November 2007

For information on how to submit a letter, column or article, or for general inquiries (address changes, etc.), please e-mail us at journal@afsa.org. To submit a piece for possible publication, kindly send it to: authors@afsa.org. To subscribe or place an ad, please contact Advertising and Circulation Manager Ed Miltenberger. To order reprints of any articles appearing in the magazine, please contact Business Manager Andrew Kidd.

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/ Front Cover

3 / Table of Contents

5 / PRESIDENT'S VIEWS
Telling Our Story
By John K. Naland

7 / LETTERS

9 / CYBERNOTES

10 / MARKETPLACE

11 / FASTRAX

13 / SPEAKING OUT
** Caution: Iraq Is Not Vietnam **
By David Passage

17 / FS KNOW-HOW
Mail Handling Tips
By Lee Ackermann

FOCUS ON AUTHORS

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

FS FICTION

41 / LA VIE ABATIE
A bored political officer in a West African backwater volunteers to investigate a regional problem and, ultimately, learns a thing or two.
By Hanscom Smith


FEATURES

44 / CAN AMERICAN LEADERSHIP BE RESTORED
The world before us today is both unfamiliar and unanticipated.
Here is a thought-provoking tour d'horizon.
By Chas W. Freeman Jr.

49 / A MARSHALL PLAN FOR LATIN AMERICA
There must be a fundamental revision of our country's role if we are to make developent — and diplomacy — truly "transformational."
By Geoffrey Chalmers

55 / AFSA NEWS
55 / AFSA-HQ Under Construction
55 / Dissent Award Notice
55 / State IG Should Resign
57 / State VP: Time To Mobilize
58 / Retiree Q&A: Survivor Annuities
59 / VP FCS: Domestic Tours
62 / Milestones: Ed Miltenberger
62 / Classifieds

65 / BOOKS

67 / IN MEMORY

74 / INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

76 / REFLECTIONS
Why We Were There
By Janet Andres

October 2007

For information on how to submit a letter, column or article, or for general inquiries (address changes, etc.), please e-mail us at journal@afsa.org. To submit a piece for possible publication, kindly send it to: authors@afsa.org. To subscribe or place an ad, please contact Advertising and Circulation Manager Ed Miltenberger. To order reprints of any articles appearing in the magazine, please contact Business Manager Andrew Kidd.

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/ Front Cover

3 / Table of Contents

5 / PRESIDENT'S VIEWS
The Cinderella Service
By John K. Naland

6 / LETTERS

9 / CYBERNOTES

10 / MARKETPLACE

11 / FASTRAX

FOCUS ON THE U.S. BORDERS

13 / BRIDGES, BARRIES OR BOTH? THE U.S. BORDERS
Like Siamese Triplets, the U.S., Canada, and Mexico have to acknowledge that fate has linked their vital organs.
By Leslie Bassett

17 / A VIEW FROM THE SOUTH
For all the differences between Mexico and The United States, the border region forms an unbreakable bond between the two countries.
By Manuel Suarez-Mier

23 / CULTURAL QUIRKS & TASTY TREASURES: THE TWO LAREDOS
This self-proclaimed "Gateway to Mexico" is the busiest land port of entry for commerce in the whole 1,952-mile border.
By Jennifer Ludders

29 / CONSULATE NOGALES' DEALDY DESERT
As security tightens in urban centers, the flow of immigrants and contraband is being pushed more to remote areas.
By Jim Bredeck

33 / EMBRACING CHANGE ON THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER
While NAFTA promised to tear down trade barriers, many business leaders believe that the border itself has become an obstacle.
By Elizabeth Martin

35 / ONTARIO & THE U.S.: CLOSE TIES, COMPLEX ISSUES
If the province were a country, it would rank as the United States' fourth-largest trading partner, after Canada, China, and Mexico.
By Aaron Honn and John Nay

38 / VANCOUVER VIGNETTE
Geographic anomalies like Point Roberts, Wash., underscore the need for flexibilty and creative thinking on both sides of the border.
By Lewis Lukens

40 / FOREIGN ASSIGNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES
Making sure one has a passport to be able to get the best chicken-and-fish dinner in five counties is pretty exotic.
By Mary Speer and Brad Kirbyson

44 / CANADIANS: A BORDER PEOPLE
Eighty percent of Canada's poplulation lives in a band that is only one hundred miles wide, directly adjacent to the U.S. border.
By Charles E. Doran

