Small Wars Journal

Presidents are Breaking the U.S. Foreign Service

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 11:47am

Presidents are Breaking the U.S. Foreign Service - Washington Post Op-Ed by Susan R. Johnson, Ronald E. Neumann and Thomas R. Pickering.

American diplomacy is facing a crisis. The professional career service that is intended to be the backbone of that diplomacy no longer claims a lead role at the State Department or in the formulation or implementation of foreign policy. The U.S. Foreign Service is being marginalized — just as military efforts to resolve major diplomatic challenges in Iraq and Afghanistan have failed, and as diplomacy has become both more complex and more important to our national security and prosperity...

Read on.

 

Comments

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Based on the importanc of this topic, this opinion piece could have and should have been much harder hitting. The authors seem to be correct when they imply that the U.S.'s ability to conduct effective diplomacy has eroded. I'm not qualified to even venture a guess on whether their claim that "Presidents are destroying it" is true or not, but in my opinion this is an area that I would like to see the media focus on more. Unfortunately the focus of the media/news is entertainment, and it isn't entertainment until diplomacy fails and we buckle our chin straps and set off on a combat patrol. The story about the failure of diplomacy that led us to that point (or in many cases diplomatic successes that prevented the need for combat deployments) is only known to a relatively small circle of foreign policy hobbyists, which perhaps is why there is little pressure by the American people on the government to reform the Department of State. In contrast, when the militar is perceived to fall short we receive considerable pressure and directives to change.

In my opinion the Department of State doesn't communicate effectively, partly based on culture of "assumed" eliteness they come across as a bit snooty and too aloof from the problems to effectively understand them and develop effective courses of action. See the comments below the article to get an idea of how many feel about our diplomats, and of course read "The Ugly American" to get an often all too true, yet fictional account, on how many (definitely not all) diplomats conduct business. My pet peeve is "sanctions," I can't let go of it because to me it represents our inability to learn and adapt, and that our diplomatic focus on sanctions to achieve our ends is not only ineffective, this approach undermines our diplomacy efforts globally. Much of the world is tiring of America the bully, and sanctions have proven repeatedly to be ineffective. Are we in a diplomatic approach rut we can't steer out of?

The authors make fair points about the way forward, many of which were identied by the author of "America's Other Army" at the link below:

http://americasotherarmy.com/

Authors' points in the article above that I hope Congress and the American people are considering include:

"Needed are a fresh approach and a strategic vision to build a strong, professional diplomatic service and State Department as the central institution for U.S. diplomacy. The basic requirements include a rigorous, exam-based entry; worldwide availability and mobility; programs to strengthen capacity through professional education and training, integrated with competitive, merit-based advancement; and efforts to foster the knowledge, cross-functional thinking and broad perspectives a premier diplomatic service brings, especially at the senior levels."

"The United States can no longer rely on economic and military preeminence to compensate for a less-prepared, less well-resourced, less professional diplomatic service."

Amen, I think most of us in the military would agree.