chronic housing deficit. tion and low salaries. A good number of cit- Since taking over as president in February, Raul Castro izens would rather try their luck elsewhere. has embraced some reforms that could, over time, make life Yet in many ways, things are going rather well for the somewhat less burdensome. But no quick fixes are in sight. Bregime as the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution DVD players have been put on sale in some stores, generat- approaches. The handoff of the presidency from Fidel ing both curiosity and sticker shock; they cost the equivalent Castro to his younger brother Raul earlier this year went off of $350, or 18 months’ income for the average worker. High without a hitch, and seldom has the international picture costs have also impeded the great majority of Cubans from looked more favorable. With every stumble Cuba’s large taking advantage of greater access to cell phones, tourist neighbor to the north takes (and there have been many), the hotels and rental cars. mood among the Castroite faithful brightens. Many Cubans yearn for other reforms, such as Internet The emergence of a deep-pocketed, anti-American, pro- access. But the regime sees this as a possible instrument for Castro government in Caracas has been a godsend for disseminating subversive ideas, and has shown no sign of flex- Havana, providing billions in oil subsidies. And it is hard to ibility on this point. Nor is there much evidence of follow-up think of any country besides the United States that qualifies to the modest liberalizing measures Raul Castro announced as an enemy of Cuba these days. weeks after taking office in February. At revolution anniver- Other billboards seen around the Cuban capital attempt sary festivities in July, he said belt-tightening was in order to portray the privileged place Cuba holds among Third because of high international oil prices and other factors. World countries, compliments of the revolution. One pro- claims: “40,000 children in the world die each day. None is A Double Whammy Cuban.” That boast has some merit, given the resources the None of this might be of much interest or concern to regime has spent to meet basic needs, going well beyond free Americans — except for the fact that, since the early 1960s, medical care and education to include free day care. It costs the U.S. government has maintained a stringent economic just a few cents to take a bus or go to a ball game. And trans- embargo to pressure the Castro regime and create a climate for reform. Instead, the government has compounded the George Gedda recently retired as the Associated Press’s State country’s problems by embracing a fundamentalist brand of Department correspondent. A longtime contributor to the socialism that has virtually no adherents anywhere else. Journal, he has visited Cuba 30 times, most recently this Given this situation, a question arises. Who is more to spring. blame for the country’s economic plight: Washington for iso-

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 55

lating the island, or Havana for dis- especially those barred from attending couraging initiative, thereby inhibiting the funeral of a loved one. But the production? Washington and Bush administration opposes it; Com- In fact, the two capitals’ policies are merce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said mutually reinforcing, subjecting Cu- Havana’s policies are in May that the higher volume of bans to a double whammy. The re- Miami-Havana travel during the gime’s goal, of course, is to ensure that mutually reinforcing, Clinton administration created “a rev- minimal needs are met, thus avoiding enue stream for the regime.’’ the have, have-not dichotomy that subjecting Cubans to At one point this spring, Obama existed previously. In that regard, the said he would be willing, if elected, to Cuban leadership, notwithstanding a double whammy. meet with Raul Castro without pre- the embargo, has basically declared conditions. But he later stipulated victory, as expressed in the “Vamos that such talks could happen “only Bien” billboards. when we have an opportunity to But one Cuban who is not on the Indeed, the people who don’t have advance the interests of the United bandwagon is Carlos (not his real to rely on Cuban pesos are the best States and to advance the cause of name). At first glance, he would seem off. To the extent that there is a privi- freedom for the Cuban people.” to be a candidate for a regime poster leged class in Cuba, it consists mostly Still, Obama would seem like a boy. He is en route to a free-of-charge of those who receive help from rela- breath of fresh air to Cuban authori- education at the University of Havana, tives abroad in South Florida, in the ties compared with President George where he is a sociology major. But his form of cash deliveries and consumer W. Bush, who has been among the bitterness was obvious when he told a goods carried on flights to Cuba. most stridently anti-Castro leaders of visitor that a student who arrives for The Treasury Department reports the past generation. Many of his the fall semester receives ration cards it authorized 55,104 Americans, most- Cuban-American appointees, particu- good for only five months of the 10- ly naturalized Cubans, to travel to larly in his first term, were anti-Castro month school year. He shrugged Cuba in 2007, for the purpose of visit- activists. In 2004, the administration when asked how he was expected to ing family members. Inevitably, some vowed to disrupt any “succession” get by once that period expires. of the dollars they leave behind with from the elder to the younger Castro Carlos said his income was limited their relatives end up in government and promised to pursue a transition to to a tiny monthly government stipend, coffers. To limit the cash benefit to a democratic Cuba. from which he had to purchase school the regime, the Bush administration in For their part, Cuban authorities supplies. He resents having to reserve 2004 restricted family visits to Cuba to have warned constantly about the pos- a seat on a bus 15 days in advance to one every three years. Remittances sibility of an American invasion under go home to distant Santiago, especial- were limited to quarterly transfers of Bush. That never seemed a likely sce- ly when there is no wait at all for those $300 per household to immediate nario, but surely Cuban officials took who can pay with convertible curren- family members. note earlier this year when McCain cy, thanks to the largesse of family said that, as president, he would not members in Florida. Cuba on the “passively await the long-overdue Like many other Cubans, Carlos U.S. Campaign Trail demise of the Castro dictatorship.” also worries about what kind of job The Bush administration has said Historically, the communist gov- awaits him once he gets his sociology there can be no accommodation with ernment has seemed quite content to degree. It almost surely will not pay Cuba until political parties are legal- have a large, hostile neighbor as a ral- much, for Cuba’s best and brightest ized, political prisoners are released lying point for revolutionary solidarity don’t live much better than anybody and democracy is restored. Both John and as a scapegoat for economic diffi- else. Some physicians eagerly seek out McCain and Barack Obama support culties. With neither McCain nor after-hours patients who can pay for the U.S. embargo. But Obama wants Obama favoring the unconditional lift- treatment in convertible currency. to eliminate restrictions on travel and ing of the embargo, U.S.-Cuban hos- One doctor said his wife had to sup- remittances. tility is likely to endure. plement his meager income by work- “It’s time,” he said, “to let Cuban- Obama made clear his views on the ing as a housekeeper for a foreign fam- Americans see their mothers and embargo in a May speech in Miami. “I ily. Her income, paid in foreign fathers, their sisters and brothers.” will maintain the embargo,” he said. exchange, was seven times his. Many Cubans welcomed the proposal, “It provides us with the leverage to

56 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

present the regime with a clear choice: items. It was further tightened over of the Caterpillar tractors stood idle if you take significant steps toward the years, sometimes by executive due to a lack of replacement parts.” democracy, beginning with the freeing order and sometimes by Congress, as The international political context of all political prisoners, we will take was the case in 1992 and 1996. of the period helps explain the vigor- steps to begin normalizing relations. Of the 10 U.S. presidents who have ous U.S. response to Castro. Com- That’s the way to bring about real served since Castro’s rise to power, munist regimes had been cropping up change in Cuba — through strong, Jimmy Carter showed the most inter- in Eastern Europe and Asia after smart and principled diplomacy.” est in reaching an accommodation World War II, often under Soviet tute- Fidel Castro responded sharply to with the island. He lifted restrictions lage. To Washington, the idea of a Obama’s proposals, as he has to any on travel to Cuba in 1977 and author- pro-Soviet, communist regime on notion that Cuba’s form of govern- ized political discussions with Cuban America’s doorstep was unthinkable. ment should be influenced by a for- representatives. Interest sections — And the installation of Soviet missiles eign power. Obama’s speech, Castro diplomatic missions below the embas- in Cuba in 1962 confirmed Washing- said, “can be translated as a formula sy level — were opened in Washing- ton’s worst fears. for hunger for the country.” He thus ton and Havana. But progress toward On these and other issues, Castro reinforced the idea that food shortages normal relations under Carter foun- showed immense audacity in thinking are the fault of U.S. policy and not any dered because of the growing number he could handle Washington’s wrath shortcomings in Cuba’s system. (Ana- of Cuban troops in Africa. toward him. Political will, an efficient lysts point out that it is difficult to It was during the Carter era that block-by-block surveillance network blame the United States for empty Castro suffered one of his biggest set- and an American penchant for mis- cupboards in Cuba because U.S. food backs. The departure in 1980 of more takes helped him ride out the storm. exports to the island have been legal than 125,000 Cubans on boats to Of these miscalculations, the April since 2000.) Florida (the Mariel boat lift) offered 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion was easily As a young revolutionary, Castro clear evidence of widespread disaffec- the most egregious. Castro survived saw vast potential for the island to be tion among Castro’s subjects. One that and other early American at- self-sufficient in food. Cuba “could inspiration for the exodus was the vis- tempts to oust him, which included easily provide for a population three its to the island during the Carter years assassination plots and incendiary times as great as it has now. … The by numerous Cuban-Americans, who bombs targeted at key installations. markets should be overflowing with told friends and relatives about the The embargo remains Washing- produce; pantries should be full.” good economic situation in America. ton’s main anti-Castro instrument. By itself, the imposition of a social- Another is radio and TV broadcasts, The U.S. Embargo ist economy was disruptive. Toss the neither of which have much of an Before 1960, the two economies U.S. embargo into the mix, and the audience, thanks to jamming. Allud- had been exceptionally close: Cuba result, at least in the early years, was ing to the absence of viewers, TV was a main source of agricultural prod- catastrophic. In his book Cuba: Marti is derided in the Cuban media ucts, mostly sugar, for the United Between Reform and Revolution, as “TV Invisible.” States, which, in turn, provided the Louis A. Perez describes the ensuing bulk of Cuba’s manufactured goods economic chaos: Will the Status Quo and tourists. But in October 1960, two “By the early 1960s, conditions in Hold Firm? weeks before the U.S. presidential many industries had become critical No one could have foreseen in election, the Eisenhower administra- due to the lack of replacement parts. 1961 that the embargo, not to mention tion imposed a partial embargo. The Virtually all industrial structures were the Castro dynasty itself, would still be action followed sweeping nationaliza- dependent on supplies and parts now in place after almost 50 years, long tions, without compensation, by Cuba denied to Cuba. Many plants were after the Cold War ended. To be sure, of American properties (5,911 by U.S. paralyzed. Havoc followed. Transpor- there have been some changes around government count), and signs of grow- tation was especially hard hit: the min- the edges. In 2000, Congress allowed ing Soviet friendship with Havana. istry was reporting more than 7,000 food sales to Cuba for the first time, Washington broke diplomatic rela- breakdowns a month. Nearly one- reflecting demands by U.S. farmers tions in January 1961, and President quarter of all buses were inoperable for more export opportunities. John F. Kennedy expanded the em- by the end of 1961. One half of the Leading the charge for this exception bargo in 1962 to ban all trade ex- 1,400 passenger rail cars were out of to the embargo were representatives cept for non-subsidized humanitarian service in 1962. Almost three quarters from farm states, both Republicans