FS FICTION

49 / BEST SERVED COLD
Against the bleak, frozen landscape of a Russian winter, an American woman finds an unexpected path through her grief.
By Robert Gribbin


FEATURES

51 / A FOREIGN SERVICE MURDER
This grisly incident, often embellished in the retelling, set an important legal precedent..
By Len Shurtleff

56 / CONDEMNED TO ENDLESS STRUGGLE? THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
The United States cannot impose peace in the Middle East. But without its efforts, a lasting solution will remain elusive.
By Rafael Reuveny

61 / AFSA NEWS
61 / AFSA's Protest Leads to New Hearing
61 / Essay Contest Introduces FS to Students
61 / AFSA Meets with Sec. Rice
62 / Briefs: FS Women¹s Forum
63 / VP State: Support for Separated Families
64 / VP Retirees: Taking a Fresh Look
65 / Legislative Affairs Update
66 / VP USAID: Penny Wise, Pound Foolish
69 / AFSA Establishes Legal Defense Fund
70 / Issue Brief: Training Diplomats

74 / CLASSIFIEDS

77 / BOOKS

82 / INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

84 / REFLECTIONS
Slava in Mexico
By Stanley A. Zuckerman

September 2007

For information on how to submit a letter, column or article, or for general inquiries (address changes, etc.), please e-mail us at journal@afsa.org. To submit a piece for possible publication, kindly send it to: authors@afsa.org. To subscribe or place an ad, please contact Advertising and Circulation Manager Ed Miltenberger. To order reprints of any articles appearing in the magazine, please contact Business Manager Andrew Kidd.

Viewing the following articles requires the use of Acrobat Reader. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free.

/ Front Cover

3 / Table of Contents

5 / PRESIDENT'S VIEWS
Team AFSA
By John K. Naland

7 / LETTERS

10 / CYBERNOTES

12 / MARKETPLACE

13 / FASTRAX

14 / SPEAKING OUT
Six Simple Proposals to Improve Efficiency and Morale
By Hollis Summers

17 / FS Know-How
Retirement Planning 101
By John K. Naland

FOCUS ON HUMAN RIGHTS

20 / REASSERTING U.S. LEADERSHIP IN HUMAN RIGHTS
The U.S. reputation for integrity, just behavior and leadership in upholding global standards is at a low point.
How can it be restored?
By Edmund McWilliams

26 / A CURE WORSE THAN THE DISEASE?
The heart of the administrations approach to curbing terrorism is the use of torture and coercion to force information from suspects.
By Kenneth Roth

33 / CRAFTING A NEW COUNTERINSURGENCY DOCTRINE
The Army and Marine Corps have raised the banner of human rights in their new counterinsurgency doctrine. Its principles could be the basis for an effective campaign against terrorism.
By Sarah Sewall

41 / THE FOLLY OF A SHORT-TERM APPROACH
A British diplomat describes the challenges of promoting human rights when a dictatorship is also a key ally.
By Craig Murray

FS FICTION

48 / LUCKY
Against the bleak, frozen landscape of a Russian winter, an American woman finds an unexpected path through her grief.
By Joan Broyles Odean


FEATURES

53 / LESSONS FROM NORTHERN IRELAND'S PEACE PROCESS
The recent breakthrough in the troubled region could be a model for easing other sectarian conflicts
By Andrew Sens

56 / THE BOXER SIEGE: A PRECEDENT FOR THE IRANIAN HOSTAGE CRISIS
There two major breaches of diplomatic facilities were separated by eight decades and thousands of miles.
But they have much in common.
By Moorhead Kennedy

63 / AFSA NEWS

76 / CLASSIFIEDS

79 / BOOKS

80 / IN MEMORY

90 / INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

92 / REFLECTIONS
Politically Incorrect in Burma
By Don North

July-Aug 2007
(Vol. 84, No. 7-8)

For information on how to submit a letter, column or article, or for general inquiries (address changes, etc.), please e-mail us at journal@afsa.org. To submit a piece for possible publication, kindly send it to: authors@afsa.org. To subscribe or place an ad, please contact Advertising and Circulation Manager Ed Miltenberger. To order reprints of any articles appearing in the magazine, please contact Business Manager Andrew Kidd.

