The Foreign Service Journal, February 2005

Home , Colin Powell, Dean Rusk, Marpessa Dawn

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CONTENTS February 2005 ■ Volume 82, No. 2

F OCUS ON THE P OWELL L EGACY U.S. DIPLOMACY IN THE POST-POWELL AGE / 50 If the State Department remains sidelined, it will be because Secretary Rice declines to use her relationship 18 / “FAC”-CHECKING: SECRETARY POWELL’S STATE DEPARTMENT with the president to restore State as America’s The Foreign Affairs Council gives generally high outermost line of defense. marks to Colin Powell and his management team. By John Brady Kiesling By Thomas D. Boyatt THOUGHTS FROM THE FIELD / 54 22 / THE FAILURE OF COLIN POWELL AFSA members weigh in with tributes and observations Comparisons of Colin Powell to another general who on Colin Powell’s tenure at the State Department. served as Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, By Susan Maitra only highlight Powell’s squandered legacy. By Dennis Jett F EATURE 27 / A LEGACY OF SUCCESS Colin Powell has served the nation with honor and THE COLD WAR: A PYRRHIC VICTORY? / 60 distinction in almost every national security job out there. It has been more than a decade since the U.S. won the His tenure at Foggy Bottom is no exception. Cold War. But the unintended consequences of our By Peter T.R. Brookes anti-Soviet efforts contributed to many of the problems 32 / COLIN POWELL: FOUR TUMULTUOUS YEARS we face today. His personal popularity consistently exceeded that of the By David D. Newsom policies he defended. Even so, within the administration he often found himself outgunned. By George Gedda C OLUMNS D EPARTMENTS 41 / A BLEMISHED LATIN AMERICAN RECORD The Secretary allowed a clique of hard-liners with tight links to White House political operatives lacking PRESIDENT’S VIEWS / 5 LETTERS / 7 comprehension of the region’s realities to dictate policy. The Silly Season CYBERNOTES / 10 By John Limbert By Larry Birns MARKETPLACE / 12 SPEAKING OUT / 13 BOOKS / 65 45 / THE RICE DOCTRINE Condoleezza Rice has the opportunity to Foreign Service Evaluations: IN MEMORY / 66 A Broken System restore realism in U.S. foreign policy. INDEX TO By Michael C. Gonzales The alternative could prove ruinous. ADVERTISERS / 74 By Christopher Preble REFLECTIONS / 76 AFSA NEWS / By Keith W. Mines CENTER INSERT

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

FEBRUARY 2005/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 3

PRESIDENT’S VIEWS The Silly Season

BY JOHN LIMBERT

Is the moon actually implement policy.” always full in AFSA will have none of this. “Let Washington? You “Let no cheap no cheap shot go unanswered” remains would think so if shot go our policy, although lately the cheap you read some of shots have been coming fast and furi- the recent press unanswered” ous. We will continue to stand up and commentary criti- remains AFSA’s fight. We will continue to honor our cizing the Foreign best (including the dissenters) and will Service and the State Department. policy, although continue making the case, by all means The impending change of leadership lately the cheap possible, that the Foreign Service is a at State has, like a dinner of bad shell- shots have been cadre of qualified professionals who fish, produced a remarkable secretion serve the president, the secretaries of of bile, which some pundits have coming fast and our agencies and the American people. insisted on serving us in their columns. furious. Far from being “out of step,” “rebel- For example, The New Republic’s lious,” or “the striped-pants set,” we Lawrence Kaplan, in his recent col- loyally serve our country in very diffi- umn, “Condi Should Tame Foggy cult and dangerous places, including Bottom,” writes: gence Agency. For more than half a Iraq, where our colleagues have recent- “Rice, after all, would be well century White Houses have resound- ly given their lives. Our men and within her rights to ‘clean out’ the ed with complaints about the striped- women need no lessons in patriotism or State Department. … There is no pants set at Foggy Bottom and rene- courage from those urging we should reason [the Foreign Service] should gades at Langley. Foreign Service be “tamed” or “brought to heel.” not function more like the military officers are particularly out of step On issues of policy, honest men establishment, whose professional with the incumbent president: a rising and women can (and should) dis- ethos depends on the principle of star in the Foreign Service confided a agree. Discipline and loyalty remain, strict subordination to political con- week ago that on a scale of 0-to-10, however, our core values, and no one trol — disagreements may exist, but colleagues in the Service would give a questions who calls the shots on once the president arrives at a deci- 9.5 grade to Colin Powell and a grade America’s foreign policy. But there sion, the matter has been settled. of 2.0 to the Bush administration. remain those who, aside from any Needless to say, no such ethos ani- Bringing the Foreign Service on board question of policy, dislike the Foreign mates the ranks of the diplomatic will be one of the toughest challenges Service simply for what we are and corps” (my emphasis). facing Secretary Rice.” what we do: think for ourselves, In The New York Times, David In the Boston Globe, Anne E. advise, raise questions, and suggest Gergen says: Kornblutt says: courses of action. There is little one “Presidents of the past would also “But Bush had a second, and per- can do to change closed minds, how- sympathize with Mr. Bush’s desire to haps more important goal in mind ever, and our service and sacrifices quell rebellious voices at the State with the selection of Rice, the advisers must always speak for themselves. In Department and the Central Intelli- said: bringing to heel the rebellious the meantime — for those who do not voices within the Foreign Service care about our devotion to service — John Limbert is the president of the establishment, especially among sec- as the old saying goes, “The dogs bark American Foreign Service Association. ond- and third-tier appointees who and the caravan moves on.” ■

FEBRUARY 2005/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 5

LETTERS

A Medal Tarnished United States Consul General, rorism of the previous winter was that Patrick G. Halperin’s letter in the Antwerp, Belgium, from 7 November the Belgian people had shown incred- Washington Post (Dec. 18) on 1944 to 30 March 1945. He con- ible courage in the face of this cruel General Franks’ receipt of the tributed greatly to the maintaining of assault on their second city. My Presidential Medal of Freedom was security and the averting of panic strongest recollection of that period is right on the mark, asking whether it among the civilian population of that there was no glass in the windows was given to reward the general’s sole Antwerp. His successful efforts great- of the consulate building nor in the contribution as a civilian — endorsing ly aided the war effort and reflect high house we were assigned to live in; all President Bush for re-election. credit upon him.” the glass had been replaced by ply- Halperin correctly explained that Dec 16, 2004, was the 60th wood panels. the Presidential Medal of Freedom anniversary of the terrible and deci- I know that my father was proud- was instituted during World War II to sive Battle of the Bulge in the est of this single official recognition of recognize the outstanding efforts of Ardennes Forest of eastern Belgium. his 40 years as a Foreign Service offi- certain civilians in support of the mil- This was Hitler’s last serious attempt cer. I found the medal in its some- itary campaigns against the Axis to turn the tide of the war. Both sides what worn, felt-lined, black leather Powers. These medals were awarded suffered immense losses (the box, along with a carbon copy of the by the president on recommendation Americans had 40,000 casualties), but citation, in a drawer in the hospital from the War Department. There in the aftermath the Allies prevailed room where he died in 1985 at age 89. were obviously a plethora of military and drove on into Germany to end the I have donated the medal and citation medals and decorations awarded to war on the Western front. to the Museum of Diplomacy being military personnel who performed The port of Antwerp was crucial to established in the Department of exceptionally in the war effort. The logistical and other support for the State, as an illustration of how our Medal of Freedom was the only major Allied drive on the northern sector of diplomats have been recognized for wartime medal for civilians. It was the front lines. Hitler tried in advance their contributions to our war efforts seriously debased by the three medals of the Battle of the Bulge to destroy of the past. The final sentence of the awarded by President Bush in the port of Antwerp with a barrage of museum curator’s detailed descrip- December. V2 rockets on the city, numbering at tion of the medal and its housing My father, James Hugh Keeley Jr., least 2,000, starting on Oct. 12, 1944. reads: “Medal somewhat tarnished was presented with the Presidential These were “terror” weapons, but in good condition.” Medal of Freedom by President because they killed almost exclusively Sixty years on, the Presidential Truman in 1945, for his service as the civilians, were minimally guided and Medal of Freedom itself has now American consul general in Antwerp totally indiscriminate. In December been seriously tarnished. from the late summer of 1944 1944, over a hundred V2 rockets a Robert V. Keeley through the end of the war in Europe. week were launched on Antwerp. FSO, retired The citation for my father’s There was no effective defense. Each Washington, D.C. Presidential Medal of Freedom reads: rocket delivered nearly a ton of high “James H. Keeley, American Civilian, explosives at a speed of 3,500 feet per Authors in Context for exceptionally meritorious achieve- second. I enjoyed looking through the mul- ment which aided the United States When my mother and I joined my tiplicity of books by Foreign Service in the prosecution of the war against father in Antwerp in the summer of associated folks in the November the enemy in Continental Europe, as 1945, his only comment on the V2 ter- Journal. One of the most pleasing

FEBRUARY 2005/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 7 L ETTERS u

(and most informative) parts was the for a swim after work. As we sat by short paragraph describing each the pool, Amb. Horan came out to the Foreign Service author. These patio, turned on the music, and pro- helped put the book, the times and ceeded to skip rope for an hour while, the writer into a useful context. in the background, the security offi- David Hughes cer ran the local guards, armed with FSO, retired automatic weapons, through seek- Woodinville, Wash. and-destroy exercises. The administrative counselor More Memories of Hume would come up daily to see what else I just saw the piece, “Appreciation: he could do for us. The DCM would Tributes to An Outstanding Diplo- join us for breakfast in the cafeteria mat, Hume Alexander Horan, Part for small talk. It was hard to believe II” in the October issue of the that we were constantly in danger Journal. Having missed the Septem- until we stepped outside or until peo- ber issue containing the first install- ple reported to work wearing their ment of the Appreciation during our bulletproof vests. Horan’s influence move to post, I was surprised and sad- brought about a work environment of dened to learn of his death. So I cooperative calm that I have not wit- would like to share my own experi- nessed since that time. ence with him. The past couple of years, while I was in Khartoum on temporary assigned to the department, I used to duty in the mid-1980s, during the see Amb. Horan in the cafeteria or thick of the Libyan-led attacks on hallways at FSI. I would point him U.S. personnel and installations. The out to my wife or colleagues and Libyans had just shot my colleague, a recount the dangerous days that new-hire information management seemed so normal then. I kept mean- specialist, and all dependents had ing to re-introduce myself one of been evacuated in the middle of the these days, but, as always happens, night. There were daily reports of opportunities pass us by. “being followed,” “being shot at,” or Rudy Garcia “being chased.” The communications Information Processing center was working 24/7 with only Officer two people for a couple of weeks, Embassy Seoul ■ until a second TDYer was able to make it to post. I was staying at the Acropole Hotel, a center for journalists and charity workers. Several of them Send your would crowd around my radio to listen to Ambassador Horan’s daily sta- letters to: tus report broadcasts. He always [email protected]. found the time, while in the communications center after his broadcast, to converse with us on subjects not relat- Note that all letters ing to the crisis surrounding us. At his are subject to editing residence, where the second TDY information management specialist for style, format was billeted, there was a surreal sense and length. of calm. One day my colleague invited me

8 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2005 2000 N. 14th Street ■ Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Telephone (703) 797-3259 Fax (703) 524-7559 Tollfree (800) 424-9500

CYBERNOTES

New Studies Focus on along lines spelled out in a series of tlement of the Arab-Israel conflict “to Middle East concrete recommendations. the highest priority in the most visible In the waning months of 2004, In “After Arafat? Challenges and form.” leading U.S. think-tanks put the fin- Prospects,” the ICG warns that the The CSIS policy proposal is com- ishing touches on a variety of new for- onus is on all parties, especially those plemented by numerous status eign policy studies and reports aimed who have proclaimed the new reality in reports, research reports and news at influencing the second Bush the Middle East a fresh opportunity, to analysis pieces in the “Iraq Briefing administration’s agenda. Not surpris- make sure the Palestinian transition is Book” section of the site. ingly, the majority of them focus on part of “a clear and defined political A December report from the Iraq and the Middle East. Happily, horizon” characterized by active pur- Carnegie Endowment for Inter- they are all available on the Web. suit of concrete changes on the ground. national Peace titled “Political Reform From the International Crisis At the Center for Strategic and in the Middle East: Can the United Group (www.icg.org) come two International Studies (www.csis.org/ States and Europe Work Together?” reports that have the advantage of features/iraq.cfm), Anthony Cordes- calls for a re-thinking of transatlantic being based on field analysis by the man’s “Playing the Course: A Strategy cooperation (www.carnegieendow organization’s staff members. “What for Reshaping U.S. Policy in Iraq and ment.org/files/MarinaOutlookFina Can the U.S. Do in Iraq?” presents the Middle East” makes a detailed lDeco4.pdf) The Brookings Institu- the ICG’s conclusion that “despite case for the U.S. to announce a firm tion discusses the same issue in valiant and ongoing corrective efforts, statement of intentions in Iraq and “Promoting Democracy in the Arab the transition process no longer can focuses in on steps to improve the World: The Challenge of Joint Action” succeed as currently fashioned — that odds of success. Cordesman argues (www.brookings.edu/views/articles/ is, as the linear culmination of the that the U.S. strategy for Iraq must be fellow/wittes20041231.htm). process underway since the fall of the part of a broader, pragmatic strategy American Enterprise Institute for Ba’thist regime.” The U.S. and Iraq for the Middle East, and discusses Public Policy Research expert Reuel must together make a fundamental specific steps to be taken in this Marc Gerecht argues that it is essen- break from this discredited process regard — starting with elevating a set- tial that the U.S. “get it right” in Iraq

Site of the Month: Transition 2005

The Council on Foreign Relations’ special “Transition 2005: Foreign Policy in the Second Bush Administration” Web site (www.cfr.org/transition2005/) is a boon to foreign policy watchers and practitioners as the second Bush administration begins and the State Department transitions from Colin Powell to Condoleezza Rice. Simple and very user-friendly, the site features thoughtful briefs on 19 central issues of policy, from Darfur to North Korea, Arab reform to global health and terrorism, and from Russia to China. Council President Richard Haas leads with a brief on “America’s Role in the World.” Each brief is a status report on the topic, with a year-end summary of developments and a highlighting of extant challenges. There are profiles of all members of the Bush II foreign policy team, and links to such documents as the thank-you message to Colin Powell and the nomination of Condoleezza Rice, as well as links to the Bush-Cheney campaigns’ foreign policy statements. One section, “T2005 at the Council,” features interviews, op-eds, etc. by CFR experts on relevant foreign policy issues. Finally, the site provides links to the Department of State transition pages, and to the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the White House Nominations List to monitor nominations and confirmations.

10 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2005 CYBERNOTES

Muslim world, and the dilemma of cerning loved ones missing in the t turns out that the majority of democratization in friendly authoritari- disaster area. The Net has also been an states, the book calls for the U.S. acting as a clearing house for indi- Ithose nations affected [by the and its allies to support moderate vidual contributions to rescue and tsunami] were Muslim nations. Muslims and social, economic and rehabilitation efforts. educational reforms in Muslim nations. For instance, CNN International’s We’d be doing it [providing From the Century Foundation special report, “After the Tsunami,” assistance] regardless of (formerly the Twentieth Century makes available all the latest news Fund) come the conclusions of a task from the disaster area, including eye- religion, but I think it does give force assembled and chaired by witness reports of the tragedy and the Muslim world and the rest Richard A. Clarke, the Clinton admin- relief efforts as well as survivors’ tales istration’s coordinator for national (http://edition.cnn.com/SPE of the world ... an opportunity security and counterterrorism, titled CIALS/2004/tsunami.disaster/). “Defeating the Jihadists: A Blueprint This site’s “Resources” offering to see American generosity, for Action” (http://www.tcf.org/ includes the posting of online appeals American values in action. 4L/4LMain.asp?SubjectID=3& for information on missing individuals, ArticleID=41). Central to the and the long listing under “Reunions” — Colin Powell, www.cnn.com, action plan are proposals for signifi- attests to the efficacy of this service. Jan. 5, 2005. cant changes in U.S. policy toward key The U.S. Pacific Command’s tsuna- Muslim countries. mi Web page (http://www.pacom.mil/ special/0412asia/) includes informa- in a lengthy piece, “The Struggle for Tsunami 2004: tion on the U.S. participation in relief the Middle East” (http://www.aei. Internet Brings Relief operations; up-to-date links to interna- org/include/news_print.asp?new The World Wide Web significantly tional news stories on the crisis; and sID=21761). The government of boosted the crisis response to the links to the State Department, Ayad Allawi has failed, and a different Dec. 26 tsunami, which claimed the Defense Department and USAID approach to the Sunni insurgency is lives of more than 150,000 people in tsunami Web pages, as well as to needed, Gerecht says. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and nine regional U.S. embassy Web sites. In mid-December the RAND other countries on the Indian Ocean The World Health Organization’s Corporation released a book-length littoral. At this writing, the death toll tsunami Web page (http://www. study, “The Muslim World After 9/11” is still climbing and the full scope and who.int/hac/crises/internation- (http://www.rand.org/news/press.0 implications of the tragedy are al/asia_tsunami/en/) contains regu- 4/12.15.html). RAND senior policy unknown. In the months, if not years, lar situation reports from the disaster analyst and former FSO Angel Rabasa, of relief and reconstruction work area, the latest at this writing focused lead author of the report, said, “While ahead, the Internet will continue to be on the concern for disease outbreaks only Muslims themselves can effective- an invaluable source of information among the five million persons affect- ly challenge the message of radical and a medium for facilitating assis- ed. You will find an archive of these Islam, there is much the U.S. and like- tance. reports as well as the WHO’s 100-day minded countries can do to empower Besides providing up-to-the- strategy for dealing with the emer- Muslim moderates in this ideological minute news and practical informa- gency. A special section of the site, struggle.” A comprehensive study of tion from governments of the coun- “How You Can Help,” provides for the causes for the spread of Islamic tries hit by the killer wave, the online cash contributions. Donation radicalism over the past several Internet has helped embassies and guidelines for in-kind contributions decades, the cleavages within the governments handle queries con- and a call for emergency specialists,

FEBRUARY 2005/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 11 C YBERNOTES u

50 Years Ago... Just prior to the opening of Congress, the Eisenhower administration announced that 3,002 federal employees had been dismissed as security risks in the first 16 months of its security program. Another 5,006 persons resigned with derogatory information in their files before their cases were acted upon. … The Department of State was listed with five dismissals for security reasons, and USIA was listed with two. — From “News to the Field,” FSJ, February 1955.

with provisions for online response, respectively as of this writing. There are also featured. Helpful links to are no figures as to how much of that related sites are also provided. is accounted for by online contribu- The Web site for the U.N. tions, but it is no doubt substantial. Children’s Fund (www.unicef.org) Here is a list of some of the aid is focusing on the particular problems agencies collecting donations for of the millions of children affected in relief and rehabilitation work, and the disaster and its aftermath. The their Web addresses: site has a “Tsunami Press Room” and on-the-scene reports from UNICEF • AmeriCares workers in India, Indonesia, Thailand www.americares.org and Sri Lanka. • American Jewish World Service The United Nations Office for the www.ajws.org Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs • American Friends Service has several Internet projects that are Committee integral to the relief effort. The www.afsc.org Virtual Operations On-Site Coor- • American Red Cross dination Center (http://ocha.unog. www.redcross.org ch/virtualosocc/login.asp?Action • Catholic Relief Services =newLogin), which acts as an online www.catholicrelief.org message board or chat room, is an • Doctors Without Borders effective tool to facilitate information www.doctorswithoutborders.org exchange between responding gov- • International Medical Corps ernments and organizations through- www.imcworldwide.org out the relief operation. OCHA’s • Islamic Relief USA ReliefWeb (www.reliefweb.int) fea- www.irw.org/asiaquak tures the earthquake and tsunami in • Mercy Corps South and Southeast Asia. The site www.mercycorps.org posts all the major documents of • Oxfam America relief organizations working in the www.oxfamamerica.org area as well as international news • Save The Children agency reports as they are issued. www.savethechildren.org As of Jan. 4, about $2.5 billion had • United Methodist Committee been contributed to the relief effort on Relief by governments and multinational www.gbgm-umc.org/umcor financial institutions. Significantly, in • Stop Hunger Now Europe and the U.S., private dona- www.stophungernow.org tions nearly matched official assis- • World Vision tance, at $1.5 billion and $337 million www.worldvision.org ■

12 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2005 SPEAKING OUT Foreign Service Evaluations: A Broken System

BY MICHAEL C. GONZALES

he 2004 promotion lists were management skills” rather than “get to recently released. Although I The don’t-rock- work on time and stop missing dead- Twas not eligible for promotion, lines.” Sure, tenure may take an extra I watched with pleasure as many out- the-boat culture year, five more posts may suffer under standing officers and specialists of our Service the officer’s incompetence, and co- received much-deserved recognition workers will have to carry the burden, for excellent performance and evi- undermines but we “avoided a lawsuit.” dence of potential. Sadly, as in past America’s foreign With weak FSNs, the infuriated years, these employees’ achievements supervisor describes the employee’s were largely discredited by the promo- policy objectives in performance as “satisfactory” — tion of other, thoroughly ineffective much of the world. damning with faint praise, while high officers and specialists. These individ- enough to permit the annual step uals who miss deadlines, fail to com- increase and avoid a grievance from plete assignments and lack communi- w the FSN. The poor performance per- cation skills, yet still advance, prove sists, mission goals are not optimally the depressing fact that simply show- GSO, or any of a myriad of other indi- achieved, the FSN is bitter, and the ing up or threatening to grieve will get viduals filling roles crucial to our mis- supervisor remains angry, but finds you promoted in America’s Foreign sions. Bureaucracy, impenetrable solace in the fact that “I’m transferring Service. The 2004 promotion lists regulations, and Americans’ growing next summer and it will be someone confirm that the system of evaluations litigiousness all pose real barriers to else’s problem.” and promotions is broken. This, in supervisors’, clients’, or subordinates’ As for weak managers overseas, the turn, causes and perpetuates a willingness and/or ability to take damage is pervasive yet insidious. Foreign Service that is fractured, and action to get the underperforming Subordinate employees are often left undermines America’s foreign policy either to perform or be removed. to their own devices with minimal objectives. Except in the cases of the most tena- supervision, and communication with cious supervisors or feckless employ- other sections or offices is virtually Cultural & Institutional ees, most of us give up in despair and severed, yet institutional rigidities and Impediments pass the problem on to our successors exhortations not to “rock the boat” The highly transitory Foreign or other posts. deter senior managers from disrupting Service lifestyle perpetuates a two-to- The paper trail generated by and the façade of harmony in the office or three-year time horizon in the minds about poor performers becomes mission. Compounding the problem, of all it touches. All components of steeped in code. In the case of an the employee often “manages up” well the State Department and other for- American subordinate, the rating offi- enough to keep the senior officer from eign affairs agencies — Americans cer crafts vague EER statements realizing the full extent of the employ- and Foreign Service Nationals, offi- about a “fine performance” and “solid ee’s shortcomings. cers and specialists, Foreign Service workmanship,” hoping against hope Even when the reviewing officer and Civil Service personnel — rely to that the promotion boards will appro- does make a good-faith effort to refer some degree on the crutch that says, priately identify these euphemisms to problems, the natural tendency is to “I can ride out a bad __ for two near the lower rungs of the scorecard resort to canned praise and trivial years.” Depending on the circum- of superlatives. A perfunctory entry in areas for improvement in a naïve stances, this blank may be a boss, the “area for improvement” box might effort to preserve morale at post. But employee, support staff member, encourage someone to “hone his time senior management’s attempted punt

FEBRUARY 2005/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 13 S PEAKING O UT u often doesn’t keep the underper- All supervisors are required to hold former from being promoted to at least two counseling sessions with neglect a still-larger section or office The 2004 promotion employees during each rating period, instead of being selected out — and yet many of them forget this require- meanwhile, the post’s effectiveness lists confirm that ment until close to April 14. In the remains diminished and subordinates absence of counseling notes, supervi- join the ranks of those who have lost the Foreign Service sors bar themselves from including the pride with which we used to look critical statements in employee evalu- upon, and serve in, America’s diplo- evaluation system ations because they themselves are matic corps. exposed for having not done the docu- is broken. mentary due diligence. The State Corridor Reputations and Department could immediately begin Onward Assignments sending quarterly ALDAC cables The optimistic and naïve may reminding all supervisors to hold argue that the poor performers will focused significant energy on promot- counseling sessions with those they get their due as their corridor reputa- ing leadership skills and training in the supervise. If the department can jus- tions bar them from the “good jobs” Foreign Service. In the past few years, tify biannual open season reminder and relegate them to the hard-to-fill the department has introduced ALDACs for personnel benefits and positions around the globe or in back- employee surveys and mandatory monthly Visas Viper reminders, can’t waters of the department. While this training on leadership and manage- we justify quarterly reminders to does sometimes happen, it doesn’t ment. ensure solid employee performance? solve the problem — it merely makes At the same time, FSI’s Leadership The department should immedi- it harder to address and increases frus- and Management School has spon- ately implement 360-degree evalua- tration at posts which already tend to sored a department-wide “Conver- tions of all personnel, not just FS-1 suffer from poor morale and neglect. sation on Leadership” with specific and above. What each of us does Even worse, this corps of Foreign recommendations for promoting the affects many other people at various Service dregs and misfits disillusions practice of leadership within State, levels, so how can we continue to jus- — or worse, molds in their own image and has convened a Leadership tify not taking their feedback into — entry-level employees on directed Roundtable of individuals committed account? This will force supervisors to assignments to these garden spots. to implementing these recommenda- evaluate rated employees’ managerial Indeed, the broken system of tions. This progress is certainly wel- and leadership skills and capacities Foreign Service evaluations and pro- come. Still, at too many posts around based on the experience of those who motions — including the don’t-rock- the world, too many officers still say, are being managed or led. Can those the-boat culture of our Service — “Show me leadership in the Foreign skills be accurately assessed any other undermines America’s foreign policy Service and I’ll show you a shocked way? A 360-degree review would also objectives in much of the world. So I FSO!” provide documentary defense for ask: Are posts in West Africa, South Institutional changes in the imple- more critical assessments of an Asia, the Central Asian republics, or mentation of Foreign Service evalua- employee’s performance when the South Pacific island nations that most tions and promotions are urgently threat of a grievance or lawsuit would Americans have never heard of really needed. otherwise cause rating or reviewing so irrelevant to U.S. interests that we officers to omit such information. can entrust them to such a dispropor- Employee Evaluations Finally, EER review panels must tionate share of personnel from the Performance evaluations must be be given a means to provide substan- bottom of the proverbial barrel? changed to hold employees account- tive, not just clerical, feedback to rat- able for their performance, induce ing officers when falsely buoyant We Need Institutional supervisors to accurately document an EERs do not reflect an employee’s Changes and Leadership employee’s performance, protect performance. While serving on such While these scenarios may not be raters and reviewers from frivolous panels for the past four years, I have factors in all cases, they certainly do grievances or complaints, and allow read great works of fiction and have occur at far too many posts. employees to have a voice in the seen horrendous employees promoted Thankfully, under Secretary Powell’s assessments of their supervisors’ per- as a result of these. A license for sub- leadership, the State Department has formance. stantive feedback on EERs combined

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S PEAKING O UT u with 360-degree reviews would provide an additional layer of accountability that ensures that the much- touted “needs of the Service,” as well as the rights of the employee, are protected.

Tenuring and Promotion A meaningful tenure system is absolutely necessary in the Foreign Service. This career and lifestyle are not for everyone, but sometimes this is not apparent to employees themselves. Is the hiring process really that reliable that the percentage of individuals for whom this is just not the right choice lies somewhere in the low single digits? Especially given how — appropriately — selective the Foreign Service is in identifying new hires, should it not remove the chaff after observing actual performance? After three or four years of demonstrated performance, an employee should already have proven his/her suitability and capacity for a career as an American diplomat. Somehow, however, a gap persists between the poor performance of some employees and columbia plaza the ability of tenure boards to ade- apartments quately perceive that performance Capital Living With Comfort and Convenience and appreciate the implications of 24 Hour Fitness retaining such employees in the Center Service. With accurate evaluations, the department will be better able to make tenure meaningful rather than a blind grope to weed out the truly awful. Low-ranking must become mean- Utilities Included ingful rather than just meeting a tar- Complimentary Voice Mail Beautiful and Spacious: get. A quota system of identifying any Courtyard Style Plaza Polished Hardwood Floors Efficiency$1,100 - $1,250 subset of employees as poor perform- 1 Bedroom 1,400 - 1,700 ers, be it 2, 5 or 10 percent of them, Private Balconies Huge Walk-in Closets 2 Bedroom 2,100 - 2,700 although required in the Foreign Service Act, represents arbitrariness 2400 Virginia Ave., N.W 24 Hour Front Desk rather than human resources manage- Washington, D.C., 20037 Garage Parking Avaliable Tel: (202) 293-2000 ment. As efforts move forward to Controlled Access E-mail: [email protected] lower the low-ranking quota from 5 to Potomac River Views 2 percent, I wonder what may happen Minutes to Fine Dining Newly Renovated Kitchens Office Hours: Mon. - Fri. 8:00 AM-5:30 PM to the other 3 percent who would Sat 10:00 AM-4:00 PM have been low-ranked? If their per- Directly across the street from Main State, minutes to Kennedy Center and Georgetown formance was truly poor enough to

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justify the low-ranking, I hope that the selection boards will have the courage to low-rank them even if the 2-percent quota has already been reached. Low-ranking provides a tool to the Foreign Service through which underperformers can be assisted to improve or be removed from the Service. By low-ranking employees, selection boards provide a service to the employee and the Service; this responsibility must be exercised based on observed performance, not simply to meet an arbitrary quota. At the other end of the spectrum, selection panels should also resist the temptation to award sympathy promotions for “solid” but uninspired performers. Of course, solid employees represent a significant, and needed, portion of any bureaucracy. According to the Procedural Precepts for Foreign Service Selection Boards, however, “[p]romotion is recognition that a member has demonstrated the capability of performing the duties and responsibilities required at a higher level. It is not a reward for prior service.” Foreign Service personnel recognize that we have signed onto an up-or-out career track and the expectations therein are well publicized. Promoting someone who has shown “fine” performance as an FS-3 without demonstrating the capability to serve at an FS-2 level would be a disservice to the department even if the employee has 13 years at FS-3 and risks TIC-ing out. Time-in-class limits are intended to hone the Foreign Service’s effectiveness by removing the dead wood from our ranks. In practice, however, if it takes someone 13 years to be promoted from FS-3 to FS-2, has he or she demonstrated the potential to tackle the greater responsibility? Would you really want to serve under such a manager? Perhaps at senior levels of responsibility one may require a dozen years to demonstrate the merit to warrant promotion from

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Weak managers often “manage up” well enough to keep their supervisors from realizing the full extent of their shortcomings.