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 57

and Democrats. Mostly as a result of government agency, while the money this change, U.S. food deliveries to that reaches the workers is in Cuban Cuba rose from $6 million in 2000 to For ordinary Cubans, pesos and is worth only a fraction of the $582 million in 2007. According to the true cost to the company. The govern- Cuban government, this made the economic concerns ment agency pockets the difference, U.S. Cuba’s fifth-ranking trade part- ending up with a foreign ex- ner. Congressional attempts earlier transcend all others. change windfall. this year to further loosen restrictions There would no doubt be a hue and on food sales to Cuba fell short. cry among some Americans if, once The embargo survives partly be- the embargo is lifted, any U.S. investor cause it is an extension of the Ameri- exchange windfall for the island. Many agreed to such terms. International can domestic political process. Suc- Americans curious about the island labor groups decry the practice, argu- cessive presidential elections have would have the opportunity for a first- ing that it is tantamount to theft from shown that hard-line anti-Castro plat- hand look. Some, unwilling to wait for workers. But Cuban officials say the forms help carry Florida, a critical politicians to change the rules, travel to lower pay scale is justified to prevent swing state, and are also influential in the island outside the law, usually worker inequality. New Jersey. Without the support of through third countries, such as There are fewer reasons for keep- Cuban-Americans in South Florida, Mexico and the Bahamas. As Fidel ing the embargo now than there were Pres. Bush almost certainly would Castro observed a few years ago, if all a generation ago. The Cold War have lost the 2000 presidential elec- lawbreaking visitors from the U.S. issues — Cuban troops in Africa and tion. But the clout of the anti-Castro were prosecuted, many new U.S. pris- close ties to the Soviet Union — are groups in the region appears to be ons would have to be built. gone. Another issue that resonates diminishing as old-guard militants die Cuban-Americans who visit the less is political prisoners. These num- off and are replaced by younger, less island, whether legally or illegally, bered about 15,000 a generation ago; ideological Cuban immigrants. How often carry huge parcels filled with a the figure is believed to be much this trend will play out in November is variety of goods, ranging from vitamins smaller now. To the extent that unclear. The older generation may be to big-screen TVs. Hardly anyone human rights in Cuba attracts interna- smaller in numbers, but a higher per- makes the trip empty-handed. There tional attention, it relates more to the centage tends to vote compared with is no way of measuring the value of the U.S. treatment of suspected terrorists more recent arrivals. goods delivered to needy Cubans by detained at the Guantanamo Naval Few issues command the attention visitors from the U.S. over the decades. Base than it does to regime treatment of Cuban officials more than voting Even without the embargo, Cuba’s of dissidents. trends in South Florida, which they see potential as an importer of U.S. goods as a key element in determining politi- is limited because of a lack of foreign Improving Havana’s Image cal support for the embargo. Getting currency. But Cuban officials speak There are other ways in which, to Washington to lift it without significant optimistically about the potential two- some, Havana has improved its image political concessions by Cuba has long way trade offers. They cite the pros- internationally. In an earlier day, anti- been a regime objective and would be pect of lucrative sales of nickel and American vitriol poured from Fidel seen as a momentous achievement. cobalt to U.S. markets and possibly oil, Castro’s lips; he once denounced But, whatever the fate of the embargo, from off the country’s northern coast in American imperialism 88 times in a the idea of friendly ties seems out of the Gulf of Mexico. single speech. Nowadays, the decibel the question so long as Cuba has a The country also boasts an educat- level is lower, owing mostly to his leader whose last name is “Castro” and ed work force that does not go on debilitating illness and the emergence who is a devout revolutionary. strike. But American companies may of his much more restrained brother in Anecdotal evidence suggests that, still be inhibited from investing there the top spot. for ordinary Cubans, economic con- because, under current rules, the Beyond that, Cuba has long since cerns transcend all others. To have a Cuban government hires all workers given up armed struggle in its quest for less burdensome life, Cubans are will- for foreign companies and also serves revolution abroad. It now exports doc- ing to embrace almost any measure, as paymaster. tors, teachers and sports trainers. The including the lifting of the embargo. That means the euros (in the case of task of destabilizing U.S. allies in the A renewal of American tourism to a European company) budgeted for region, such as guerrilla-infested Col- Cuba no doubt would be a foreign worker pay are funneled through a ombia, has been left to Venezuela. On

58 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

this issue, Cuba has essentially been approved by overwhelming margins a offstage. Cuban-sponsored resolution demand- But the atmosphere is still ran- Raul Castro has ing an end to the embargo. corous. Illness may have silenced As of 2007, according to the regime, Fidel, but not his anti-Americanism, embraced some reforms “the direct economic damage suffered transmitted via newspaper columns by the Cuban people from the imposi- these days. Last spring, he wrote that that could, over time, tion of Washington’s economic, trade the U.S. embargo policy is tantamount and financial blockade is estimated at to “genocide” against Cuba and said make life somewhat less $89 billion.” America’s aim, it says, is to that the Bush administration routinely cause “hunger, desperation and the engages in torture and terrorism. burdensome. overthrow of the government in Cuba” Ridicule of American policy, while and the restoration of the country’s articulated less frequently at senior lev- pre-revolutionary “neo-colonial sta- els, is a common theme of a five-night- tus.” There is little doubt that many per-week TV program called “Mesa “bloqueo” (blockade), a term that sug- Cubans harbor ill will toward the Redonda” (Round Table). The regime gests that the United States has quar- United States for the long years of eco- says U.S. consumer spending takes antined Cuba, preventing all goods nomic warfare it has waged against the away from investment in basic needs, from going in or out, regardless of ori- island. contributing to human suffering in gin. Such is not the case, of course, The embargo has provided a handy poor countries. Amid this continuing because the embargo applies only to excuse to explain away Cuba’s econom- animus, it is hard to imagine how any the United States. Whatever its name, ic problems, so in that sense it has been American president could push for an the American policy has virtually no politically useful for the Castros. The end to the embargo without any backing from the outside world. For regime is dismissive of those who prospect of reciprocity. 16 straight years through November complain, insisting that the country is Cubans refer to the embargo as a 2007, the U.N. General Assembly doing well: “Vamos bien.” I

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 59

AFSAAmerican Foreign ServiceNEWS Association • October 2008

FIRST CALL FOR NOMINATIONS AFSA News Join the 2009 AFSA Governing Board Editor’s Note FSA, the official labor union and ward to help protect the Foreign Service by professional association for the running for positions on our Governing fter eight (is that possible?) years A Foreign Service, faces unprece- Board. One individual can make a dif- with the Foreign Service Journal, I dented challenges at this critical moment ference and can have a significant impact A am passing AFSA News on to a for our profession. This is a time of dwin- on the many key issues AFSA is negotiat- wonderful new editor, whom many of you dling resources and increasing hardship at ing with management. This is your chance will recognize from these pages and else- our overseas posts. to stand up for what you believe in. where: Francesca Huemer Kelly. Francesca We are at a crossroads today in which We are struggling to persuade Congress is a writer and editor who comes to us the future shape of the U.S. diplomatic ser- to approve overseas comparability pay and from inside the Foreign Service commu- vice hangs in the balance. AFSA needs to secure resources for our embassies and nity. She takes over the AFSA News por- good, conscientious people to come for- Continued on page 66 tion of my job in mid-September. The shift in my position will allow me to focus on putting together the next edition of Inside a U.S. Embassy. Francesca is a freelance writer and editor who has written for many magazines, JOSH including Redbook, Family Circle and Writer’s Digest. Her articles on college admission and other educational issues have appeared in the FSJ. In addition, U.S. Presidential Transition she has worked as a college counselor both uring the summer, AFSA met separately with senior foreign policy advisers to both in a high school setting and with private Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., and Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill. The discussions clients. Francesca is also a professional Dfocused on the resource and management needs of the overseas and domestic plat- concert singer and will be singing with the forms, on which the next president will rely to implement his foreign policy. Both candi- Washington Bach Consort this season. dates’ representatives agreed that the Foreign Service urgently needs additional staffing, train- A Foreign Service spouse since 1985, ing and increased operational budgets in order to conduct diplomacy and development Francesca is married to FSO Ian Kelly and assistance. is the mother of four children. They have AFSA also continues its active participation in the prestigious American Academy of served tours in Milan, Leningrad, Moscow, Diplomacy’s ground-breaking “Foreign Affairs Budget of the Future” study. The study is Belgrade, Vienna, Ankara, Rome, Brussels designed to provide the next president and Congress with a detailed analysis of what bud- and Washington, D.C. Francesca is also get is needed to enable the State Department and USAID to accomplish their missions in co-founder of both the SUN (Spouses’ classic diplomacy, public diplomacy, development diplomacy and crisis response. The study Underground Newsletter, which ceased will be released this month. publication in 1999) and Tales from a Small Finally, as has been done in past election cycles, AFSA provided a suggested question Planet (www.talesmag.com), which fea- on resources for diplomacy to the moderator of one of the three planned presidential debates. tures the popular Real Post Reports and is At press time, the nationally televised debate had not yet taken place. If asked, the ques- still going strong. tion will seek to put both candidates on record concerning not just the importance of diplo- Welcome, Francesca! J macy, but also the necessity of adequately funding that aspect of national security. J — Shawn Dorman

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 61

A F S A N AFSANEWSBRIEFS E W Life in the Foreign Service Support AFSA and the S I BY BRIAN AGGELER FS with Your CFC Gift! Choose #11759 and #10646 The AFSA Scholar- ship Fund (CFC #11759) provides need-based scholarships and merit awards to Foreign Service kids to help meet their college expenses. Over $180,000 was awarded last year to 83 Foreign Service families. Scholarship support stays in the Foreign Service community. Visit www.afsa.org/scholar/CFC11759.cfm for more information. The Fund for American Diplomacy (CFC #10646) educates the public (from Congress to business leaders to students) on the importance of diplomacy and the need for a strong U.S. Foreign Service. Some of our activities include: a speakers bureau, AFSA-sponsored “Elderhostel” education programs, a nationwide high school essay contest for students whose parents are not in the Foreign “I guess this explains why we can’t fill that consular position, Service, and our popular book, Inside a U.S. but I’m still not sure what to do with these trombonists ...” Embassy. Visit www.afsa.org/CFCFAD.cfm.

Comparability Pay: A Senate Bill S. 3426, is co-sponsored by Senator George Voinovich, R-Ohio, Senator Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Just before the congressional August break, Senator John Kerry, D- and Senator Richard Durbin, D-Ill. Mass., offered a mirror version of the House Foreign Affairs AFSA has developed close relationships with all the offices involved. Committee Bill, H.R. 3202 — the AFSA-supported bill that passed the Senators Kerry and Voinovich are respected members of the Senate House Foreign Affairs Committee in July that would give overseas Foreign Relations Committee, the key committee in this process. Foreign Service members that same comparability pay adjustment While chances of passage this year are uncertain, this bill represents afforded to colleagues assigned to the District of Columbia. The critical progress in building support for pay equity for overseas Senate bill, “Foreign Service Overseas Pay Equity Act of 2008,” Foreign Service employees.

