A COMPARATIVE STUDY of SIX STATES Professor Maurice Waters Department of Political Science Wayne State Univ
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THE FOREIGN SERVICE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SIX STATES Professor Maurice Waters Department of Political Science Wayne State University Detroit, Michigan USA Prepared for delivery at the Caribbean Studies Association, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, May 27-30, 1981. Copyright 01981, Maurice Waters. The history 04 diplonacy is probably as ancient as the history or politics and yet lte ~tudyha13 hardly explored the role of ito performero, men lees aomnoa arc studies of the Foreign Service oreanieatione that govarnzente have organized to carry out these perfomencet3r This study represents an initial effort to compare the Forsign Services of a number of states and, hopefully, to stimalete more intereat in analyzlcg the role of Foreigc Service organizatione. sacb a study must, perforce, start cautiously, beginning vith the obvious and hopefully evolving into a cozpnriscn which 11-111 illuminate the major values and concerns that undergird tne foreigc policies of those states examined, This paper represents tne initial step, but also an effort to chart a patb for even aorc fruitful studies, Unlike past publications which provided guidelinss for practice (Satow, Callieres, ~icholson)or biographies of pronine~t actoro (9raig acd Gilburt) or diploaatic perfoxzaoces (Kertcsz) ar relationehips to public policy (Becrd, Schelling), this paper pre- sents purely a coniparative study of instlt~tlon~.But as a atudy of institutions it rejects the notion that diplomat;? is merely an appendage of forelgn golicy, achowledging that while It takes itn marching orders frcin the policy zakers it also contribute8 signifi- cantly to the drum beat of those orders, When it is cot permitted to do so, the orders suffer accordingly, Initially the study wsa designed to examine the Foreign Services of a number of states so as to make possible a comparison of the -major powers, of ~romineatstates fron each continent, of states with oid and brief hiet~rfesa8 sovereigo statea, and of wzaitby and poorer thlrd world powers, fourteen countries were chosen; YI for various raasone have been drogped fron this phase of the study; one was added, leaving the total number of countriee reported to be -1%- The topic was divided Into four areas; recruitment, training progrzs, structure and personnel concerns,and objectives wore set for the overall reasearch: (1) to try to identify the slmilaritieo in epproacbing these fosr azeas, (2) to try to dircern the areas of dlfferencea and to explain both 1 and 2 in terns of the countries' need8 and problems, (3) to try to ascertain whether any one country's approach has becone a model for others, (4) to try to dete,mine whether any significant new trends are developing, and (5) to try to locate the lacunae In the howledge of Foreign Service crganizstlons studies and, without intruding into the areas of natio~aleocurity iseueo,to prepare an agenda for the further developmest of the fisld of study- A brief word cn methodology. Such a atudy fron the outset yr:;- vidod a set of obstacles, First, there is hardly anything approxi- aatlng a respectable bib1io;raphy that oae could rely upon, and second, the few works that did exist were not only very dated but often the natlonal language of the country of the Foreign Service organization being studied. Even if the works had been recent, the probl.en of translating would have been formidzble. Hence, the decision uas n~deto rely on interviews of Foreign Service peraonnal in cabaslies and cocaulatea in the Uaited Staiss hnd three c0unr;it.s abroad. Forei~noffice8 were also written to, but in Bomo in&ta*-:i? thle did 230% plove to be too helpful due to lack of replle3. Tbo nature of the inforloation sought appeared to t,.eae ~rrlf-:r; to permit the Interview approach. Generally more than orle int.ezvlaust: ?er country use involved, which helped to enhance the raliabllity of tbo reeults. Also, on a nunber of occasions both authorv ol rhle paper sat together and thus were able to compare results. Finully, again to reduce the poesible scope of error, taping of thc in2axv:cws xae carried out where permitted. 