MC to CM, but at the entry and mid- levels, at least, shouldn’t the windows close faster? America deserves better than a corps of diplomats who may take up to 10 years at FS-4 to be promoted to FS-3 or an additional 13 years to get to FS-2. The Foreign Service’s chief resource is the corps of individuals scattered around the planet. They are an impressive lot with whom I am generally proud to serve. Unfortunately, a small, but not insignificant, subgroup of poor performers continue to slip through the cracks of a broken personnel system, undermining morale and keeping the Foreign Service from realizing its full potential. The fact that a dis- proportionate number of these problem employees gravitate to posts in remote, unstable countries discourages more skillful performers from bidding on those assignments and disillusions entry-level officers — perpetuating a vicious cycle of hobbled diplomacy. We can do better. We must do better! ■

Michael Gonzales has been a Foreign Service officer since 2000, serving in Dhaka and Kampala. He is currently deputy public affairs officer and AFSA representative in Kampala.

FEBRUARY 2005/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 17 F OCUS ON THE P OWELL L EGACY

“FAC”-CHECKING: SECRETARY POWELL’S STATE DEPARTMENT

THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COUNCIL GIVES GENERALLY HIGH MARKS TO COLIN POWELL AND HIS MANAGEMENT TEAM FOR THEIR WORK AT STATE OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS.

BY THOMAS D. BOYATT

Editor’s Note: The following article consists of the fore- State modern information technology; (3) focus on word and executive summary from the Foreign Affairs security of the nation (visas and passports), of informa- Council’s Task Force Report, Secretary Powell’s State tion and of Americans abroad, including U.S. govern- Department: An Independent Assessment, issued in ment employees (also involves holding overseas staffs November 2004. to the minimum necessary — right-sizing); (4) assure safe, healthy and secure facilities, especially overseas n the summer of 2000 some 1,400 Foreign buildings; and (5) relate budgets to agreed strategies, Service personnel, a quarter of the officer policies and priorities. Visa and passport security corps, attached their names to an Internet required reshaping consular affairs to deal with the protest of their working conditions. In early post-9/11 world. Secretary Powell also had to address 2004 the State Department had 200 Civil two other major management issues: improving State’s and Foreign Service volunteers, more than it congressional relations and overhauling public diplo- could handle, for the 146 positions it was macy following the 1999 merger of USIA into State. opening in Baghdad. The difference was Colin Powell and the gifted team of senior managers he Extraordinary Accomplishments Iassembled at the State Department. • Employees at all levels, Foreign Service and Civil Secretary Powell arrived at the State Department Service alike, feel empowered and respected. Morale is determined to fix a broken institution. He launched a robust. “One Mission, One Team” has taken root as a two-pronged strategy. First, change the leadership cul- value. ture so that managers at all levels focus on training, • Leadership and management training are now empowering and taking care of their people. Second, mandatory for all mid-level and senior officers. Career remedy critical management deficiencies: (1) restore candidates for Ambassador or Deputy Chief of Mission diplomatic readiness by rebuilding State’s staff; (2) give appointments have the inside track if they have demon-

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Over the years the State Department and Foreign Service report assesses the progress made by Secretary Powell and have been more or less continuously analyzed by a variety of his management team toward their declared goals. In short, groups, commissions and individuals. Countless reports have the achievements have been extraordinary — even historic — been duly produced and duly filed to be forgotten. The goal of as our assessment details. To use the vernacular, the Powell these efforts has always been the most effective prosecution of team has “talked the talk” and “walked the walk.” The the nation’s diplomatic business. Action to achieve this objec- Secretary has been an exemplary CEO of the State Department. tive has been negligible. When he departs, he will leave the institution infinitely stronger The Foreign Affairs Council is a non-partisan umbrella group than he found it. of 11 organizations concerned about the processes-management All of the above being stipulated, our report highlights areas of U.S. diplomacy and the people involved therein. We most where significant work remains and recommends actions to decidedly do not address foreign policy issues, but are dedicated deal with continuing problems. The State Department, like to the most effective diplomatic establishment possible. successful commercial enterprises, must periodically reinvent The Council met with Secretary Powell just after his arrival itself to meet new challenges. This, of course, is a continuous at the State Department to discuss reform issues. The process. The Council will monitor and report on future Secretary made clear that there had been enough study groups Secretaries of State as they also confront these calling for change, including one in which he participated. He leadership/management challenges. was interested in incremental actions for change that would Finally, the Council would like to register its deepest grati- cumulatively establish a leadership culture in the institution tude to the Una Chapman Cox and Delavan Foundations for and restore diplomatic readiness. We assured the Secretary of their generous support, and to Ambassadors Ed Rowell and our strong support for his goals, as well as our intention to Bill De Pree for their efforts in interviewing scores of active- monitor the progress we sincerely hoped would occur. duty personnel in all bureaus and at all levels in the State Almost four years have passed since that meeting. This Department, as well as in drafting this report.

Signed, Amb. Thomas D. Boyatt (Assessment Chair), Foreign Affairs Council Amb. John W. Limbert (Assessment Coordinator), American Foreign Service Association Amb. L. Bruce Laingen, American Academy of Diplomacy Terri L. Williams, Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide Amb. Kenneth L. Brown, Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Amb. Kenton W. Keith, Association of Black American Ambassadors Virginia A. Weil, Business Council for International Understanding Amb. Keith L. Brown, Council of American Ambassadors Amb. Clyde Taylor, Una Chapman Cox Foundation Amb. William C. Harrop, Nelson B. Delavan Foundation Holly H. Thomas, Public Members Association of the Foreign Service, USA

strated leadership qualities. The Foreign Service manent parts of the budget, not one-time catch-up costs. employee representative, the American Foreign • State has achieved most of its Diplomatic Readiness Service Association, wants to write this practice into Initiative staffing goals. With its new, first-rate recruit- the permanent rulebook. ment and marketing program, State has redressed in • Congress has given State virtually all of the resources three years almost the entire personnel deficit of the Secretary Powell requested. Congress understands that 1990s (some 2,000 employees hired above attrition) and the increases for diplomatic readiness, information tech- increased the diversity and quality of Foreign Service offi- nology, overseas buildings and diplomatic security are per- cers and specialists.

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• All the hardware for modern IT is now installed and carry out post-9/11 security requirements — some- on a four-year replacement cycle. All desks are finally times to the detriment of other U.S. programs and linked worldwide. Information security is greatly interests, despite energetic leadership efforts to main- enhanced. A new, robust, state-of-the-art message and tain “open doors” along with “secure borders.” archiving system (SMART) is being tested to do away with yesteryear’s inadequate telegrams and their risky distribu- Vulnerabilities tion and storage. Many of the management improvements are institu- • The new Overseas Buildings Office has completed tionally well-rooted, partly because the new Foreign 13 safe, secure, functional buildings in two years and Service cohorts will demand that they stay. But many under budget. Twenty-six more are on the way. This con- are vulnerable in a budget crisis, and others require trasts with the pre-2002 rate of about one building per more work. Key tasks: year. Congress and OMB have praised OBO effusively. 1. State must maintain its partnership with Con- Security upgrades have thwarted terrorist attacks at sever- gress. Secretary Powell has been the critical actor in al posts. this regard, but he also has enabled his senior and mid- • The Deputy Secretary personally chairs the senior level subordinates to carry much of the load. This prac- reviews of the bureaus’ Performance Plans (policy-relat- tice must continue. ed budgets) and the bureaus, in turn, hold ambassadors 2. Integration of public diplomacy into the policy accountable for their Mission Performance Plans. process is still deficient. Experimentation on multiple • The senior reviews include USAID. There is a fronts is needed to make the public diplomacy function first-ever, five-year Joint State-USAID Strategic Plan. more effective. Ideas include training, expansion of the And the new State-USAID Joint Management ways public diplomacy officers relate to the Under Councils, one for policy and one for management oper- Secretary for Public Diplomacy, and aggressive action to ations, are running effectively make public diplomacy a part of all policy development. • There are experiments with “virtual posts” which 3. State’s public affairs efforts need to go beyond aid “right-sizing” and public diplomacy (15 of them as explaining current policies to the public. They need to of October 2004). engage the public on a sustained basis regarding what • Administrative operations at six embassies have the Department of State is and what its people do, espe- qualified for ISO 9000 certification, a point of pride, cially overseas, as a way to build public confidence in the efficiency and service. The goal is to certify for ISO institution and confidence in the policies it is explaining 9000 all administrative functions at all posts, meaning and carrying out. that all administrative functions at all posts meet ISO 4. Diplomatic readiness is incomplete, budget out- (International Organization for Standardization) crite- looks are grim, and there are new needs: positions to ria for certification for administrative excellence. replace those reprogrammed from diplomatic readiness • Visa operations use new IT systems and rigorously to cover Iraq and Afghanistan; positions to provide surge capacity for crises; and positions to staff the new, congres- Ambassador Thomas D. Boyatt is the chairman of the sionally-proposed [Office of the] Coordinator for Foreign Affairs Council, and has served at various times Stabilization and Reconstruction. State should develop a since 1970 as AFSA Governing Board president, vice ready reserve of active-duty personnel who have strong president, treasurer and retiree representative. An FSO secondary skills in critical fields, plus a select cadre of from 1959 until 1985, he served as ambassador to recallable retirees with like skills. Continuous attention to Colombia and Upper Volta (now Burkino Faso) and the recruitment system is needed to remain competitive. chargé d’affaires in Chile, in addition to postings in And State must protect its training resources, including Nicosia, Luxembourg and Antofagasta (Chile). In those for hard language and leadership/management Washington, he served on the staff of the under secretary training, from raids to cover operational emergencies. of Treasury, as assistant to the assistant secretary for Sending people abroad without the requisite training is Near Eastern affairs, and as director of the Office of like deploying soldiers without weapons. Cypriot Affairs, among other positions. 5. State must update its overseas consular staffing

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model to account for post-9/11 changes in workloads and barely begun. It should be pursued in multiple venues: procedures, so that the U.S. can truly have both “safe bor- interagency capital cost-sharing for overseas buildings; ders and open doors.” wider use of “virtual posts;” conscious use of MPPs and, with White House support, the BPP senior reviews to A Distance to Go manage the overseas presence of all U.S. agencies; com- 6. State has to find a way to staff hardship posts ade- pletion of State’s regional support center program; and quately, using directed assignments if necessary in order ISO 9000 certification for all overseas administrative to assure Service discipline. operations that have “critical mass.” 7. State has some distance to go before it reaps the full 9. Future Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries, Under benefit of its new IT systems. The SMART system is Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries must engage fully in almost a year behind schedule, albeit for good reasons. management and leadership processes as well as in con- More formal training of users is needed and a cadre of IT gressional relations. coaches (today’s secretaries?) should be developed to help 10. Finally, Congress and the executive branch have a overseas users. A common computerized accounting and series of management issues they need to examine togeth- control application is still being developed: the Joint er, including: the long-term relationship between State, [State-USAID] Financial Management System (JFMS). USAID and other U.S. assistance vehicles (e.g., It is overdue. Millennium Challenge, U.S. Global AIDS program), and 8. “Right-sizing” — aligning the U.S. government where in the budget and the appropriations structure it is presence abroad to reflect our national priorities and to most appropriate to fund State and USAID (perhaps attain policy objectives as efficiently as possible — has merged under a separate “national security account”). ■

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THE FAILURE OF COLIN POWELL

COMPARISONS OF COLIN POWELL TO ANOTHER GENERAL WHO SERVED AS SECRETARY OF STATE, GEORGE C. MARSHALL, ONLY HIGHLIGHT POWELL’S SQUANDERED LEGACY.

BY DENNIS JETT

istory will judge Colin Americans want to believe about their country. The son Powell’s tenure as Secretary of State to have been of immigrants rising to the highest levels of government somewhereH between a failure and a fraud. That will is the American Dream, if not the American reality. seem like a harsh assessment, especially to those who Finally, those who work at State will be reluctant to have worked with Powell. Historians are shielded from speak ill of him because he was a good boss. He was the the background noise of current events, however, as well kind of general who always took care of his troops. His as the bias that comes with personal involvement. stature helped boost State’s budget, allowing equipment They will consider the record of the past four years upgrades and additional hiring. He attended functions and find it wanting because they will look at all the facts. where secretaries had rarely been sighted, such as the They won’t ignore some of them, as many do today, sim- ceremonies for swearing in new ambassadors and honor- ply because they are inconvenient. ing retirees. Democratic politicians praise Powell because doing so He also made the small gestures of consideration that highlights the dominance of Bush administration policy set him apart from those secretaries who treated the by the hard-liners. Republicans say he was a great suc- department’s employees with a mixture of disinterest and cess because they want to paint a positive picture of the distrust. For instance, he obtained the money to allow administration’s diplomatic achievements. business-class travel on long flights and then ensured that Many in the media avoid negative reporting on Powell perk would not be denied to junior personnel by requir- in the name of being fair and balanced, especially those ing permission be sought to fly in coach on such flights. who are nothing more than propaganda outlets for the “official line.” Some commentators will be reluctant to Letting Himself Be Used be hard on him because there is a certain political incor- Some in the Foreign Service will not want to see rectness to criticizing the first African-American Powell’s record attacked because he provided the ratio- Secretary of State. After all, his career reflects what nale for justifying their own actions. After all, it takes a

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large trust fund or the principles of Those who work the Broader Middle East Initiative, someone like John Brady Kiesling, which is helping spread democracy Ann Wright, John Brown or Greg at State will be and freedom in that region.” Just Thielmann to resign or retire rather which countries in the Middle East than defend an indefensible policy. reluctant to speak ill are now more democratic and free Those who did not depart can excuse than they were in 2000? themselves by saying they stayed to of Powell because In his resignation letter to Bush, advocate moderation — just as their Powell noted that he had brought the leader did. he was a good boss. attention of the world to the problem But Powell moderated very little of proliferation and undertook major and stayed as long as he did out of initiatives to deal with poverty and self-interest, not national interest. The Horatio Alger- disease in the developing world. On the nonprolifera- like story of the boy from the Bronx who succeeded by tion front, both North Korea and Iran have made sig- working hard ignores the fact that Powell got ahead by nificant progress in acquiring nuclear weapons as the being the consummate loyalist. Like Alexander Haig, administration has dithered. Powell earned at least three of his four stars as a gen- Powell has said North Korea can be encouraged to eral on the bureaucratic battlefields of Washington. end its nuclear weapons program through diplomacy And again like Haig, Powell’s ability to play the bureau- and that Bush is willing to put his intention not to cratic game and cultivate mentors and allies resulted in attack that country in writing. But Vice President his being named Secretary of State. In short, Powell Cheney, in one key meeting on North Korea, said, “I owes his stature, status and wealth to the Republican have been charged by the president with making sure elite who rewarded him for faithfully serving them. that none of the tyrannies in the world are negotiated That is why Powell allowed himself to be used to with. We don’t negotiate with evil; we defeat it.” help elect George W. Bush and to get him re-elected. As for improving the plight of the developing world, Now that Bush no longer needs him, however, he has the administration did launch the Millennium been let go. But what legacy has he left and how will Challenge Account to promote economic growth and a historians judge it? plan to combat AIDS. This was done mainly because To hear Powell and Bush tell it, the last four years the administration needed a kinder, gentler face as it have brought nothing but success. But is there any marched inexorably to war. Both programs have been American interest or alliance that is better off now than grossly underfunded and are more designed to provide four years ago? For instance, in his letter acknowledg- pork and patronage to the Republican faithful than ing Powell’s resignation, President Bush praised him relief to the world’s poor. for bringing democracy to Afghanistan. President Hamid Karzai is little more than the mayor of Kabul, Ineffective or Disingenuous? however, and presides over a narco-state that makes Former German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer once Colombia look like Switzerland. commented that, “History is the sum total of things that Bush also described Powell as the “key architect of could have been avoided.” It is for that reason that Powell will be most remembered for his role in invad- Dennis Jett, an FSO from 1972 to 2000, was ambas- ing Iraq and, in particular, for his February 2003 sador to Mozambique and Peru and DCM in Malawi speech at the United Nations where he made the case and Liberia. He also served in Argentina, Israel, and for war. Washington, D.C., both in the department and at the Despite the record, Powell has nurtured the notion NSC. Following retirement, he assumed his current that he valiantly fought the good fight only to lose to position as dean of the International Center at the the neoconservatives. But in the Oct. 18, 2004, issue of University of Florida in Gainesville. He is the author The New Yorker, Nicholas Lemann wrote: “By August of Why Peacekeeping Fails (Palgrave, 2001) and has [2002], Powell had come around to the view that the published over 50 opinion pieces in major newspapers. war couldn’t be headed off. He decided that his best

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chance was to influence how it was done, not whether. edly went to Langley to convey the clearest signal pos- He argued passionately for going to Congress and the sible about what he wanted the analysts to conclude. United Nations, and he persuaded Bush.” In Powell’s case, he crossed the river to avoid the skep- So if the good fight was merely about style rather tics in State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research and than substance, just how did Powell’s arguments alter to practice giving the speech with a straight face. Bush’s course? The administration would not have The U.N. speech was not the only time Powell gone to war without the guaranteed rubber stamp pro- crossed the line from failure to fraud. He lied about vided by a compliant Congress. And while some hard- the justification for the war just as often as other key liners would have preferred to ignore the United administration officials did. As documented in a report Nations completely, it would have been hard to argue by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on 125 different the U.S. was going to war because of Saddam Hussein’s occasions between March 17, 2002, and Jan. 22, 2004, failure to comply with U.N. resolutions without con- the five highest members of the Bush administration sulting that body. And that effort was nothing more made a total of 237 misleading statements exaggerating than a farce. Although one U.N. Security Council res- and distorting the threat posed by Iraq. Bush made 55 olution was passed in the fall of 2002, once it became such statements, Rumsfeld, 52, Cheney, 51, Powell, 50, clear a second resolution actually authorizing the use of and Rice, 29. force was going to fail, Bush happily went to war anyway in March 2003. A Squandered Legacy Even if Powell did win style points with his argu- Powell likes to compare himself to another general ments, the bottom line is they had absolutely no effect who served as Secretary of State, George C. Marshall. on the ultimate outcome. We invaded a country with no But just as Dan Quayle was no John Kennedy, Colin weapons of mass destruction and no ties to 9/11 or al- Powell is no George Marshall. Marshall was the archi- Qaida, just as the hard-liners demanded. And now we tect of the Allied victory in World War II. His vision are bogged down in a war that is about to enter its third created a new spirit of cooperation, mutual help and year, an estimated 100,000 Iraqi civilians killed, over support between Western Europe and the United 1,300 U.S. troops (as of mid-January) sacrificed, and States, which led to the establishment of the NATO over $200 billion squandered — with no end in sight. alliance and the Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe. He The war has not only been costly, bloody and unjusti- is the only soldier ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize fied; it has made us less safe at home and more because he was a true internationalist who promoted despised abroad than anytime in recent history. peace through cooperation and understanding among Like the escalation of the war in Vietnam 40 years nations. earlier, the casus belli for invading Iraq was false. What will Powell be remembered for? It could have There were no vital national interests at stake, and the been for the doctrine that carries his name, which motivation was domestic politics, not international holds that military force should be used very selective- issues. Lyndon Johnson did not want to be accused of ly. Powell chose instead to use the doctrine selectively. being the first American to lose a war. George Bush When a Democratic president wanted to use military needed a war to provide a flag to wrap himself in. And force in Bosnia, Powell devoted himself to thinking of Colin Powell delivered. obstacles to prevent it. But when a Republican presi- Powell has been reported as “dismayed” by the fact dent wanted to use force, Powell found it more impor- that no weapons of mass destruction were found. But tant to obey his benefactors than to adhere to his own are we to believe that the Secretary of State spent four doctrine. days and nights preparing his U.N. speech at the CIA Powell’s arguments in favor of moderation did not because he wanted to verify the intelligence for him- fail to become policy simply because the perverted self, and yet nearly everything he said just happened to worldview of the neocons prevailed, however. The end up being false? Like Vice President Cheney, the neocon philosophy was just an elegant package in Secretary of State does not have to leave his office to which to wrap a domestic political strategy. The uni- get intelligence reports. In Cheney’s case, he repeat- lateralists at Defense triumphed over the multilateral-

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ists at State because the political Even if Powell did win Perhaps Powell forgot about operatives of the White House cared Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and the about nothing more than re-election. style points with his memos from the White House urging In the January 2004 issue of that the Geneva Conventions be Foreign Affairs, Powell wrote that the arguments, they had ignored and insisting that torture Bush foreign policy was not unilater- sometimes was acceptable. The rest alist, did not favor military means no effect on the of the world has not, and sees incon- over diplomacy and was not obsessed sistency and hypocrisy instead of a with terrorism. He instead asserted ultimate outcome. visionary foreign policy motivated by that it is a visionary strategy based on the highest intentions and loftiest partnerships. Echoing Dean Acheson, goals. What anyone who has paid he said he knows this is true because he was present at attention knows, yet Powell refuses to acknowledge, is its creation. that our men and women in uniform were used as the Powell professed to be unable to understand why cannon fodder of the re-election campaign, and that much of the world doesn’t buy this line and implied the “moral clarity” of the administration’s foreign poli- those who hold a different opinion are either dishonest cy is just a marketing device. or irrationally partisan. He concluded that anyone who Powell also wrote that the doctrine of pre-emptive cherished freedom, human dignity and peace should attacks was not a central part of Bush’s national securi- recognize the nobility of the president’s policy and pro- ty strategy. The Republican National Committee, vide the administration the only thing it really needs: however, used pre-emption as a central tenet of Bush’s encouragement. re-election strategy. RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie Executive Lodging Alternatives Interim Accommodations for Corporate and Government Markets Apartments, Townhouses & Single Family Homes “FOR THE EXECUTIVE ON THE MOVE” ❈ [email protected] Locations throughout Northern Virginia and D.C. Units fully furnished, equipped and accessorized Many “Walk to Metro” locations Pet Friendly 5105-L Backlick Road, Annandale, Virginia Tel: (703) 354-4070 Fax: (703) 642-3619

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admitted that television ads were designed to demon- At the CIA, Porter Goss is not weeding out those strate the difference between Republicans and who had it wrong about Iraq. He is eliminating those Democrats on “whether or not a policy of pre-emptive who were disloyal enough to leak the fact that they had self-defense is the best approach to protecting our their doubts about the evidence offered to justify the national security.” war. Since many of those who doubted the case for war The rest of Bush’s foreign policy is as much an are at State, Rice may conduct a witch-hunt of her own. extension of domestic politics as the war was and is But Powell is beyond worrying about the fate of designed to serve the desires of the administration’s State. He will soon be back on the speaking circuit core constituencies. Family-planning aid to the world’s making double the $60,000 he used to charge for his poor was cut off to please the anti-abortion crowd. 20-minute motivational speech. He will also undoubt- Policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was tai- edly serve on innumerable corporate boards and get a lored to the biblical visions of the religious right. huge advance for his memoirs. Moves to limit the small arms that sustain the civil wars Churchill once said: “History will be kind to me, for in Africa were thwarted to please the National Rifle I intend to write it.” For that reason Powell will put a Association. lot of effort into his version of his time as Secretary of While Powell was the consummate loyalist, he did State. Unfortunately for Powell’s legacy, the historians occasionally dare to suggest more moderate options to will also weigh in, however. And it would take a major the president. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will literary miracle to find accomplishment in a record undoubtedly be far worse. She is known only for her noteworthy mainly for subservience and devotion to loyalty and closeness to Bush. self-interest. ■

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A LEGACY OF SUCCESS

COLIN POWELL HAS SERVED THE NATION WITH HONOR AND DISTINCTION IN ALMOST EVERY NATIONAL SECURITY JOB OUT THERE. HIS TENURE AT FOGGY BOTTOM IS NO EXCEPTION.

BY PETER T.R. BROOKES

he rumormongers were simply leaves behind a successful legacy as President George W. wrong. Secretary of State Colin Powell didn’t tender his Bush’s first Secretary of State. He can take significant resignationT because Vice President Dick Cheney and credit for developing — and maintaining — the interna- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld wouldn’t play tional cooperation that has done so much to advance the nicely with him in the foreign policy sandbox. Nor, con- global war on terror. He knows very well that (outside trary to conventional wisdom, was he pushed out Iraq, anyway) most terrorists are put out of business not because he wasn’t hawkish enough (after 35 years of mil- by military action, but by international law enforcement itary service, he’s hardly a dove), or because he was a and intelligence cooperation spearheaded by deft diplo- moderate square peg in a neoconservative round hole. macy. And without the diplomatic foundation provided He’s too big a man to knuckle under to such pressures. by the State Department under Powell’s leadership, the Powell was involved in plenty of heated — and, international cooperation required to win the war on ter- regrettably, well-publicized — disagreements over for- ror would not be possible. eign policy issues, particularly over the last couple of Furthermore, Secretary Powell built the internation- years. But he is leaving the Bush administration as the al coalition that ousted the Taliban and al-Qaida from nation’s chief diplomat of his own free will after four Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks. His State incredibly busy years, including wars in Iraq and Department deserves bragging rights for the recent suc- Afghanistan. The 67-year-old Powell has given the pres- cess of Afghanistan’s first national elections, just three ident his best advice and counsel during some of the short years after the Taliban’s toppling. Moreover, most tumultuous times in recent diplomatic history, and Powell advanced American diplomacy in other parts of now wants to spend more time with his family and earn South Asia by reinvigorating our relationship with the some well-deserved retirement money in the private nuclear-armed states of India and Pakistan. In particu- sector. lar, his personal relationship with Pakistani President Despite the largely negative speculation about his Pervez Musharraf proved a tremendous asset in helping impending departure, the exceedingly popular Powell avert a war between the two nations in 2002 and in

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garnering Islamabad’s support in the war on terror. ic efforts, led by France, Germany and Britain, to end Powell also sustained the ongoing improvement in Iran’s troubling nuclear program. strategic relations with the region’s rising giant, India, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice recently after years of estrangement. called Powell “a great and inspirational” leader. She is Secretary Powell’s force of personality proved vital right. And perhaps Colin Powell’s greatest contribution in improving Sino-American relations after a volatile to American diplomacy was his leadership and manage- start early in the Bush administration. In April 2001, a ment of the State Department itself. In the estimation Chinese fighter collided with a U.S. Navy EP-3 recon- of many, Foggy Bottom’s morale had dipped to record naissance plane over the South China Sea, precipitat- lows when Powell took over in 2001. Using his star-qual- ing an unexpected crisis for the new foreign policy ity, Powell went to Capitol Hill early on in his tenure, team. Powell not only resolved the crisis, but went on made his case and got more money for the department. to put Sino-American relations on a more solid basis He leaves State with improved morale, better-equipped than at any time in the recent past. He concluded the technologically, with more manpower — and with addi- Treaty Between the United States of America and the tional foreign aid for advancing American interests Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions abroad. Powell also instituted the State Department’s (known as the Moscow Treaty), while paving the way first leadership training courses. for missile defense. Secretary Powell also played an important role in You Win Some, You Lose Some strengthening relations with such key allies as Japan, Powell’s record is not without blemishes, to be sure. Britain and Australia and, despite differences over High on many State-watchers’ lists is Iraq, where they Iraq, kept alive hopes of better trans-Atlantic ties. He feel he should have tried harder to head off military championed global action against HIV/AIDS, which is action — or at least push it off until a later date with killing more people than terrorism. And under his more international support. But the Secretary did con- leadership, the U.S. Agency for International Develop- vince Pres. Bush to go the multilateral route in the fall of ment and State Department partnered to develop the 2002, and deserves credit for rounding up the votes Millennium Challenge Account, an innovative way of required to unanimously approve U.N. Security Council dispensing foreign aid to those countries that will make Resolution 1441, which threatened Iraq with “serious the best use of it. consequences” if it did not adhere to all U.N. resolutions On the proliferation front, Powell advanced efforts and cooperate with weapons inspectors. However, to stem the spread of weapons of mass destruction and Powell ultimately lost the interagency battle over how ballistic missiles through such innovative measures as and when the United States went to war in Iraq. In that the Proliferation Security Initiative and the peaceful regard, he has expressed regrets about the presentation disarming of Libya’s WMD, which provides a model for he gave at the U.N. in February 2003 on Iraq’s weapons resolving both the North Korean and Iranian nuclear of mass destruction program, which turned out to be weapons programs. He was also instrumental in devel- based on faulty CIA intelligence. oping a multilateral approach for getting North Korea Powell also leaves his post having made little back to the negotiating table on its nuclear weapons progress on the Middle East peace process. While the program. The new format, known as the Six-Party political environment was certainly not conducive to Talks, includes not only the U.S., North and South negotiations, some had at least hoped for more person- Korea, Japan and Russia, but also the People’s Republic al involvement on his part. In the plus column, he did of China, the country with the most influence over the persuade President Bush to be the first American pres- reclusive Pyongyang regime. Powell also encouraged ident to publicly support the establishment of a Pres. Bush to support the European Union’s diplomat- Palestinian state. And with Yassir Arafat’s death, Powell’s successor may be in a better position to finally Peter Brookes is the senior fellow for national security bring peace to the troubled region. affairs at The Heritage Foundation, a Washington, It is true that Powell did not win every foreign-policy D.C.-based think-tank. battle over the past four years. But what Secretary of

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State has? In interagency politics, It is true that Powell make decisions. Marshall added you win some; you lose some. Yet that the Secretary of State was to regardless of the outcomes on these did not win every give his best advice and then support and other issues around the table at the president’s decision. the National Security Council and in foreign-policy battle Like Marshall, Powell never the Oval Office, Powell was always a threatened to resign even if he did team player. Explaining his loyalty, over the past four years. not agree with the final decision on a Powell frequently recounted an given issue. It is a tribute to Powell’s anecdote from the days when But what Secretary of character that once the president General George C. Marshall (one of articulated a policy, he supported his heroes) was Harry Truman’s State has? him and moved forward. Secretary of State. In 1948, Truman was considering The Rice Era whether to recognize Israel as a When she is confirmed by the state. Marshall strongly opposed the idea, fearing it Senate as America’s 66th Secretary of State (possibly by would ruin relations with the Arabs, and told Truman so. the time this issue is printed), Condoleezza (Condi) Rice The president decided to ignore Marshall’s advice and will not have the distinction of being the first woman recognized the new Jewish state. Some of Marshall’s (Madeleine Albright) or the first person of color (Colin advisers recommended that he resign in protest but he Powell) to hold the post. But more important than her refused, reminding his staff that Truman had been elect- race or gender is the prospect of her success as this ed president, not he, and it was the president’s job to country’s next top diplomat. It has become a parlor

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game in Washington, D.C. — and in Perhaps Colin Powell’s knows the president, the policies and capitals around the world — to fig- the players well. Perhaps most ure out whether she is up to the task greatest contribution to importantly, Rice understands Pres. of being Secretary of State in these Bush. She has been at his side since troubling times and what her ascen- American diplomacy well before the November 2000 elec- sion means for America’s foreign pol- tion. (They met in 1998 at a dinner icy. was his leadership and held by former Secretary of State There is no question that she has George Shultz.) She began tutoring big shoes to fill in replacing Colin management of the Bush on foreign policy before the Powell. An American hero, he is 2000 presidential campaign and is one of the most respected State Department. one of his closest confidantes. She Americans at home and abroad. It’s often accompanies the Bush family to easy to understand why. He’s the family ranch in Crawford, Texas, served the nation with honor and and spends most weekends with the distinction in almost every national security job out president at Camp David. It might be said they are of there, and done it well: soldier; chairman of the Joint “one mind” on foreign policy issues. Chiefs of Staff; national security adviser and, finally, That close personal relationship will ensure that she Secretary of State. has unparalleled access to the president on foreign poli- Fortunately, Rice comes to the job with several key cy issues — and will also ensure she is taken seriously advantages. After four years in the administration, she right away by foreign leaders. Moreover, with her

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deputy, Steve Hadley, moving up to There is no question critical in allowing her to focus on her old post as national security the pressing issues of war and adviser, Rice will likely have much that Condoleezza Rice peace, while keeping the State more influence over foreign policy Department’s bureaucracy hum- than many expect. And with the has big shoes to fill in ming. confidence of the president, there’s After four years, she also knows no reason for her to walk in the replacing Colin Powell. who her likely allies are on an issue, shadows of Vice President Cheney and who her likely foes will be, as or Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. But there is also no doubt well. Depending on who stays for Rice is intimately familiar with the second Bush term in the NSC, the administration’s foreign policy that she is up to the task. Rice may have a number of her for- philosophy, having played a key role mer colleagues as allies resident in in its formulation. Thus, although the Old Executive Office Building. she will have some daunting chal- This will, undoubtedly, bolster her lenges in front of her, like Iraq and the war on terrorism, influence in the interagency process. Rice won’t have to spend time getting up to speed on the She will need every one of those qualities and skills, issues. The real challenge for her will be getting her arms for achieving stability in Iraq and Afghanistan, disman- around the Department of State — a much larger orga- tling Iran’s and North Korea’s nuclear programs, pursuing nization than the National Security Council — and man- Middle East peace and fighting the war on terror just aging it. Thus, her choice of a deputy secretary will prove won’t wait for on-the-job training. ■

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COLIN POWELL: FOUR TUMULTUOUS YEARS

HIS PERSONAL POPULARITY CONSISTENTLY EXCEEDED THAT OF THE POLICIES HE DEFENDED. EVEN SO, WITHIN THE ADMINISTRATION HE OFTEN FOUND HIMSELF OUTGUNNED.