AFSA HEADQUARTERS: Staff: Governing Board:

s: Executive Director John Mamone: [email protected] (202) 338-4045; Fax: (202) 338-6820 PRESIDENT: John Naland STATE DEPARTMENT AFSA OFFICE: Business Department Controller Kalpna Srimal: [email protected] STATE VP: Steve Kashkett (202) 647-8160; Fax: (202) 647-0265 Accounting Assistant Cory Nishi: [email protected] USAID VP: Francisco Zamora USAID AFSA OFFICE: Labor Management t U (202) 712-1941; Fax: (202) 216-3710 General Counsel Sharon Papp: [email protected] FAS VP: Henry Schmick FCS AFSA OFFICE: Labor Management Attorney Zlatana Badrich: [email protected] FCS VP: Vacant (202) 482-9088; Fax: (202) 482-9087 Labor Management Specialist James Yorke: [email protected] RETIREE VP: Robert W. Farrand AFSA WEB SITE: www.afsa.org Grievance Attorneys Neera Parikh: [email protected] and Holly Rich: [email protected] SECRETARY: F.A. “Tex” Harris FSJ: [email protected] Office Manager Christine Warren: [email protected] USAID Senior Labor Management Adviser Douglas Broome: [email protected] PRESIDENT: [email protected] TREASURER: Andrew Winter

ontac USAID Office Manager Asgeir Sigfusson: [email protected] STATE VP: [email protected] Member Services STATE REPS: Anne Aguilera, Oscar DeSoto, RETIREE VP: [email protected] Member Services Director Janet Hedrick: [email protected] David Firestein, Sandy Robinson, USAID VP: [email protected] Member Services Representative Michael Laiacona: [email protected] Shayna Steinger, Elaine Tiang-Chu, FCS VP: [email protected] Web-site & Database Associate: vacant o C Administrative Assistant Ana Lopez: [email protected] Daphne Titus, Andrea Tomaszewicz, AFSA News Outreach Programs Christopher Tremann Retiree Liaison Bonnie Brown: [email protected] Editor Shawn Dorman: [email protected] USAID REP: Director of Communications Thomas Switzer: [email protected] Michael Henning

w t (202) 338-4045 x 503; Fax: (202) 338-8244 Congressional Affairs Director Ian Houston: [email protected] FCS REP: Rebecca Balogh

o Executive Assistant to the President Austin Tracy: [email protected] FAS REP: Vacant On the Web: Scholarship Director Lori Dec: [email protected] www.afsa.org/fsj and Professional Issues Coordinator Barbara Berger: [email protected] IBB REP: Al Pessin H www.fsjournal.org Elderhostel Coordinator Janice Bay: [email protected] RETIREE REPS: Janice Bay, Herman Cohen, David Passage

62 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

A F V.P. VOICE: STATE I BY STEVE KASHKETT S A

N E W The Presidential Candidates S and the Foreign Service

he outcome of the forthcoming presidential election will affairs and foreign languages, but is not on record as endors- determine the shape of the U.S. Foreign Service for years ing greater resources or staffing for the Foreign Service. His pub- T to come. We have before us two candidates who both lic Web site does not specifically mention the State Department. articulate very well-developed but different visions of the future The Wall Street Journal in December 2007 reported a brief dis- of U.S. foreign policy, as well as somewhat different approach- cussion of the State Department during a meeting between its es to the role and conduct of diplomacy. The victor in November editorial board and Sen. McCain: will set the tone for what we will be doing at our overseas posts “When he’s asked what he thinks about the State and back here in the State Department, how we will go about Department, he delivers the jab with a smile: ‘Sometimes you doing it, and what resources we will have at our disposal. have a little personal bias when you find out that they nearly It has never been AFSA’s role to judge the foreign affairs rebelled when the Secretary of State said all of them had to go credentials of presidential candidates, serve in Iraq. I mean, please. Please.’ nor would we ever endorse one can- He continues: ‘I think we ought to We hope that both candidates realize didate over the other. As professional have a State Department that under- civil servants, we take pride in our that Foreign Service members today are stands that service to the country is longstanding tradition of patriotic and what they’re all about. And if that loyal service to the president and no strangers to hardship and danger, and means going into countries where Secretary of State, whoever they may that we are serving our country with great there may be some danger in serving, be. The Foreign Service will enthu- then by God that’s the place they siastically embrace whichever candi- dedication and self-sacrifice in some of should want to go first.’” date becomes our next president and the most difficult places on earth. We hope that both candidates will eagerly look forward to beginning now understand that — notwith- work with the distinguished individ- standing the inaccurate media report- ual whom he chooses as our next Secretary of State. ing last fall— the U.S. Foreign Service has stepped up to the We are, of course, interested in the public statements that plate every year to fill all of our positions in Iraq and the two candidates have made specifically with regard to us, the Afghanistan with volunteers. dedicated people of the U.S. Foreign Service, which are a mat- We hope that both candidates realize that Foreign Service ter of record. members today are no strangers to hardship and danger, and Senator Barack Obama has repeatedly spoken with admi- that we are serving our country with great dedication and self- ration of the Foreign Service, recognizing the vital role that we sacrifice in some of the most difficult places on earth. We need play in achieving our country’s objectives overseas and in help- them to come to grips with the reality that our ability to con- ing U.S. citizens all over the world. He tells the story of the assis- duct diplomacy has suffered because the Foreign Service has tance that his mother received from the U.S. embassy in been stripped to the bone in terms of staffing and resources all Indonesia when he lived there briefly as a child. Obama has over the world. We need them to realize that our foreign pol- called for increased resources and staffing for the Foreign Service, icy cannot be based on lavishing funding on a U.S. military that and his public Web site makes the following assertion: is 500 times larger than the U.S. Foreign Service, while leaving “To make diplomacy a priority, Obama will stop shutter- our embassies and consulates fighting over scraps. ing consulates and start opening them in the tough and hope- And we have to hope that maybe, just maybe, the victor in less corners of the world — particularly in Africa. He will expand this election will become the first U.S. president to have the our Foreign Service, and develop the capacity of our civilian aid courage to break from the deeply unfortunate American tra- workers to work alongside the military.” dition, unique among Western democracies, of rewarding per- Senator John McCain, who as a young man once consid- sonal cronies and wealthy campaign contributors who have lit- ered joining the Foreign Service, has called for an expanded U.S. tle foreign affairs experience, with appointments to some of the military and increased training for military members in civil most important U.S. ambassadorships overseas. J

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 63

A F S V.P. VOICE: USAID I BY FRANCISCO ZAMORA A N The Career Foreign Service: E W Under Attack from the Inside S he career Foreign Service of USAID is under attack — not sions to decrease the size of the agency from the outside, for there is strong bipartisan support for through reductions in force and hiring Trectifying staff and operating fund shortages, but from inside freezes. Certain positions may be considered “special needs” and the agency, through decisions and actions that undermine the qualify for employment at higher ranks. However, the agency “career” concept. AFSA has tried to ameliorate this situation has gone overboard and picked an arbitrary figure of 50 mid- with varying levels of success, but the threat has not disappeared. career hires per year without any rigorous analyses. This is poor One example is the administration’s push for greatly work-force planning and should not be the basis for such impor- increased mid-career hiring through the newly approved tant decisions. We have asked Congress to instead direct the agency Development Leadership Initiative. The DLI will finally allow to work closely with AFSA to determine the most appropriate USAID to double its Foreign Service staff over a three-year peri- and justifiable levels and quantities of mid-career hiring in order od. Nevertheless, there exists the potential to take a good thing to preserve a strong Foreign Service. and get bad results. Another example of how this administration does not seem Let me explain. We are extremely concerned that under the to value the career Foreign Service is its recent decision to assign DLI, USAID plans to hire 50 outsiders a year for three years to a Senior Executive Service officer as mission director in “leap-frog” over career FSOs who have waited their turn for pro- Namibia. Despite AFSA’s protest, the agency has already sworn motions. Apart from the fact that there is no significant short- in this person who, in our opinion, does not meet the require- age of officers waiting to move into the FS-2 and FS-3 levels (see ments outlined in the Foreign Service Act. This is a position that the chart), bringing a large number of new hires into the mid- requires at least eight years of prior overseas experience for a senior- career ranks will not only kill morale but directly undermine the level FSO. Yet, this requirement is being ignored in the current concept of a career Foreign Service. AFSA has transmitted cor- case. The agency claims that there were no qualified FS bidders. respondence to various members of Congress to raise this issue. However, due to a very strict interpretation of a guideline that The Foreign Service Act of 1980 reinforces the concept that recommends that FSOs serve at headquarters during a 15-year our profession is meant to operate “in accordance with merit prin- period, many qualified officers were unfairly judged ineligible to ciples, admission through impartial and rigorous examination, bid on the job. acquisition of career status only by those who have demonstrated No matter how talented, SES employees simply do not have their fitness through successful completion of probationary assign- the necessary overseas USAID-based experience to manage mis- ments, effective career development, advancement and retention sions. What is more, the average career FSO has patiently wait- of the ablest, and separation of those who do not meet the req- ed years for his or her turn as a mission director. Many have uisite standards of performance.” In other words, FSOs should endured numerous hardship postings and put their families in be molded through a careerlong process of extensive training and difficult situations in order to finally reach that career goal. Yet overseas experience unique to the profession. This type of employ- a Civil Service employee can now wait comfortably stateside for ee cannot simply be procured from the general job market. FSOs the right overseas opportunity to pass over deserving career FSOs. are grown into leadership positions just as are colonels or gen- This is an unconscionable and morale-busting violation of the erals in the military. career Foreign Service concept. Of course, no one is arguing against the necessity of hiring It is no accident that Congress designed the career Foreign certain highly specialized technical and hard-to-fill profession- Service to be the highest caliber of representation in the conduct als such as engineers, lawyers and accountants. However, the cur- of foreign affairs. Important positions such as mission director rent shortages exist primarily because of past short-sighted deci- — managing an elite staff of seasoned FSOs and multimillion dollar development programs — should not be given as political or personal favors to untested, undeserving insiders from the current administration. These types of actions give one the impression that there is a move to burrow in as this administration comes to an end. Major decisions on mid-career hiring and important high-level assignments should be deferred to the next administration. Only then can the staff feel assured of support from all sides. J

64 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

A F FOCUS ON RETIREMENT PLANNING S Slouching Toward Retirement? A BY BONNIE BROWN, RETIREE COORDINATOR N E W S oreign Service employees count www.rnet.state.gov/index.cfm?pg=mn, even though this may be difficult when themselves fortunate: their retire- provides a retirement planning guide, dealing with obscure and complicated legal Fment benefits are good and, for most, comprehensive retirement information, areas such as the Foreign Service retirement promises to be comfortable retirement forms and a very useful ques- Retirement and Disability System Offset. financially. Given this expectation, some tion-and-answer forum. The Foreign AFSA also provides a wealth of retire- employees and their spouses put off plan- Service Institute’s Transition Center offers ment resources and assistance to members. ning for retirement and finding out what a mid-career retirement planning course We publish guidance about retirement lies ahead for them until the actual for employees, in addition to the retire- issues and benefits in the Foreign Service crunch comes. Then some wish they had ment planning seminar and job search Journal and AFSA Newsletter, and by e- done things differently, or simply fail to program for employees at retirement. mail and online at www.afsa.org/retiree/. realize that they could have provided for And each year AFSA’s Labor Management a more comfortable retirement. Specialist James Yorke and I provide retire- Retirees often tell me that no one had Increasingly important, ment-related assistance to hundreds of informed them about a rule that reduced AFSA members. Also see AFSA’s “Retire- the annuities they had expected to get, or AFSA works to keep its members ment Planning 101” in the September that they were unsure whether they had 2007 FSJ, online at www.afsa.org/fsj/sept informed about threats to federal provided for survivor annuities for their 07/fsknowhow.pdf. spouses or ask how to deal with some retirement benefits. Increasingly important, AFSA also other unexpected problem. While I am works to keep its members informed always sympathetic, and realize that about threats to federal retirement bene- retirement regulations are complicated, I fits. This year, Congress adopted a non- usually must advise them that they have Choosing the best date to retire can binding budget resolution that did not cut to take primary responsibility for acquir- make a difference in the annuity level an retirement benefits. It did not, however, ing necessary information and making employee will receive. At least one year address most major entitlement spending appropriate retirement decisions. This is before retirement, employees should ask decisions. true as circumstances change throughout the Retirement Office to make annuity cal- These decisions will be left up to the their careers, but even more so as retire- culations for them based on three differ- next president and Congress. Given the ment approaches. ent dates. They should also consult with need to rein in federal spending, they are Being prepared for retirement requires their retirement counselors in HR/RET likely to work together closely to reform keeping complete and accurate payroll, about specific issues affecting their retire- entitlements quickly. Changes in the fed- personnel and service computation date ment and time limits for making changes eral retirement systems, the Federal records; obtaining service credit for other (particularly upon remarriage) well before Employees Health Benefit Program, federal employment; and determining retirement. It may also be wise to talk to Medicare, Social Security and the Thrift which retirement system makes the most a financial adviser about financial planning Savings Plan could affect current and sense financially. It also means ensuring and tax considerations involved with future retiree benefits. that potential family changes like death, lump-sum payments and state taxation of With all this in mind, plan ahead and divorce or remarriage are reflected in a federal annuities, Thrift Savings Plan funds become well informed about your retire- timely way in health coverage and survivor and Social Security benefits. ment future. AFSA will provide guidance benefits; and assessing what financial, life While the State Department does and assistance to help you understand and insurance and long-term care insurance provide resources and counseling, it does deal with your particular retirement needs will be for the retiree as well as for not — as we learned to our sorrow in the issues, and will keep a watchful eye on leg- a surviving spouse. recent spate of annuity overpayment cases islative threats to those entitlements. But The department provides considerable — relieve employees or retirees of the con- the more attention you pay to your own information for employees and their sequences of errors made by the depart- needs in advance of retirement, the easi- spouses. RNet, an online resource at ment. It is up to all of us to be vigilant, er it will be for us to help you. J