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/ Front Cover

3 / Table of Contents

5 / PRESIDENT'S VIEWS
The Verdict Is In: State's Woeful Underfunding Threatens Transformational Diplomacy
By J. Anthony Holmes

6 / LETTERS

10 / CYBERNOTES

12 / MARKETPLACE

13 / FASTRAX

14 / SPEAKING OUT
U.S. Public Diplomacy: Can Science Help?
By Kristin M. Lord

16 / FS Know-How
Helping a Colleague Cope with the Death of a Loved One
By Joan B. Odean

FOCUS ON NONPROLIFERATION

18 / NEEDED: A NEW NUCLEAR CONTRACT
The nuclear "haves" should offer meaningful incentives to the "have-nots" to forgo such weapons.
By James E. Goodby

25 / U.S. POLICY: INTERLOCKING AND REINFORCING ELEMENTS
The Bush administration's multifaceted approach has contributed significantly to preventing further nuclear weapons proliferation.
By Christopher A. Ford

30 / TURNABOUT IS FAIR PLAY
Washington has put the brakes on North Korea's nuclear program by opting for talks.
By Leon V. Sigal

36 / NUKES IN RUSSIA: SITUATION TERRIBLE BUT MUCH IMPROVED
The Cooperative Threat Reduction program has helped Russia and other states secure their at-risk materials and facilities.
By Bob Guldin

43 / ACTIVISTS AND ANALYSTS: THE ROLE OF NGOs
Nongovernmental organizations often do not get much respect, but the global nonproliferation regime would be the poorer without them.
By Mark Fitzpatrick

FEATURES

49 / A CAREER OF MANAGEMENT EXCELLENCE: AMBASSADOR JOAN CLARK
Last month AFSA recognized the retired ambassador's many contributions to American diplomacy and her lifetime of public service.
By Steven Alan Honley

60 / DS RIDES THE IRON ROOSTER
To deliver diplomatic pouches securely while complying with Chinese restrictions, staff from Seoul Regional Diplomatic Courier Hub travel by train to Bejing.
By James B. Angell

FS FICTION

55 / SHOWDOWN AT THE NATIONAL DAY BUFFET
Those who work harder to get ahead lack imagination and sufficient devotion to the truly meaningful things in life.
By Brian Aggeler

69 / AFSA News

80 / CLASSIFIEDS

83 / BOOKS

90 / INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

92 / REFLECTIONS
How Many Guns Does a Vice Consul Rate?
By Fred Donner

June 2007
(Vol. 84, No. 6)

For information on how to submit a letter, column or article, or for general inquiries (address changes, etc.), please e-mail us at journal@afsa.org. To submit a piece for possible publication, kindly send it to: authors@afsa.org. To subscribe or place an ad, please contact Advertising and Circulation Manager Ed Miltenberger. To order reprints of any articles appearing in the magazine, please contact Business Manager Andrew Kidd.

Viewing the following articles requires the use of Acrobat Reader. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free.

/ Front Cover

3 / Table of Contents

5 / PRESIDENT'S VIEWS
Tobias, Transformational Diplomacy and the Evisceration of USAID
By J. Anthony Holmes

7 / LETTERS

11 / CYBERNOTES

12 / FASTRAX

13 / MARKETPLACE

15 / SPEAKING OUT
Working It Out with the Military: The View from Kabul
By Thomas E. Johnson Jr.

FOCUS ON IRAN

20 / THE U.S. AND IRAN: MYTHING THE POINT
Past clashes have led Americans and Iranians to assume mutual enmity, and later events have proved the argument. But it need not be so.
By John W. Limbert

26 / BET ON THE OPTIMISTS: PROSPECTS FOR REFORM
A society where the genie of dissent has been let out of the bottle cannot remain silent in perpetuity.
By Mehrzad Boroujerdi

32 / GRASPING THE NETTLE: IF DIPLOMACY FAILS IN IRAN
Should diplomacy fail to deal with the threat of a nuclear Iran, policymakers will have to choose between preventive war and deterrence.
By Justin Logan

41 / NEGOTIATE WITH IRAN FROM STRENGTH
U.S. threats are proving hollow — but, if not balanced by a viable negotiating strategy, they could still have highly negative consequences for all concerened.
By George B. Lambrakis


FEATURES

47 / WOMEN'S HEALTH UNDERCUT BY ADMINISTRATION POLICIES
Comprehensive health programming in developing countries is being scuttled, along with the Constitution, under the Bush administration's ideological agenda. Sub-Saharan women are among the immediate casualties.
By Tamera Fillinger