BY GEORGE GEDDA

or Colin Powell, it was unfortunate that He was widely viewed as a moderating force amid a sea some of his Bush administration colleagues did not of dug-in rightists. With his departure, there will be no haveF the same admiration for him that his countrymen leavening presence, or so the conventional wisdom did. His approval ratings among Americans were goes. But there also is the perception that his succes- stratospheric. But in senior government councils, sor, Rice, will have the president’s ear more than Powell Powell often felt like the odd man out. did. It’s rare for a Cabinet officer to admit to being out of Powell was always careful to say he served at the step ideologically with fellow appointees, but Powell “pleasure of the president,” a phrase he used continu- did so in an interview with the Washington Times in ously in his final months in office when asked about his early 2004 that was intended for a book, but some of it future plans. Apparently, it was the president’s “plea- was used in a Times post-resignation story. He told sure” for Powell to stay on for four years and not a day reporter Bill Sammon that on a scale of zero to 100, longer. He converted Powell to lame-duck status with with 100 being the most conservative, he ranked signif- more than two months left before inauguration day and icantly lower than other key officials, including Dick with Powell planning extensive travel between mid- Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, November and mid-December — seven countries in Defense Under Secretary Douglas Feith and State total, six of them the sites of international conferences. Under Secretary John Bolton. “If you put, say, Cheney Cheney may have been his biggest problem. Not up around 90, and Don and Condi and company only did Cheney outrank him, but he decided early on between 80 and 90, and you put Bolton and Feith at that national security would be his specialty. It’s quite about 98, then I’d be somewhere around 60, 65,” he possible that he weighed in on foreign policy more than said. “So I’m a little bit out of the mold you would any preceding vice president. On issues such as Iraq expect.” and North Korea, Cheney was in a position to pull rank Scores of foreign governments wish there had been on Powell — and did so. more in the administration who thought as Powell did. Cheney had some claim to expertise on internation-

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al issues, having served on the House Vice President Cheney have at the time, Cheney said the Intelligence Committee and as United States must take action Secretary of Defense to Presidents may have been against Iraq quickly. Powell urged Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush. caution, warning that a “go it alone” Even more important, despite all the Powell’s biggest approach against Iraq could destabi- baggage that Cheney picked up dur- lize friendly countries in the Middle ing the first term — such as his problem. East and siphon energy from the war Halliburton ties and exaggerated on terrorism. Powell advocated a claims about Iraq’s arsenal — he also broad coalition to deal with Iraq; had something else that proved deci- Cheney, fearing catastrophic attack sive: the president’s confidence. while diplomats dithered, was opposed. Cheney, along Powell and Cheney have always had different world with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saw views. In early August 1990, when Iraq conquered renewed U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq as a waste of Kuwait, Powell was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of time; Powell favored them. In the end, Powell pre- Staff; Cheney, the Defense Secretary, was his boss. vailed, convincing Bush to seek a Security Council res- Cheney and Powell sat down to discuss options for olution against Iraq, starting with revived U.N. inspec- dealing with the Iraqi outrage in Kuwait. Should tions. Saddam Hussein’s army be removed by force? Cheney What may have been the defining moment of Powell’s believed there was no other choice because to do stewardship at Foggy Bottom occurred on Feb. 5, 2003, nothing would embolden Saddam to attack Saudi in his speech to the Security Council. There the most Arabia next. Powell, mindful of the costs of reversing reluctant warrior in Bush’s hierarchy of advisers made the Saddam’s conquest, counseled simple containment of case for war against Iraq. He cited Saddam’s foot drag- the dictator. ging on inspections, his supposed arsenal of unconven- As recounted in their 1995 book, The Generals’ War, tional weapons and his 12-year record of flouting U.N. Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainor quote Powell as disarmament resolutions. Ultimately, Powell could not telling Cheney and other officials: “We must start with get the Security Council to approve a war against Iraq, so policy and diplomatic overtures. We can’t make a case the United States led a “coalition of the willing” in March for losing lives over Kuwait.” to uproot the dictator. Cheney wanted Powell to develop options for using It has been small comfort to Powell that subsequent force against Iraq. “Powell kept dodging the issue,” events vindicated the cautious approach toward Iraq Gordon and Trainor reported. “Finally, Cheney’s irri- that he had espoused. In particular, aides say, it has tation boiled over. Dropping his familiar first-name pained him that the weapons stockpiles he alluded to in address, he barked, ‘I want some options, General!’” his February 2003 U.N. speech never materialized. He never wavered in defending the policy, but he may have Iraq, Round Two hurt himself with the White House in other ways. Twelve Augusts later, Cheney and Powell were to Powell, either directly or indirectly, presumably was square off again, with Cheney as vice president and the source of unflattering passages about Cheney and Powell as Secretary of State. Powell again was the sub- other administration figures in Bob Woodward’s book, ordinate, and again, the issue was Iraq, with the stakes Plan of Attack. For instance, when Cheney tried to con- even higher than the first time. The issue was the vince Powell that intelligence reports established a link degree to which the possible nexus between Saddam’s between Iraq and al-Qaida, Powell dismissed the vice Iraq and al-Qaida in the post-9/11 environment posed president’s evidence as “worse than ridiculous,” a danger to the United States. Given the stockpile of Woodward wrote. The phrase was Woodward’s, not unconventional weapons that Iraq was perceived to Powell’s, but it certainly gave Powell’s rivals ammuni- tion to portray him as less than a good soldier and to George Gedda, a regular Journal contributor, covers lobby for his early departure from the administration. the State Department for The Associated Press. For Powell, his conflict with Cheney was part of an

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even larger problem. Powell won his August 2002 bat- were the first President Bush and his Secretary of tle with Cheney over whether the United States should State, James A. Baker. In 1990, they led the charge for seek U.N. Security Council support for a tough stand building an international coalition with U.N. backing to against Iraq. But Powell lost other struggles, on North oust Saddam’s Army from Kuwait. But they argued Korea, for example. Powell wanted a more generous passionately against any effort to topple Saddam by economic incentives package for North Korea to force. encourage disarmament, but was overruled by Cheney. “We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad As the administration’s house moderate, Powell and, in effect, rule Iraq,” the senior Bush wrote in his found himself outgunned much of the time. He never memoir, A World Transformed, published well before said flatly he was against the war but it was clear he had his son became president. “The coalition would have more reservations about it than his colleagues. Perhaps instantly collapsed. ... Going in and thus unilaterally two tours of duty in Vietnam in the 1960s instilled in exceeding the United Nations mandate would have him a caution about going to war that non-veteran col- destroyed the precedent of international response to leagues such as Cheney may lack. aggression we hoped to establish. Had we gone the Iraq was a different kind of war from any the coun- invasion route, the United States could conceivably still try has ever fought. The “postwar” phase has produced be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It more casualties than the three weeks it took to force would have been a dramatically different — and per- Saddam out. Before the war, there was very little pub- haps barren — outcome.” lic discussion about postwar resistance in Iraq. Baker, in a September 1996 opinion piece, wrote, Ironically, two of the most prescient prewar observers “Iraqi soldiers and civilians could be expected to resist

THE REMINGTON

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an enemy seizure of their own Scores of foreign present in 1991, they could have country with a ferocity not previous- tipped the balance in support of ly demonstrated on the battlefield governments wish there regime change despite the dangers. in Kuwait. Even if Hussein were captured and his regime toppled, had been more in the Victories and Defeats U.S. forces would still have been Powell took office in January confronted with the specter of a administration who 2001 with widespread support from military occupation of indefinite the public and on Capitol Hill. It duration to pacify the country and thought as Powell did. helped that Powell had served for sustain a new government in more than 30 years in the military, power.” as national security adviser for Would the warnings of the first President Bush and President Reagan and as a top staff aide to Defense Baker about the consequences of regime change in Secretary Caspar Weinberger. When he spoke to State 1991 be applicable to 2003 as well? It’s hard to see why Department employees upon taking office, he said it not. But one obvious difference is that in 2003, the seemed that he had been preparing all his life to imperative of doing away with Saddam was far greater become America’s chief diplomat. But to many, it than in 1991, because of concern about possible trans- seemed he was never allowed to fully fill his role as the fers of unconventional weapons from Saddam to al- president’s top foreign policy adviser. On key deci- Qaida. To the second President Bush, that considera- sions, Bush often heeded the advice of others. Powell tion transcended all others. If those concerns had been never became the commanding figure that Henry

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Kissinger was 30 years ago at Foggy Powell’s February 2003 nations and guests looking on, the Bottom. In some ways, Powell’s U.S. skit was built around the fallout experience mirrored that of Cyrus speech at the U.N. may — all fictional — of Powell’s dud Vance, who was kept at bay by NSC performance in Vietnam. A video- adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski during have been the defining tape showed Bush sitting in the Oval the Carter administration. Office and delivering a mock apolo- Through it all, Powell rarely moment of his time at gy to the nation for the embarrass- showed anger publicly. But one ment Powell caused. He promised instance occurred during a House Foggy Bottom. it would never happen again. There International Relations Committee was a mock demonstration outside hearing in February 2004. Powell the State Department, also video- thought Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, crossed a line taped, showing protesters with placards saying, “Got a when he contrasted Powell’s military experience to song in your heart? Keep it there!” Another tape pur- Bush’s record with the National Guard. When Brown ported to show the Chinese National People’s Congress said Bush “may have been AWOL” from duty, Powell voting to oppose any effort by the Americans to sing at exploded. the Brunei meeting. “First of all, Mr. Brown, I won’t dignify your com- Powell sang anyway, performing much better than ments about the president because you don’t know the previous year. The tune was “Some Enchanted what you are talking about,” Powell snapped. “I’m Evening,” but the words were tailored for the occasion: sorry, I don’t know what you mean, Mr. Secretary,” Some Bruneian evening, ASEAN is laughing. Brown replied. “You made reference to the president,” Despite last year’s mess, as strange as it may seem, Powell shot back. Brown repeated his AWOL allega- Our Secretary of State will still want to sing. tion. “Mr. Brown, let’s not go there,” Powell retorted. Who can explain it, who can tell you why. Moments later, Powell became annoyed with a com- Fools keep on singing, wise men never try. mittee staff aide who was non-verbally registering his It brought down the house. Later that night, on a disagreement with Powell’s comments on Iraq’s prewar flight to Indonesia, Powell and his aides stood in the weaponry. “Are you shaking your head for something, aisle of his plane to do a reprise for the press. It was a young man?” Powell asked when he noticed an aide to raucous scene; only Powell and a few aides knew about Brown apparently disagreeing. “I seldom come to a the critical meeting with Bush on Iraq that awaited him meeting when I’m talking to a congressman and I have shortly after his return to Washington. people aligned behind you giving editorial comment by headshakes,” Powell said. Brown, defending his assis- The Gift of Gab tant, said, “I think people have opinions.” Powell was very gifted at public speaking, both in Powell never let world problems overwhelm him. formal settings and off-the-cuff; he seldom found him- There was one memorable evening in August 2002, self at a loss for words. Indeed, no Secretary of State days before Powell’s White House meeting with Bush ever spoke more frequently than he did. But he set no about whether to seek U.N. support in the looming travel records. According to a Washington Post survey, U.S. confrontation with Iraq. The venue that evening he traveled less than any predecessor over the past 30 was the annual regional forum of the Association of years. When he was on the road, he assiduously avoid- Southeast Asian Nations in Brunei. As is customary, ed shopping and only rarely did he sightsee. several of the delegations represented performed skits Powell certainly was not like some government offi- on stage after a final dinner. In Vietnam the previous cials, including many in the administration, who feel year, Powell had bombed badly when he tried his hand uncomfortable among reporters. With the exception of at singing a 1950s-era hit, “El Paso,”while playing a ker- a five-minute appearance by James Baker in 1992, chiefed cowboy vying for the love of a Mexican bar- Powell is the only Secretary of State in at least 30 years maid, played by Japan’s female foreign minister. to drop by the press room on the department’s second In Brunei, with delegates from 22 Pacific Rim floor, doing so at least three times.

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Interviews, often with foreign out- “I want to be steep rise in anti-Americanism in the lets, were the favored vehicle for con- Arab world during Bush’s first term. veying his thoughts. In October 2004 measured as Secretary In the previous two years, unfavor- alone there were a total of 21, and 13 able views of America among more in November. All interviews of State, not as Egyptians rose from 76 percent to an were transcribed and made available astonishing 98 percent. That made electronically to reporters covering the black Secretary Egypt the most anti-American of six the State Department. Arab countries polled. More disqui- During his travels, Powell could of State.” eting was a Pew poll, released in almost always count on a friendly March, which found that Osama bin reception. When he spoke at large — Colin Powell Laden’s numbers were far better gatherings, both home and abroad, than Bush’s in several Muslim coun- he often was welcomed with standing tries that were offended not only by ovations. One exception was a speech in Detroit in Bush’s Iraq policy but also by his perceived tilt toward 2002 to a Muslim-American group. The absence of Israel at the expense of Palestinians. applause was notable, but perhaps not surprising given Nor is anti-American feeling limited to the Middle Muslim hostility to Bush’s policies in the wake of 9/11. East. Other well-documented examples include His personal popularity exceeded the policies he Canada and Europe, particularly France. In Latin was defending. A poll in June 2004 by the respected America, says former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge public opinion firm Zogby International showed a Castaneda, the Iraq War has “contributed to a wide,

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deep, and probably lasting, collapse It has been small Korea and Poland, committed forces of sympathy for the United States.” to Iraq. Publicly, Powell saw these Castaneda, a candidate for the comfort to Powell that deployments as a strong show of Mexican presidency in the 2006 international support. Critics derid- elections, is hardly a knee-jerk leftist. subsequent events ed them as meager, noting that some He served as foreign minister in the countries contributed only a handful pre 9/11 period, when U.S.-Mexican vindicated the cautious of troops. Furthermore, some coali- relations were at a high point. tion countries — such as El Salvador Beyond the war itself, Castaneda approach toward Iraq — seemed to see their Iraq deploy- says Latin American faith in the ments as an opportunity for econom- United States was sullied by the dis- that he had espoused. ic gain. As a reward, the administra- closures that Saddam Hussein had tion did not require U.S.-based no ties to al-Qaida and that the Salvadoran workers to return home unconventional weapons thought to exist in Iraq never once their visas expired. It was a double benefit for El materialized. Salvador: worker remittances continued to flow to fami- Powell helped to persuade a substantial number of lies back home and the country was spared the need to countries to assist in the war on terror through intelli- find work, housing and employment for those citizens. gence sharing and other actions. More than 30 friendly Whatever the costs of American involvement in countries, including Britain, Australia, Japan, South Iraq, the ouster of one of the world’s most vicious

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tyrants was an undeniable achieve- With the possible should follow. The Libya break- ment. According to estimates, it through was perhaps the high point could take decades to unearth and exception of Dean Rusk, of the Powell era at State. identify the thousands of Iraqis silenced by Saddam’s servants and no Secretary of State An Inspirer of Loyalty disposed of in mass graves through- From the start, Powell certainly out the country. One of the most since World War II was had the affection of State’s career notorious examples of Saddam’s diplomats. While some regretted bloody rule occurred on March 16, dealt a more difficult that the department was marginal- 1988, when the Iraqi army dropped ized in the policy process during poison gas on Halabja, a Kurdish hand than Powell was. Bush’s first term, Powell was not town, killing an estimated 5,000. viewed as the culprit. Powell went to Halabja five months “There have been few after Saddam was forced from power. Standing in front Secretaries of State who have inspired as much loyalty of a mass grave with hundreds of headstones, he reas- and appreciation from the professional service as Colin sured the gathering that they need never live in fear for Powell,” says Ambassador John Limbert, president of their lives again now that Saddam and his evil regime the American Foreign Service Association. “The reason were gone. After his remarks, Powell mixed with the is simple: on his first day in the department he promised crowd, mostly elderly widows dressed in black carrying to lead and he did. He restored pride to a demoralized photos of family members slain 15 years earlier. Some cadre that had been coping with neglect, disrespect and wept as Powell approached, knowing they were in the severe personnel and budget cuts. If anything charac- presence of a man who had contributed to their libera- terized the Service in the 1990s it was long staffing gaps, tion. undermanned posts and bureaus and dilapidated and Another triumph was the liberation of Afghanistan. dangerous buildings.” Although the country’s future is still uncertain over the Limbert says Powell, in small but important ways, long term, the Oct. 9 presidential elections were an showed his appreciation for those who served him. “He undeniable triumph. Powell also is clearly gratified that swore in personally every new ambassador and every he was able to help bring India and Pakistan from the class of Foreign Service generalists and specialists. brink of conflict in 2002. And he is proud to have had Those small steps sent a very powerful message: you are Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf as a partner in the the professionals who work for me and I appreciate your war on terrorism; after 9/11, it was not clear which way willingness to serve your country, often under very diffi- he would turn. Powell also bequeathes sound U.S. rela- cult and dangerous conditions.” tions with China and Russia, even though neither one No one could have foreseen four years ago the con- ever seems to see things exactly the way the United vulsive period that the United States would face during States does. He also is proud of increased U.S. support Bush’s tenure. With the possible exception of Dean for combating HIV/AIDS and of Bush’s new foreign Rusk, no Secretary of State since World War II was dealt assistance initiative, the Millennium Challenge Account, a more difficult hand than Powell was. Through it all he aimed at rewarding needy developing countries that acted with calm and grace. He never seemed over- have free markets and sound government policies. whelmed, and appeared as much at ease with monarchs The jury is still out on Bush’s policies toward North as with the cafeteria help at State. Korea and Iran. He has relied on multilateral negotia- When he was appointed by Bush, a lot was made of tions to end nuclear weapons programs in both coun- the fact that he was the first African-American Secretary tries. Progress has been elusive. Other would-be of State. But once in office, the subject rarely arose, and nuclear powers are watching to see whether these he certainly never pushed the issue. remaining “axis of evil” countries will bend to America’s As he told an interviewer shortly before leaving will. Powell wishes the world would see Libya’s renun- office: “I want to be measured as Secretary of State, not ciation of unconventional weapons as the model all as the black Secretary of State.” ■

40 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2005 F OCUS ON THE P OWELL L EGACY

A BLEMISHED LATIN AMERICAN RECORD

THE SECRETARY ALLOWED A CLIQUE OF HARD-LINERS WITH TIGHT LINKS TO WHITE HOUSE POLITICAL OPERATIVES LACKING COMPREHENSION OF THE REGION’S REALITIES TO DICTATE POLICY.

BY LARRY BIRNS AND JESSICA LEIGHT

n clear contrast to President Bush’s opportunity and unbridled unilateralism — typified by much-vaunted decision to make hemispheric relations the heavy-handed interventions in the electoral process- a priority,I Secretary of State Colin Powell never articu- es in Nicaragua, Bolivia, El Salvador and Venezuela. lated a vision for the region. With the exception of per- Though a dramatically new direction is needed to sonal efforts on behalf of jailed human rights worker restore Washington’s tarnished reputation in Latin Lori Berenson in Peru, the Secretary of State was rela- America, any prospect for constructive engagement now tively indifferent to Latin America. Lamentably, his appears distant. One can only foresee in a Bush second record bears out this apathy, revealing major flaws in term a regional policy even more disjointed and colored the area of staffing, an indifference toward democratic by ideological priorities; as a result, the hemisphere can institutions, and tolerance for intervention in the inter- expect four more years of the gun-slinging, bluff rhetoric nal affairs of regional nations. The Secretary of State and imposed “diplomacy” it has experienced at the hand allowed ideologues like Otto Reich, Roger Noriega and of the band of hard-liners under Powell. his assistant Dan Fisk, to define regional ties, primarily through an anti-Havana prism. Consequently, Blatant Meddling America’s standing in the hemisphere plummeted, with Early in his first term, the president seemed to be set- 85 percent of Latin Americans eventually opposing the ting the tone for a more positive U.S. role in the hemi- administration’s Iraq strategy and with Powell’s person- sphere, stating he saw only “opportunities and potential al standing fast fading. when he looked south.” He buoyantly noted, “Some look Powell’s narrow focus on trade and terrorism, and his south and see problems; not me.” Yet this ebullience non-negotiability stance toward Cuba, guaranteed a failed to materialize into a policy of constructive engage- record at least as mediocre as it had been under all ment under Powell. On the contrary, State Department Republican and Democratic predecessors. If anything, functionaries began acting as though “free elections” during Powell’s watch, U.S. regional policy has been were a license to openly coddle local political factions that marked by even more acts of arrogance, squandered had garnered their approval, while ominously highlight-

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ing the price of the wrong decision. The U.S.-favored Secretary of State Reich only weeks before it was staged. candidate was inevitably enthusiastic about free trade When Chávez subsequently regained his post with the and Washington’s Iraq policy, hostile to nationalist eco- support of key military units, an embarrassed Powell was nomic policies and, most importantly, ready to fight ter- forced to disavow his subordinates’ imprudent endorse- rorism, usually very expansively defined. ment of Chávez’s ouster, offering platitudes about An early example of blatant meddling surfaced in Washington’s steadfast support for democratization. November 2001, during the Nicaraguan presidential Equally embarrassing to Powell, Chávez went on to win elections, when U.S. Ambassador Daniel Garza sharply a resounding victory in an August 2004 referendum, with accused Daniel Ortega, the Sandinista leader and the overwhelming support of Venezuela’s chronically Reagan-era nemesis, of supporting international terror- neglected impoverished classes. Not surprisingly, he ism. These accusations were recycled from contrived received only pro forma congratulations from Washing- claims made by Washington two decades ago to justify ton, which continues to regard him as a Castroite rabble- the unleashing of the U.S.-backed Contras. Powell failed rouser and a potential threat to its access to Venezuela’s to condemn Garza’s comments or similar protocol viola- crucial oil reserves. tions by his colleagues, even though Washington produced no evidence to justify them. Passive In the Face of Recklessness During the 2002 presidential election in Bolivia, U.S. The Venezuela affair typified the disturbing passivity Ambassador Manuel Rocha made similarly explosive with which Powell responded to the ill-considered charges when he warned that the election of Evo actions of his subordinates in a rogue Western Morales, who was then calling for the abandonment of Hemisphere Affairs bureau led first by Otto Reich and coca eradication and suspension of payments on Bolivia’s then Roger Noriega, after the former was denied Senate foreign debt, would produce retribution in the form of confirmation. (Thereafter, Reich worked to advance his aid cut-offs. Outraged by the U.S. embassy’s boldfaced ultraconservative agenda from a White House post not intervention into their affairs, Bolivians voted for Morales requiring confirmation.) Not only did Powell fail to in greater numbers than predicted, and he ultimately lost protest these rash appointments that threatened the dig- by only one percentage point. The pattern of interven- nity of his department, he made no effort to control the tion continued the following year in El Salvador, where appointees’ machinations. To the contrary, he declared Ambassador Rose Likins warned that a victory by the Reich to be an “honorable man” despite formidable evi- presidential candidate of the Farabundo Martí National dence that he had narrowly escaped being jailed for his Liberation Front, a former leftist guerrilla group turned illegal Contra activities. He similarly ignored indications democratic political party, would result in a cessation of that Noriega, like his colleagues a protégé of Senator U.S. investment and could complicate the scheduled rat- Jesse Helms, R-N.C., was an opportunistic ideologue ification of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. whose appointment was a political payoff to the rightist Falsely besmirched by a terrorist label, the FMLN lost segment of the Cuban-American community. the election the following year. The White House’s commandeering of relations with One of the more notable stains on Powell’s record at Cuba (making Cuba a matter of domestic not foreign pol- State was the department’s indecorous and premature icy) pre-empted the State Department, forcing it to pan- enthusiasm over the military coup that briefly deposed der to Miami politicos by supporting their boilerplate Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in April 2002. embargo strategy and reckless schemes to confront Powell’s hard-line ideological subordinates in the Castro. Perhaps most embarrassingly for Powell, Under Western Hemisphere bureau had openly supported the Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Venezuelan middle-class groups behind the coup; in fact, Security John Bolton, the department’s most radical ideo- a group of the plotters visited then-acting Assistant logue, attempted to fuse the administration’s pathological hatred of Cuba with the war on terror. Powell covered for Larry Birns is the director of the Washington-based Bolton in 2003 after he declared that Havana was devel- Council on Hemispheric Affairs, where Jessica Leight oping biological weapons for export to rogue states. serves as a research fellow. Needless to say, this outlandish charge was not supported

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by any evidence, as was made clear Powell never addressed the most significant regional devel- when Bolton refused to defend his opments in decades: the rise of an statements before a Senate com- Cuba in the same spirit of informal coalition of left-of-center mittee. democracies increasingly skeptical The recent imposition of new constructive engagement of Washington’s neoliberal diktats. restrictions on remittances and Led by Lula in Brazil, with the sup- travel to Cuba, allowing only one that he preached for North port of Chávez in Venezuela, trip every three years to visit imme- President Néstor Kirchner of diate family members, has antago- Korea or other non- Argentina and now Tabaré Vazquez nized recently arrived Cubans who of Uruguay, this increasingly tight- want to maintain family ties on the Havana pariahs. knit group could thwart the White island. But this voting bloc proved House’s long-sought Free Trade to be no match for an earlier gen- Area of the Americas by refusing to eration of Florida-based Cuban extremists — the bul- consider any comprehensive pact in the absence of wark of exile support for Washington’s anti-Castro mania meaningful concessions on U.S. agricultural subsidies for decades. As a result, Powell never addressed Havana and other key commercial issues. In response to this in the same spirit of constructive engagement that he regional unity, the administration adopted a divisive tac- preached for North Korea or other non-Cuban pariahs. tic of concluding bilateral agreements with compliant Colin Powell’s Latin America policy team also lacked partners, led by Chile, Colombia and a six-nation group the basic sophistication to effectively grapple with one of that united in the Central American Free Trade

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Agreement now awaiting ratification. blocked similar action for a U.N.-sponsored Haiti While Washington focuses on narcotrafficking and the peacekeeping effort, stubbornly sticking to the bank- war on terrorism, genuine democratization and the new rupt formula that such an intervention could occur only populism emerging across Latin America are all but after an agreement was reached between Aristide and ignored. In fact, one of Powell’s key blunders was his sin- the country’s middle-class opposition. This stance rein- gle-minded defense of the administration’s simplistic war forced the opposition’s obdurate refusal to even meet on terror, which alienated skeptical Latin American gov- with the president, thus dooming him to helplessness as ernments. At the U.N. Powell tried (but failed) to strong- the “gang of thugs” advanced on Port-au-Prince. arm the representatives of Chile and Mexico into backing In the last days of Aristide’s presidency, Powell the U.S. position. He reportedly then pressured the abruptly reversed his earlier position that the president presidents of Chile and Mexico to replace the offending would not be allowed to be ousted by extra-constitu- diplomats. The subsequent dismissals were widely tional means, demanding that he step down on “safety viewed as an unconscionable example of U.S. bullying. grounds.” On Feb. 29, 2004, Aristide was whisked out of the country and replaced by Boca Raton, Fla., expa- The Haiti Crisis triate Gerard Latortue, who was selected as interim Perhaps the most career-damning episode, as far as prime minister under pressure from the State Latin America is concerned, was Powell’s role in the Department. The resulting Latortue government, ouster of Haiti’s constitutional president Jean-Bertrand ostensibly made up of nonpartisan technocrats, soon Aristide. Powell made no ascertainable effort to distin- lost its meager legitimacy by botching efforts to deal guish himself from his predecessor’s distaste for with last September’s severe hurricanes. A campaign of Aristide, whose left-of-center politics and economics persecution and abuse, led by Latortue’s justice minis- once led retired Sen. Helms to declare him a Castro-inter against Aristide’s Lavalas Party, led some observers the-making. Both the Clinton and Bush administrations to declare the situation to be Haiti’s worst human rights tried unsuccessfully to force the Haitian leader to share debacle in decades. power with the island’s brutal military and discredited politicians. The Bush administration seized on the pre- Expectations Stillborn text of minor corruption and relatively small electoral The widespread expectation that Powell would pro- improprieties to justify suspending direct aid (including vide a rational, moderate voice for Washington’s region- desperately needed training funds for the national al policy was stillborn, giving way to doubts that this was police force and crucial humanitarian projects) to ever in fact his intention. On the contrary, the Secretary Aristide. At the same time, the International allowed a small clique of political appointees, mainly Republican Institute, handsomely financed by taxpayer alumni of Helms’ office with tight links to White House funds through the Cold War-spawned National operatives, to dictate U.S. hemispheric policy and speak Endowment for Democracy and USAID, began a con- on his behalf despite their lack of a sensitive compre- certed initiative to support Aristide’s opposition, sparing hension of the region’s realities. no effort to render Haiti ungovernable and thereby Powell never appeared to possess a “feel” for U.S. force his ouster. hemispheric relations and his tenure was devoid of any When an armed rebellion against Aristide reached its innovative initiatives; on the contrary, he seemed con- final stages last February, led by former paramilitary tent to let U.S. regional affairs drift, while inviting open leaders with ties to the death squads that had operated hostility toward U.S. policy throughout Latin America. under the military regime of 1991-94, Powell at first His departure may be seen by some as the exit of an insisted that the U.S. would not support “regime upright public servant who was shabbily mistreated by a change” at the hands of a “gang of thugs.” But Noriega’s hard-line administration. But from Mexico City to off-the-record statements calling first for power-sharing Buenos Aires, few Latin American leaders will serious- and later for Aristide’s resignation undermined Powell’s ly lament the departure of someone they hardly knew, credibility. Simultaneously, Powell refused to approve a who never manifested significant interest in advancing, regional police mission to protect Aristide and then or even considering, their basic interests. ■

44 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2005 F OCUS ON THE P OWELL L EGACY

THE RICE DOCTRINE

CONDOLEEZZA RICE HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO RESTORE REALISM IN U.S. FOREIGN POLICY. THE ALTERNATIVE COULD PROVE RUINOUS.