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 65

A F CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS S A Give Them a Clue about What You Do

N FSA will be publishing a new edi- the new one will contain profiles of out- E tion of our popular book, Inside a standing colleagues serving in every kind W A U.S. Embassy, and we welcome and of Foreign Service job in an embassy. S need your assistance finding the best peo- The mix of profilees will take into ple to profile and the best stories to tell. account geography and mission size, Inside a U.S. Embassy is one of AFSA’s as we aim for diversity in representation. most effective outreach resources for edu- We will also again include a series of cating the public — both in the U.S. and “day in the life” entries — hour-by-hour overseas — about the role of the U.S. accounts of a “typical” (and interesting) Foreign Service. Published in 2003, and day on the job in the Foreign Service. updated in 2005, the book is still selling well, And we will include stories of the extra- and our inventory is getting low. The total ordinary — the Foreign Service in number of books sold to date approaches action during crises, political upheaval, 65,000. In just the month of July this year, natural disaster, etc. we sold 1,059 copies, which tells us that this We need submissions from every unique look inside the Foreign Service region of the globe, from every type of career is still needed. U.S. mission, from the large embassy to The book has become a must-read for the small consulate and the Provincial anyone considering a Foreign Service Reconstruction Team. And we are seek- career, and is being used in over 35 uni- ing submissions from people serving in versity foreign affairs courses. Military insti- every kind of FS position. An advisory tutions and embassies purchase hundreds committee will select submissions to be in-the-life entry. Stories and day-in-the-life of copies a year. The book has maintained included. submissions should be 600-800 words. a high Amazon sales rank since its 2003 Please contact Inside a U.S. Embassy Please see excerpts on the book’s Web site publication. Editor Shawn Dorman at [email protected] at www.afsa.org/inside. You can also find Now it is time for an updated and to volunteer to be profiled or to recommend more information about the current edition expanded edition. Like the current edition, a colleague, or to submit a story or a day- as well as updates on this project there. J

Governing Board • Continued from page 61 President (full-time) consulates. We are fighting uphill battles Vice President for State (full-time) AFSANEWSBRIEFS to defend the image of the Foreign Service Vice President for USAID (full-time) in the media. We are negotiating count- Vice President for FCS (half-time) Seeking AFSA Post Reps less issues with management at State and Vice President for FAS (full-time) Help serve your community by the other foreign affairs agencies to ensure Vice President for Retirees volunteering to be the AFSA represen- fairness in assignments and promotions, to Secretary preserve family-friendly policies, and to Treasurer tative for your post. Post reps help keep improve the conditions of work at our State Representative (nine positions) headquarters connected to the 70 per- diplomatic posts all over the world. We USAID Representative (one position) cent of AFSA membership overseas. continue to play a vital role as the watch- FCS Representative (one position) The authority and responsibilities of dog for management’s adherence to the FAS Representative (one position) an AFSA post rep are spelled out in the rules and procedures that govern every IBB Representative (one position) aspect of the lives of Foreign Service mem- Retiree Representative (three posi- AFSA Chapter Manual (www.afsa.org/ bers. tions) postreps/manual.cfm). For more Please look over the jobs available and Please consider joining the AFSA information, or if you don’t know if consider running for an AFSA Governing Governing Board and ensuring that the your post currently has an AFSA rep, Board position, or nominate a colleague. voice of the Foreign Service is heard by This election is for a board that will take office management, on the Hill and around the check in with the AFSA membership July 15, 2009, and serve for two years. country. J department at [email protected].

66 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

A F S A AFSANEWSBRIEFS N E Returned Peace Corps Volunteers @ State W AAFSW Book Fair 2008 S s former Peace Corps Volunteers projects at post or in nearby countries, Opens Oct. 17 Afrom Bulgaria and Mauritania, or hosting speaker events on Third respectively, FSOs Tyler Sparks and Erik World democracy-building and devel- Schnotala both feel a strong connection opment issues. to the Peace Corps and believe that The Web site for this new organization returned volunteers within the State is https://www.intelink.gov/communities/ Department can and should communi- state/RPCV/. Please visit the site and cate and network more effectively, to the consider joining the community if you benefit of both the department and the are a RPCV at State, and send your The 48th annual Book Fair — brought to Peace Corps. That’s why, in part thoughts on where you’d like to see this you by the Associates of the American spurred by the FSJ’s focus on the Peace new community go from here. Contact Foreign Service Worldwide — will open at 2 Corps in this month’s issue, they have Tyler Sparks at [email protected], or p.m. on Oct. 17 for all badge holders and started Returned Peace Corps Erik Schnotala at [email protected]. escorted guests. It will remain open until 5 Volunteers @ State (RPCVs@State), a Both are currently vice consuls at p.m. that day. registered community within the State Embassy San Jose. The Book Fair continues through Oct. 26. Department, to serve as a focal point for From Oct. 20-24, it is open from 11 a.m. to RPCVs in the Foreign Service who are CFC for the Foreign 3 p.m. for this same group. During the interested in keeping a connection with Service Youth weekends of Oct. 18-19 and 25-26, the sale their colleagues and supporting Peace is open to everyone, the public included, Corps activities in the field. Foundation from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They’ve laid out the basic goals The Foreign Service Youth of the organization as follows: The event takes place in the Exhibit Hall 1) To publish information and news Foundation is a proud participant in of the Harry S. Truman Building. Access is through C Street. VISA, MasterCard and about development issues and other the Combined Federal Campaign of issues of interest to the returned personal checks are all accepted. By special Peace Corps community within State; the National Capital Area. Support arrangement, Silk Road Imports and Imperio Ottomano will sell a variety of imports and 2) To stimulate discussions about the Foreign Service community by development issues and other issues fine Oriental carpets on behalf of the of interest to the returned Peace Corps donating to the FSYF, #39436. AAFSW. community within State; and 3) To develop and strengthen the network of Returned Peace Corps AFSA Offers $149,800 in Volunteers within State. College Scholarship Aid The group hopes to encourage more former volunteers to join the Foreign FSA will award need-based college Service, to promote the Peace Corps Afinancial aid scholarships to 69 chil- abroad and at home as an excellent dren of Foreign Service employees totaling opportunity to serve our country, and to $150,000 for the 2008-2009 school year. support projects through the Peace In August, $74,000 was sent to colleges Corps Partnership program. This could and universities to help defray costs for the include, for example, organizing mem- fall 2008 semester. For more information bers to speak at local schools at home or on the AFSA Scholarship Program, go to abroad during National Peace Corps www.afsa.org/scholar, or contact Scholarship Week in February, promoting member- Director Lori Dec at [email protected] or organized fundraising activities for PCV (202) 944-5504.

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 67

A F S HIGH SCHOOL ESSAY CONTEST WINNER MEETS NEGROPONTE Get Set to Vote! A Introducing Students s the November presidential election approaches, overseas Foreign N to the Foreign Service AService members will need to E BY TOM SWITZER, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS make arrangements for voting. The W Associates of the American Foreign S eputy Secretary of State John widely through direct mailings to social sci- Service Worldwide has put together a use- Negroponte presented the first- ence teachers, as well as through listings ful voting resources guide that is posted Dplace award for AFSA’s 2008 on various Web sites. In that way, teach- on their Web site at http://aafsw.org/ National High School Essay Contest to ers become AFSA’s key promoters of the overseas/voting.htm. Here are a few key Alicia Constant on Aug. 14. The award contest in schools across the country. sites AAFSW highlights: comes with a check for $2,500. The 2008 contest generated more Alicia, a rising 11th-grader at the than 250 submissions from high school www.fvap.gov Koinonia Academy (a home school) in students nationwide. Students were The Federal Voting Assistance Pro- Albuquerque, N.M., submitted her win- asked to analyze and explain how Foreign gram offers instructions on registering ning essay on the subject “Standing Up for Service members promote U.S. national and voting while living overseas under Human Rights: Challenges Facing the U.S. interests by participating in the resolution the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Foreign Service in China.” Jeanine Con- of today’s major international problems. Absentee Voting Act (for which Foreign stant, Alicia’s mother and mentor, and her The contest is open to all students in Service employees and their families qual- father Mitch were also received by Deputy grades nine through 12 attending a pub- ify). The site offers a downloadable/print- Secretary Negroponte. lic, private, parochial or home school, or able version of the Federal Post Card Thirty finalists received honorable participating in a high school correspon- Application for registering to vote in your mention certificates for their excellent dence program anywhere in the U.S., as state of residence. The FPCA is also avail- essays. well as U.S. citizen students attending able at all U.S. embassies and consulates. An AFSA advisory panel of judges schools overseas. Students whose parents Both versions, however, must be snail- selected the winners. This year’s winning are members of the U.S. Foreign Service mailed to your local election office essay was deemed one of the most out- or have served on the advisory commit- (addresses available on the FVAP Web standing submissions in the history of the tee are not eligible. site). So allow plenty of time to get reg- contest. AFSA consultant Perri Green deserves istered before any election! The goal of AFSA’s High School Essay much credit for ably administering the Contest, now in its ninth year, is to stim- contest since its inception in 1999. For www.overseasvotefoundation.org ulate interest in a Foreign Service career more information about the essay contest, This useful site features a secure voter among top-quality high school students and to read this year’s winning essay, please registration wizard provided by the non- nationwide. AFSA promotes the contest go to www.afsa.org/essaycontest. J partisan Overseas Vote Foundation. Also included: Voter Help Desk and Election Official Directory.

www.justvote.org Run by a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, the National Hip-Hop Political Convention, this site offers quick links to absentee ballot information by state.

www.americanoverseasnetwork.net This organization seeks to encourage Americans overseas to vote, and research- es the political views of expatriate Americans. Several voter FAQs are provided, including links to individual state THOMAS voter information sites and links to var- ANN Deputy Secretary John Negroponte presents the first-place essay award to Alicia Constant. ious political webzines and blogs. J

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A F S CLASSIFIEDS A N E W S

OCTOBER 2008/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 69

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70 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