4s the bibliography reveala, Borne official sourcea and publl6hed writings were a160 used where appro- priate. Beard, Charles A., The Idea of National Interest,(New York: Nac- millan) 1934. I Callieres, Francois de. On The Manner of Neqotiatinq with Princes, (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin) 1919. Craig, Gordon A. and Gilbert. Felix, eds.. The Diplomats, 1919-1939, (New York: Atheneum) 1963. Kertesz, Stephen D.. The Quest for Peace Throuqh Diplomacy, (Englcwood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall) 1967. Nicholson, Harold G., Diplomacy,(New York: Galaxy ~ooks)1964. ___________-____-__The Evolution of the Diplomatic Method,(London: Constable) 1954. Satow, Sir Ernest. The Guide to Diplomatic Practice, (London: Lonqmans Greer and Co.) 1957. Schelling. Thomas G., The Strateqv of Conflict, New York: Galaxy Books) 1963. P Brief Historical B:~ck~round--3rzzll ,Brazil, an independent state for over a century and a half, has h numerous changes in its forn of government. Despite this and, perhaps, because of its size as the largest Latin American country, and its agr cultural and, more recently, induotrial growth it has played a major role in South American politics and to some extent in world affalro as well. Th~eit bas concentrated on building a well trained Toreign Ser- vice which ha3 been widely recognized for its structure and approach R,eo~%i.men t 1-0 modes of entry are available to persons wishing to join the Brazilian Foreign Service. They are known as the airect entry ("dlrect method") and tbe indirect entry ("indirect method"). The former method requires an entrance exminetion and afterwards a five-nonth testing period in both written and oral form covering a multitude of subjects. This is followed by a nuzber of interviews spread over 3everal days, such oonvereations takirg place between the candidate and a Service official without involvement of any special board of examiners. This is cosaltded with a senicar lasting for about two ccutks, is wLickl principles and internal aspects of the Brazilizn systea of gove~men? are discussed. In this category of entry Engllsh, French and fortugaese are obligatory languages, Candidates chosen by the direct entry mode must hold a university degree; indlrect entry candidates must be in their second year of study at an eccredited uaiverslty. Coz?arativel~s~eaking, roore people join tke Foreicn Service -.--id the indirect mcttod. Cacdidatee of this cate~ory23roll In tZt Lip1~- EE~~CAcademy (Rlo Srnnco ~nstitute).The Acadeny is a departnent cf the foreign YAnistry run exclusively for the preparation 0:' diplozots. Cazdldstes attend the Academy for a two year 3overccent-bzsed study progrm. ~e/ehewill be tested in several languages acd In other subjects. fiere Baglish is a required language, whereas Freach is not ard other languages may be chosen in fulfillment of the second laaguage require- ment. 6xrninations achisistered to Indirect method eotrsnts are less coz?rehenaive and less dexzling than in the other category. While attendlag tke Academy one is not -a member of the Foreign Service, but receives a governmeot gr81.t during that time to help wit1 expenEes. One becomes a nembez oi tke Service upon graduation. It is a legal point, howover, that after graduation the two years opent at the Imtitute are counted uben figurlng time for promotion. There are 20-25 graduates per year, The written exazinations for the Brazilian Foreign Service require of the applicant n nix of both broad and generalized knowledge as well as a portion of fairly specialized infomation. There exist conmcr axan- inations for all Civil Service personnel, but the Foreign Service exam- ination Is basically different in that it places paat em~kasisupon laqjua~eskills. The Srazilisn Foreign Service avails Itself chiefly of examlrers outsi3e the Service; these are oostly university concected experts. There Is no minimum or maximum a@% for entering the Foreign Service. however, tba ciciau.~ai;c for tu~lngtoe Foreic:, Strvica e.>-:i~,::tit: r, lu 19 aad the m~xlnuaage for taking the exami~atlonis 30. Tor cacdidutf:~ jolnin~the Service via the direct method the mininun-~axlhu~aGe sprerd can bo from 21 to 33 years, Brazil. @TheService is open to all and sex discrimination does not exist, A11 potential recrulto must paos the same strict written examination, Bpproxlmutely 3014% of the students at the Rio Branco Institute aro women, although this increase in the number of wonen Is rather recent (during the last five years). Thero la no evidence that political party affiliation has any bearing either on admission to or promotion in tne career Foreign Service, me Brazilian go-r~rmantpublicizsa Foreign Service open in^:; both in the nojor pTesu ordnus and on rraio. Slate the Eovsrsxc, . sponsora a dai+y one hour news pr0gra.A of its own, radio coverage Is available on a wide basis for parpo3es of recrultmcrt fur ti?: Service. The probatiorary period can last from six months (for direct method entrants) to one year (for indirect method candidates). Trainln Pro~rams Boflowing probation the candidate is ready for assignment to a diplomatic post. In actual practice, however, the usual sequence of tl?ir?gs will be: first, a 2-3 year assignment at the Forsign Kinistry in Brasilia itself, followed by an overseas esSig~~e:it. Young diplomats entering the Sorvice will start at tke grade of 3rd Secretary, A goou deal of emphasie is placed upon the study of geography in Foreign Service training programs, a8 well as in both writtes and oral exanicstiono. Career Foreign Service personnel are neither expected nor required to became specialized in tkeir overseas work. Day to day assignments clearly vary a groat daal and particularly in smaller embassies officers are expected to perform a broad variety of jobs.