BY CHRISTOPHER PREBLE

he departure of Colin Powell as Powell, but the precepts of his doctrine did not deter Secretary of State marks the formal end of the Powell Clinton from sending the military on missions to far- Doctrine.T That doctrine, originally attributed to Caspar flung places with little strategic or economic relevance. Weinberger, Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of Defense, called Many of these missions also lacked widespread popular for the United States to engage in foreign military inter- support or a clear exit strategy (for example, Somalia, ventions only when there was broad, bipartisan support 1993, Kosovo, 1999). for the use of force. The force was to be deployed with The Bush administration tried a different approach a clear, obtainable objective and applied massively so as toward Powell. From his position within the Bush to easily overwhelm any potential adversaries. The mil- inner circle, Powell failed to dissuade the president itary was expected to accomplish its goals quickly, and from launching an ill-considered invasion of Iraq. His then leave. warnings that America would “own” Iraq if it “broke” The series of hurdles that would have to be cleared Iraq were eerily similar to George Herbert Walker under the Powell Doctrine in order to deploy such Bush’s reasoning for not seeking to topple Hussein in power were often seen as an attempt to discourage 1991. In his memoirs, Bush Senior warned that there political elites from resorting to the use of force in a was no viable “exit strategy” and that, by invading Iraq, reckless or haphazard way. Critics interpreted Powell’s the United States would have been seen as “an occupy- warnings about the limits of American power as an ing power in a bitterly hostile land.” effort to unduly constrain civilian policy-makers. This It is unclear whether Condoleezza Rice appreciates the frustration was perhaps best encapsulated in lessons of Iraq, both those from 1991 and those that the Madeleine Albright’s complaint, as Powell recorded in country is still learning from the current invasion and his memoir My American Journey, “What’s the point of occupation. What is clear, however, is that an overly ambi- having this superb military you’re always talking about tious foreign policy, such as that articulated in the Bush if we can’t use it?” national security strategy, is unsustainable. If Rice is not The Clinton administration failed to silence Colin already acutely aware of this fact, she soon will be.

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An Ambitious, Amorphous Strategy regimes that do not treat their people humanely — even For all intents and purposes, the Rice Doctrine is the if such states do not pose a threat to the United States. Bush Doctrine, an ambitious and amorphous strategy that This policy stance is not dramatically different from is perhaps best summarized in a single passage from the those of previous administrations, both Republican and National Security Strategy of 2002. The aim of U.S. for- Democratic. A broad, bipartisan consensus has emerged eign policy, the document declares, is to “help make the since the end of the Cold War, based on the belief that the world not just safer, but better.” Implied, but left unsaid, existence of American power obligates the United States is that the United States will decide what is better. In to take action on a global scale. practice, U.S. policy-makers operate on the presumption Consider, for example, the precedent set by the that the United States is entitled to take action against Clinton administration in the Balkans. Various voices on both the left and right of the political spectrum urged Christopher Preble is director of foreign policy studies at Clinton to wage war against the Serbs. A series of NATO- the Cato Institute (www.cato.org) and a founding mem- sanctioned air attacks, which resulted in an estimated ber of the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy 1,500 civilian deaths, were couched in strictly humanitar- (www.realisticforeignpolicy.org). He is the author of ian terms. The military and diplomatic pressure on John F. Kennedy and the Missile Gap (Northern Illinois Slobodan Milosevic’s government was deemed necessary University Press, 2004), and chaired the special task force to avert an even greater human tragedy. that produced the report, Exiting Iraq: Why the U.S. The humanitarian aspects of the Balkan interventions Must End the Military Occupation and Renew the War pose a special challenge to many of the current critics of Against Al Qaeda (Cato Institute, 2004). the Bush Doctrine, because many of them criticized a war

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against a sovereign country that posed little if any threat to mocratic tyrants, to advance perceived U.S. interests. the United States (e.g., Iraq, circa 2003) yet were fully Following the end of the Cold War, however, the foreign supportive of attacks against another country that posed policy coalition within the Republican Party cracked and absolutely no threat to the U.S. (Yugoslavia, circa 1999). broke apart. As Stefan Halper and Jonathan Clarke explain Many Americans are committed to the principle of in their recent book, America Alone: The Neoconservatives humanitarian intervention. They see war as a necessary and the Global Order, realists and neo-conservatives waged evil, but they also see the U.S. military as an effective tool an ideological battle in the 1990s, both seeking to claim for promoting change abroad. They are less clear about credit for the peaceful end of the Cold War, and to craft a the true costs of such interventions. Accordingly, narrative that reflected most favorably on their ideology. although there is popular support for deploying U.S. mil- For a while, Condoleezza Rice seemed content to side itary personnel to places, and in ways, that are not direct- with the realists. She was openly disdainful of the types of ly related to defending vital interests, there is precious lit- military operations that would divert the focus of U.S. tle support for paying the costs for these operations. If forces away from defending U.S. national interests. She Rice pushes the Bush Doctrine to its logical conclusions, was particularly scornful of the use of the American mili- and makes good on her own pledge to transform the tary for nation-building, famously declaring at one point Middle East, she will both test the patience of the that it was not the business of the 82nd Airborne to escort American people and further arouse the ire of those in the schoolchildren to kindergarten. region who prefer to be left alone. Rice’s initial instincts were sound, but she erred in believing that the U.S. military could restrict itself to war- An Instinctive Realist? fighting, with minimal post-conflict obligations. We have The Bush administration, we now know, is not content learned in Iraq that our allies are not content to assume to leave well enough alone. A standard line in the presi- responsibility for cleaning up after us. But a foreign poli- dent’s speeches contends that the spread of democracy cy organized around the principle of destroying illiberal around the globe is a national security concern for the governments by force as a means for improving American United States because terrorism cannot flourish within security is flawed on at least two other levels. democracies. Undemocratic regimes, therefore, are legit- First, even the “cleanest” wars that produce the small- imate targets for overthrow. est possible number of casualties, and thus require a min- Rice herself has become a leading advocate for this posi- imal level of post-conflict stabilization, can only perform tion. In an op-ed in the Washington Post in August 2003, the first of two tasks necessary for democratization to take Rice called for a long-term commitment for transforming hold. Brute force may succeed in removing tyrants from the Middle East, similar to that made toward Europe in the power, but cannot teach people to “elect good men,” as post-World War II era, to close the “freedom deficit” that Woodrow Wilson declared he was going to do, starting contributes to hopelessness and despair in the region. with his invasion of Veracruz, Mexico, in 1914. Rice argued that Hussein’s Iraq posed a threat to the Second, any military intervention, even when practiced United States, and his removal from power was warrant- with the precision and skill of the U.S. military, involves ed on those grounds. At the same time, however, Rice killing. Such killing can never be limited solely to the sup- echoed President Bush in arguing that a just and humane porters of the regime that is being punished, particularly Iraqi government, one “built upon democratic principles,” given that so many of these regimes force people to serve could become a linchpin for transforming the entire the state against their will. Each victim of this violence region, much as a democratic Germany was at the center leaves behind a legacy of bitterness: parents, spouses, chil- of Europe’s revival following World War II. dren, friends — few of whom may have actively support- This worldview is all the more remarkable given that ed the former regime, but all of whom may well forget the Rice cut her intellectual teeth studying the Soviet Union noble intentions of the invading force. and the dynamics of the Cold War. In the context of that great struggle, ideology was important but secondary to The Wages of Pre-emption the preservation of U.S. security. Peripheral concerns The limits of American power have been obscured by were routinely ignored, and tacit alliances cut with unde- the euphoria of America’s post-Cold War “unipolar

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moment.” Since Sept. 11, 2001, the debate has turned on the Bush administration has set a very dangerous standard whether the United States must maintain a dominant governing the use of force, one that threatens to replace position throughout the globe in order for Americans to undemocratic regimes with undemocratic non-state be safe and secure here at home. The Bush administra- actors operating within the chaos of post-war environ- tion has succeeded in persuading the public that ments. American security is threatened by the existence of undemocratic regimes. Accordingly, pre-emptive military Theory into Practice action against such regimes is warranted, even if those Rice will be responsible for translating the Bush nations pose no direct threat to American security. administration’s commitment to the transformational The perception that autocracy leads to global instabili- effect of democracy into practical policies. She will also ty, which, in turn, threatens the United States, has dra- be responsible for explaining these policies to her coun- matically lowered the threshold governing the use of terparts abroad. She may ultimately be more successful force. As stated in the Bush administration’s National than President Bush has been, and, if she is, it may be Security Strategy, the doctrine of pre-emption — more more a function of style than of substance. Many out- accurately described as prevention — holds that America siders look upon the president as a stubborn unilateralist “will act against such emerging threats before they are who doesn’t care what others think. It will now be up to fully formed.” But if threats to the United States are to be her to convince the world that we do care, even if we pre-empted, it is not immediately clear how grave they don’t. This is the very essence of diplomacy. are, or might have been. Who decides which future or Still, her task is complicated by the fact that an inter- potential threat is most urgent? Why pre-empt Iraq but ventionist America is viewed with suspicion and fear not North Korea? What about Iran? Syria? Pakistan? In abroad. Many foreign governments worry that the United the end America may find itself paradoxically encouraging States does not intend to be tied down by treaties, or world instability by attempting to control the internal beholden to multilateral institutions, if vital U.S. interests affairs of countries that have neither the means, nor the are at stake. Because the United States spent most of the inclination, to seriously disrupt American security. past 60 years defending others, particularly democratic The preventive war aspects of the Bush-Rice Doctrine states in Europe and Asia, these practices contributed to are inherently dismissive of the continued value of deter- the mistaken notion that the United States would always rence. Again, given Rice’s academic experience during subsume even its own national interest in the defense of the Cold War — when the brutally hostile, nuclear-armed, an abstract greater global good. The concern around the undemocratic regimes of the Soviet Union, and later world today is not that the United States acts unilaterally, China, were prevented from ever attacking the United but rather that such actions, inadvertently or inevitably, States, or any of our major allies, solely by dint of our will someday threaten the very nations that this power was threat to retaliate if they did so — this is strange. It is dou- once used to protect. bly striking that Rice herself, as late as January 2000, In a speech to the International Institute for Strategic believed that deterrence was the best means for dealing Studies in June 2003, Rice seemed not to comprehend with Saddam Hussein. Rogue states, she explained in the level of international unease toward U.S. power. Foreign Affairs, might develop WMD, but they must “Power in the service of freedom is to be welcomed,” she understand that such weapons could never be used, explained, “and powers that share a commitment to free- because to do so would “bring national obliteration.” dom can — and must — make common cause against The trauma of 9/11 did nothing to alter this central freedom’s enemies.” As the events of the past two years reality, but it should have focused our attention on the attest, the world does not work that way. Rice’s good most pressing threats to national security. Deterrence still intentions will not be sufficient to ease international con- works against state actors, including even bizarre tyrants cerns about unfettered American power. like North Korea’s Kim Jong Il. Deterrence is manifestly incapable of preventing non-state actors such as al-Qaida The Central Challenge from perpetrating acts of terrorism. In her article in Foreign Affairs, published in early By calling for the removal of undemocratic regimes, 2000, Rice castigated the Clinton administration for its

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peripatetic foreign adventures. She called instead for “a The just-completed presidential campaign did not disciplined and consistent foreign policy that separates the prompt the fundamental debate concerning the object important from the trivial.” “It takes courage,” she went and direction of U.S. foreign policy that we should have on to say, “to set priorities because doing so is an admis- had in this country soon after the end of the Cold War. sion that American foreign policy cannot be all things to Must we rid the world of brutal dictators, invading and all people.” occupying sovereign states solely on the grounds of Indeed, it cannot. As Secretary of State, she will be what the leaders of these countries do to their people? better placed than ever before to make good on her earli- If the answer is yes, that we do have an obligation to lib- er rhetoric. erate all of the oppressed, that we must remove or In this context, the logic of humanitarian military destroy all undemocratic governments (not just the ones intervention, combined with the related premise of that are not useful to us), and remain in place until a lib- promoting democracy by force of arms, poses the cen- eral democracy takes root, then we have a very long, tral challenge for Rice in her new role. As Secretary of hard fight ahead of us. State, Rice must either prioritize America’s strategic There are alternatives, however. If any single person interests and aims, coddling some dictators while con- were capable of refocusing the president’s attention, and fronting others, which will open her and the Bush returning U.S. foreign policy to its realist roots, Rice is that administration to charges of hypocrisy; or she will make person. If she will not or cannot do that, she will bear the good on the Bush administration’s implicit pledge to burdens of selling a grandiose foreign policy to an increas- support democratic movements anywhere in the world, ingly cautious and skeptical public. And she will share the which will lead to imperial overstretch and ruin for the blame, with the other members of the Bush foreign poli- United States. cy team, if the policy goes awry. ■

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U.S. DIPLOMACY IN THE POST-POWELL AGE

WILL SECRETARY RICE USE HER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PRESIDENT TO RESTORE THE STATE DEPARTMENT AS AMERICA’S OUTERMOST LINE OF DEFENSE?

BY JOHN BRADY KIESLING

ow different would the no peace treaties, no lucrative trade deals. Admittedly world look today had President George W. Bush not those missing scraps of paper tell us little about the appointedH as his Secretary of State the most impres- changed odds for a nuclear strike, a terrorist attack, or sive bureaucrat (and indeed human being) to hold a catastrophic economic meltdown. The State that office since General Marshall? As Colin Powell Department had at best a minor role in the dollar’s hands over his office to Condoleezza Rice, State slide, the skyrocketing of oil prices, and the plummet- Department employees are fervently convinced that ing value of U.S. exports after 2000, the worst perfor- their leader had a positive impact. America’s interna- mance in the OECD. tional image is poor, but the Foreign Service thinks it would have been worse without Powell’s brains and The Last Four Years charm and gravitas to soften the sting of U.S. unilat- Closer to Powell’s mandate, however, was the ero- eralism. Iraq is a shambles, but the shambles could sion of the U.S. as a pole of political attraction. have spread further than it did. Africa’s flirtation with democracy faded. Peace in the If a similar role of damage limitation is the best Dr. Middle East followed the undertakers, not the diplo- Rice can offer the State Department, she will never mats. Americans in Russia abased themselves to the win that same affection from her troops. However, new lords of the Kremlin or straggled home. Asians she can invoke presidential authority to take on policy heeded irrefutable economic arguments in turning formulation roles Powell’s rivals denied him. If the their gaze toward China. In Europe, NATO struggled State Department remains sidelined, it will be to bridge the gulf between competing masters who because Secretary Rice declines to use her relation- seemed fundamentally indifferent whether it suc- ship with the president to restore State as America’s ceeded or not. outermost line of defense. Sept. 11, 2001, was a turning point. Residual Cold Powell’s record was weak in by-the-numbers diplo- War prudence had encouraged each administration to macy. He brought home no disarmament agreements, value the State Department as a necessary lubricant

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between massive, but not unlimited, U.S. power and a Diplomatic Capital Wasted planet full of potentially hostile foreigners. A Cold War Powell was not the only U.S. diplomat to destroy his response to 3,000 deaths would have dispatched Powell hard-earned credibility overnight. A politely raised as well as the CIA to build a Holy Alliance against the eyebrow will pursue a whole generation of Foreign diseased local politics that allowed Islamist terror Service officers from post to post around the world. groups to flourish. Washington quickly realized, how- The myth of superior U.S. intelligence information, ever, that 9/11 was not only a horrible blow to America’s once a prop used by every U.S. diplomat to justify self-esteem — it was also the largest political and America’s pretensions to lead the world, has been bureaucratic windfall in American history. The State blown to hell. From the narrowest diplomatic stand- Department responded, correctly, in traditional prob- point, the war made it political suicide for Third-World lem-solving terms, but others understood better what governments to align themselves too fully and publicly the president thought he wanted. with the U.S. in fighting terrorism. In a Cabinet room emancipated from the real- Powell did not fight hard enough for international world consequences of its decisions, Colin Powell law. Supported by the uniformed military, Powell became a dignified ghost. The influence of the State could have prevailed, for example, had he mobilized his Department depended on expert knowledge and friends in the Senate and the media to defend the mutually beneficial relationships with foreigners. In Geneva Conventions and other basic human rights pro- the new, self-referential Washington consensus, tections from the sadists that bide their time in the Congress and the White House would judge success bowels of even the most civilized democracies. and failure not in terms of American lives and liveli- The results of expanding America’s repertoire of hoods, whose protection required specialized exper- approved torture techniques have been too meager to tise, but by their continued ability to mobilize the be made public. The results were more evident when spending authority of the richest nation on earth. we left the torturing to others. Friendly dictatorships Bills for the Iraq War will still be trickling in two handed the CIA, FBI and military some welcome vic- decades from now. Powell did not mobilize his experts tories against terror cells, but part of the price we have to assess those costs. Going public with the depart- paid was a blind eye to their broken promises of politi- ment’s superior knowledge of the Middle East would cal reform. have been seen as disloyalty to the president, and America’s violation of its founding principles had a Powell was loyal. Yes, he questioned the intelligence dire impact on Muslim opinion. What al-Qaida could community prior to his U.N. performance on WMD, not achieve with 9/11 — to neutralize the U.S. as a but he did not push the questions far enough. political model for the Arab world — we achieved ourselves with Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. We con- John Brady Kiesling joined the U.S. Department of vinced a generation of Middle Eastern school children State as a Foreign Service officer in 1983. He served in that “liberty” was as cynical a slogan for us as “peace” Tel Aviv, Casablanca, Athens, Yerevan and Washing- had been for the Politburo 40 years before. ton, D.C. His final assignment, beginning in 2000, was Diplomatic capital was wasted in pursuit of an ideo- as political counselor at Embassy Athens. Dismayed at logical fantasy loosely based on the International the course of U.S. diplomacy under the Bush adminis- Criminal Court. Powell dutifully fulfilled the congres- tration, Kiesling resigned at the end of February 2003. sional mandate that American war criminals must be His letter of resignation, protesting the Iraq War and protected, but this theoretical protection came at a real the harm done to the U.S. image and interests, was cost to ordinary American soldiers. Angered by our widely republished and circulated on the Internet. ICC stance, allies like Greece began to withhold the far Since his resignation, he has been writing and speaking more practical protection from local prosecution that on U.S. foreign policy. During the 2003-2004 academ- American service members used to enjoy under bilat- ic year he was a visiting fellow and lecturer at eral status-of-forces agreements. Princeton University. He is working on a book on effec- The neoconservatives did U.S. national interests a tive diplomacy for an unloved superpower. grave disservice by vaunting their victories over Powell

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as proof that they were the reigning ideologues of the diplomacy will be her willingness to adapt her threat Bush administration. The president distanced himself perceptions. Washington agencies have found it expe- from the more lurid declarations. Nevertheless, mil- dient since Pearl Harbor to overstate foreign capabili- lions of once-friendly foreigners believe that U.S. hege- ties and the degree of suicidal animosity harbored mony has come unshackled from voluntary constraints against the U.S. Few foreigners were as surprised as such as human rights and international law. A basic we were to discover that Saddam Hussein, magnified to compact between America and world public opinion mythic madman status by Pres. Bush, had defanged has thus been broken. himself in 1991 as a glumly rational response to dispro- portionate U.S. and U.N. power. Looking Forward Secretary Rice enters a more challenging interna- Rational Self-Interest tional system than the one Powell inherited from Rational self-interest is less scarce a commodity than Albright. Pres. Bush framed his presidency in pre- Americans believe. In rogue states no less than in Enlightenment terms for a domestic audience, and the Washington, however, self-interest is calculable only in international repercussions were serious. Sec. Rice has a domestic political context. Were we, for example, a fleeting opportunity to reframe the U.S. government more sophisticated about the role nuclear programs in moderate terms. No, the United States is not the play in Iran’s bitter internal political competition, our cartoon monster of its critics. Nor have foreign gov- Israeli friends and we might share Europe’s lack of cer- ernments circled the wagons against it. But the burden tainty that bathing the Middle East in fire and blood is of evidence required to enlist foreign support has a reasonable price to pay for a non-nuclear Iran. To increased, because the political legitimacy that was elucidate those politics, and as a counterweight to once the counterpart to U.S. military and economic alarmist clandestine reporting, we desperately need a power has eroded. permanent diplomatic presence in Tehran and She can look at Greece as a model, 20 years ahead Pyongyang. of its time, of the global environment. Greeks lost their On the terrorist front, the CIA and FBI have turned faith in America’s fundamental good intentions decades the planet inside out and largely debunked our myth ago. Like Middle Easterners, they burnish their intel- that the Islamic world is swarming with superhuman lectual credentials by disbelieving any argument put psychotics whose goal is to exterminate us. The global forward by U.S. public diplomacy. Anti-American battle against terrorism becomes more focused and rhetoric is good domestic politics. Calls in parliament legitimate (and affordable) once we pay the same to resist “asphyxiating U.S. pressure” are guaranteed attention to the social, political and practical aims of applause, and ministers shrink from putting their sig- actual terrorist groups that we do to theoretical possi- nature on any document that reflects a compromise bilities. Democratizing the Middle East — once we between Greek sovereignty and America’s superpower find some surrogate with the standing among Muslims responsibilities. America has entirely lost — would be a fine thing, but Even in this unpromising climate, the traditional it is not a cure for terrorism. Some number of diplomatic arts of tact, discretion, patience and com- Americans will continue to die from terrorist attacks, as promise eventually achieve the goals set for them. from other preventable tragedies, but America and its Personal relationships built on trust and openness, vital allies can be terrorized — induced by fear to change before, are even more essential now. Knowledge of their behavior — only by mutual consent. foreign languages and cultures is useful, but the indis- Given U.S. unpopularity and the importance and pensable diplomatic skill is the willingness to listen vulnerability of America’s presence in the Middle East, carefully. America’s biggest blind spot is the absurd it would have been prudent for Powell to have insisted faith that we can navigate the minefields of a strange more forcefully that his president make a sincere effort country’s domestic politics better than its own politi- on the Israel-Palestine dispute before occupying Iraq. cians. The death of Arafat has since provided a painless A litmus test of Sec. Rice’s commitment to effective excuse for abandoning a perverse policy of punishing

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Palestinian peacemakers for failing to disarm their vio- Department Strategic Plan — “loyalty, character, ser- lent political rivals. Let us see whether Sec. Rice is vice, accountability, community” — are really an brave enough to follow the two-state solution to its log- improvement over the more self-confident values of ical conclusion. 2000 — “impact, expertise, discipline, dissent, diversi- Ability to mobilize resources is a test of leadership. ty, partnership, commitment.” The State Department Pres. Bush was effective during his first term in identi- must fight and win occasional battles to protect the fying special circumstances to excuse spending inherit- vital interests of our foreign allies against a destructive ed long-term capital — financial, military, diplomatic bureaucratic whim in Washington. Sec. Rice will be and moral — on what traditionalists might regard as judged on her willingness to spend political capital in the ordinary recurring expenses of America’s interna- support of her “disloyal” department. tional stewardship. The State Department benefited Even if Rice proves a brilliant bureaucratic battler, from this willingness. Bush was less effective in assur- U.S. policy will continue to be driven by domestic polit- ing that those resources went to the purposes for which ical factors more than by abstract notions of justice or they were mobilized, such as Iraqi reconstruction. rational calculations of national interest. America’s per- It is mathematically certain that this and the next suasiveness is undercut by an interagency clearance administration will face massive budget shortfalls. Sec. process that resists balanced argument and is paranoid Rice will come under pressure to divert resources des- in its approach to classified information. Rote recita- tined for international assistance and global HIV/AIDS tion of talking points is counterproductive unless the efforts to less enlightened goals. She should be aware, as goal is the contemptible one of currying favor back she weighs her prospective place in the history books, home. Sec. Powell understood the utility of not insult- that her first year in office may be America’s last oppor- ing the intelligence of his own foreign interlocutors. tunity for a decade to buy the influence it desires over Dr. Rice should have similar faith in the good sense of Third World social and economic decision-making. U.S. diplomats to craft arguments that will work in a local context. Last summer’s arrest of Don Keyser, Using the Foreign Service deputy director of the State Department office in Dr. Rice inherits a Foreign Service rejuvenated after charge of Taiwan affairs, sent a chilling message that more than a decade of substantial cuts. Hundreds of should be rescinded immediately. newly-minted young diplomats, patriotic, enthusiastic, America’s unsung diplomatic asset is the fact that remarkably diverse, many with native fluency in a for- State Department employees are as diverse as the great eign language, are filling positions that in plusher times country they represent. Every society, not only our went to seasoned, cynical mid-career officers. Youthful own, has deep political cleavages. Today’s lunatic energy can change the world. fringe will be tomorrow’s government, and the During their first four years, Rice and her president American superpower must have some minimum func- relied heavily on their intelligence briefers. Heavily tional connection to every group that can help us or scripted 40-minute meetings with awed foreign leaders hinder us. America’s tolerance and diversity offer us — are not an adequate corrective to the CIA’s inevitably when we have the wit to seek it out — the wherewith- jaundiced view of foreigners. Rice will marginalize al to match every diplomatic circumstance. herself quickly unless she revalidates the State Under a president with less Manichaean instincts Department as the source of reliable, unbiased and about the world, General Powell would have been a great detailed information about the internal politics of for- Secretary of State. Dr. Rice understands her president’s eigners, information that (oddly enough) reveals them instincts, and has built her success around them. Let us to be remarkably like ourselves. That insight is indis- hope that, wrapped in the real-world expertise of the pensable to effective diplomacy, but she will need to State Department, she will be a more influential advocate ask for it specifically and regularly. than her predecessor for weighing foreign policy risks Loyalty is a virtue prized most absolutely by those and rewards by the only standard all Americans would with no other marketable virtue. Sec. Rice should pon- accept: the long-term security and prosperity of the der whether the “Core Values” of the 2004 State American people on a fragile planet. ■

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THOUGHTS FROM THE FIELD

AFSA MEMBERS WEIGH IN WITH TRIBUTES AND OBSERVATIONS ON COLIN POWELL’S TENURE AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT.