BOOKS

A Flawed Hero itics.” Nevertheless, many in the This beautifully written United Nations hierarchy saw him as a future secretary general. Chasing the Flame: and well-researched Though she clearly admires her Sergio Vieira de Mello and biography shows subject, Power acknowledges that he the Fight to Save the World was obsequious to war criminals like Samantha Power, Penguin Press, us why Vieira de Mello Radovan Karadzic and Slobodan 2008, $32.95, hardcover, 640 pages. was such a Milosevic in hopes of gaining their compelling figure. cooperation. (Such unsuccessful REVIEWED BY PETER F. S PALDING fawning caused some U.N. colleagues u to nickname him “Serbio.”) He be- Samantha Power, a former adviser haved with equal subservience toward to Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential the Khmer Rouge leadership, sharing campaign, was nicknamed “the geno- Yugoslavia. He had a taste for Johnnie fine French wine with Ieng Sary, the cide chick” by some of her Harvard Walker Black Label and the ladies, regime’s “brother number two,” with students after she won the Pulitzer but was also a serious student of moral nary a mention of the genocide he had Prize for her last book, The Problem philosophy who wrote a 600-page helped perpetrate. from Hell: America in the Age of Ph.D. thesis for the Sorbonne pro- A friend once told Vieira de Mello Genocide (Basic Books, 2002). Her moting a theory of universalism root- that if he ever wrote an autobiogra- new work profiles the late Sergio ed in reciprocal respect. phy, he should call it My Friends the Vieira de Mello, the dashing director Married and the father of two sons, War Criminals. Power is less damn- of the office of the United Nations Vieira de Mello repeatedly left his ing, contenting herself with the obser- High Commissioner for Refugees, family behind to seek the most dan- vation that “his highly practical whose Baghdad headquarters was gerous, unaccompanied assignments mantra of ‘talking to everyone’ caused bombed in August 2003. — postings one could also describe as him lapses of judgment.” That is Killed at 55, he was found beneath “the real Foreign Service”: East Paki- putting it mildly, to say the least. As the rubble, sprawled on the flag of the stan/Bangladesh (1971-1972); Sudan Power titles one chapter in the book, organization he had served his whole (1973-1974); Cyprus (1974-1975); “Fear Is a Bad Adviser.” So is ego. adult life. As Power explains, Vieira Mozambique (1975-1977); Lebanon The massacre in Srebrenica and de Mello saw his temporary duty in (1981-1983); Cambodia (1991-1993); the Rwandan genocide would temper Iraq as an opportunity to “listen to the Kosovo (1993-1994); East Timor his willingness to make nice with mass voices” there. Toward that end, he (1999-2002); and Iraq (2002-2003). murderers. But one suspects that the made himself and his offices open to Sergio, as his staff fondly called ambitious Vieira de Mello remained visitors. The much safer Green Zone him, declared that he was not assign- motivated by the desire to get results was not a place he wanted to be. ed to manage politics, but to “deliver at any cost, thereby increasing his The Brazilian-born diplomat was the groceries” to refugees displaced stature in the eyes of his superiors. aptly described as a “a cross between by war. He once told a UNHCR col- Reading between the lines of this James Bond and Bobby Kennedy” by league: “We are the lowly humanitari- beautifully written and well-research- a journalist on the eve of Power’s first ans. We’re the guys who pass out food ed biography, one comes to under- meeting with him in Zagreb in 1994, and fix the roads. They look down on stand why a pragmatic idealist seeking where she was a novice reporter cov- us elsewhere in the U.N. They don’t the presidency might reach out to the ering the breakup of the former see us as capable of handling high pol- author — who, like the hero of her

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B OOKS u

book, is fascinated by the role of different perceptions by different moral authority in the conduct of for- audiences. eign affairs. Anholt calls Anholt is at his best when he dis- cusses the tools a country or city can Peter F. Spalding is a retired Senior himself the inventor use to improve its brand. I like his Foreign Service officer who served in chapter on competitivity, where he the Middle East, Africa and Asia. of the term urges countries to improve their images by analyzing “precise, relevant “nation-branding.” data” and avoiding “associations that are out of date.” Likewise, a country What’s Your Brand? cannot market its “benefits and offer- ings” unless they are relevant. Anholt illustrates these points using examples Competitive Identity: of countries and their images. The New Brand Management bassador who is committed to pro- The legendary U.S. journalist for Nations, Cities and Regions moting the image of his country in Edward R. Murrow, who stated that Simon Anholt, Palgrave MacMillan, Uruguay, I believe we can learn a lot “truth is the best propaganda and lies 2007, $35, hardcover, 160 pages. from what Anholt has to say. are the worst,” is a voice Anholt says For instance, he writes: “All we cannot ignore. He urges readers to REVIEWED BY FRANK BAXTER responsible governments, on behalf of reflect on whether their nations de- their people, institutions and compa- serve a negative reputation. Anholt’s What is a brand? Broadly speak- nies, need to discover what the world’s truth-based branding concepts appear ing, brands are the images that come perception of their country is” and in one form or another throughout his to mind when people see, hear or develop a brand management strate- book. As a former businessman who think about products and services. gy. He’s right. Uruguay, where I cur- believes a person’s word is his or her Every company, organization and per- rently serve, brands itself as safe and bond, I agree with him. son has one. Successful corporations friendly, with the Punta del Este The United States and Europe fig- advertise heavily to reinforce a posi- resort area embellishing its image. ure prominently in Anholt’s case stud- tive image in as many minds as possi- Anholt states that “the reputation ies and charts. This is, of course, ble, because people are wired to of a country has a direct and measur- understandable. Londoners and New quickly judge what we perceive. We able impact on just about every aspect Yorkers have more money to pay for can’t debate facts and our feelings of its engagement with other coun- image consulting than their counter- each time we encounter something, tries, and plays a critical role in its eco- parts in Kigali or Managua. Unfortu- so we “brand” it until conflicting nomic, social, political and cultural nately, I found nothing specific on information forces us to alter our per- progress.” Latin America in Anholt’s book. I ception. I agree — but not completely. think a section on the successful Simon Anholt, the author of Consider Israel. The Jewish state has regional marketing of Punta del Este Competitive Identity: The New many detractors, yet enjoys a strong, would have been a good case study. Brand Management for Nations, export-driven economy. Israelis are Anholt’s Competitive Identity is Cities and Regions, believes govern- technology innovators with a global an important and welcome edition to ments and countries also have brands, reputation for excellence. Their the small corpus of books on public which need to be defended, improved goods turn up not only in hostile diplomacy. It’s an interesting read for and managed. A consultant to a countries, but even in states whose anyone who wants ideas about how dozen governments and organiza- governments are their sworn ene- their country is perceived — and what tions, Anholt calls himself the inven- mies. And despite being in a state of can and should be done to improve its tor of the term “nation-branding.” Yet war with two neighbors, Israel’s stan- image. I though he might have coined the dard of living resembles Spain’s. To term, governments have marketed use another buzzword, Israel has Frank E. Baxter has been the U.S. their brands for ages. As a U.S. am- been able to segment its brand, with ambassador to Uruguay since 2006.

72 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

IN MEMORY

William G. Bradford, 83, a manager for independent candidate Callahan was assigned to the embassy retired FSO and former ambassador, John B. Anderson’s bid for the presi- as a Foreign Service officer with the died on July 16 in Fairfax, Va., of lung dency. United States Information Agency. cancer. For nearly 30 years, until his death, Mrs. Callahan and her family lived Born in Chicago, Ill., Mr. Bradford Amb. Bradford served as chief execu- in Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Yemen, left high school to enlist in the U.S. tive officer of W.G. Bradford & Asso- the Philippines, Iraq, South Africa, Army during World War II and saw ciates, an international consulting Nigeria and India. During those action in the European theater. He firm focused on Africa with clients years, Mrs. Callahan was often a graduated from Indiana University in worldwide. He had been a resident of teacher of English as a Second Lang- 1948 and, following experience in the McLean, Va., since 1969. uage. She was the community liaison private sector, joined the Foreign Mr. Bradford is survived by his officer in Baghdad prior to the first Service in 1952. wife Joanne Schwarz Bradford of Gulf War and, later, served in the U.S. Mr. Bradford’s career took him to McLean; his son Bruce of El Paso, consulates in Lagos and New Delhi. Berlin (1952-1955), Naples (1955- Texas; his daughter Katherine Fiala of Besides her husband, James, Mrs. 1958) and Washington, D.C. (1959- Evansville, Ind.; his daughter Debo- Callahan is survived by her three chil- 1961). He served in Vietnam (1962- rah Hornbake of Hadlyme, Conn.; dren: Kevin Callahan of Denver, 1964) as counselor for administration and five grandchildren. Colo.; Robyn Callahan of Waltham, and, again, in 1976 after the fall of Mass.; and David Callahan of East- Saigon, as executive officer of the hampton, Mass. Vietnamese Refugee Task Force. u Contributions in her memory can While stationed in Kinshasa (1964- Susan Long Callahan, the wife be made to: The Massachusetts Gen- 1966), he managed the massive air of retired FSO James Callahan of New eral Hospital Lung Transplant Pro- evacuations of Americans and others Silver Beach in North Falmouth, gram, Attention Dr. Leo Ginns-Cox 2, on the heels of the Stanleyville Mass., (and Bethesda, Md.), died qui- 55 Fruit Street, Boston MA 02114; Massacre. He served in Freetown etly in the home near the water that The VNA of Cape Cod, 64 Ter Heun (1966-1968) as deputy chief of mis- she loved on June 4 after a long illness. Drive, Falmouth MA 02540; or The sion, and for his service there received Mrs. Callahan was born in Fair- American Foreign Service Associa- a Superior Honor Award for Heroism. bury, Neb., but grew up with her fam- tion Scholarship Fund, 2101 E Street From 1969 to 1976, Mr. Bradford ily in Venezuela and Brazil. She N.W., Washington DC 20037. served as executive director of the attended the University of California Bureau of African Affairs, until his at Berkeley, the American University appointment as ambassador to the of Beirut and the University of South u Republic of Chad, where he served Africa. She first met her husband in Samuel C. Case, 81, a retired from 1976 to 1979. Bamyan, Afghanistan, where she serv- Foreign Service officer, died on Ambassador Bradford retired in ed as a Peace Corps Volunteer. They March 4 in San Luis Obispo, Calif. 1979 to serve as national campaign later married in Beirut, where Mr. Mr. Case was born in Mills County,