BY SUSAN MAITRA

he following are responses from last time that happened to any group of Fulbrighters was the field to an AFSANET requesting Foreign Service in 1963. members,T both active-duty and retired, to contribute After 9/11, and frequently since then, Secretary their thoughts and observations on Colin Powell’s Powell urged American embassies to reach out to inter- tenure as Secretary of State. national students and assure them that America’s acade- — Susan Maitra, Senior Editor mic doors remained open to them. In the process, he helped us all make the case that international education- v al exchange is as important to America today as it was Student Exchange Programs Boosted when the Fulbright Program was created in 1946. During their tenure, Secretaries of State probably set Dr. Allan E. Goodman many records. There are two that belong to Colin Powell President and CEO that are especially important to the Fulbright program, Institute of International Education which the Institute has the honor of administering on behalf of the department. v In his very first year, Secretary Powell mentioned the Looking Out for Others Fulbright and Humphrey programs more times in public Everyone reading the FSJ knows about our Secretary’s than any of his predecessors did in their entire careers. If esteemed career in public service. He is also a private cit- you “google” Powell and Fulbright, you get nearly 40,000 izen of the highest order. matches. For many other secretaries, you actually get After reading My American Journey, hot off the press- none. es in 1996, I bought another copy to send to my cousin, And on Colin Powell’s watch, the Fulbright Program who at that time was an Army ROTC university student. with Afghanistan and Iraq restarted after a hiatus of over Things were rough for her then, and I thought the book two decades. The Iraqi students and scholars were also would cheer her up. received at the White House and met the president. The Instead of mailing it directly to her, I sent it and a

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cover letter to a gentleman named In many ways, he brought Management Grant Green. As he in the autobiography as the retired drove the implementation of innu- general’s personal assistant. I had the State Department into merable management improve- never heard of Col. Larry ments, he would often depreciate Wilkerson, USA (ret.), before read- the 21st century, and his own efforts, saying, “It’s not ing the book, but I wrote to him in rocket science.” Each time he said the hope that he would ask Mr. assuredly improved that to me, I replied that, while Powell to sign it for my cousin. getting the changes done might About three weeks later, I employee morale across not require rocket science, they received a phone call from one were certainly accomplishments very excited Army officer-in-the- the board. that had eluded his many prede- making. The retired general not cessors. For example, I remember only signed the book, he hand- stumbling across a 1954 report wrote a full-page letter of encouragement to her. lamenting that it took two years to hire a new FSO. Citizen Powell’s private act of kindness and that of Col. That was still the case in 2001, when Grant Green was Wilkerson’s, eight years ago, is not only a family heir- sworn in, but it is no longer. loom but remains a great source of inspiration to us. Next, we owe a debt of gratitude to Deputy My cousin is still in the Army, and I am a newly mint- Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Like Secretary 1 ed FSO after completing 4 /2 years of active-duty service Powell, he also intervened personally with the White as a naval officer. There are people in this world you House and Congress on budget and other issues affect- would gladly follow through the gates of hell with a can of ing diplomatic readiness. Inside the building, his role gasoline and a big book of matches. I am honored to have in scrubbing bureau budget requests gave added cred- been led by such a man. ibility to the final consolidated funding request. Michael Turner Three directors general played pivotal roles in the 119th A-100 revitalization of human resources at State. Marc Jakarta Grossman was the original proponent of the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative. Ruth Davis pushed v through numerous changes during the middle of the Rocket Science Secretary’s term. Robert Pearson worked to lock in the As vice president and, later, president of AFSA during last of the Powell-era improvements. During almost 1 Secretary Powell’s first 2 /2 years in office, I can attest to the whole period, Ruth Whiteside held the key position numerous examples of his personal intervention on of principal deputy assistant secretary for human behalf of the Foreign Service and the broader State resources. Department. Other assistant secretaries also deserve kudos for For example, every budget cycle Sec. Powell force- reinventing their respective bureaus: William Eaton in fully weighed in with the Office of Management and Administration, Charles Williams at Overseas Budget and with Congress when each, in turn, pro- Buildings Operations, Katherine Peterson at the posed trimming the diplomatic readiness budget that Foreign Service Institute, and Maura Harty at he sought. He personally lobbied members of Consular Affairs. Assistant Secretary Paul Kelly in Congress to drop the proposal to move the visa adjudi- Legislative Affairs played a key role in winning State’s cation function to the Department of Homeland budget battles. Security. There are many other examples, but instead Below the assistant-secretary level, there are a hun- of adding another voice to sing the praise of Colin dred others who I would mention if space permitted. Powell, my goal here is to shine light on the critical They served not only in the above-mentioned offices, work done by his subordinates in revitalizing diplomat- but also in the Bureau of Information Resource ic readiness during the past four years. Management, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and Top kudos go to Under Secretary of State for the Bureau of Resource Management. Kudos to one

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and all. And let’s not forget AFSA, which worked in The organizational culture of State continues to be its parallel with Secretary Powell on Capitol Hill, in the greatest problem. Failure to correct it will continue to media and elsewhere to support the revitalization of U.S. limit the contribution of the department and tarnish diplomatic readiness. Secretary Powell’s legacy. John Naland Peter D. Rice FSO FS retiree AFSA President, 2001-2003 Sarasota, Fla. v v All Carrot, No Stick Going Forward, To me, it appears that Secretary Powell’s approach to Less Military Rhetoric, Please management of the Department of State was all carrot Secretary Powell always said that he was not just the and no stick. Powell seemed to believe that if only he president’s Secretary of State but also the chief operat- could provide the State Department in general, and ing officer of the State Department. He kept his word. FSOs in particular, with all of the funds, positions, pro- I think Sec. Powell, undoubtedly one of the most pop- motions, equipment, buildings, security, and Internet ular secretaries of State ever, will best be remembered access that they requested, then they would be unleashed for his integrity and his sincere concern for his employ- to do wonderful diplomatic things to promote the nation- ees, no matter what corps nor grade. During his al security and other interests of the United States. tenure, Sec. Powell was able to secure funding for the What Powell did not recognize was that the perceived department to upgrade its infrastructure, especially in shortage of people, positions, promotions and equip- key areas of security and information technology; ment, etc. was not the primary problem. Rather, the improve employee training; and, most importantly, greatest problem was the indiscipline of well over 85 per- increase Foreign Service and Civil Service recruitment. cent of the FSOs of the U.S. Foreign Service, as well as In many ways, he brought the State Department into the majority of the rest of the American employees of the the 21st century, and assuredly improved employee department. Powell should have fired (in a very public morale across the board. manner) several of the very worst offenders during his However, for the new, incoming State Department first few months in office. This would have sent a pow- administration, one thing I would like to see is less mili- erful message that when orders are given, compliance or tary-related rhetoric and less couching of our identity in resignation is expected. military terms. Over the last few years, we have repeat- Free of any sense of restraint, many FSOs continue to edly heard Foreign Service employees referred to as pursue their own goal of domestic regime change. The “second lieutenants” that work on the “front lines.” We result of their rogue conduct is that State is viewed more sell ourselves by emphasizing all the Foreign Service as part of the problem, and less as part of the solution. employees killed in the line of duty, and we’ve been told Hence, other agencies and personnel are sought to our diplomat and leadership training needs to be “more accomplish more of our diplomatic tasks. like the Army’s.” This comes not only from the 7th floor, There is a massive difference between the U.S. but also via State management and, at times, from AFSA Foreign Service (the culture of a liberal arts college) and as well. the U.S. Army (the culture of duty, honor, country). This I realize that the intent of this is positive. It is difference was very apparent to me, because I served in designed to help employees secure recognition and fund- both organizations. I started government service as an ing from Congress, to ensure we get the same annual pay officer in the U.S. Army, serving for four years. Those of raise as the military, and even to help us get recognition my age and I, with experience in both the Armed Forces from USAA for insurance purposes. Nevertheless, I and in the Foreign Service, have a very different view think the constant repetition of this military rhetoric, the than that of the elite intellectual diplomats. We do not constant couching of diplomatic work in military terms, share their disdain for the U.S.A., nor their even greater over time, basically tells us that diplomacy holds no value disdain for safeguarding national security information. for the U.S. government. The message is: if you’re a

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diplomat, you’re a “softie” (who might Our primary job is We may have the same ultimate goal, even talk and listen to foreigners), so U.S. national security, and can work you need to hide the “diplomacy” to prevent war, together in many areas, but we do have word; it’s better to be a soldier; State a different mission than the doesn’t know how to train leaders, and not implement it. Department of Defense. Let’s not needs to take the Army’s linear hide who we are and what we do just approach so we can be more like them; Is there something to placate particular members of and, the Foreign Service, with tin cup Congress and the media. If the Con- in hand, is the military’s “junior part- wrong with that? gress does not want to fund diplomacy ner” in the war on terrorism. nor see its value, it can deal with the Ultimately, the military rhetoric and consequences of those actions. Then analogies degrade our profession. we’ll all be on the same sinking ship. We are diplomats, not “lieutenants.” If I wanted to be Ralph Falzone a lieutenant, I would have joined the armed forces. Our FSO primary job is to prevent war, not implement it. Is there ConGen Milan something wrong with that? It’s definitely less expensive for U.S. taxpayers. Overseas, we primarily work in v embassies and consulates, almost always understaffed, So Obviously Kind and Human sometimes in very dangerous places and civil war zones. I was working in the Operations Center during However, we do not work on the battlefield “front lines.” Secretary Powell’s historic and extremely stressful

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April 2002 trip to the Middle East. I attempted to call Do I need to state the obvious? We can only hope that one of the staffers accompanying him, but when I dialed all future Secretaries of State are as kind and human as her cell number, the Secretary unexpectedly answered. Secretary Powell! Thinking the staffer might be with him, I apologized for Andrea Brouillette-Rodriguez the interruption and asked if she was available. Sec. Human Rights Officer Powell informed me he had “stolen” her phone, and United States Interests Section, Havana politely asked if he could take a message. I begged off, saying I would call her in the control v room. He told me that she was not in the control room, He Never Used His Ace-in-the-Hole and that he would be happy to take a message. I hesitat- I retired from the Foreign Service just as Colin Powell ed, and he asked jovially, “What, you don’t think I can replaced Madeleine Albright. So I speak as an outside- take a message?” I laughed and told him who was look- insider — perhaps the best position for objectivity. ing for his staffer. Colin Powell brought to State a focus on institution- When the staffer called back a few hours later, she building, which is what the military does (and does far bet- related that the Secretary had boarded the plane and ter than the Foreign Service) in between occasional wars. said, “The Ops Center didn’t think I could take a mes- He brought us lessons of team-building and morale-build- sage. You are supposed to call __.” Even though we now ing that the military knows well and we in the Foreign knew the Secretary was very capable of taking messages, Service do not. And what a change! He attended every we made her promise that if he ever stole her cell phone annual meeting of FS/CS retirees; he tried to attend as again, she would let us know! many ambassadorial swearings-in as he could. He cared,

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and he invested time in showing it. It He asked jovially, 2000. Instead, true to his military back- made a tremendous difference in State ground, Secretary Powell stuck to the morale. “What, you don’t “George Marshall” model as a team player And Secretary Powell combined those who saluted and got on board whenever he skills with his prestige to shake the money think I can take lost. In normal circumstances one under- tree in Congress for more personnel and stands that instinct. But given the compre- resources, and thus made the greatest a message?” hensive failures in foreign policy of this contribution to institution-building for the administration, such a compliant attitude State Department of any Secretary since George Shultz. on the part of a political “heavyweight” must be ranked as a That is a mighty legacy for us at State and for the nation. failure of judgment on his part. We owe Colin Powell a tremendous debt of thanks and So we at State will always love Colin Powell as a hero respect. who cared about our institution, and left it far healthier But in policy he largely failed. He lost more battles than than he found it, yet failed to stem the tide of foreign pol- he won in this administration. The odds were against him icy disasters occasioned by the administration which he as Dick Cheney reinforced Don Rumsfeld. Yet Secretary served — failed because the odds were stacked against Powell never played his ace-in-the-hole — the threat of res- him, but also because he was unwilling to play the ulti- ignation as a source of leverage against an administration mate card he had in order to “push the envelope.” whose president was less popular than Powell, and who, in Marc E. Nicholson fact, had been elected only because Colin Powell turned FSO, retired down Republican offers of the presidential nomination in Washington, D.C. ■

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FEBRUARY 2005/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 59 THE COLD WAR: A PYRRHIC VICTORY?

IT HAS BEEN MORE THAN A DECADE SINCE THE U.S. WON THE COLD WAR. BUT THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF OUR ANTI-SOVIET EFFORTS CONTRIBUTED TO MANY OF THE PROBLEMS WE FACE TODAY.

BY DAVID D. NEWSOM

t the beginning of the 21st century, In light of current challenges to U.S. interests, could it the United States faces threats of ter- be that the presumed success in the Cold War was a rorism, antagonism in the Muslim Pyrrhic victory? Did the unintended consequences of our world and suspicions of its motives anti-Soviet efforts contribute to problems Washington throughout much of Asia, Africa and faces today? Latin America. Many of the roots of such problems lie in The confrontation with the Soviet Union was fought AU.S. actions and policies of the last half-century — in the actively, not on the plains of Europe, but in the arena of unintended consequences of the Cold War. Asian and African states emerging from colonialism and Conventional wisdom holds that the United States won in Latin American countries resisting oligarchs. The the Cold War. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, greater part of my own diplomatic career and that of international communism ceased to be a threat, and the many of my Foreign Service colleagues was spent in United States became the “world’s only superpower.” these regions. American policies pursued much that was But accompanying that “wisdom” is an uncertainty positive in these areas in supporting economic develop- about the global future and, in the United States, ques- ment, human rights, conflict resolution and multilateral tions as to why a nation so powerful and “good” has such cooperation. Nevertheless, in regions important to difficulty in wielding its worldwide influence. American interests, the United States was more often perceived as an interventionist instrument of neo-colo- David D. Newsom, an FSO from 1947 to 1981, served as nialism than as a democratic liberator. This view was not ambassador to Libya, Indonesia and the Philippines, as helped by perceptions of U.S. involvement in regional well as assistant secretary for African affairs, among issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and the many other assignments. From 1978 to 1981, he was Indian-Pakistani tensions over Kashmir, however posi- under secretary of State for political affairs. He received tive Washington’s motives. In regions where emotions AFSA’s award for Lifetime Contributions to American are rooted in history and memories are long, the effects Diplomacy in 2000. of such a view continue. Ambassador Newsom is the author of four books: The In the immediate post-World War II period, commu- Soviet Brigade in Cuba (1987), Diplomacy and the nist parties in Western Europe, backed by a nuclear and American Democracy (1988), The Public Dimension of ambitious Soviet Union, did represent both a political and Foreign Policy (1996), and The Imperial Mantle (2001). military threat. The Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe This article is adapted from his contribution to a new had a profound effect on public opinion in the United edition of Hans Morgenthau’s book, Politics Among States. No administration could have failed to respond. Nations, which McGraw-Hill will publish in June. Actions of the countries of the Atlantic Alliance in initiat-

60 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2005 ing and supporting anti-Soviet policies were justified and experience in Iran, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles understandable. began the effort to create a series of treaties that would The Korean War gave further impetus to the fears of contain the Soviet Union in Asia. Beginning with the sign- communist ambitions. The leftist rhetoric of leaders of ing of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization in 1954, the newly independent countries and Soviet aid to these pacts were intended to close the circle between NATO nations were seen as evidence of a continuing communist and the U.S. strategic position in Japan. “Non-align- advance; in the views of Americans, nationalism became ment,” popular among the newly independent nations, fused with Soviet ambitions. was not, for Secretary Dulles, an option for free nations. In the mid-1950s, the United States faced two serious Expanding Containment threats to its perceived interests in the region: more To meet this perceived threat in the 1950s, the contain- aggressive Soviet moves and strong Arab nationalist influ- ment philosophy of the North Atlantic Treaty and the ences emanating from Egypt’s Gemal Abdul Nasser. The Truman Doctrine was extended east- two were intertwined. Two initia- ward into Asia and southward to tives intended to counter both prob- Africa and Latin America. Encircle- lems led to failures and further ment became the objective of global For strategic thinkers at deterioration in the American posi- policy. The encirclement was accom- tion in the region. The U.S. opposi- panied by a series of military base the time, the world tion to the French, British, and arrangements in the Philippines, Israeli attack on Suez in October Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Libya and became a giant game 1956 only temporarily reversed this Morocco. Such arrangements often trend. incurred local resentment; political of Risk — with scant In 1955, Washington stimulated leaders insisted on substantial mili- the organization of the Baghdad tary and economic aid to help them appreciation of the game Pact, ultimately to include the weather resulting political storms. United Kingdom, Iraq, Turkey, In at least one country, Libya, the board on which it was Pakistan and Iran. Secretary Dulles presence of a U.S. base was a factor saw the pact not only as containing in the overthrow of a government being played. the Soviets, but as an effort to divert friendly to the United States. For Arab, and especially Iraqi, attention strategic thinkers at the time, the away from Israel to the communist world became a giant game of Risk menace. Iraq, on the contrary, saw — with scant appreciation of the game board on which it adherence as a possible way to gain greater American sup- was being played. The results still haunt us today. port for the Arab position. The United States did not for- The first manifestation of this approach came during mally join the pact, but supported it financially and mili- the prime ministership of Mohammad Mossadeq in Iran tarily. The pact was attacked by Arab nationalists as an in 1953. Washington became increasingly concerned that effort to continue the “colonial” domination of the period Mossadeq’s policies, by creating unrest in the country and of the earlier British and French mandates, with serious challenging the power of Shah Pahlevi, were providing consequences for U.S. policy. opportunities to the local communists and the Soviet In Baghdad the pact was seen as a continuation of the Union. Accordingly, the Eisenhower administration coop- unpopular alliance with Britain. With the overthrow of erated with the British to restore the shah to power and the monarchy in 1958, Iraq withdrew from the Baghdad bring in a new government in Tehran. Subsequent U.S. Pact and the remaining members continued the alliance administrations built up the shah as an anti-communist as the Central Treaty Organization. Significantly, the surrogate in the region. Such support was of little avail decision of Iraq’s strongman, Prime Minister Nuri al Said, when, in 1979, Islamic militants overthrew the shah and to join the pact was at least one of the factors that undertook 53 American diplomats as hostage. The earlier U.S. mined the Hashemite monarchy and led to the revolution role in the removal of Mossadeq figured prominently in in Baghdad. The series of military coups that followed the anti-American rhetoric of the Iranian revolution, and that event led ultimately to the rule of Saddam Hussein, is still recalled in Iranian politics today. with consequences clearly visible today. In the wake of the Korean War and the Mossadeq Meanwhile, because of the continuing dispute with

FEBRUARY 2005/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 61 India over Kashmir, the adherence math of this episode: “Although the of Pakistan to CENTO raised suspi- U.S. denial of involvement in the cions in New Delhi of U.S. motives, Understanding the PRRI/Permesta rebellion averted a suspicions that lasted well into the situation in which the Indonesian 1970s and the prime ministership of results of Cold War government would have felt com- Indira Gandhi. pelled to break diplomatic relations, In 1957, seeking greater flexibili- policies can lead to a it also caused Indonesians to dismiss ty in the administration of economic denials of later reports of U.S. com- and military aid to confront the per- better understanding of plicity in anti-Indonesian activities.” ceived communist threat in the Throughout the 1960s, Washing- Middle East, the Eisenhower the limitations of a ton was obsessed with Soviet and administration gained congressional Chinese threats to the emerging approval of a Middle East resolution superpower’s ability independent states of Africa. that promulgated what became the Through both covert actions and Eisenhower Doctrine. Two hundred to control global proxy wars, the U.S. opposed groups million dollars in aid was offered to seen by Washington as pro-commu- those countries that would commit events today. nist but by many Africans as pro- themselves to opposing international independence. The murder of communism. The administration Patrice Lumumba in 1960, an inde- basically wanted a means of circum- pendence hero in the Congo, is still venting strict congressional limits on blamed on the Americans. The the management of aid funds; it was accession of Mobutu Sese-Seko to true throughout the Cold War that, power in Kinshasha became a prime to be successful in Congress, any ini- involvement that escalated eventual- example of America’s willingness to tiative on aid had to be wrapped in ly into a full-scale war. The U.S. support corrupt and undemocratic an anti-Soviet context. intervention in Vietnam was per- autocrats in the name of fighting A retired member of Congress, ceived in Washington as an essential communism. James P. Richards, was sent through battle to prevent the fall of Asian U.S. resistance to independence the Arab Middle East to “sell” the “dominoes” to the communists. But, for the Portuguese colonies in Africa doctrine and obtain commitments. in much of Asia, it was viewed as an was viewed as an effort to perpetu- Middle East nations, however, did effort to perpetuate French colonial- ate colonialism. U.S. covert support not wish to “stand up and be count- ism. for Joseph Savimbi’s UNITA move- ed,” particularly in the wake of U.S. One of the dominoes of concern ment in Angola and the long civil support for the establishment of the to Washington was Indonesia. The war that followed in the name of state of Israel seven years earlier. Eisenhower administration and, fighting communism devastated a Only two countries, Iraq and Lebanon, especially, Secretary of State John significant part of Africa. endorsed the doctrine. The Iraq Foster Dulles and his brother, CIA Throughout this period, the U.S. Revolution occurred a year later. chief Allen Dulles, were troubled by image suffered through positions Lebanon was saved from chaos only the policies of President Sukarno. taken in the United Nations General by the intervention of U.S. Marines. They looked for dissident activities Assembly on such issues as colonial- in the outer islands that might be ism, apartheid and Palestine. Al- Asian Dominoes supported to weaken or remove the though the UNGA positions were Across Asia in Indochina, the Sukarno regime. The opportunity not binding, the posture of the U.S. French lost their position in came in 1957 when dissident was frequently seen in Africa and Vietnam; at the Geneva Conference colonels in Sumatra organized a Asia as reflecting opposition to basic in 1954, the country was divided revolt and received arms from the nationalistic and racial attitudes in between North and South. The CIA. The revolt collapsed and the the newly emerging nations. The Kennedy administration saw the CIA role was subsequently revealed, Reagan administration made mat- growing threat of North Vietnam to further enhancing the image of U.S. ters worse by seeking to tie aid levels the anti-communist South as a wider manipulation in Indonesia and the to votes by African and Asian coun- threat to the nations of the region. region. tries on these issues. The administration began a U.S. Paul Gardner writes of the after- Washington’s reaction to per-

62 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2005 ceived communist threats was not between a view of the world held by confined to Asia and Africa. In many top policy-makers and mem- 1954, alarmed by the leftist tenden- In the 1950s, the bers of Congress and the views of cies of President Jacobo Arbenz many with experience in the regions Guzman of Guatemala, the U.S. containment philosophy involved, whether diplomats, schol- assisted in the overthrow of his gov- ars, journalists or foreign observers. ernment. In 1973, U.S. involvement of the North Atlantic Officers in the embassy in was suspected in the overthrow and Baghdad in 1955 raised questions death of President Salvador Allende Treaty and the Truman about the wisdom of pressing the Gossens of Chile, another left-lean- Iraqi government into an anti-coming Latin American leader. The Doctrine evolved munist pact. Those serving in Teh- Reagan administration saw a com- ran in later years expressed their munist threat to the U.S. in the into a strategy of doubts about the stability of Iran growing leftist movements in under the shah. But these views Central America, and undertook to encirclement. were unwelcome to decision-makers support anti-communist elements in in Washington unwilling to hear Nicaragua, El Salvador and Hon- challenges to established policy. duras. To many in the poorer coun- The debate over Vietnam policy tries of the Latin American region, is well documented. In his recent such activities were further evidence biography of Ellsworth Bunker of “gringo” manifest destiny. (Ellsworth Bunker: Global Trouble- movement, arguably one of the most shooter, Vietnam Hawk, University of Unintended Consequences serious of the unintended conse- North Carolina Press, 2003), who Undoubtedly the most damaging quences of the Cold War period. served as U.S. ambassador to Viet- of the unintended consequences of The Cold War fears of communist nam from 1967 to 1973, Howard the Cold War came through the sup- advances were replaced in the 1990s Schaffer writes: “As he settled into a port for the mujahedeen, Muslim by concern over the threat of steady, mutually confident relation- fighters resisting the Soviet forces in Saddam Hussein to dominate the ship with [President] Thieu in the Afghanistan after the invasion of oil-rich region of the Gulf. But a Nixon-Kissinger years, his messages 1978. consequence of the first Persian presented a picture of sustained if The Soviet invasion set off alarms Gulf War was the strengthening of uneven advance toward stability, in the Carter administration that the al-Qaida, fed by resentment over the security and a measure of prosperity Soviets were about to realize their presence of U.S. forces in Saudi for South Vietnam. dream of gaining access to the Arabia. “Some on the embassy staff dif- Persian Gulf. The United States saw Opposition in the Middle East fered sharply with his assessments, the opportunity to make the Soviets region to the U.S. invasion of Iraq is especially officers in the political pay a price for the invasion through undoubtedly a reflection of beliefs section but others, mostly younger providing arms and assistance, in fostered during the Cold War that officers, as well. These negative cooperation with Saudi Arabia and America was anti-Muslim and views about Vietnam’s prospects Pakistan, to the resistance. Muslim sought to dominate the oil-rich were shared by many American cor- fighters from Arab countries and region for its own purposes. respondents, with whom they regu- other Islamic regions were accepted In the actions taken that led to larly compared notes. This pattern, and trained for jihad against the infi- the unintended consequences of the senior officials taking an optimistic del invader. Islamic militantism was Cold War, policy-makers were, in view of developments, more junior mobilized to fight the Soviets, but, the main, responding to fears and ones and media representatives once the Soviets left in 1989, the attitudes in the public, the media more skeptical, was not uncommon militants looked for new targets. and Congress that overwhelmed throughout the war.” Out of that effort to train and contrary views. To be sure, some Foreign observers were equally encourage militant Muslim forces to prescient observers did express con- skeptical. Indonesians were part of fight the Soviets — with extensive cerns, but they were brushed aside. an international commission in CIA help — grew the influence of Specifically, throughout the peri- Vietnam and traveled throughout Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaida od a constant tension existed the country. In January 1975 (four

FEBRUARY 2005/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 63 months before the fall of Saigon), position today would be any worse. Graham Martin, the U.S. ambas- Clearly, the end result of the expen- sador to Saigon, came to Jakarta to Non-alignment was not, diture of U.S. lives and resources in brief Indonesians. He painted a rosy Iraq is yet to be determined, but the picture of progress and denigrated in the view of John American dream of a pro-American, U.S. critics of the war. One of the democratic Iraq is still far from real- Indonesian observers later said to an Foster Dulles, an option ization. American embassy officer: “We were The fall of the Soviet Union most interested in what Ambassador for free nations. demonstrated the inherent weak- Martin had to say. He must be ness of that nation and certainly rais- working in a different country than es questions about its long-range we are.” capacity to alter societies in Asia, Available information on the Africa and Latin America. The end- growth of al-Qaida in Afghanistan less hours spent by U.S. officials contains little evidence that doubts seeking to counter Soviet and were raised about the possible long- Chinese offers of aid to these conti- term risks of assisting militant countries of the Middle East, nents seemed essential at the time, Islamic groups to oppose the Indonesia, Vietnam, Angola and but, in retrospect seem less justified. Soviets. Debates during the muja- Nicaragua? Would the Soviet Union U.S. interventions beyond Europe hedeen period seemed to revolve have collapsed without the U.S. chal- during the Cold War did not create mostly around doubts about collabo- lenges in the Third World? the current terrorist threat. They did ration with Pakistani intelligence Certainly many of the long-range create fears of Western intervention and with various possible radical ele- assessments that drove U.S. policy and emotions against the West in ments among the Afghan warlords. were off the mark. The dominoes areas that had experienced colonial- It was only after three major terror- did not fall in Southeast Asia. The ism and European domination in ist attacks on U.S. targets — the U.S. today has friendly relations other forms. World Trade Center in New York in with Vietnam. Indonesia has had Such fears of renewed occupation 1993, the U.S. embassies in Nairobi two consecutive directly elected lie dormant throughout the region, and Dar Es Salaam in 1998, and the presidents. The perceived threat to subject to exploitation by dema- USS Cole in 2000 — that the full U.S. interests in Latin America has gogues and autocrats. In the Middle extent of bin Laden’s role and of the faded. East, the continuing U.S. identifica- al-Qaida threat became known. But, Information on the origins of the tion with the unresolved Israeli- even then, the worst consequences Soviet invasion of Afghanistan sug- Palestinian issue makes the exploita- of the unintended results of the U.S. gest the action was less part of a tion possibility especially real. war against the Soviets in Afghani- drive to the oil-rich Persian Gulf The clash between Washington’s stan still lay ahead. than an effort to curb the influence perceptions of an issue, created by This pattern of U.S. ambassadors of Islamic militants on Soviet the inevitable interplay of politics, faithfully pursuing policies devised Central Asia. It is tempting to won- pressures and interests that charac- in the political and strategic arena of der whether recent history, includ- terize U.S. foreign policy-making, Washington in the face of contrary ing the 9/11 attacks, would have and a different reality seen by assessments by others has been been different if the U.S. had not observers on the ground will never repeated in every one of the U.S. supported the fight against the end. The results of Cold War poli- Cold War crises in Asia, Africa and Soviet Union in Afghanistan, a fight cies cannot be reversed, but setting Latin America. against a weakening USSR that was forth the consequences can, per- ultimately forced by its own weak- haps, lead to a better understanding The Road Not Taken ness to withdraw from its Asian of the limitations of a superpower’s Should the United States, then, satellites. ability to control global events today. have been inactive in the face of It is difficult to predict what That understanding can also demon- threats to pro-Western, anti-commu- might have happened in Iran and strate how difficult it is, under the nist governments beyond Europe? Iraq. It is hard to imagine that, pressures of immediate action, to Would the U.S. position be better under a continuation of the Mossa- foresee the longer-term conse- today if it had not intervened in the deq government in Tehran, the U.S. quences of that action. ■

64 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2005 BOOKS

Why Do They Hate Us? violent expressions aimed at America Understanding and the West. Accordingly, anti-Americanism — Understanding Anti-Americanism: and addressing which Ceasar identifies as the only Its Origins and Impact at Home current global “ideology” — has and Abroad anti-Americanism become the focus of a new generation Paul Hollander, editor, Ivan R. Dee requires of activists across the world, anxious to Publisher, 2004, $18.24, hardcover, understanding find a scapegoat for their problems 372 pages. that perception is and complaints. REVIEWED BY CHRISTOPHER TEAL reality. In particular, many of the sundry “isms” discussed here are rooted in “You put someone on the moon, resistance to globalization. so why couldn’t the U.S. take all the w One principal strength of this work water from the Amazon?” Someone University of Massachusetts professor is that it analyzes several regions. The asked me that during an embassy Paul Hollander, serves as an impor- collection includes, for instance, an event in Peru in early 2004. As crazy tant source for those concerned about insightful chapter by current FSO as the question seemed, it prompted foreign public opinion. In his intro- David Brooks on the Latin American many in the audience to nod their duction, Hollander lists five factors strain of anti-Americanism. It is agreement with the premise that that he believes explain anti- regrettable, however, that just one America wanted to do such a thing. Americanism: the fall of communism chapter is devoted to the Middle East Peruvians are far from alone in this (and decline of an alternative “pole” variant, particularly as so much of the attitude: it is truly amazing to see how of power); U.S. power and superior global “war on terror” is centered much power and malicious intent are military capabilities; the personal there. It is also highly disappointing ascribed to the United States around qualities of President Bush; globaliza- that the discussion of anti-American- the world. Whether these suspicions tion; and Arab fundamentalism (and ism here in the U.S. seldom rises stem from distorted information or a other cultural antagonisms). above a polemical condemnation of lack of critical (or realistic) thinking, or The notion of America as an ideal the left. both, they greatly hinder the transmit- — as communism or fascism might Those shortcomings aside, this col- tal of our messages to foreign audi- have been in the past — is a particular lection of essays makes a crucial point: ences, spurring resentment and even target of criticism, ridicule and even the U.S. is synonymous with moderni- anger at America. attack. But what is it about the ty and globalization throughout the That is the challenge for the mod- American ideal that stirs hatred? world, and will continue to face a ern diplomat. The perceptions that Contributor James Ceasar answers backlash on that account. For that foreign publics have about our country that question by pointing to a insight, as well as many others, can often be so far removed from the real ambivalence about modernity Understanding Anti-Americanism is a truth as to be comical. But given that throughout the world. Whether it’s useful tool to spur thinking about the perception is reality, understanding the belief in South America that the subject of anti-Americanism and how and addressing anti-Americanism U.S. is trying to steal the Amazon’s to combat it. ■ requires unmasking these perceptions headwaters, or religious extremists and finding their root causes. in the Middle East pushing their Christopher Teal, an FSO since 1999, Toward that end, Understanding brand of fundamentalism, this is currently a desk officer in the Anti-Americanism: Its Origins and ambivalence about change and loss of European Bureau and a member of Impact at Home and Abroad, a com- tradition leads to actions ranging from the FSJ Editorial Board. The opinions pilation of 15 essays edited by simple intellectual hostility to more expressed herein are his own.