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Iowa. He joined the State Depart- ing asylum. She shared her husband’s east Asia and many locations within ment in 1966 after retiring from the profound love for art and music. She the United States. While with the Marine Corps. He served in Iran, studied oils, and became particularly VOA, he appeared before Senator Turkey, Yemen, Sierra Leone and accomplished in floral motifs. Her Joseph McCarthy’s House Un-Ameri- Pakistan. devout Catholic faith carried her can Activities Committee hearings as In 1981, he retired and returned to through her entire life. a rebuttal witness for the State De- Glenwood, Iowa, where he was an Remembered not simply for her partment. In 1973, he retired from active member of the Kiwanis and striking beauty, but also for her grace the Voice of America in West Chester, participated in many local volunteer and thoughtfulness, Mrs. Cash was a Ohio, and shortly thereafter moved projects. Mr. Case and his wife Betty beloved and devoted wife, mother, his family to Arizona. lived in Iowa until 1999, when they grandmother and friend to many. An avid ham radio operator, Mr. moved to Morro Bay, Calif., to be Martha Cash is survived by her Cupps continued to enjoy his radio near their daughter. four children: M. Alice Foley, of Spot- friends even as, in his 80s, his interests Mr. Case is survived by his wife sylvania, Va.; C. Helen Cash of Kenai, turned to computers. In a very special and his daughter, Sharon White, and Ark.; J. Harvey Cash of Arlington, Va.; moment shortly before his death, he her husband. and G. Robert Cash of Los Angeles, received a telephone call from former Calif.; her sister Celia B. Camarero Secretary of State George Shultz, who and family, of Chihuahua, Mexico; her thanked him for his service to the u sister-in-law Mary Mac Cash of United States. Martha Benitez Cash, 79, widow Waskom, Texas; and her grandchil- Mr. Cupps is survived by his wife, of the late retired FSO Harvey J. Cash, dren, Celina Cash of Leesburg, Va.; Helen; daughters Cindy Weissblatt of died on Jan. 8 in Falls Church, Va. Ehren K. Foley of Columbia, S.C.; Boca Raton, Fla., Lisa Cupps of Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Mrs. and Robert B. Manley of Kenai, Ark. Chandler, Ariz.; his son, Eugene N. Cash was raised on a sugar cane plan- She was preceded in death by her Cupps of Chandler, Ariz.; and four tation in Jalisco until age 11, and then husband, who died in 1986, and by grandchildren. in Mazatlan. She studied banking in her grandson James K. Foley, who Mexico City. After a year as the reign- died in 2003. ing beauty queen of Sinaloa and sec- Donations in her memory can be u retary to the president of the Banco made to a mental health organization Peter Jon de Vos, 69, a retired del Pacifico, she met vice consul of your choosing. To contact the fam- FSO and former ambassador, died on Harvey J. Cash on board a U.S. Navy ily, write c/o G. Robert Cash, P.O. Box June 9 in Grant-Valkaria, Fla. ship that docked in Mazatlan Harbor. 743139, Los Angeles CA 90004. Born in San Diego, Calif., Mr. de They married in 1954. Vos attended the St. Albans School in Mrs. Cash accompanied her hus- Washington, D.C., on a musical schol- band to Mexico City, where their u arship. He went on to Princeton daughter Alice was born; Montreal, Halbert T. Cupps, 92, a retired University, where he received a B.A. where their daughter Helen and son FSO with USIA and a former director in 1960, and the Johns Hopkins Harvey were born; Washington, D.C., of the Voice of America, died on Feb. School of International Relations, where their son Robert was born; and 14 at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz. where he received an M.A. in 1962. then on to Nuevo Laredo, Paris and, Mr. Cupps was born in Butler, Pa., In that year, he joined the Foreign finally, Madrid. They returned to in 1916. Prior to joining the State De- Service, serving first in Recife, where their home in Falls Church, Va., in partment in 1945, he worked in com- he met Nancy Wesney. The couple 1974. munications in the private sector. In married in St. Albans’ sanctuary at the While overseas, Mrs. Cash served 1954, he met and married Helen Washington Cathedral in 1965. on the boards of many charitable Cheever Cook, who was working as a Mr. de Vos’s diplomatic career took organizations and took great pride in Foreign Service secretary in Ger- him to Naples, Luanda, Brasilia and representing the United States along- many. Athens before he was appointed amb- side her husband. She often recalled Mr. Cupps’ career with the Voice assador to Guinea-Bissau, Mozam- helping Americans in need at various of America took him to Europe, bique, Liberia, Tanzania and Costa posts and the countless refugees seek- North Africa, the Middle East, South- Rica. He retired in 1977. Ambass-

74 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

I N M EMORY u ador de Vos then taught at the Department, Dorothy applied by mail manage his staff, give coherent dicta- University of Chicago before moving for a Foreign Service secretarial position and enjoy life in one of the to Merritt, N.C., and teaching for a tion. After a lengthy wait, she was department’s smallest outposts. year at Eastern Carolina University. offered an appointment in 1951 as an After retiring in 1980, Mrs. In 2006, Amb. de Vos and his wife S-13 clerk-stenographer. She accept- Eardley became an active member of retired to Grant-Valkaria. A nature ed and was sent directly to Jakarta, the Foreign Service retirees’ group in lover, he collected seashells, was a where, despite long hours and the Triangle area of North Carolina birdwatcher and especially enjoyed cramped housing for junior staff where she settled. She loved the fishing. members, she discovered she loved it. camaraderie of its Fourth of July pot- Survivors include his wife, Nancy; Before leaving Indonesia, Mrs. luck gatherings, in particular. Just a his nieces, Suzanne (Frank) Kricker Eardley helped staff the U.S. delega- month before her death, she attended and Bonnie Banks; a sister, Lurline de tion to the Ninth United Nations/ the group’s quarterly luncheon-lec- Vos; sisters-in-law Barbara Zwilling, Economic Commission for Asia and ture especially to hear AFSA Presi- Helen Cline and Priscilla Hoyle; and the Far East Conference held in dent John Naland speak about the many nieces, nephews and friends Bandung in 1953. She then served in future of “her” Foreign Service. It who will miss him. He was preceded Berlin; Chengmai, a one-officer lis- was her last outing. in death by his parents, Paul and tening post where her quarters lay on At the urging of retired FSO J. Suzanne de Vos, and his sister, the “opium trail” and where her Edgar Williams, Mrs. Eardley was Gretchen Banks. neighbor, a police officer, ran a broth- persuaded to record some of her el; Paris, which she adored; and Foreign Service recollections, as part Libreville, which she did not (though of the Foreign Affairs Oral History u she boasted of meeting Dr. Albert program. Unfortunately, the project Dorothy (“Dot”) Eardley, 87, a Schweitzer at his hospital in Lam- was not completed before cancer retired Foreign Service secretary, baréné). Later assignments included sapped her strength. But what was died of cancer on June 4 at her home Colombo, Ankara, Ottawa, Jeddah, captured on tape shows the extraordi- in The Village at Brookwood Life Johannesburg and Kigali. nary joy, courage, humor and enthusi- Care Community in Burlington, N.C. Along the way, Mrs. Eardley was asm she brought to her work, traits For 31 years, Mrs. Eardley was a ded- secretary and confidante to a remark- that inspired all around her, friends icated, adventurous and highly skilled able succession of career ambassadors recall, especially those lucky enough Foreign Service secretary, who thriv- and senior diplomats. These included to share an embassy front office with ed on the challenges of hardship posts Cecil Lyon, Robert Komer, William J. her. and idiosyncratic bosses. Handley, William Macomber, William After earning a high school diplo- Porter, Randolph Kidder, James Spain ma and quickly mastering shorthand and Harry Melone. She also helped u and typing at a business school in St. host such embassy visitors as Eleanor Xavier W. “Bill” Eilers, 92, a Louis, Mrs. Eardley married in 1945 Roosevelt, Eleanor Lansing Dulles retired Foreign Service officer, died and went to work for a regional rail- and John, Robert and Edward Ken- on June 19 in Silver Spring, Md. road. When her husband Thomas nedy. Mr. Eilers was born in Clear Lake, Eardley died just a year after their After a series of high-pressure Minn. He worked in the private sec- marriage, she used the small death assignments, Mrs. Eardley elected to tor before coming to Washington as benefit she received to buy and raise conclude her career in Rwanda, in a an aide to Representative Harold chickens and sell eggs to make ends position ranked far below her person- Knutson, R-Minn., in 1938. In 1940, meet. The enterprise failed when the al grade, because it “sounded like a he received an appointment as a clerk federal government dumped a huge fun post” and she wished to leave the in the Record Section of the War supply of its stored eggs on the market Foreign Service feeling good about it. Department. at 15 cents a dozen, forcing her to sell In Kigali she learned to play volley- He entered the Foreign Service in the chickens instead. ball, played hostess to primatologist 1941 and was assigned to Embassy Emulating an older sister who had Dian Fossey, and taught the youngest Tokyo as a cryptographer. After the worked for the Navy and then and greenest chief of mission in the outbreak of hostilities, he was taken secured a transfer to the State Service how to organize his work, prisoner along with other embassy

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I N M EMORY u employees and subsequently ex- Department in 1948 and was posted Public Housing Authority. He also changed at Lourenco Marques. He as a radio/motion picture officer in served as president of the Rutherford then proceeded directly to Kabul, Stockholm. Subsequent assignments County Literacy Council, and was a where he served as secretary to the included Germany, Pakistan and literacy tutor and a long-time volun- minister. In 1944, he was transferred Vietnam. At USIA headquarters in teer with the Alive Hospice of to the office of the U.S. political advis- Washington, D.C., he served as a Murfreesboro. And he was a member er for Germany in London, Versailles management analyst, desk officer for of the board of the Nashville U.S. and Frankfurt. Next, he was stationed Scandinavia, defense affairs adviser in Association for the United Nations for in Ciudad Trujillo in 1946. the office of policy, and adviser to the several years. In 1948, he returned to Frankfurt commanding officer of the John F. Mr. Gebuhr was predeceased by and, after being commissioned a vice Kennedy Center for Military Assist- his parents, his first wife, his three sib- consul, was assigned to the consulate ance at Fort Bragg, N.C. lings and his son, Richard Gregory general. Subsequent assignments Mr. Gebuhr’s diplomatic career Gebuhr. He is survived by his wife, included Montreal, Yokohama, To- had many highlights. He participated Fran (Brandon) Gebuhr; his daugh- ronto and Washington, D.C. He was in the development of the Amerika ters Karla Robeson and Rebecca Mc- assigned to Vancouver in 1970 and Haus in Germany after World War II Closkey; his stepdaughter Kelly For- retired as consul in 1975. Following and helped develop and direct the rest; his stepson Kinsey Brewer; his retirement, he settled in Sartell, psychological operations campaign in grandchildren Kristina and Timothy Minn., moving to Silver Spring, Md., Vietnam in the late 1960s. He devel- Robeson, Matthew and Alex McClos- in 1991. oped programs for RIAS, the only key; and a great-grandson, Ethan Mr. Eilers is survived by his wife of free radio station broadcasting from Robeson. 62 years, Jean of Silver Spring Md.; West Berlin across the communist Mr. Gebuhr believed deeply in nine children, Bob Eilers of Mount bloc countries in the late 1960s. public service, and his body was Airy, Md., Doug Eilers and Paul During the Indo-Pakistani war of donated to Vanderbilt Medical School Eilers of Albuquerque, N.M., Pam- 1965, Mr. Gebuhr negotiated and for research. ela McKeehan and Lynn Chapman of directed the emergency evacuation of Memorial contributions can be Silver Spring, Md., Lois Rotondi of all western dependents from Lahore. made to the American Cancer Soci- Rockville, Md., Joan Horn of Walk- Then, in 1970, he traveled with the ety, the Alzheimer’s Association, the ersville, Md., Ann Eilers of Potomac, crew of the Apollo XII spaceship as Alive Hospice of Murfreesboro (1639 Md., and John Eilers of Palo Alto, USIA adviser for the astronauts’ Medical Center Pkwy., Suite 202, Calif.; and six grandchildren. world good-will tour. Murfreesboro TN 37129), or the He enjoyed meeting many celebri- Greater Nashville Unitarian Univer- ties and dignitaries he personally salist Congregation (374 Hicks Rd., u admired, family members recall, and Nashville TN 37221). Carl Leo Gebuhr, 91, a retired especially treasured the opportunity FSO with USIA, died on July 30 of to host a visit by Duke Ellington to cancer at his home in Murfreesboro, Lahore. u Tenn., surrounded by his family. Mr. Gebuhr was active in Unitar- Elisabeth Church Hayne, 84, Born on Jan. 7, 1917, in Council ian-Universalist Church affairs, serv- wife of retired FSO William Alston Bluffs, Iowa, to Martina and John ing as president of several societies: Hayne, died on April 2 in Napa, Gebuhr, Mr. Gebuhr was one of four the Fellowship in Lahore, the Eno Calif., of complications from an Alz- siblings in a close family of Danish River Unitarian Fellowship of Chapel heimer’s-related illness. immigrants. He graduated from the Hill/Durham, N.C., and the First Born in her family home at Villa University of Iowa in 1943 and served Unitarian Church of Nashville, Tenn. Novo, Pa., Mrs. Hayne remained at as a U.S. Navy recruiter and gunnery In retirement, he served as presi- heart a Philadelphian and staunch officer in World War II. For three dent of the Chapel Hill (N.C.) supporter of the Phillies baseball years after the war, he worked as a Interfaith Council for Social Service team wherever she lived. Following press agent for the Columbia Broad- and Friends of the University of graduation from the Agnes Irwin casting System. North Carolina Television, and was a School in suburban Philadelphia, a Mr. Gebuhr joined the State board member of the Chapel Hill year at the Brownmoor School in