FEBRUARY 2005/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 65 IN MEMORY

Jean Phillips Cootes, 82, the which coincided with the first flush Marion Dudenhoeffer Hinke, widow of FSO Merritt N. Cootes, died of postwar prosperity in Italy, are 96, a retired FS member and the at her home in Princeton, N.J., on still remembered as a golden period widow of FSO Frederick William Nov. 24. in Florence by the many Americans Hinke, died Nov. 27 at Silver Oak Born in Portland, Ore., Jean and Italians who knew the couple. Manor in Livermore, Calif. Cootes attended the University of Following Merritt Cootes’ retire- Mrs. Hinke was born in Erie, Pa. Oregon, graduating Phi Beta Kappa ment in 1966, the couple moved into a She worked in Washington, D.C., at with a degree in music. She then restored farmhouse in the hills outside the Division of Labor Statistics of the began a promising career in govern- of Florence called “Il Palagetto,” and Department of Labor from 1934 to ment service, working in postwar for 19 more years American musi- 1945, and then joined the clerical staff Germany in the Foreign Service and cians, art connoisseurs and historians of the State Department. on the staff of General Lucius Clay mingled with Italian aristocrats, As a secretary in the Foreign with the United States Occupation orchestra conductors and museum Service, Mrs. Hinke traveled the Forces. directors at Mrs. Cootes’ dinner par- world. In Lisbon she served as an In 1946, on a mission to Moscow, ties. Mrs. Cootes was also active in assistant in the office of the ambas- she met her husband-to-be, Merritt flood relief efforts, in the American sador. She was appointed secretary Cootes, a Princeton graduate and ris- Church in Florence and in the Amici and administrative assistant to the ing Foreign Service officer from della Musica. counselor of the embassy, and worked Virginia. After a wedding in Paris, the In 1986 the Cooteses returned to on the evacuation to Japan during the couple proceeded to postings in the United States, to a home near Korean War. Upon her transfer to Trieste, Karachi, Algiers and, finally, Princeton University that became Paris in 1952, she served as secretary Florence, where Mr. Cootes served as another gathering place for leading to the deputy special assistant for consul general for eight years (from musicians, composers and artists. major defense acquisition programs. 1958 to 1966). Merritt Cootes died in 1998. Mrs. While in Paris, she met and mar- At each posting, Mrs. Cootes Cootes is survived by a sister, Barbara ried FSO Frederick William Hinke in studied the language of the country Phillips Ford, and a brother-in-law, 1953. She retired from the Foreign — Italian, French and Urdu — and Dr. Peter Ford of Portland, Ore.; Service, and accompanied him to she also continued her serious study three nieces, Anne Ford Matthews of Monrovia. When her husband retired of the piano. In Florence, she orga- Stonington, Conn., Bronwyn Ford from the Foreign Service in 1958, the nized countless receptions and musi- Rhoades of Mendocino, Calif., and couple settled in Santa Barbara, Calif. cal recitals in the consulate’s 19th- Paula Ford Ciecielski of Eugene, They both attended classes at the century palazzo on Lungarno Ore.; and four nephews, Harry Belin University of California, Berkeley. Vespucci, introducing young of Washington, D.C., Marcus Ford of After her husband’s death in 1960, American musicians, artists and Flagstaff, Ariz., Eric Ford of Seattle, Mrs. Hinke moved to San Francisco. scholars to the best Italy had to offer. Wash., and John Ford of Snohomish, There she graduated from the The years of the Cootes consulate, Wash. Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design

66 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2005 I N M EMORY u in 1964, and enjoyed a second career forced him to keep a pistol under his Manfull received a bachelor’s degree in interior decorating. Upon retire- pillow and a shotgun in the corner of summa cum laude from the University ment, she traveled extensively in his bedroom. of Texas. She came to Washington, Eastern Europe, Central and South From 1978 to 1983, Mr. Knepper D.C. in 1941 to study at The George America and Asia. Her health began served at the Bureau of Intelligence Washington University, and while to fail in 1995, when she moved to and Research; he left with the title of there met and married then U.S. Navy Livermore, Calif. deputy assistant secretary of State. At Lieutenant Manfull. During World Friends and family remember Mrs. INR he was liaison to the intelligence War II, she worked as a relocation spe- Hinke as a fun-loving, gracious and community on Latin American intelli- cialist for the War Department, help- hospitable person who deeply loved gence, and helped prepare the ing young secretaries who came to the her family, her friends, her faith, and Kissinger Commission report on city find a safe place to live. She the world. There was no limit to her Central America. He also conducted danced with the Washington Ballet enthusiasm, curiosity and generosity trade negotiations with members of Company, and later became a special toward her relatives and charities. Latin American delegations. Mr. assistant for war correspondent Martin Mrs. Hinke is survived by her step- Knepper’s final assignment was teach- Agronsky. In the early 1950s, she daughter, Helen Karnes; a sister, ing economics at the Inter-American worked as a congressional researcher. Helen Skinner; and many nieces and Defense College at Fort McNair. Mrs. Manfull accompanied her nephews. She was preceded in death After retirement, Mr. Knepper FSO husband to Paris in 1952, where by her husband Frederick W. Hinke edited the Washington Report, a news- they lived until 1958. She also trav- and her stepdaughter Margaret letter of the Council of the Americas eled with him to postings in Saigon, Woods. business group. He also served as vice London, Brussels, Bangui and president for research for Consumers Monrovia. She engaged in volunteer for World Trade, a nongovernmental work at each posting. Mrs. Manfull u organization, and as vice president of had a passion for flowers (especially William E. Knepper, 75, retired St. Georges Corp., a Washington real orchids), and left lovely gardens wher- FSO and an expert in Latin American estate investment firm. He was a ever she lived abroad. economics, died Nov. 4 at his home in member of the Cosmos Club and the In the early 1960s, in Vietnam, Oakland, Calif. He had Parkinson’s Harvard Club of Washington. His Mrs. Manfull organized the South disease. hobbies included collecting pre- Vietnamese Chapter of the (Red A native of Kansas City, Kan., Mr. Columbian pottery and textiles. Cross) Grey Ladies volunteers, and Knepper received an economics Mr. Knepper had a home in the cared for children at Go Vap Hospital. degree from the University of Kansas. Washington, D.C., area from 1956 to She lobbied some of the high society Following service during the Korean 1996, when he moved to Oakland from women of South Vietnam to join the War in the Navy, he received a mas- Annapolis. His marriage to Virginia chapter. Later, in her Washington, ter’s degree in economics and political Steven Knepper ended in divorce. D.C., living room, she taught English economy from Harvard University, Survivors include his wife of 17 for Welcome to Washington, a group and completed all but his dissertation years, Dr. Alberta Flashman-Knepper helping diplomatic spouses adjust to for a doctorate in economics at of Oakland; two sons from the first the American capital. Mrs. Manfull Harvard. marriage, Christopher Knepper of moved to McLean, Va., in 2002. Mr. Knepper joined the Foreign McLean, Va., and Michael Knepper of Mrs. Manfull volunteered for the Service in 1956, and in a 32-year Mill Valley, Calif; and five grand- Washington chapter of the American career served in Monterrey, Santo children. Orchid Society, and was for years a Domingo, Montevideo and Wash- docent at the Dumbarton Oaks ington, D.C. He retired in 1988 with Museum in Georgetown, where she the rank of minister-counselor. In the u was an expert on its gardens. early 1960s, Mr. Knepper was staff Suzanne Dunning Manfull, 85, Her husband died in 2001. Mrs. assistant to Secretary of State Dean the widow of Ambassador Melvin L. Manfull is survived by three children, Rusk. He was posted to Uruguay Manfull, died of cardiac arrest at Lisa S. Harper of Rockville, Md., from 1967 to 1971, when threats from Sibley Memorial Hospital on Oct. 29, Gregory L. Manfull of Evergreen, the Tupemaros terrorist group target- after a long illness. Colo., and William T. Manfull of ing U.S. interests and representatives Born in Gonzales, Tex., Mrs. Portsmouth, N.H.; and three grand-

FEBRUARY 2005/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 67 I N M EMORY u children. It was her wish that dona- ment, charity and an abiding faith in years, Eunice Rogers is survived by tions be made to the AFSA Scholar- the promise of a better tomorrow. three sons, four stepdaughters, and a ship Fund in lieu of flowers. Jim’s sacrifice will not be in vain. His number of grandchildren and step- State Department colleagues and the grandchildren. American people will not waver in u their commitment to building a peace- James Mollen, 48, Embassy ful and prosperous Iraq. We will stand u Baghdad’s special adviser to Iraq’s resolute against the forces that took Ted M. G. Tanen, 78, an FSO Ministry of Higher Education and Jim’s life, and we will prevail.” with USIA who in retirement initiated Scientific Research, was killed Nov. 24 Before joining the Bush adminis- major cultural exchanges between the in an insurgent attack in Baghdad. He tration, Mr. Mollen worked as a com- U.S. and India, Indonesia, Mexico and was the second American diplomat to puter systems analyst for the Coca- other nations, died Nov. 17 at a hospi- be killed in Iraq. Cola Company in Atlanta, Ga. He had tal in Santa Monica, Calif., after a A political appointee who had been involved with programs to help struggle with cancer. worked in the 2000 election campaign orphans overseas for more than a Mr. Tanen was born in Lancaster, for President Bush, Mollen joined the decade, and as a member of the board Calif., in 1926, and entered the U.S. State Department in 2002. He of directors for Orphanage Outreach Navy after graduating from high worked in the Bureau of International had made many trips to the school in 1944. He was assigned to the Information Programs, heading its Dominican Republic. V-12 wartime officer training program, Global Technology Corps, a public- Mr. Mollen was unmarried and had and was released to the Naval Reserve private partnership engaged in tech- no children. He is survived by his in 1946. He did his undergraduate nology projects abroad. He first went father John and his mother Anne of studies at the University of California to Iraq in 2003 to work for the Binghamton, N.Y., and brothers at Los Angeles and, after earning a Coalition Provisional Authority. Gerald, Bob, Dan and Tim. master’s degree at the University of Mollen’s goal with the Iraqi Southern California in international Education Ministry was to rebuild the relations in 1951, joined the Foreign country’s 20 major universities and 40 u Service. His Foreign Service career technical institutes, research centers Eunice M. Rogers, 73, wife of spanned 27 years, with assignments in and colleges. In a Washington File retired FSO Jordan T. Rogers, died Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Hungary, interview in December 2003, he Sept. 7 in Mechanicsburg, Pa., after a Senegal, Mauritania, Nigeria, Tunisia expressed concern with Iraq’s “intel- long battle with colon cancer. and France, accompanied by major lectual isolation,” and explained his Mrs. Rogers was a graduate of awards from the U.S. and France. work to bring online digital video con- William and Mary College in As a young officer, Mr. Tanen ference capabilities to universities and Williamsburg, Va., and later received a served in Budapest two years after the colleges so students and faculties master’s degree from Shippensburg crushing of the Hungarian uprising could exchange information with their University in Pennsylvania. She against Soviet control in 1956. One of counterparts in the U.S. He had worked as a mental health counselor his assignments was to serve as princi- assembled a medical technology pro- for over a decade. pal embassy liaison with Jozsef gram to bring state-of-the-art informa- Mrs. Rogers was active in working Cardinal Mindszenty, Primate of tion to Iraqi medical students, and was with day care centers and with the Hungary, who had been released from working to develop Western-style homeless in Harrisburg, Pa., and was a communist prison during the upris- graduate business schools and execu- president for several years of the ing and had taken refuge in the U.S. tive management education programs. Board of Directors of Neighborhood embassy. He became a close friend of In a condolence message, Secre- Day Care Centers in Harrisburg. In the cardinal, who was finally permitted tary of State Colin Powell said: “Jim 2003, the Market Square Presbyterian to leave for Austria in 1971. dedicated his life to a noble cause: Church of Harrisburg, her church, Much of Mr. Tanen’s Foreign improving the quality of education for honored her service to the homeless Service career was dedicated to cul- thousands of Iraqis. … His sacrifice by establishing the Eunice Rogers tural affairs. One of his most suc- and heroism embody the greatest Compassionate Ministries Fund. cessful tasks was looking after the American virtues: courage, commit- In addition to her husband of 23 all-star delegation of African-

68 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2005 I N M EMORY u

American cultural participants in the 3,000 years of treasured Mexican art, 1966 World Festival of Negro Arts in as well as a Greek art exhibit, and con- Dakar, Senegal. Among the lumi- sulted on the preservation of archeo- naries were Duke Ellington, poet logical sites in Fez, Morocco, and in Langston Hughes, the Alvin Ailey Sri Lanka under UNESCO auspices. dancers, choreographer and anthro- Mr. Tanen was an avid horseman, pologist Katherine Dunham, and regularly rode with the Indian Leonard De Paur and his chorus, Army polo team during his frequent and actress Marpessa Dawn, star of working trips to New Delhi. When he the classic film “Black Orpheus.” moved to New York from Washington, In 1972, Tanen was named cultural D.C., he became a member of the attache at Embassy Paris, an assign- New York City auxiliary mounted park ment reserved for the most sophisti- patrol, and regularly rode with it in cated among U.S. cultural diplomats. Central Park. For his work in coordinating events for Mr. Tanen and his family main- the American Bi-Centennial in tained a home in Washington, D.C., France, he won awards not only from during his long Foreign Service career. the U.S. government, but also was He is survived by his wife, Phyllis made a Chevalier des Arts et des Cooke Tanen of New York City; his Lettres by the French government. daughter Tina Tanen and two grand- Following retirement in 1978, Mr. children, Jesse and Sophie-Beatrice, Tanen became executive director of of Los Angeles; and his brother, Ned the Indo-U.S. Subcommission on Tanen, of Los Angeles. ■ Education and Culture based in New York City, overseeing exchanges between India and the United States. u In 1983 he was appointed American Note coordinator for the Festival of India. The following paragraph was With more than 800 events taking inadvertently omitted from the obit- place in 150 cities in 44 states between uary for R. (Rayford) Glynn Mays 1985 and 1986, the Festival of India, Jr., which appeared in the December with a budget of $25 million, was the 2004 issue of the FSJ: largest single-nation cultural program Mr. Mays was predeceased by his ever presented in this country. Its wife, Matilda Frances Leonardo exhibits were displayed in the Mays, who died in 2001. He is sur- Metropolitan Museum, the Brooklyn vived by a daughter, Mildred Agate- Museum and the Public Library in Mays of Cambridge, Mass.; four sons, New York, the National Gallery and Glynn Mays of Halethorpe, Md., the Freer Gallery in Washington, Robert Mays of Chapel Hill, N.C., D.C., and the Cleveland, Boston and and David Mays and Christopher Philadelphia Museums. Mays, both of Gaithersburg, Md.; a In 1986, he formed Tanen sister; and 16 grandchildren. Associates to carry out international exchange projects for other govern- Send your “In Memory” submission to: mental cultural and educational pro- Foreign Service Journal grams. He oversaw the Festival of Attn: Susan Maitra Indonesia, a U.S.-wide cultural pro- 2101 E Street NW, Washington DC gram conducted from 1990 to 1992. 20037, or e-mail it to He also coordinated the major New [email protected], or fax it to (202) 338-8244. No photos, please. York Metropolitan Museum exhibit of

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FEBRUARY 2005/FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL 75 REFLECTIONS

Bring a Pundit to Work Day

BY KEITH W. M INES

y son’s school had a “job shad- judging by many recent op-ed interested them most: driving Mowing” day not long ago that columns and editorials on Colin through the bomb-laden streets of brought him to the U.S. embassy in Powell’s imminent departure. Condi Ramadi to get to my office each day? Ottawa, where I work in the political Rice is being urged to wield a firm Going into Fallujah to set up a city section. We had what I considered hand against all the disloyal, insubor- council? Slipping out to the Syrian to be a very active day: finishing a dinate, rampaging diplomats who are border to check on the newly formed scenesetter for President Bush’s supposedly indifferent or actively border guards? It’s also too bad the upcoming visit to Canada, meeting hostile to President Bush’s agenda. mavens missed the engagement with with the head of a prominent think- And these exhortations aren’t con- foreign publics that Foreign Service tank, visiting the Canadian Parlia- fined to the usual suspects, either: officers conducted after the Abu ment during Question Period, and mainstream publications like The Ghraib revelations. Far from exhib- making a demarche to the Foreign New Republic and the New York iting hostility or indifference to the Ministry on Sudan. Times have run such columns. president’s agenda, we were the glue But all that apparently did not Somehow I’m not sure how my that held the coalition together at add up to much for a 15-year-old, son missed all the excitement. Or this difficult time. for when Jonathan wrote up his was it the critics who missed some- What our critics miss is that the school report he said: “It isn’t very thing? Either way, inspired by business of foreign policy is messy exciting work, not as boring as I Jonathan’s experience, I’d like to because the world is messy. It will imagined but still not very lively … propose that Dr. Rice institute the not get any tidier by silencing the Diplomatic work involves a lot of first-ever “bring a pundit to work views and combined experience of talking and discussing and brain- day” so they can see for themselves those with the most exposure to the storming, [yet] not much is accom- what we do. world. The vast majority of State plished, much like in school.” I Of course, they have already Department employees involve guess I’m lucky he didn’t come back missed some of the really good themselves assertively in debates as the next day and watch me write opportunities to shadow diplomats. policy is being formed, and then just reports on our activities. They could have come to Kabul in as assertively execute policy once His reaction was kind compared January 2002 when the new decisions are made. The rare excep- with what many others are saying embassy’s staff was living in a bunker tion no more impugns the honor of about the Foreign Service, however, outside the chancery. Those who the entire diplomatic profession served there describe how shower- than Dr. Kevorkian dishonors the Since joining the Foreign Service in ing, food preparation and going to whole of the medical profession. 1992, Keith Mines has served in Tel the latrine all occurred within 10 feet So the pundits owe the Foreign Aviv, Mogadishu, San Salvador, of each other. My colleagues didn’t Service an apology, though I’m not Port-au-Prince, Budapest, Kabul, the have much time to exercise their holding my breath for one. al-Anbar province of Iraq (on TDY) “rampant disloyalty,” either; they Meanwhile, my invitation stands. and Washington, D.C. He was the were too busy trying to stay warm. Come out and shadow me for a 2004 winner of AFSA’s William R. I served in the Al-Anbar province while, or go observe my colleagues in Rivkin Award for constructive dis- of Iraq for seven months in 2003. Mosul and Fallujah and Ramadi and sent by a mid-level FSO. The stamp We didn’t get many commentators Khandahar. is courtesy of the AAFSW Bookfair shadowing us there, either. I wonder Otherwise, you can eat my pin- “Stamp Corner.” which part of my job would have striped shorts. ■

76 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL/FEBRUARY 2005 AFSAAmerican Foreign ServiceNEWS Association • February 2005 AFSA 2004 TAX GUIDE Federal and State Tax Provisions for the Foreign Service

FSA’s annual Tax Guide is designed years. In other words, Foreign Service married couples and singles. Long-term as an informational and reference tool. employees who are overseas on assignment capital gains are taxed at a maximum rate AAlthough we try to be accurate, many can extend the five-year period to 15 years, of 15 percent and are reported on Schedule of the new provisions of the tax code and IRS depending on the number of years they are D. This rate is effective for all sales in 2004, implementing regulations have not been fully posted away from their home. Note that except for those people who fall within the tested. Therefore, use caution and consult with the provision is retroactive, so that anyone 10- or 15-percent tax bracket: their rate is a tax adviser as soon as possible if you have who has already paid the tax on the sale of 5 percent. Long-term capital gain is defined specific questions or an unusual or complex a residence that would have qualified under as gain from the sale of property held for situation. the new law may file an amended return 12 months or more. to get the benefit of the new rule. There FEDERAL TAX PROVISIONS is, however, a three-year statute of limita- Personal Exemption The Military Families Tax Relief Act of tions, after which one cannot obtain a For each taxpayer, spouse and depen- 2003 continues to provide a significant ben- refund. dent the personal exemption is $3,100. efit for Foreign Service families who sell their Foreign Service employees most fre- There is, however, a personal exemption homes at a profit, but would have been quently ask AFSA about home ownership, phaseout of 2 percent for each $2,500 of unable to avail themselves of the capital tax liability upon sale of a residence, and adjusted gross income (AGI) over $142,700 gains exclusion (up to $250,000 for an indi- state of domicile. We have devoted special (singles), $178,350 (head of household), vidual/$500,000 for a couple) from the sale sections to these issues. $214,050 (joint) and $107,025 (married, fil- of a principal residence because they did not For 2004, the five basic tax rates for indi- ing separately). For those taxpayers in the meet the IRS “two-year occupancy within viduals remain at 10, 15, 25, 28 and 33 per- last category, the phaseout is 2 percent for the five years preceding the date of sale” cent, with a top rate of 35 percent. The 10- each $1,250 of adjusted gross income over requirement due to postings outside the percent rate is for taxable income up to $107,025. U.S. Under the new law, in relation to the $14,301 for married couples, $7,151 for sin- sale of a principal residence after May 6, gles. The 15-percent rate is for income up Extension for Taxpayers Abroad 1997, the calculation of the five- to $58,101 for married cou- Taxpayers whose tax home is outside the year period for measuring own- ples, $29,051 for singles. The U.S. on April 15 get an automatic exten- ership is suspended during any 25-percent rate is for income sion until June 15 to file their returns. When period that the eligible individ- up to $117,251 for married filing the return, these taxpayers should ual or his/her spouse is serving couples, $70,351 for singles. write “Taxpayer Abroad” on the first page on qualified official extended The 28-percent rate is for and attach a statement of explanation. duty as a member of the uni- income up to $178,651 for There are no late filing or late payment formed services or the Foreign married couples and income penalties for returns filed by June 15, but Service. up to $146,751 for singles. the IRS will charge interest on any amount The five-year period cannot The 33-percent rate is for owed from April 15 until the date they

be extended by more than 10 JOSH income up to $319,101 for receive payment. Standard Deduction ernment salaries) are subject to a thresh- intended to finance investments is The standard deduction is given to non- old of 7.5 percent of adjusted gross deductible up to the amount of net itemizers. It has been steadily increasing income. This means that to be deductible, income from investments. Interest on loans since 1987, but there was a big jump last the medical cost would have to exceed intended to finance a business is 100-per- year for married couples filing jointly. For $2,250 for a taxpayer with a $30,000 AGI. cent deductible. Passive-investment inter- couples the deduction is now $9,700 and There is also an additional 3-percent est on loans in which the taxpayer is an inac- for singles, $4,850. Married couples filing reduction of itemized deductions (exclud- tive participant (i.e., a limited partnership) separately get a standard deduction of ing medical, casualty, theft, and investment can be deducted only from the income pro- $4,850 and head-of-household filers receive interest) if the AGI exceeds $142,700. This duced by other “passive income.” Interest a $7,150 deduction. An additional amount 3 percent is applied to the AGI over on loans that do not fall into the above cat- is allowed for taxpayers over age 65 or blind. $142,700 and not to the total of itemized egories, such as borrowing money to buy Most unreimbursed employee business deductions on Schedule A. The maximum tax-exempt securities, is not deductible. expenses must be reported as miscellaneous loss of deductions is capped at 80 percent. itemized deductions, which are subject to State and local income taxes and real Home Leave Expenses a threshold of 2 percent of adjusted gross estate and personal property taxes remain Employee business expenses, such as income. This includes professional dues fully deductible for itemizers, as are char- home leave and representation, may be list- and publications, employment and edu- itable contributions (to American charities ed as miscellaneous itemized deductions and cational expenses, home office, legal, only) for most taxpayers. Donations to the claimed on Form 2106. In addition to the accounting, custodial and tax preparation AFSA scholarship fund are fully deductible 2-percent floor, only 50 percent for meals fees, home leave, representational and other as charitable contributions. Donations to and entertainment may be claimed (100 per- employee business expenses, and contri- AFSA via the Combined Federal Campaign cent for unreimbursed travel and lodging). butions to AFSA’s Legislative Action Fund. are also fully deductible. Individuals may Only the employee’s (not family members’) Unreimbursed moving expenses are no also dispose of any profit from the sale of home leave expenses are deductible. longer an itemized deduction. Since Jan. personal property abroad in this manner. Maintaining a travel log and retaining a copy 1, 1994, moving expenses have been an For 2004 tax returns, any interest paid of home leave orders will be helpful, should adjustment to income, which means that on auto or personal loans, credit cards, the IRS ever question claimed expenses. It you get to deduct them even if you are tak- department stores and other personal inter- is important to save receipts: without ing the standard deduction. However, the est will not be allowed as itemized deduc- receipts for food, a taxpayer may deduct only deduction has been narrowed to include tions. Interest on educational loans will be $31 to $51 a day (depending upon the fed- only the unreimbursed costs of moving allowed as an adjustment to gross income. eral meals and incidentals per diem rate at your possessions and yourself and your If the above debts are consolidated, how- the home leave address), no matter how family to the new location. ever, and paid with a home equity loan, large the grocery or restaurant bill. Lodging Medical expenses (including health and interest on the home equity loan is allow- is deductible, as long as it is not with friends, long-term care insurance, but not health able. Mortgage interest is, for the most part, relatives, or in one’s own home. The IRS insurance premiums deducted from gov- still fully deductible. Interest on loans will disallow use of per diem rates and any

AFSA HEADQUARTERS: Staff: Governing Board:

s: (202) 338-4045; Fax: (202) 338-6820 Executive Director Susan Reardon: [email protected] Business Department STATE DEPARTMENT AFSA OFFICE: PRESIDENT: John W. Limbert (202) 647-8160; Fax: (202) 647-0265 Controller Kalpna Srimal: [email protected] STATE VICE PRESIDENT: Louise K. Crane USAID AFSA OFFICE: Accounting Assistant Steven Tipton: [email protected] (202) 712-1941; Fax: (202) 216-3710 Labor Management USAID VICE PRESIDENT: Bill Carter General Counsel Sharon Papp: [email protected] FCS VICE PRESIDENT: Charles A. Ford FCS AFSA OFFICE: Labor Management Attorney Zlatana Badrich: [email protected] (202) 482-9088; Fax: (202) 482-9087 Labor Management Specialist James Yorke: [email protected] FAS VICE PRESIDENT: Laura Scandurra USAID Senior Labor Management Advisor Douglas Broome: [email protected] RETIREE VICE PRESIDENT: George F. Jones AFSA WEB SITE: www.afsa.org USAID Office Manager Asgeir Sigfusson: [email protected] SECRETARY: F.A. “Tex” Harris AFSA E-MAIL: [email protected] Grievance Attorneys Neera Parikh: [email protected] and AFSA NEWS: [email protected] Joe Slotnick: [email protected] TREASURER: Danny Hall FSJ: [email protected] Office Manager Christine Warren: [email protected] STATE REPRESENTATIVES: Todd A. Kushner, PRESIDENT: [email protected] Law Clerk Marques Peterson: [email protected] Elizabeth Horst, Scot L. Folensbee, STATE VP: [email protected] Member Services Tulinabo Mushingi, John C. Sullivan, RETIREE VP: [email protected] Director Janet Hedrick: [email protected] Jim Wagner USAID VP:[email protected] Representative Cory Nishi: [email protected] FCS VP: [email protected] Web site & Database Associate Meijing Shan: [email protected] USAID REPRESENTATIVE: Thomas Olson Administrative Assistant Ana Lopez: [email protected] FAS VP: [email protected] FCS REPRESENTATIVE: William Crawford

w to Contact U Contact w to Outreach Programs RETIREE REPRESENTATIVES: Gilbert Sheinbaum, Retiree Liaison Bonnie Brown: [email protected] AFSA News Director of Communications Thomas Switzer: [email protected] David E. Reuther, Theodore S. Wilkinson, III, Editor Shawn Dorman: [email protected] Congressional Affairs Director Ken Nakamura: [email protected] Stanley A. Zuckerman

Ho (202) 338-4045 x 503; Fax: (202) 338-8244 Corporate Relations/Executive Assistant Austin Tracy: [email protected] IBB REPRESENTATIVE: Laurie Kassman On the Web: www.afsa.org/news Scholarship Director Lori Dec: [email protected] Professional Issues Coordinator Barbara Berger: [email protected] FAS REPRESENTATIVE: Michael Conlon

2 AFSA NEWS ¥ FEBRUARY 2005 expenses claimed for family members. If residence. The second home can be a a hotel bill indicates double rates, the sin- house, condo, co-op, mobile home, or boat, gle room rate should be claimed, and, if pos- as long as the structure includes basic liv- sible, the hotel’s rate sheet should be saved ing accommodations, including sleeping, for IRS scrutiny. Car rental, mileage and bathroom and cooking facilities. If the sec- other unreimbursed travel expenses, includ- ond home is a vacation property that you ing parking fees and tolls, may be deduct- rent out for fewer than 15 days during the ed. The rate for business miles driven is 37.5 year, the income need not be reported. cents for miles driven during 2004. Those Rental expenses cannot be claimed either, who use this optional mileage method need but all property taxes and mortgage inter- not keep detailed records of actual vehicle est may be deducted. expenses. However, they should keep a detailed odometer log to justify the business Rental of Home use of the vehicle and track the percentage Taxpayers who are overseas and rented of business use. This optional mileage their homes in 2004 can continue to JOSH method applies to leased vehicles as well. deduct mortgage interest as a rental expense. Also deductible are property management Official Residence Expenses fees, condo fees, depreciation costs, taxes and Since Oct. 1, 1990, employees who all other rental expenses. Losses up to receive official residence expenses (ORE) $25,000 may be offset against other income, have not been allowed to reduce their as long as the AGI does not exceed $100,000 reportable income by five percent. The IRS and the taxpayer is actively managing the sale. As stated above, the five-year period ruling regarding ORE states that “usual property. Retaining a property manager does may be extended based on any period in expenses,” defined as 5 percent of salary, are not mean losing this benefit. which the taxpayer has been outside the not deductible. Therefore the only expen- U.S. on Foreign Service assignment, to a ses that are deductible are those above the Sale of a Principal Residence maximum of 15 years (including the five 5 percent paid out of pocket. Employees The current capital-gains exclusion on years). There are some exceptions to the should save receipts for any out-of-pocket the sale of a principal residence on or after two-year requirement, including a sale for expenses associated with their representa- May 7, 1997, applies to all homeowners the “change in place of employment” rea- tional duties. These expenses can be deduct- regardless of their age. Previously, quali- son (this would include foreign transfers). ed as miscellaneous business expenses. fied individuals who were age 55 or older This exclusion is not limited to a once-in- were allowed a one-time capital-gains exclu- a-lifetime sale, but may be taken once every Home Ownership sion of $125,000. Also, under previous law, two years. Individuals may deduct interest on up if you had a gain when you sold your home, When a principal residence is sold, to $1 million of acquisition debt for loans you could defer all or part of the gain if you capital gains realized above the exclusion secured by a first and/or second home. This purchased or built another home (of equal amounts are subject to taxation. This also includes loans taken out for major or higher value) within two years before or exclusion replaces the earlier tax-law pro- home improvements. On home equity after the sale. vision that allowed both the deferral of loans, interest is deductible on up to The current tax laws allow an exclusion gain and a one-time exclusion of a prin- $100,000, no matter how much the home of up to $500,000 for couples filing joint- cipal residence sale. cost, unless the loan is used for home ly and up to $250,000 for single taxpayers Temporary rental of the home does not improvements. The $100,000 ceiling on the gain from the sale of their princi- disqualify one from claiming the exclusion. applies to the total of all home equity loans pal residence. One need not purchase The new tax law requires only that you have you may have. The same generally applies another residence to claim this exclusion. occupied the house as your principal res- to refinancing a mortgage. Points paid to All depreciation taken after May 7, 1997, idence for the required period (two years obtain a refinanced loan cannot be fully will, however, be recaptured (added to out of five, extended). deducted the same year, but must be income) at the time of sale, and taxed at 25 Under Internal Revenue Code Section deducted over the life of the loan. It is advis- percent. 1031, taxpayers whose U.S. home may no able to save the settlement sheet (HUD-1 The only qualification for the capital- longer qualify for the principal residence Form) for documentation in the event your gains exclusion is that the house sold must exclusion may be eligible to replace the tax return is selected by the IRS for audit. have been the taxpayer’s principal residence property through a “tax-free exchange” (the Qualified residences are defined as the and owned by the taxpayer for at least two so-called Starker exchange). In essence, taxpayer’s principal residence and one other of the last five years prior to the date of the one property being rented out may be

FEBRUARY 2005 ¥ AFSA NEWS 3 exchanged for another, as long as that one liability that the employee faces varies great- states’ definitions, is an individual who earns is also rented. In exchanging the prop- ly from state to state. In addition, there are income sourced within the specific state but erties, capital gains tax may be deferred. numerous regulations concerning the tax- does not live there or is living there for only Technically, a simultaneous trade of ability of Foreign Service pensions and part of the year (usually, less than six investments occurs. Actually, owners first annuities that vary by state. months). Individuals are generally con- sign a contract with an intermediary to This state guide briefly reviews the laws sidered residents, and are thus fully liable sell their property, hold the cash proceeds regarding income tax and tax on annuities for taxes, if they are domiciled in the state in escrow, identify in writing within 45 and pensions as they affect Foreign Service or if they are living in the state (usually at days the property they intend to acquire, personnel. Please note that while AFSA least six months of the year) but are not and settle on the new property within 180 makes every attempt to provide the most domiciled there. days, using the money held in escrow as up-to-date information, readers with spe- Foreign Service employees residing in part of the payment. cific questions should consult a tax expert the metropolitan Washington area are It is important to emphasize that the in the state in question at the addresses required to pay income tax to the District, exchange is from one investment prop- given. Information is also available on the Maryland or Virginia, in addition to pay- erty to another investment property — states’ Web sites listed below. ing tax to the state of their domicile. the key factor in the IRS evaluation of an Most Foreign Service employees have However, most states allow a credit, so that exchange transaction is the intent of the questions about their liability to pay state the taxpayer pays the higher tax rate of the investor at the time the exchange was con- income taxes during periods posted over- two states, with each state receiving a share. summated. The IRS rules for the seas or assigned to Washington. It is a fun- There are currently seven states with no exchanges are complex and specific, damental rule of law that all U.S. citizens state income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, with a number of pitfalls that can nulli- must have a domicile somewhere. There South Dakota, Texas, Washington and fy the transaction. An exchange should are many criteria used in determining which Wyoming. In addition, New Hampshire never be attempted without assistance state is a citizen’s domicile. One of the and Tennessee have no tax on personal from a tax lawyer specializing in this field. strongest determinants is prolonged phys- income but do tax profits from the sale of ical presence, a standard that Foreign Service bonds and property. Calculating Your Adjusted Basis personnel frequently cannot meet, due to There are also eight states which, under Many Foreign Service employees ask overseas service. certain conditions, do not tax income what items can be added to the cost basis In such cases, the states will make a earned while the taxpayer is outside of the of their homes when they are ready to sell. determination of the individual’s income state: California, Connecticut, Missouri, Money spent on “fixing up” the home for tax status based on other factors, includ- New Jersey, New York, Oregon, sale may be deducted from the sales price. ing where the individual has family ties, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The To qualify as legitimate “fixing-up costs,” where he or she has been filing resident requirements for all except California are the following conditions must be met: tax returns, where he or she is registered that the individual not have a permanent 1) the expenses must be for work per- to vote or has a driver’s license, where he “place of abode” in the state, have a performed during the 90-day period ending or she owns property, or where the permanent “place of abode” outside the state, on the day on which the contract to sell son has bank accounts or other financial and not be physically present for more than the old residence was made; 2) the expens- holdings. In the case of Foreign Service 30 days during the tax year. California es must be paid on or before the 30th day employees, the domicile might be the state allows up to 45 days in the state during a after sale of the house, and 3) the from which the person joined the Service, tax year. Also, please note that these eight expenses must not be capital expenditures where his or her home leave address is, states require the filing of non-resident for permanent improvements or replace- or where he or she intends to return upon returns for all income earned from in-state ments (these can be added to the basis of separation. For purposes of this article, sources. the property, original purchase price, the term domicile refers to legal residence; Pennsylvania holds that “quarters thereby reducing the amount of profit). some states also define it as permanent provided by the government at no cost A new roof and kitchen counters are not residence. Residence refers to physical to petitioner cannot be considered as “fix-up” items. But painting the house, presence in the state. maintaining a permanent place of abode.” cleaning up the garden, and making Foreign Service personnel must con- Thus members of the Foreign Service minor repairs qualify as “fixing-up costs.” tinue to pay taxes to the state of domicile domiciled in Pennsylvania who occupy (or to the District of Columbia) while resid- government housing overseas must pay STATE TAX PROVISIONS ing outside of the state, including during income tax to Pennsylvania. If they rent Every active Foreign Service employee assignments abroad, unless the state of res- their own home overseas, however, they serving abroad must maintain a state of idence does not require it. will be exempt from these taxes. AFSA domicile in the United States, and the tax A non-resident, according to most has not heard of a similar ruling in any

4 AFSA NEWS ¥ FEBRUARY 2005

of the other seven states, but Foreign of Revenue, Taxpayer Information & fies all three of the following will be treat- Service employees should be aware that Assistance, 1600 W. Monroe, Phoenix, AZ ed as a non-resident: 1) The individual did states could challenge the status of gov- 85007-2650. Phone: (602) 255-3381. E-mail: not maintain a permanent place of abode ernment housing in the future. [email protected] inside Conn. for the entire tax year; 2) The Minnesota also has rules excusing its Web site: www.azdor.gov individual maintains a permanent place of domiciliaries from filing a resident tax ARKANSAS: Individuals domiciled in abode outside Conn. for the entire tax year; return while living outside the state. Arkansas are considered residents and are and 3) The individual spends not more The following list gives a state-by-state taxed on their entire income regardless of than 30 days in the aggregate in Conn. dur- overview of the latest information available their physical presence in the state. The ing the tax year. Group B: A domiciliary on tax liability, with addresses provided to Arkansas tax rate ranges from 1 to 7 percent who satisfies all three of the following will write for further information or tax forms. depending on income and filing status. For be treated as a non-resident: 1) In any peri- Tax rates are provided where possible. 2004, there is also a surtax of 3 percent of od of 548 consecutive days, the individual For further information, please contact computed tax. Write: Department of is present in a foreign country for at least AFSA’s Labor Management Office or the Finance and Administration, 1509 W. 7th St., 450 days; 2) During the 548-day period, the individual state tax authorities. As always, Little Rock, AR 72201. Phone: (501) 682- individual is not present in Conn. for more members are advised to double-check with 1100. than 90 days and does not maintain a per- their states’ tax authorities. To this end, we E-mail: [email protected] manent place of abode in Conn. at which give the Web sites for all states; all provide Web site: www.state.ar.us/dfa/taxes the individual’s spouse (unless the spouse useful information for their taxpayers. CALIFORNIA: Foreign Service employ- is legally separated) or minor children are James Yorke, who compiled the tax guide, ees domiciled in California must establish present for more than 90 days; and 3) would like to thank M. Bruce Hirshorn, non-residency to avoid being liable for During the non-resident portion of the tax- Foreign Service tax counsel, for his help in California taxes (see FTB Publication 1031). able year, the individual is present in Conn. preparing this article. However, a “safe harbor” provision was for a number of days that does not exceed introduced in 1994, which provides that any- an amount which bears the same ratio to one who is domiciled in-state but is out of 90 as the number of days contained in the State Overviews the state on an employment-related contract nonresident portion of the taxable year for at least 546 consecutive days will be con- bears to 548. For details of these exceptions, ALABAMA: Individuals domiciled in sidered a non-resident. This applies to most go to IP 2003(23) on the state tax Web site. Alabama are considered residents and are FS employees and their spouses, but Write: Department of Revenue Services, 25 subject to tax on their entire income regard- California residents are advised to study FTB Sigourney St., Hartford, CT 06106. Phone: less of their physical presence in the state. Pub. 1031 for exceptions and exemptions. (860) 297-5962. Fax: (860) 297-4929. Alabama’s tax rate is 5 percent of taxable Non-residents use Form 540NR. Address: Web site: www.ct.gov/drs income over $3,000 for single filers or over Franchise Tax Board, P.O. Box 942840, DELAWARE: Individuals domiciled in $6,000 for joint filers. Write: Alabama Sacramento, CA 94240-0040. For account Delaware are considered residents and are Department of Revenue, 50 N. Ripley, information, phone: 1(800) 852-5711. subject to tax on their entire income regard- Montgomery, AL 36132. Phone: (334) 242- Web site: www.ftb.ca.gov less of their physical presence in the state. 1170. COLORADO: Individuals domiciled in Delaware’s tax rate ranges from 2.2 to 5.95 Web site: www.ador.state.al.us Colorado are considered residents and are percent depending on income and filing sta- ALASKA: Alaska does not tax individual subject to tax on their entire income regard- tus. Write: Division of Revenue, Taxpayers income, or intangible or personal property. less of their physical presence in the state. Assistance Section, State Office Building, 820 It has no sales and use, franchise or fiducia- Colorado’s tax rate is a flat 4.63 percent of N. French St., Wilmington, DE 19801. ry tax. Write: State Office Building, 333 federal taxable income attributable to Phone (302) 577-8200. Willoughby Ave, 11th Floor, P.O. Box Colorado sources plus or minus allowable E-mail: [email protected] 110400, Juneau, AK 99811-0400. Phone: modifications. Write: Department of Web site: www.state.de.us/revenue/ (907) 465-2300. Revenue, Taxpayer Service Division, State Web site: www.state.ak.us Capitol Annex, 1375 Sherman St., Denver, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Individuals ARIZONA: Individuals domiciled in CO 80261-0005. Phone: (303) 238-7378. domiciled in the District of Columbia are Arizona are considered residents and are E-mail: [email protected] considered residents and are subject to tax taxed on any income that is included in the Web site: www.revenue.state.co.us on their entire income regardless of their federal AGI, regardless of their physical pres- CONNECTICUT: Connecticut domicil- physical presence there. Individuals domi- ence in the state. Arizona tax rate ranges from iaries may qualify for non-resident tax treat- ciled elsewhere are also considered residents 2.87 to 5.04 percent depending on income ment under either of two exceptions as fol- for tax purposes for the portion of any cal- and filing status. Write: Arizona Department lows: Group A: A domiciliary who satis- endar year in which they are physically pre-

FEBRUARY 2005 ¥ AFSA NEWS 5 sent in the District for 183 days or more. IDAHO: Individuals domiciled in Idaho Web site: www.state.ia.us/tax The District’s tax rate is 5 percent if income for an entire tax year are considered residents KANSAS: Individuals domiciled in is less than $10,000; $500 plus 7.5 percent and are subject to tax on their entire income. Kansas are considered residents and are sub- of excess over $10,000 if between $10,000 For the 2004 tax year, Idaho’s tax rate is ject to tax on their entire income regardless and $30,000; and $2,000 plus 9 percent of between 1.6 and 7.8 percent, depending on of their physical presence in the state. The excess over $30,000 if over $30,000. Write: earned income. Idaho offers a safe-harbor Kansas tax rate rises from a minimum of 3.5 Office of Tax and Revenue, 941 N. Capitol provision: a resident individual who is out- percent to a maximum of $2,925 plus 6.45 St., N.E., Washington, DC 20002. Phone side Idaho for a qualifying period of time will percent of excess over $60,000 for joint fil- (202) 727-4TAX. not be considered a resident. If an individ- ers, or $1,462.50 plus 6.45 percent of excess Web site: www.cfo.dc.gov/cfo ual qualifies for the safe harbor, he or she over $30,000 for single filers. Write: Kansas FLORIDA: Florida does not impose per- would report as a non-resident and be taxed Taxpayer Assistance Center, Room 150, 915 sonal income, inheritance or gift taxes. only on income from Idaho sources. A non- SW Harrison, Topeka, KS 66612. Phone: However, Florida taxes “intangible assets” resident must file an Idaho income tax return (785) 368-8222. E-mail: tac@kdor. (which include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, if his or her gross income from Idaho sources state.ks.us etc.) and real property. There are personal is $2,500 or more. To request forms write: Web site: http://www.ksrevenue.org exemptions of $250,000 for single filers and Idaho State Tax Commission, P.O. Box 36, KENTUCKY: Individuals domiciled in $500,000 for joint filers. See Form DR-601I Boise, ID 83722-0410. Phone: 1(800) 972- Kentucky are considered residents and are for details. Florida imposes a sales tax and 7660. subject to tax on their entire income regard- a use tax of between 6 and 7.5 percent, Web site: tax.idaho.gov less of their physical presence in the state. depending on county of residence. Write: ILLINOIS: Individuals domiciled in Kentucky’s tax rate is 2 percent on the first Tax Information Services, Florida Illinois are considered residents and are sub- $3,000 of taxable income, plus 3 percent on Department of Revenue, 1379 Blountstown ject to tax on their entire income regardless the next $1,000, plus 4 percent on the next Highway, Tallahassee, FL 32304-2716. of their physical presence in the state. The $1,000, plus 5 percent on the next $1,000, and Phone: 1(800) 352-3671 (in Florida only) or Illinois tax rate is a 3-percent flat rate, with $3,000 plus 6 percent on all income over (850) 488-6800. a personal exemption for all taxpayers of $8,000. Write: Kentucky Department of Web site: sun6.dms.state.fl.us/dor $2,000. For information, write: Illinois Revenue, 200 Fair Oaks Lane, Frankfort, KY GEORGIA: Individuals domiciled in Department of Revenue, PO Box 19001, 40620. Phone: (502) 564-4581. Georgia are considered residents and are sub- Springfield, IL 62794-9001. Phone: (217) Web site: revenue.ky.gov ject to tax on their entire income regardless 782-3336 or 1(800) 732-8866. LOUISIANA: Individuals domiciled in of their physical presence in the state. Web site: www.revenue.state.il.us Louisiana are considered residents and are Maximum tax rate is $340 plus 6 percent of INDIANA: Individuals domiciled in subject to tax on their entire income regard- the excess over $10,000 of Georgia taxable Indiana are considered residents and are sub- less of their physical presence in the state. income for joint filers, or $230 plus 6 per- ject to tax on their entire income regardless Resident individuals are entitled to a tax cred- cent of the excess over $7,000 for single fil- of their physical presence in the state. it for income tax paid to another state on the ers. Write: Georgia Department of Revenue, However, a credit is granted for any taxes paid amount of income earned in the other state Taxpayer Services Division, 1800 Century to another state where the income was and included in that state’s taxable income. Blvd., N.E., Atlanta, GA 30345. Phone: (404) earned. Those who claim federal Foreign Tax Louisiana’s tax rate ranges from 2 percent for 417-4477. E-mail: taxpayer.services@dor. Credit will need to submit Federal Form 1116 the first $12,500 for single filers or $25,000 ga.gov, or for forms: [email protected]. to claim it in Indiana. Indiana’s tax rate for joint filers rising to 6 percent for over ga.us remains 3.4 percent. Write: Department of $25,000 for single filers or $50,000 for joint Web site: www.gatax.org Revenue, 100 N. Senate Ave., Indianapolis, filers. Address: Taxpayer Services Division, HAWAII: Individuals domiciled in IN 46204. Phone: (317) 232-2240. Personal Income Tax Section, Louisiana Hawaii are considered residents and are sub- Web site: www.in.gov/dor Department of Revenue, P.O. Box 201, Baton ject to tax on their entire income regardless IOWA: Individuals domiciled in Iowa are Rouge, LA 70821-0201. Phone: (225) 219- of their physical presence in the state. considered residents and are subject to tax 0102. Hawaii’s tax rate ranges from 1.4 to 8.25 per- on their entire income to the extent that Web site: www.revenue.louisiana.gov cent depending on income and filing status. income is taxable on the person’s federal MAINE: Individuals domiciled in Maine Write: Oahu District Office, Taxpayer income tax returns. Iowa’s tax rate ranges are considered residents and are subject to Services Branch, P.O. Box 3559, Honolulu, from 0.36 to 8.98 percent depending on tax on their entire income regardless of their HI 96811-3559. Phone: (808) 587-4242 or income and filing status. Write: Iowa physical presence in the state. Credit is 1(800) 222-3229. E-mail: Taxpayer. Department of Revenue, Taxpayer Services, allowed for taxes paid in another jurisdiction. [email protected] PO Box 10457, Des Moines, IA 50306-0457. Maine’s tax rate ranges from 2 to 8.5 percent Web site: www.state.hi.us/tax Phone: (515) 281-3114 depending on income and filing status.

6 AFSA NEWS ¥ FEBRUARY 2005 Write: Maine Revenue Services, Income Tax 21411. Phone: (410) 260-7980 or 1(800) Minnesota are considered residents and are Assistance, 24 State House Station, Augusta, MD-TAXES. E-mail: [email protected]. subject to tax on their entire income regard- ME 04333-0024. Phone: (207) 626-8475. md.us less of their physical presence in the state. E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.marylandtaxes.com Minnesota exempts domiciliaries who meet Web site: www.maine.gov/revenue MASSACHUSETTS: Individuals domi- the foreign earned income exclusion, even MARYLAND: Individuals domiciled in ciled in Massachusetts are considered resi- though they may be federal employees. Maryland are considered residents and are dents and are subject to tax on their entire Minnesota’s tax rate ranges from 5.35 to 7.85 subject to tax on their entire income regard- income regardless of their physical presence percent depending on income and filing sta- less of their physical presence in the state. in the state. Salaries and most interest and tus. Joint filers with taxable income of at least Individuals domiciled elsewhere are also con- dividend income are taxed at 5.3 percent for $29,000, where each spouse has earned pen- sidered residents for tax purposes for the por- Calendar Year 2004. Write: Massachusetts sion or social security income of at least tion of any calendar year in which they are Department of Revenue, Taxpayer Services $17,000, may be eligible for a marriage cred- physically present in the state for 183 con- Division, P.O. Box 7010, Boston, MA it. Write: Department of Revenue, Mail secutive days or more. Maryland’s tax rate 02204. Phone: (617) 887-MDOR or 1(800) Station 5510, Saint Paul, MN 55146-5510. is 4.75 percent depending on income and 392-6089. Phone: (651) 296-3781. county of residence. Baltimore City and the Web site: www.dor.state.ma.us E-mail: [email protected] 23 Maryland counties also impose a local MICHIGAN: Individuals domiciled in Web site: www.taxes.state.mn.us income tax, which is a percentage of the Michigan are considered residents and are MISSISSIPPI: Individuals domiciled in Maryland taxable income, using line 31 of subject to tax on their entire income regard- Mississippi are considered residents and are Form 502 or line 9 of Form 503. The local less of their physical presence in the state. subject to tax on their entire income regard- factor varies from 1.25 percent in Worcester Michigan’s tax rate for 2004 is 3.95 percent. less of their physical presence in the state. County to 3.2 percent in Montgomery and Address: Michigan Department of Treasury, Mississippi’s tax rate is 3 percent on the first Prince George’s Counties, depending on the Lansing, MI 48922. Phone: 1(900) 827-4000. $5,000 of taxable income, 4 percent on the subdivision of domicile. Write: Comptroller E-mail: [email protected] next $5,000, and 5 percent on taxable of Maryland, Revenue Administration Center, Web site: www.michigan.gov/treasury income over $10,000. Contact MSTC, PO Taxpayer Service Section, Annapolis MD MINNESOTA: Individuals domiciled in Box 1033, Jackson, MS 39215-1033.

FEBRUARY 2005 ¥ AFSA NEWS 7 Phone: (601) 923-7089. NEW HAMPSHIRE: No personal income P.O. Box 630, Santa Fe, NM 87504-0630. Web site: www.mstc.state.ms.us tax on earned income, and no general sales Phone: (505) 827-0700. MISSOURI: No tax liability for out-of- tax. There is a 5-percent tax on interest and Web site: www.state.nm.us/tax state income if the individual has no per- dividend income, 8.5 percent on business NEW YORK: No tax liability for out-of- manent residence in Missouri, has a per- profits including sale of rental property, and state income if the individual has no permanent residence elsewhere, and is not phys- an 18-percent inheritance tax. Write: manent residence in New York, has a per- ically present in the state for more than 30 Taxpayer Assistance Office, 45 Chenell manent residence elsewhere, and is not pre- days during the tax year. Missouri calculates Drive, P.O. Box 2072, Concord, NH 03302- sent in the state more than 30 days during tax on a graduated scale up to $9,000 of tax- 2072. Phone: (603) 271-2191. the tax year. Filing a return is not required, able income (TI). Any TI over $9,000 is taxed Web site: www.nh. gov/revenue but it is recommended to preserve domicile at a rate of 6 percent. File a return yearly with NEW JERSEY: A New Jersey domicil- status. The highest tax rate in New York State an attached “Statement of Non-Residency” iary is considered a non-resident and has is 7.7 percent and in New York City it is 4.45 (Form 1040C). Also use this form if you have no tax liability for out-of-state income if percent. Filing is required on Form IT-203 income of more than $600 from Missouri the individual has no permanent residence for revenue derived from New York sources. sources. For information write: Individual in New Jersey, has a permanent residence Write: NYS Tax Department, Personal Income Tax, P.O. Box 2200, Jefferson City, elsewhere, and is not physically in the state Income Tax Information, W.A. Harriman MO 65105-2200, or phone: (573) 751-3505. for more than 30 days during the tax year. Campus, Albany, NY 12227. Phone: 1(800) E-mail: [email protected] Filing a return is not required (unless the 225-5829. Web site: www.dor.state.mo.us non-resident has New Jersey source Web site: www.nystax.gov MONTANA: Individuals domiciled in income), but is recommended in order to NORTH CAROLINA: Individuals domi- Montana are considered residents and are preserve domicile status. Form 1040 NR ciled in North Carolina are considered res- subject to tax on their entire income regard- is required for revenue derived from in- idents and are subject to tax on their entire less of their physical presence in the state. state sources. Tax liability is calculated as income regardless of their physical presence Montana’s tax rate ranges from 2 to 11 per- a variable lump sum plus a percentage from in the state. The tax rate ranges from 6 percent depending on income and filing status. 1.4 percent of taxable income up to a high cent for taxable income up to $12,750 for sin- See the Web site for various deductions and of 8.970 percent on taxable gross income gle or $21,250 for joint filers, rising in three exemptions, or write: Montana Department over $500,000. Write: State of New steps to $8,722 plus 8.25 percent of the of Revenue, P.O. Box 5805, Helena, MT Jersey, New Jersey Division of Taxation, amount over $120,000 for single, or 59604. Phone: (406) 444-6900. Office of Information and Publications, PO $14,537.50 plus 8.25 percent of the amount Web site: www.discoveringmontana. Box 281, Trenton, NJ 08695-0281, or over $200,000 for joint filers. Residents must com/revenue phone: (609) 292-6400. also report and pay a “use tax” on purchas- NEBRASKA: Individuals domiciled in Web site: www.state.nj.us/treasury/ es made outside the state for use in North Nebraska are considered residents and are taxation Carolina. Write: Department of Revenue, subject to tax on their entire income regard- NEW MEXICO: Individuals domiciled P.O. Box 25000, Raleigh, NC 27640. Phone: less of their physical presence in the state, with in New Mexico are considered residents 1-877-252-3052 credit allowed for tax paid to other states. The and are subject to tax on their entire Web site: www.dor.state.nc.us 2004 individual income tax rates range from income, insofar as that income is taxable NORTH DAKOTA: Individuals domiciled 2.56 to a maximum of $1,888.20 plus 6.84 federally, regardless of their physical pres- in North Dakota and serving outside the state percent of the excess over $46,750 for joint ence in the state. Persons physically pre- are considered residents and are subject to filers. Write: Department of Revenue, 301 sent in New Mexico for at least 185 days tax on their entire income. Tax rates vary Centennial Mall South, P.O. Box 94818, are residents for income tax purposes. The according to income and whether the stan- Lincoln, NE 68509-4818. Phone (402) 471- 185 days need not be consecutive. The basis dard method (Form ND-1) or the option- 5729. for New Mexico’s calculations is the al method (Form ND-2) is used. Write: Web site: www.revenue.state.ne.us Federal Adjusted Gross Income (FAGI). Office of State Tax Commissioner, State NEVADA: No personal income tax. For the 2004 tax year, New Mexico has a Capitol, 600 E. Boulevard Avenue, Bismarck, There is a sales and use tax of between 6.5 graduated rate table with six brackets rang- ND 58505-0599. Phone: (701) 328-2770. and 7.5 percent, depending on the county, ing from 1.7 to 6.8 percent, based upon Web site: www.ndtaxdepartment.gov and an ad valorem personal and real prop- New Mexico taxable income and filing sta- OHIO: Individuals domiciled in Ohio are erty tax. Write: Nevada Department of tus. The top bracket drops in annual incre- considered residents and their income is sub- Taxation, 1550 E. College Pkwy, Suite 100, ments until it reaches 4.9 percent for tax ject to tax, using their Federal Adjusted Gross Carson City NV 89706. Phone: (775) 684- year 2007. Write: New Mexico Taxation Income figure as a starting base. Ohio res- 2000. and Revenue Department, Tax Information idents are given a tax credit to reduce the Web site: www.tax.state.nv.us and Policy Office, 1100 St. Francis Drive, Ohio tax due if another state or the District