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Santa Fe., N.M., and local employ- the latter tours, she continued her the Napa Valley and supported him ment, she emigrated to San Francisco own formal education by auditing during his tenure as mayor of St. in 1949. Settling initially on Tele- graduate courses at Harvard Univer- Helena, Calif. graph Hill, she held various jobs, most sity. She is survived by her husband of notably with the World Affairs Coun- Her impressive linguistic and almost 56 years, William Alston cil of Northern California. In May interpersonal skills served Mrs. Hayne; their three children: son 1952, she married a local San Francis- Hayne well in carrying out the semi- Alston (and his wife Adrian), of Napa, can, William Alston Hayne. official duties expected of a Foreign Calif., daughter Amanda (and her Mrs. Hayne encouraged her hus- Service spouse. In addition, at each husband John Kirkwood), of San band in his interest in a diplomatic post she took an active role in which- Francisco, Calif., and son Nicholas, of career and, upon his appointment as a ever Episcopal Church or Church of Santa Barbara, Calif.; five grandchil- Foreign Service officer, accompanied England congregation served the dren: Victoria Hayne, Cecilia Hayne, him in 1954 to his first posting in community. She enjoyed and was Spencer Kirkwood, Elisabeth Kirk- Kingston. She then established proud of her role as a docent at the wood, and Alexandra Kirkwood; a sis- homes for their growing family in his National Cathedral in Washington, ter, Joan Church Roberts of Rose- successive postings to Lima, Paris and D.C. mont, Pa.; and numerous nephews, Mexico City, interspersed with do- Following her husband’s retire- nieces and cousins. mestic assignments at the department ment from the Foreign Service, Mrs. Donations in Elisabeth Hayne’s and academic assignments to New Hayne assisted in the replanting and memory can be made to: The England universities. During one of management of a family vineyard in Hospice of Napa Valley, 414 South

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Jefferson Street, Napa CA 94559 or In 1997 he was assigned to the U.S. wonderful mentor to his students,” the St. Helena Public Library, 1492 Mission to the United Nations in New said Henry Schwalbenberg, director Library lane, St. Helena CA 94574. York, serving first in the Economic of the International Political Econo- and Social Council section, then mov- my and Development program at ing to the political section and, ulti- Fordham. u mately, to the management and Among the many students who Andrew Hillman, 57, an active- reform section in 2005. honored their teacher’s legacy in the duty Foreign Service officer, died on Since 2001, Mr. Hillman had also online guestbook for Mr. Hillman July 12 at his home in Edgemont, N.Y. taught two graduate seminars at (www.legacy.com/nytimes/GB/Guestb Born and raised in Edgemont, Mr. Fordham University focusing on the ookView.aspx?PersonId=113243308), Hillman graduated from Edgemont U.N. and international security and Aissatou Ngong of Yaounde wrote: High School. He received his bache- on conflict resolution. At the time of “Prof. Hillman was one of my men- lor’s degree from Yale University and his death, he was in the process of tors at Fordham, who inspired me to his master’s degree in international developing a new course focused on follow a career path in international affairs from Columbia University. combating terrorism and weapons of relations. In my culture, we prefer In 1993, he joined the Foreign mass destruction. not to be saddened by death, but Service and was posted to Toronto as “Professor Hillman was a very rather to celebrate the life that the a consular officer. He then served in devoted and caring teacher. He not individual lived. I will always remem- the department as a staff officer in S/S only delivered well-prepared lectures, ber him as a laid-back individual who and as an operations officer in S/S-O. but he also gave easily of himself as a was very passionate about his work,

78 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008

I N M EMORY u and a wonderful teacher who brought counsel, rigorous in standards, and Helen Carolyn Lyman, 72, a real-life experiences to the class- selfless in supporting the team.” retired State Department Civil room.” All who worked with Mr. Hillman Service employee and the wife of Fellow FS officers and USUN col- recall his enormous skill and energy retired FSO and former ambassador leagues also shared their tributes. and his dedication to making a differ- Princeton N. Lyman, died on July 6 “Andrew was always at the forefront ence. He imbued his work within the from cancer at their home in Chevy of the toughest issues, and he department and the mission with a Chase, Md. approached them with every ounce of warmth and charm that will be long Born in San Francisco, Calif., on his great spirit. I learned a lot about remembered. His love of languages Sept. 5, 1935, Mrs. Lyman graduated diplomacy from Andrew, for which he and international politics continued from the University of California with has my gratitude. He was also a good in his work at the U.N. and in his a bachelor’s degree in social welfare friend, and a constant touchstone teaching of diplomacy at Fordham and went on to earn a master’s degree when I was in New York,” recalled University. A commitment to excel- in education from Bowie State Col- Alan Carlson of the U.S. mission in lence pervaded his life as a student lege in Maryland. She was employed Geneva. and as a cross-country runner, as well by the Individual Psychology Associa- Colleague Greg D’Elia, now post- as in his career as a Foreign Service tion as a family counselor. ed in Baghdad, wrote: “With solemn officer. While accompanying her FSO respect and sorrow at the parting of a Mr. Hillman is survived by his husband on his foreign tours, Mrs. stalwart colleague, who was invariably beloved son, Alexander Chiorean, of Lyman developed a career as a helpful in the breach, generous in Scarsdale, N.Y. teacher and computer instructor. She

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I N M EMORY u taught English in South Korea and Vera Frances McFall, 75, a Anniston; and a number of nieces, kindergarten and first grade in both retired Foreign Service member, died nephews, cousins and friends. Ethiopia and Nigeria. In Addis on Aug. 5 in Florence, Ala. Ababa, she also fulfilled the informal A 1951 graduate of Coffee High social and American community School in Florence, Ms. McFall u responsibilities of the spouse of the began her career with the FBI in David H. Popper, 95, a retired chief of mission. In 1990, she joined Washington, D.C. After two years, FSO and former ambassador, died on the State Department as an instructor she returned to Florence, where she July 24 in Washington, D.C., from the in computer applications. In that was employed by the First National effects of a fall. capacity she traveled to China, Tur- Bank until moving again to Washing- Born in New York City on Oct. 3, key, El Salvador, Swaziland, Switzer- ton to join the State Department. 1912, Mr. Popper was raised in White land, South Korea, Namibia, Israel Ms. McFall was first assigned to Plains, N.Y. He enrolled in Harvard and South Africa to train staff. the Bureau of Economic Affairs and University at the age of 15 and was During her husband’s posting to then to the Near East Bureau. In the valedictorian of his graduating class in South Africa as U.S. ambassador late 1960s, she joined the Foreign 1932. He received a master’s degree (1992-1995), she witnessed the transi- Service, and served in Ceylon (now in government there in 1934. His first tion from the apartheid regime to the Sri Lanka), Yugoslavia, Peru and job, in 1933, was with the newly inauguration of President Nelson Portugal. Ms. McFall had a wide net- founded Foreign Policy Association. Mandela. Her account of her first work of Foreign Service friends, with There he authored popular pam- meeting with Mandela was published whom she stayed in touch in retire- phlets on various parts of the world, in the Foreign Service Journal (May, ment. the best known of which was The 2004). In the late 1980s, after 35 years of Puzzle of Palestine (1938). Back in the United States, Mrs. government service, she retired from In 1941, Mr. Popper traveled on a Lyman volunteered for Common the State Department and returned to fellowship in Latin America to assess Cause, various Democratic Party Florence, Ala., to live in the family German and Japanese penetration. campaigns and for the Writer’s Center home. She worked for several years He returned home after Pearl Harbor in Bethesda, Md. She wrote an with her brother David in his real to volunteer for the U.S. Army. account of her overseas experiences, estate appraisal business. Disqualified from combat by near- emphasizing the human side of diplo- Ms. McFall was a member of sightedness, he was assigned to track matic life, which will be published in the Pleasant Hill United Methodist the Axis powers in Latin America. the coming year. Her most cherished Church, the Coffee High School In 1945, Mr. Popper joined the activities, however, were those with Alumni Scholarship Committee and Foreign Service. His first series of her family. the Christian Women’s Club. She also postings were with the department’s Helen Lyman is survived by her served on the National Advisory division of international organizations, husband, Princeton Lyman; daugh- Committee of the Teddy’s Star Foun- where he served as assistant chief of ters Tova Brinn, Sheri Laigle and Lori dation of Anniston, Ala. the Division of United Nations Bruun; 11 grandchildren; her brother She was preceded in death by her Political Affairs in 1948 and officer-in- Donald Ermann, sisters-in-law Joan parents, Parker D. McFall and Selma charge of General Assembly affairs in Ermann and Sylvia Lyman; brother- McFall; a sister, Annie Lee Seaton; a 1949. In 1951, he was named deputy in-law Harvard Lyman; and several brother, Fred McFall; a niece, Ann director of the Office of U.N. Political nieces and nephews. McFall Belew; and nephews, Chad and Security Affairs, becoming its Donations in her memory can be Barber, Glenn Hale and Edward director in 1954. made to the Colorectal Cancer Mallory (Teddy) McLaughlin, to Following a detail to the National Network at P.O. Box 182, Kensington whom she was especially close. War College in 1955, he was assigned MD 20895; the American Cancer Ms. McFall is survived by a broth- to Geneva in 1956 as deputy U.S. rep- Society at 11331 Amherst Avenue, er, David S. McFall and his wife, Rose resentative to United Nations organi- Silver Spring MD 20904; or the Marie; sisters Ola Barber, Lena Hale zations there. In 1959, he served as Nature Conservancy at 4245 N. and Grace Lawson, all of Florence, deputy U.S. representative to the Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington VA and Mary McLaughlin and her hus- Conference on Discontinuance of 22203. band, Edward McLaughlin Jr., of Nuclear Weapons Tests, and was