8 AFSA NEWS ¥ FEBRUARY 2005 of Columbia taxed part or all of their income. OREGON: Individuals domiciled in ernment quarters abroad must continue to pay Ohio part-year residents are allowed a tax Oregon are considered residents and are sub- Pennsylvania income tax. Pennsylvania’s credit for income not earned or received in ject to tax on their entire income regardless tax rate is a flat 3.07 percent. Write: Ohio for the period of time they resided in of their physical presence in the state. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department another state. Ohio’s tax rate ranges from However, under a 1999 law, Oregon exempts of Revenue, Taxpayer Services Department, 0.743 percent rising in nine stages to a max- domiciliaries who meet the foreign residence Harrisburg, PA 17128-1061. Phone: (717) imum payment of $11,560.20 plus 7.5 per- requirement for the foreign earned income 787-8201. E-mail: [email protected] cent of the excess over taxable income of exclusion, even though they may be feder- Web site: www.revenue.state.pa.us $200,000. Write: Ohio Department of al employees. Oregon’s tax rates range from PUERTO RICO: Individuals who are Taxation, Taxpayer Services Center, 800 5 to 9 percent of taxable income. Write: domiciled in Puerto Rico are considered res- Freeway Drive North, Columbus, OH Oregon Department of Revenue, 955 Center idents and are subject to tax on their entire 43229. Phone: 1(800) 282-1780. Street N.E., Salem, OR 97301-2555. Phone: income regardless of their physical presence Web site: www.tax.ohio.gov (503) 378-4988. in the commonwealth. Normally, they may OKLAHOMA: Individuals domiciled in Web site: egov.oregon.gov/DOR claim a credit with certain limitations, for Oklahoma are considered residents and are PENNSYLVANIA: No tax liability for out- income taxes paid to the United States on subject to tax on their entire income regard- of-state income if the individual has no per- income from sources outside Puerto Rico, less of their physical presence in the state. manent residence in the state, has a perma- and for any federal taxes paid. Write: Oklahoma’s tax rate is based upon income nent residence elsewhere, and spends no more Departamento de Hacienda, P.O. Box and various exemptions with a maximum than 30 days in the state during the tax year. 9024140, San Juan, PR 00902-4140. Phone: of $1249.50 plus 10% of taxable income over Filing a return is not required, but it is rec- General Inquiries: (787) 721-2020, ext. $24,000 after federal tax deduction . Write: ommended to preserve domicile status. File 3611, or 1(800) 981-9236. E-mail: Oklahoma Tax Commission, Taxpayer Form PA40 for all income derived from [email protected] Services Division, 2501 Lincoln Blvd., Pennsylvania sources. Pennsylvania does not Web site: www.hacienda.gobierno.pr Oklahoma City, OK 73194-0009. Phone: consider government quarters overseas to be RHODE ISLAND: Individuals domiciled (405) 521-3160. a “permanent place of abode elsewhere,” so in Rhode Island are considered residents and Web site: www.oktax.state.ok.us Foreign Service Pennsylvania residents in gov- are subject to tax on their entire income

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FEBRUARY 2005 ¥ AFSA NEWS 9 regardless of their physical presence in the UTAH: Individuals domiciled in Utah are 47478, Olympia WA 98504-7478. Phone: state. Although Rhode Island tax is now considered residents and are subject to Utah (360) 786-6100 or 1(800) 647-7706. being calculated based on the federal adjust- state tax. Utah requires that all federal adjust- Web site: www.dor.wa.gov ed gross income, it will still be very general- ed gross income reported on the federal WEST VIRGINIA: No tax liability for out- ly about 25 percent of the federal tax liabil- return be reported on the state return regard- of-state income if the individual has no per- ity. Please refer first to the tax division’s Web less of the taxpayer’s physical presence in the manent residence in West Virginia, has a per- site not only for current information and state. Utah’s tax rises from a minimum of manent residence elsewhere, and spends no handy filing hints but also for forms and reg- 2.3 percent in five steps to a maximum of more than 30 days of the tax year in West ulations to download. Additional assistance $362 plus 7 percent of taxable income over Virginia. Filing a return is not required, but can be obtained over the phone between 8:30 $8,626 for joint filers. Write: Utah State Tax is recommended to preserve domicile status. a.m. and 4 p.m. EST. Phone (401) 222-1040, Commission, Taxpayer Services Division, 210 Filing is required on form IT-140-NR for all and select option #3 from the menu of choic- North 1950 West, Salt Lake City, UT income derived from West Virginia sources. es. Write: Rhode Island Division of 84134. Phone: (801) 297-2200 or 1(800) 662- Tax rates range from $150 plus 4 percent of Taxation, Taxpayer Assistance Section, One 4335. E-mail: [email protected] income over $5,000 for single filers ,rising in Capitol Hill, Providence, RI 02908-5801. Web site: www.tax.utah.gov four steps to $2,775 plus 6.5 percent of Web site: www.tax.state.ri.us VERMONT: Individuals domiciled in income over $60,000 for joint filers. Write: SOUTH CAROLINA: Individuals domi- Vermont are considered residents and are Department of Tax and Revenue, Taxpayer ciled in South Carolina are considered res- subject to tax on their entire income regard- Services Division, P.O. Box 3784, Charleston, idents and are subject to tax on their entire less of their physical presence in the state. Tax WV 25337-3784. Phone: (304) 558-3333 or income regardless of their physical presence rates should be obtained from the tax tables 1(800) 982-8297. E-mail: [email protected]. in the state. South Carolina imposes a grad- in the Vermont income tax booklet or from wv.us uated tax ranging from 2.5 percent on the the Vermont Web site. Write: Vermont Web site: www.state.wv.us/taxdiv first $2,500, rising in six steps to a maximum Department of Taxes, Taxpayer Services WISCONSIN: Individuals domiciled in of 7 percent for income over $12,500. Write: Division, Pavilion Office Building, Wisconsin are considered residents and are South Carolina Tax Commission, 301 Montpelier, VT 05609-1401. Phone: (802) subject to tax on their entire income regard- Gervais Street, P.O. Box 125, Columbia, SC 828-2865. E-mail: [email protected] less of where the income is earned. 29214. Phone: (803) 898-5000. E-mail: Web site: www.state.vt.us/tax Wisconsin’s current tax rate ranges from 4.6 [email protected] VIRGINIA: Individuals domiciled in percent on income up to $8,610 for single Web site: www.sctax.org Virginia are considered residents and are sub- filers, rising in four steps to a maximum of SOUTH DAKOTA: No state income tax. ject to tax on their entire income regardless $10,934.70 plus 6.75 percent of income over Property and sales taxes vary depending on of their physical presence in the state. $172,200 for joint filers.. Write: Wisconsin city and/or county. Write: South Dakota Individuals domiciled elsewhere are also con- Department of Revenue, Individual Income Dept of Revenue, 445 E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, sidered residents for tax purposes for the por- Tax Assistance, P.O. Box 8906, Madison, WI SD 57501-3185. Phone: (605) 773-3311 tion of any calendar year in which they are 53708-8906. Phone: (608) 266-2772. Web site: www.state.sd.us/drr2/revenue physically present in the state for 183 days or Web site: www.dor.state.wi.us TENNESSEE: Salaries and wages are not more. Individual tax rates are: 2 percent if WYOMING: No state income tax. No tax subject to Tennessee income tax, but Tennessee taxable income (TI) is less than $3,000; $60 on intangibles such as bank accounts, stocks imposes a 6-percent tax on dividends and cer- plus 3 percent of excess over $3,000 if TI is or bonds. Write: Wyoming Department of tain types of interest income received by between $3,000 and $5,000; $120 plus 5 per- Revenue, Herschler Building, 122 West 25th Tennessee residents. For information write: cent of excess over $5,000 if TI is between St., Cheyenne, WY 82002-0110. Phone: Tennessee Department of Revenue, (attention: $5,000 and $17,000; and $720 plus 5.75 per- (307) 777-7961. E-mail: [email protected] Taxpayer Services), 500 Deaderick Street, cent of TI over $17,000. Write: Department Web site: revenue.state.wy.us Nashville, TN 37242. Phone: (615) 253-0600. of Taxation, Ofice of Customer Services, P.O. E-mail: [email protected] Box 1115, Richmond, VA 23218-1115. State Pension & Web site: www.state.tn.us/revenue Phone (804) 367-8031. E-mail: TaxInd TEXAS: No state income tax. Sales Tax [email protected] Annuity Tax ranges from 6.5 to 8.25 percent depending Web site: www.tax.virginia.gov The laws regarding the taxation of on jurisdiction. Write: Texas Comptroller of WASHINGTON: No state income tax. Foreign Service annuities vary greatly Public Accounts, P.O. Box 13528, Capitol No tax on intangibles such as bank accounts, from state to state. In addition to those Station, Austin, TX 78711-3528. For gen- stocks and bonds. Sales tax ranges from 7.5 states that have no income tax or no tax eral information phone: 1 (800) 252-5555. to 8.8 percent depending on jurisdiction. on personal income, there are several states E-mail: [email protected] Address: Washington State Department of that do not tax income derived from pen- Web site: www.window.state.tx.us Revenue, Taxpayer Services, P.O. Box sions and annuities. Idaho taxes Foreign

10 AFSA NEWS ¥ FEBRUARY 2005

Service annuities while exempting certain 62 years or older and disabled. Amount able income to the extent included in fed- portions of those of the Civil Service. reduced dollar for dollar by Social Security eral AGI. Retirement benefits from private ALABAMA: Social security and federal benefits. sources included in the AGI may be deduct- pensions are not taxable. ILLINOIS: Full exemption; U.S. govern- ed to a maximum of $38,550 for a single filer ALASKA: No personal income tax. ment pensions are not taxed. or $77,100 for joint filers for the 2004 tax year. ARIZONA: Up to $2,500 of U.S. gov- INDIANA: Up to $2,000 exemption for This maximum is reduced by the deduction ernment pension income may be excluded most 62 or older, reduced dollar for dollar taken for the government pension. Those for each taxpayer. There is also a $2,100 by Social Security benefits. 65 or over may be able to deduct part of their exemption for each taxpayer age 65 or over. IOWA: Fully taxable. However, there is interest, dividends or capital gains included ARKANSAS: Up to $6,000 exempt. a pension/retirement income exclusion of up in AGI up to $8,565 for single filers and CALIFORNIA: Fully taxable. to $6,000 for individuals whose filing status $17,190 for joint filers. COLORADO: Up to $24,000 exempt if is single, head of household or qualifying wid- MINNESOTA: Certain people over 65 age 65 or over. Up to $20,000 exempt if age ower, and up to $12,000 for married tax- with incomes under $42,000 may be eligi- 55 to 64. payers whose filing status is joint or married ble for a “subtraction.” The maximum sub- CONNECTICUT: Fully taxable for resi- filing separately. To take this exclusion, the traction is $12,000 for married filing joint- dents. taxpayer (or spouse) must be 55 years of age ly and $6,000 for singles, which is reduced DELAWARE: Two exclusions: 1) Up to or older on Dec. 31, 2004, or disabled, or be dollar for dollar by untaxed Social Security $2,000 exempt if earned income is less than either a surviving spouse or a survivor hav- benefits, and by one dollar for each two dol- $2,500 and Adjusted Gross Income is less ing an insurable interest in an individual who lars of income over $18,000 for married fil- than $10,000; if married and filing jointly, up would have qualified for the exclusion in 2004 ing jointly and $14,500 for singles. The mar- to $4,000 exempt if earned income is less than on the basis or age or disability. The same riage credit also applies to annuity and pen- $5,000 and AGI is under $20,000. This is income tax rates apply to annuities as other sion recipients. applicable for those 60 years or older or total- incomes. MISSISSIPPI: Social security and qual- ly disabled. 2) If under age 60, the amount KANSAS: Full exemption; U.S. govern- ified retirement income from federal, state of the exclusion is $2,000 or the amount of ment pensions are not taxed. and private retirement systems are exempt the pension (whichever is less) and for age KENTUCKY: Government pensions from Mississippi tax. 60 or older, the amount of the exclusion is attributable to service before Jan. 1, 1998, are MISSOURI: Up to $6,000 exempt if the $12,500 or the amount of the pension and not taxed. The portion of annuity income pension income is less than $32,000 when eligible retirement income (ERI), whichev- attributable to service after Dec. 31, 1997, is married filing jointly, $16,000 if married filer is less. The combined total of pension and subject to tax at the appropriate rate, but is ing separately, or $25,000 for a single or head- ERI may not exceed $12,500 per person age eligible for the pension exclusion of up to of-household filer. 60 or older. $40,200 in 2004. MONTANA: $3,600 pension income DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Pension or LOUISIANA: Exemption of $6,000 of exclusion if federal adjusted gross income is annuity exclusion of $3,000 if 62 years or annual retirement income received by any less than $30,000. Pension income exclusion older. person aged 65 or over. reduced for income levels above $30,000 with FLORIDA: No personal income, inher- MAINE: Recipients of a government- no exclusion if federal adjusted gross income itance, or gift tax, but Florida has an “intan- sponsored pension or annuity may deduct is greater than $31,800 for single taxpayer and gibles tax.” up to $6,000 on income that is included in $33,600 if married filing a joint return and GEORGIA: Up to $15,000 exempt for their federal AGI, reduced by all Social both spouses have pension income. those 62 years or older, or permanently and Security and railroad benefits. NEBRASKA: Fully taxable. totally disabled for the 2003 and subsequent MARYLAND: For individuals 65 years or NEVADA: No personal income tax. tax years older or permanently disabled, or if their NEW HAMPSHIRE: No personal income HAWAII: Pension and annuity distrib- spouse is permanently disabled, all pensions tax; federal pensions are not taxed. utions from a government pension plan are may be excluded up to a maximum of NEW JERSEY: Pensions and annuities not taxed in Hawaii. $19,900 under certain conditions. Eligibility from civilian government service are subject IDAHO: Foreign Service retirees whose determination is required. Social Security is to state income tax with exemptions for those annuities are paid from the FSPS are fully not taxed. See the worksheet and instruc- who are age 62 or older, or totally and per- taxed on their pensions. Those persons tions to Maryland Form 502. manently disabled. Singles and heads of retired under the Civil Service Retirement Act MASSACHUSETTS: Full exemption; households can exclude up to $15,000; mar- are exempt up to $21,900 for a single return U.S. government contributory pensions ried filing jointly up to $20,000; married fil- and up to $32,850 if filing jointly. Up to are not taxed. ing separately up to $10,000 each. $21,900 is exempt for the unmarried survivor MICHIGAN: Federal government pen- NEW MEXICO: All pensions and annu- of annuitant. Must be 65 years or older, or sions may be deducted from Michigan tax- ities of New Mexico residents, if taxable fed-

FEBRUARY 2005 ¥ AFSA NEWS 11 V.P. VOICE: STATE ■ BY LOUISE CRANE erally, are fully taxed as part of Federal Adjusted Gross Income. NEW YORK: Full exemption; U.S. gov- LES is More: Support Our FSNs ernment pensions and annuities are not taxed. he December terrorist attack on U.S. Consulate General NORTH CAROLINA: Pursuant to the Jeddah in Saudi Arabia once again highlighted the role “Bailey” decision, government retirement Tlocally engaged staff play in our mission and the price benefits received by federal retirees who had they pay for doing so. This attack cost four Foreign Service 5 years of creditable service in a federal retire- Nationals their lives. Seven others were wounded. The news ment system as of Aug. 12, 1989, are exempt brought back memories of the August 1998 attack on our from North Carolina income tax. Those who embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, and the 1983 and do not have five years of creditable service on 1984 bombings of Embassy Beirut and its annex. These Aug. 12, 1989, must pay North Carolina tax attacks killed 68 FSNs, plus others who worked for the U.S. on their federal annuities. Up to $4,000 of government as members of the local guard force and as contractors. any federal annuity income is exempt. How are the families of these FSNs compensated? There is an interesting story NORTH DAKOTA: All pensions and here, probably unknown to most readers. FSN victims of terrorism can be com- annuities are fully taxed, except first pensated as though they were direct-hire Americans. Their cases are adjudicated $5,000, which is exempt less any Social by the Office of Workmen’s Compensation at the Department of Labor. This is Security payments, but only if the indi- the same office which handles U.S. federal workers’ claims. There is a lot of paper- vidual chooses to use Form ND-2 (option- work required to substantiate a claim — birth certificates, marriage certificates, death al method). Individuals are cautioned to certificates, etc. The State Department Office of Casualty Assistance shepherded the check both Form ND-1 and Form ND-2 cases of FSNs killed in the Dar es Salaam and Nairobi blasts through the system. to ascertain which one yields the lowest tax The Department of Labor’s decision on whether or not to accept these cases was for the year. Qualifying for the exclusion slowed because of the issue of multiple spouses. (As you can imagine, the law gov- does not mean that Form ND-2 is the bet- erning compensation to federal employees killed on duty did not anticipate claims ter form to choose. from multiple spouses.) OHIO: Taxpayers 65 and over may take Once a claim is adjudicated, the Department of Labor decides whether or not a $50 credit per return. In addition, Ohio to accept it. If the decision is between the U.S. compensation level or that of the gives a tax credit based on the amount of other country, the department is likely to rule in favor of the local compensation the retirement income included in Ohio scheme if it is less costly to the U.S. government, except if the FBI certifies that the Adjusted Gross Income, reaching a max- deaths occurred as the result of an act of terrorism. If so, then the employees’ fam- imum of $200 for any retirement income ilies will be compensated in the same way as the family of a U.S. citizen federal employ- over $8,000. ee. The argument is that the U.S. was the target and clearly, the locally engaged staff OKLAHOMA: Up to $5,500 exempt on died because they worked for us. We are the target; they are the collateral damage. all federal pensions. Since 1983, terrorist attacks have killed and wounded more FSNs, not including con- OREGON: Generally, all retirement tractors, than American Foreign Service employees as the result of working for the income is subject to Oregon tax when target, the United States. received by an Oregon resident. This includes I urge you to donate to the department’s FSN Compensation Fund. The depart- non-Oregon source retirement income. ment recently issued a plea for funds to assist the families of those affected by the However, federal retirees who retired on or attack on Consulate General Jeddah. The fund needs replenishment. The funds before Oct. 1, 1991, may exempt all of their are not reserved solely for those killed or injured by terrorist bombings. When federal pension; those who worked both Hurricane Mitch slammed into Central America in October 1998 and El Salvador before and after that date must prorate their was struck by an earthquake in 2001, the fund helped out those employees whose exemption using the instructions in the tax homes had been demolished. booklet. Oregon-source retirement income The department’s gift coordinator is Donna Bordley, reachable by e-mail: received by non-residents who are not domi- [email protected]. Her office fax is (202) 647-8194. She can forward the depart- ciled in Oregon is not subject to taxation by ment’s recent notice about replenishing the fund to you via e-mail or fax. Department Oregon. employees can, of course, view it on the department’s Intranet web site. Your con- PENNSYLVANIA: Government pensions tributions are fully tax deductible. You can make them via payroll deduction, check and social security are not subject to personal or credit card. income tax. Your contribution is one measure of our appreciation for these employees’ loy- PUERTO RICO: The first $8,000 of alty and dedication and for the risks they take in working for us. ▫ income received from a federal pension can

12 AFSA NEWS ¥ FEBRUARY 2005 be excluded for individuals under 60. Over V.P. VOICE: USAID ■ BY BILL CARTER 60 the exclusion is $12,000. If the individual receives more than one federal pension, the exclusion applies to each pension or annu- Directed Assignments: ity separately. RHODE ISLAND: Fully taxable; no A Possible Case Study exemptions available. SOUTH CAROLINA: Individuals under or several weeks at the end of 2004, many USAID FSOs age 65 can claim a $3,000 deduction of qual- were seized with a heightened sense of anxiety as the specter ified retirement income; those 65 years of age Fof a directed assignment to Iraq or another hot spot or over can claim a $10,000 deduction of loomed over their heads. The last time anyone remembered qualified retirement income. A resident of “directed assignments” being mentioned at USAID was in the South Carolina who is 65 years or older may Vietnam era, and few current FSOs were on board back then. claim a $15,000 deduction against any type AFSA dealt with many members’ angst over this issue. A variety of family and proof income, but must reduce the $15,000 by fessional concerns surfaced. Some officers even said they were ready to resign/retire if any retirement deduction claimed. faced with a directed assignment. Others said they joined USAID to carry out devel- SOUTH DAKOTA: No personal income opment work, and they questioned how development work was possible in a war zone. tax. They argued that movement was severely restricted (especially in Iraq), as was interac- TENNESSEE: Social security and pension tion with counterparts, and that adequate security had to be an absolute prerequisite income is not subject to personal income tax. to development activity. Many pointed out TEXAS: No personal income tax. that rather than sending people to war UTAH: Individuals under age 65 may take When employees are given zones, USAID traditionally evacuates them a $4,800 exemption. However, the deduc- from such places, such as Haiti. tion is reduced $.50 for every $1.00 that fed- a voice, the chances of It is constructive to pause and examine how eral adjusted gross income exceeds $32,000 organizational success are this matter was handled. It may be less con- (married filing jointly) or $25,000 (single). structive to dabble for a moment in the role Over 65 years of age a $7,500 exemption may greatly enhanced. of organizational shrink, but we are going to be taken for each individual. However, the do it anyway. AFSA noticed something deep- exemption is reduced $.50 for every $1.00 that er in the reaction of people — it was not a the Federal Adjusted Gross Income exceeds question of bravery or cowardice, but that offi- $32,000 (married filing jointly) or $25,000 cers felt alienated from the organization, without voice, and disempowered. Their trust (single). in the organization was low, because there was no confidence that the directed assign- VERMONT: Fully taxable. ment selection process would be fair and transparent. VIRGINIA: Individuals over age 65 on To its great credit, USAID management listened to employees and AFSA about the Jan. 1, 2004, can take a $12,000 deduction; negative side effects of directed assignments. As a result, management modified its strat- those age 62 or 63 on Jan. 1, $6,000. Those egy. It launched a campaign to rearticulate and clearly communicate its organization- reaching 62 after Jan. 1 will not be able to al objectives. It underscored the bureaucratic stakes for the organization. At the same claim any deduction until they reach 65. For time, it reinvigorated the campaign to get volunteers, through e-mail notices, a world- those reaching 65 after Jan. 1, 2004, the wide Internet broadcast and an “All Hands” meeting. $12,000 deduction will be reduced by one We have all heard of Stephen Covey’s famous book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective dollar for each dollar their AGI exceeds People. Well, you knew it had to happen: he has a new book, and it’s about the eighth $50,000 for single and $75,000 for married habit. The concept is that when the voice of the employee is heard and when it is aligned taxpayers. All taxpayers over 65 receive an with that of the organization, you get higher trust, more commitment and greater moti- additional personal exemption of $800. vation. That seems to be what happened at USAID. Employees do not want to be flot- WASHINGTON: No personal income tax. sam on the sea. They want to have a voice, and they want to take their destinies in their WEST VIRGINIA: Up to $8,000 of own hands. income received from any source is exempt When employees are given a voice, the chances of organizational success are great- if 65 years or older. ly enhanced. We saw that happen in this case, as sufficient volunteers stepped forward, WISCONSIN: Pensions and annuities are making directed assignments unnecessary (at least for the time being). We cannot say fully taxable. However, benefits received from whether volunteers will continue to step forward and directed assignments can be com- a federal retirement system account established pletely avoided in the future, but at least there are lessons learned from this initial expe- before Dec. 31, 1963, are not taxable. rience that should not be forgotten. Employees’ voices were heard. AFSA’s voice was WYOMING: No personal income tax. ▫ heard. ▫

FEBRUARY 2005 ¥ AFSA NEWS 13 CLASSIFIEDS

LEGAL SERVICES FINANCIAL ADVISER: Stephen H. Thompson, Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. ATTORNEY WITH 22 years’ successful Member NYSE, Member SIPC (Retired experience SPECIALIZING FULL-TIME IN FS Foreign Service Officer). GRIEVANCES will more than double your Tel: (202) 778-1970 or (800) 792-4411. chance of winning: 30% of grievants win E-mail: [email protected] before the Grievance Board; 85% of my clients win. Only a private attorney can adequately develop and present your case, including nec- FREE TAX CONSULTATION: For over- essary regs, arcane legal doctrines, prece- seas personnel. We process returns as dents and rules. Call Bridget R. Mugane at received, without delay. Preparation and rep- VIRGINIA M. TEST, CPA: Tax service Tel: (202) 387-4383, or (301) 596-0175. resentation by Enrolled Agents. Federal and specializing in Foreign Service/overseas con- E-mail: [email protected] all states prepared. Includes “TAX TRAX” tractors. CONTACT INFO: (804) 695-2939. 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PREPARATION: Thirty years in public tax practice. Arthur A. Granberg, EA, ATA, ATP. property management firms in the past, and Tel: (202) 625-1800. Fax: (202) 625-1616. we have learned what to do and, more impor- E-mail: [email protected] Our charges are $75 per hour. Most FS returns take 3 to 4 hours. Our office is 100 feet from tantly, what not to do from our experiences at Virginia Square Metro Station, Tax Matters these companies. We invite you to explore Associates PC, 3601 North Fairfax Dr., our Web site at www.wjdpm.com for more WILL/ESTATE PLANNING by attorney Arlington, VA 22201. Tel: (703) 522-3828. information, or call us at (703) 385-3600. who is a former FSO. Have your will reviewed Fax: (703) 522-5726. and updated, or new one prepared: E-mail: [email protected] No charge for initial consultation. KDH PROPERTIES SERVES the prop- M. Bruce Hirshorn, Boring & Pilger erty management needs of clients in the close- 307 Maple Ave. W, Suite D, Vienna, VA in communities of McLean, Falls Church and 22180. Tel: (703) 281-2161, Arlington. We have over 30 years experience Fax: (703) 281-9464. ATTORNEY, FORMER FOREIGN SER- in renting and managing. We are REALTORS E-mail: [email protected] VICE OFFICER: Extensive experience w/ tax problems peculiar to the Foreign Service. and belong to the Northern Virginia Association Available for consultation, tax planning, and of Realtors. We manage: single-family homes, TAX & FINANCIAL SERVICES preparation of returns: townhouses, and condo units. We would be honored to serve as your property manager. M. Bruce Hirshorn, Boring & Pilger, P.C. TAX RETURN PREPARATION AND 307 Maple Ave. W, Suite D, Our manager has earned and holds the des- PLANNING from a CPA firm specializing in Vienna, VA 22180. Tel: (703) 281-2161. ignation of Certified Property Manager. expatriate taxation. Home of JANE A. BRUNO, Fax: (703) 281-9464. Contact us for more info. Tel: (703) 522-4927, the author of "The Expat's Guide to U.S. E-mail: [email protected] or E-mail: [email protected]. Taxes" Tax return preparation, tax consulta- www.thekdhteam.org tion and financial planning. Contact us at: Tel: (954) 452-8813, Fax: (954) 452-8359. TEMPORARY HOUSING E-mail: [email protected] Visit our Web site: www.americantaxhelp.com ROLAND S. HEARD, CPA CORPORATE APARTMENT SPECIAL- 1091 Chaddwyck Dr. ISTS: Abundant experience working with PLACE A CLASSIFIED Athens, GA 30606 Foreign Service professionals and the locations AD: $1.25/word (10-word min.) First Tel/Fax: (706) 769-8976 to best serve you: Foggy Bottom, Woodley Park, 3 words bolded free, add’l bold text E-mail: [email protected] Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase, Rosslyn, $2/word, header, box, shading $10 ¥ U.S. income tax services Ballston, Pentagon City. Our office is a short walk ea. Deadline: 20th of the month for ¥ Many FS & contractor clients from NFATC. One-month minimum. All fur- publication 5 weeks later. ¥ Practiced before the IRS nishings, housewares, utilities, telephone and Ad Mgr: Tel: (202) 944-5507. ¥ Financial planning cable included. Tel: (703) 979-2830 or Fax: (202) 338-6820. ¥ American Institute of CPAs, Member (800) 914-2802. Fax: (703) 979-2813. E-mail: [email protected] FIRST CONSULTATION FREE E-mail: [email protected] WWW.ROLANDSHEARDCPA.COM Web site: www.corporateapartments.com

14 AFSA NEWS ¥ FEBRUARY 2005 CLASSIFIEDS

TEMPORARY HOUSING GEORGETOWN QUARTERS: Exquisite, SHEPHERDSTOWN/ WEST VIRGINIA: fully-furnished accommodations in the East 12.92 private acres with Potomac River End of Georgetown. Short walk to World frontage. Three-story cedar shake home SHORT-TERM RENTALS Bank and State Department. Lower floor of (1989), designed for entertaining. Four bed- three-level home built in 1803 and renovat- rooms, three full baths, hardwood floors, pas- ed in 2003. Private front and rear entrances, sive solar entrance. Wild flowers, deer, and TEMPORARY HOUSING eight-foot ceilings, fireplace, marble bathroom turkey. $995,000. Request brochure. with Jacuzzi and shower, granite and stain- www.homesdatabase.com/yvonnethomson WASHINGTON, D.C. or NFATC TOUR? less steel kitchen, washer and dryer; walk out Yvonne Thomson, agent. Real Estate Teams, EXECUTIVE HOUSING CONSULTANTS to tiered rear garden great for entertaining. LLC Tel: (877) 443-1500. offers Metropolitan Washington, D.C.’s finest Street parking and limited car/pick-up shar- portfolio of short-term, fully-furnished and ing with management. Dishes, flatware, tow- equipped apartments, townhomes and sin- els, linens and light maid service included. gle-family residences in Maryland, D.C. and Preference for single person or couple. Rate Virginia. commensurate with housing allowance. In Virginia: “River Place’s Finest” is steps Photos available. Contact: to Rosslyn Metro and Georgetown, and 15 Tel. (202) 625-6448, TIMESHARE FOR SALE: Two units, minutes on Metro bus or State Department E-mail: [email protected], Sleeps 8, Red Season Week 41, Even years, shuttle to NFATC. For more info, please call www.EquityFundGroup.com Vacation Village, Weston, FL $15,000. (301) 951-4111, or visit our Web site: Tel: (540)872-2417. www.executivehousing.com MORTGAGE

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FEBRUARY 2005 ¥ AFSA NEWS 15 CLASSIFIEDS

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