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I N M EMORY u named consul general in 1961. In advocates. In 1976, the assassination solidated School in Barnes Coun- 1961, he was called on to assist Adlai of Allende’s former foreign minister, ty, N.D., he enrolled at State Teachers Stevenson, then representing the U.S. Orlando Letelier, in Washington, College, Valley City, N.D., and gradu- at the U.N. He became director of D.C., prompted further controversy. ated in 1938 with a B.A. degree in his- the Office of Atlantic Political- Following his retirement, Amb. tory. He subsequently earned M.A. Military Affairs in 1962, and was Popper helped found the American and Ph.D. degrees in American histo- named deputy assistant secretary of Academy of Diplomacy, serving as ry from the University of Colorado at State for international organizations one of its first presidents. He also Boulder. affairs in 1965. taught at Georgetown University, and In 1942, after working at the Office Mr. Popper was named ambas- ghostwrote former U.N. Director of Facts and Figures in the Office of sador to Cyprus in 1969; assistant sec- General Kurt Waldheim’s memoirs, Strategic Services in Washington, retary of State for international orga- In the Eye of the Storm. The book D.C., and following his marriage to nizations in 1973; ambassador to appeared in 1986, at the same time Margaret Birk of Boulder, Colo., the Chile in 1974; and special representa- that allegations of Waldheim’s involve- same year, he was inducted into the tive of the Secretary of State for ment in Nazi war crimes surfaced. U.S. Army. He completed basic train- Panama Canal Treaty Affairs in 1977. Mr. Popper, who was Jewish, was ing at Camp Roberts near San Luis He retired from the Foreign Service shocked by the revelations but said Obispo, Calif., and was accepted into in 1980. Waldheim had been cordial to him, the Counter Intelligence Corps of the Ambassador Popper’s eventful family members told the Washington U.S. Army. In 1943, he shipped out to diplomatic career included a brush Post. England. He saw service in Belgium, with Senator Joseph McCarthy, a Mr. Popper’s wife of 56 years, Luxembourg and, from May 1945 to public contretemps with Secretary of Florence, died in 1992. His compan- March 1946, along the German bor- State Henry Kissinger and a contro- ion of 14 years, Olie Rauh, died in der with Czechoslovakia. He demobi- versy surrounding a Chilean intelli- February. lized at Fort Dix, N.J., in 1946 and, on gence scheme to assassinate foes of Mr. Popper is survived by four the following day, re-entered the U.S. the regime. During the early 1950s, children, Carol Popper Galaty of Army as a reserve officer. at the instance of unnamed accusers, Washington, D.C.; Lewis Popper of Mr. Schodt was hired by the he was summarily suspended from Kansas City, Mo.; Katherine Popper Department of State in 1946 as an the State Department. Some time Kraft of Charleston, S.C.; Virginia analyst for Scandinavia in the Office later, just as summarily, he received an Popper of Cambridge, Mass.; 11 of Intelligence Research, where he order to go back to work: “You have grandchildren; and four great-grand- became chief of the Northern been investigated and you are children. European Branch of the Division of cleared.” Memorial contributions may be Research for Western Europe. In As ambassador to Chile in 1974, made to the U.S. Association of the 1954, he joined the Foreign Service Mr. Popper arrived in Santiago four National Capital Area, 1808 and, a year later, was posted to Oslo as months after Gen. Pinochet’s military Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 101, an economic officer. This was fol- coup overthrew socialist President Washington DC 20009 (www.UNAN lowed by postings in Canberra; in Salvador Allende. While serving CA.org). Tokyo; as diplomat-in-residence at the there, he was featured in a front-page University of Montana-Missoula; with New York Times story by Seymour the Foreign Service Inspection Corps Hersh based on a leaked State u to the Office of the High Commis- Department cable, in which Amb. Eddie W. Schodt, 93, a retired sioner in Okinawa; and to Bangkok. Popper had reported on his efforts to FSO, died on May 26 in Charlot- From 1968 to 1971, he served as educate the Pinochet regime about tesville, Va. U.S. representative on the advisory human rights. In the margin of that Mr. Schodt was born on Dec. 12, committee established to oversee cable, Secretary of State Henry 1914, on a farm near Luverne, N.D., preparations for the reversion of Kissinger had written: “Tell Popper to to Danish immigrant parents. He was Okinawa to Japan. He retired in 1974 cut out the political science lectures.” the seventh of eight children, and the after 30 years of service with the U.S. In the resulting flap, Kissinger was first born in the United States. After government, of which nearly 20 were heavily criticized by human rights matriculating from the Baldwin Con- spent overseas.

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I N M EMORY u

Shortly after retiring, Mr. Schodt ment of State as a Foreign Service declined. After her death in 1996, he became director of the overseas cam- officer. His overseas postings includ- volunteered his time as an arbitrator pus of the United States International ed Frankfurt (1960-1963), Vienna for the Cumberland County courts, University (San Diego) in Evian-les- (1963-1964), Moscow (1965-1967), with the speakers bureau at Fayette- Bains, France, and Bushey, England. Bombay (1967-1970), Berlin (1973- ville Technical Community College In 1975, he received the George 1977) and Tel Aviv (1977-1979). and as a liaison to the Cumberland Norlin Award, the highest honor the During the Tehran hostage crisis in County Sheriff’s office for his neigh- University of Colorado Alumni 1979, he served on the State Depart- borhood association. His letters to Association bestows on an alumnus. ment’s Iran Task Force. the local newspaper editor were so In the same year, he was also honored In his free time, Mr. Tuohey frequent that in order to get them with the Valley State College Alumni enjoyed hiking and camping with his published, he often wrote under a Association’s Distinguished Alumni sons and served as their scoutmaster pseudonym or submitted them under Award. in Tel Aviv and Berlin. Of the Scouts the names of consenting neighbors. Following his return to the U.S. in in Israel, he said, “I had six different Family and friends will miss Mr. 1978, Mr. Schodt taught in the nationalities in my troop, but we were Tuohey’s gift for a quick limerick, his Political Science and International still the Boy Scouts of America.” He partisan taste in Irish whiskey and a Relations Department at Warren loved to share stories from his career brogue that, surprisingly, never saw Wilson College in Swannanoa, N.C. and life overseas, including true tales the shores of the Emerald Isle. He retired from that position in 1988. about religious riots in Bombay, He is survived by his four sons: In 1996, he and his wife moved to intrigue in Berlin and the Bolshoi John Matthew (and his wife Pam) of Charlottesville, Va., where he resided Ballet. Linden, N.C.; Kevin Michael (and his until his death. Among his most memorable expe- wife Shauna) of Natick, Mass.; Robert Mr. Schodt is survived by his wife, riences were the negotiations sur- Paul (and his wife Kristen) of Stur- Margaret Birk Schodt of Charlot- rounding the Camp David Accords — bridge, Mass.; and Patrick Eugene tesville; two sons, David Schodt (and an experience, he would later say, that (and his wife Michelle) of Kansas City, his wife Elizabeth Ciner) of North- “left me on the brink of exhaustion at Mo.; and 12 grandchildren (Shannon, field, Minn., and Frederik Schodt most times.” He had arrived in Tel Sarah, Ashley, Caroline, Jay, Savan- (and his wife Fiammetta Hsu) of San Aviv one month before Egyptian nah, Evan, Rebecca, Ryan, Caroline Francisco, Calif.; and two grandchil- President Anwar Sadat. “The U.S. Rose, Maureen and Madeline). dren, Sara Schodt of New York, N.Y., had volunteered to play the middle Though the family diaspora has and Christopher Schodt of North- man in the peace process, and it was spread as far as Turkey and Australia, field, Minn. one heck of a job. It was very satisfy- all of his sons were present with him ing, however, because we achieved in his final hours. something,” he later reported. In addition to his wife, Virginia, u In 1977, Mrs. Tuohey was diag- Mr. Tuohey was preceded in death by John J. “Jack” Tuohey, 75, a nosed with multiple sclerosis, and in his brother, Paul Francis Tuohey. retired FSO with USIA, died on May 1979 the Tuoheys returned to Wash- The family requests that any 22 after a brief battle with cancer. ington, D.C. In 1985, Mr. Tuohey memorial contributions be made to Born on Nov. 6, 1932, in West was given what would be his last the Multiple Sclerosis Society. I Roxbury, Mass., to John Sr. and Ann assignment — to serve as the State (Rogers) Tuohey, he graduated from Department adviser to the comman- Boston College High School in 1950. ders of special operations at Ft. Bragg E-mail your After service in the U.S. Army sta- in Fayetteville, N.C. In addition, he “In Memory” tioned in Alaska, he received his bach- taught psychological operations at the submission to the elor’s degree from Boston College in John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Foreign Service Journal, 1957. In 1959, he married Virginia Center and School. attention Susan Maitra Ann Williams at St. Patrick’s Cathe- Mr. Tuohey retired as a counselor at [email protected], dral in New York. of the Senior Foreign Service in 1989, or fax it to (202) 338-6820. Mr. Tuohey served both the U.S. remaining in Fayetteville to care for No photos, please. Information Agency and the Depart- his wife full time as her health

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REFLECTIONS Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes

BY JONATHAN RICKERT

r. Eric Eustace Williams, the After the Defense Department peo- that a deal was concluded. Caribbean state of Trinidad ple who handle burials explained that Mission accomplished, I thought; Dand Tobago’s first prime the military did not do cremations, I but not quite the end of the story. minister, was an outstanding politi- called a local undertaker for advice. In September 1987, while serv- cian, historian, teacher and philoso- The polite, helpful Joseph Gaw- ing in Sofia, I happened to strike up pher. He was also a complex person ler’s Sons representative responded a conversation with a congressional with deeply ambivalent, some would kindly that it usually was easier to take delegation’s military escort. The Air even say hostile, feelings toward the the body to the crematorium than the Force colonel asked casually where U.S. The 69-year-old leader’s sudden other way around. Unfortunately, not I had served and perked up when I death in office, on March 29, 1981, an option in this case, I replied. mentioned Trinidad. He had been took virtually everyone by surprise, The firm’s cremations expert ex- employed in the early 1980s in New because it was not preceded by indi- plained that crematories were large York by British West Indian cations of ill health. and heavy pieces of equipment and Airways, Trinidad’s national carrier, As the State Department desk offi- did not exist in portable versions. But he said. cer for Trinidad, following three years some were smaller than others, he Did he know anything about the air in Embassy Port of Spain, I was as averred, and it might just be possible shipment of a crematory from Miami startled as anyone. An even bigger jolt to find a model that would fit into a to Port of Spain? I asked. Did he ever! awaited me, however, when I Boeing 747. He gave me contact The colonel had been sent to Miami returned to the office from lunch early information for several manufactur- by the Trinidadians to ensure that the the next day — it was a “Flash” ers and wished me luck. crematory was shipped safely and on telegram from the embassy. One company was near Orlando, time. It seems that Prime Minister Fla. It took some time to convince its In fact, the truck from the factory Williams had directed that his remains incredulous representative that I was had reached Miami Airport two hours be cremated. But the country had no serious about obtaining a crematori- late, and he had done everything in his crematory facility, and cremation Hin- um to be sent urgently to an power to get Pan Am to delay the du-style, on a pyre along the banks of unnamed Caribbean country for the flight. Loading the equipment safely a local stream as members of Trini- cremation of an anonymous dignitary. onto the plane had been challenging, dad’s large ethnic Indian community It turned out that his firm had a rel- but the aircraft eventually took off did, was not feasible for political and atively small gas unit that had just with its precious cargo, he recounted. cultural reasons. The government come off the production line, had How startling to meet by chance sought U.S. assistance in obtaining a been “test fired” and was ready for six years later, in Sofia, and share “portable crematorium,” which had to shipment to a customer in Michigan. the details of an unusual diplomatic be in Trinidad by the end of that week, The dimensions were such that it mission in which we’d both — un- preferably via the regular Friday Pan could just squeeze through the load- known to each other — played lead- American Boeing 747 cargo flight ing door of a Boeing 747 cargo plane, ing roles. I from Miami to Port of Spain’s Piarco and it could be diverted if I could Airport. The equipment needed to be ensure that it would be paid for Jonathan Rickert is a retired Senior gas-fired. promptly. I was ready for that one and Foreign Service officer, whose 35- In fulfilling my task, I was not to gave him a name and phone number year career culminated in tours as reveal the identity of the deceased nor at the New York offices of Trintoc, a DCM to Sofia and then Bucharest, the country to which the crematory state-owned Trinidad oil company. and as director for the Office of would be shipped. Where to begin? Subsequent phone calls established North Central European Affairs.

88 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/OCTOBER 2008