SCHOOLS SUPPLEMENT

73 / HOW TO CHOOSE THE COLLEGE THAT'S RIGHT FOR YOU
Foreign Service teens can jump-start their college search with this handy guide: Here are one dozen questions to ask yourself, plus a half-dozen ways to research your choices.
By Francesca Huemer Kelly

78 / THE ABCs OF EDUCATION ALLOWANCES
Foreign Service teens can jump-start their college search with this handy guide
By Pamela Ward

89 / SCHOOLS AT A GLANCE
Essential Data on educational choices

97 / LEARNING TO DRIVE AS AN FS KID
How can Foreign Service teens learn to drive if their parents are posted overseas? Here are some fist-person tales and practical advice for kids and their families.
By Ingrid Ahlgren

53 / AFSA News

66 / BOOKS

67 / IN MEMORY

106 / INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

108 / REFLECTIONS
One Year and Counting...
By Caroline Gredler

May 2007
(Vol. 84, No. 5)

For information on how to submit a letter, column or article, or for general inquiries (address changes, etc.), please e-mail us at journal@afsa.org. To submit a piece for possible publication, kindly send it to: authors@afsa.org. To subscribe or place an ad, please contact Advertising and Circulation Manager Ed Miltenberger. To order reprints of any articles appearing in the magazine, please contact Business Manager Andrew Kidd.

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/ Front Cover

3 / Table of Contents

5 / PRESIDENT'S VIEWS
An Over-Ripe Opportunity Needs Attention Now
By J. Anthony Holmes

6 / LETTERS

8 / CYBERNOTES

11 / FASTRAX

12 / SPEAKING OUT
When Importance Is Equated with Danger
By Brian T. Neubert

13 / MARKETPLACE 16 / IN RESPONSE
Much More than Pins on a Map
By Lawrence E. Butler

18 / FS KNOW-HOW
Dealing With Identity Theft
By David Zwach

FOCUS ON THE FS AS A CAREER

20 / PLUS ÇA CHANGE...?
Many in the Foreign Service may hope that things will get back to normal once the Iraq War is over. Don't count on it.
By Shawn Zeller


27 / COPING WITH UNACCOMPANIED TOURS
The unaccompanied tour, a new and rapidly growing category of overseas service, presents new challenges for the Foreign Service.
By Nancy Leininger

35 / RECALLING ALL-PURPOSE DUTY IN RUSSIA
Two decades ago, Embassy Moscow and Consulate General Leningrad became the only U.S. diplomatic missions in a foreign country with no FSNs.
By Allan Mustard


FEATURES

42 / THE EDUCATION OF CARNE ROSS: FROM OUTRAGE TO OPPORTUNITY
A senior British Foreign Service officer who resigned three years ago over his government's Iraq policy now provides diplomatic advice to those who need it most.
By Ludovic Hood

46 / THE LAST FLIGHT FROM TALLINN
A Foreign Service code clerk finally receives recognition for his sacrifice in the line of duty two-thirds of a century ago .
By Eric A. Johnson and Anna Hermann

53 / AFSA News

63 / BOOKS

70 / INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

72 / REFLECTIONS
A House Call in the Guatemalan Highlands
By Donald W. MacCorquodale

April 2007
(Vol. 84, No. 4)

For information on how to submit a letter, column or article, or for general inquiries (address changes, etc.), please e-mail us at journal@afsa.org. To submit a piece for possible publication, kindly send it to: authors@afsa.org. To subscribe or place an ad, please contact Advertising and Circulation Manager Ed Miltenberger. To order reprints of any articles appearing in the magazine, please contact Business Manager Andrew Kidd.

Viewing the following articles requires the use of Acrobat Reader. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free.

/ Front Cover

3 / Table of Contents

5 / PRESIDENT'S VIEWS
On Speaking Truth to Power
By J. Anthony Holmes

6 / LETTERS

10-12 / CYBERNOTES / MARKETPLACE

13 / FASTRAX

14 / SPEAKING OUT
Time to Overhaul Contact Reporting Requirements
By David J. Firestein

FOCUS ON RUSSIA

19 / UNDERSTANDING VLADIMIR PUTIN
While he shares the Kremlin's traditional preference for centralizing power, Putin's approach differs from that of his predecessors.
By Dale Herspring

25 / PREPARING FOR THE POST-PUTIN ERA
Where is Russia headed? Here is a look at the fundamental challenges before the country and the Russian elite's capacity to cope with them.
By Lilia Shevtsova

32 / AN IMPOSSIBLE TRINITY?: RESOURCES, SPACE AND PEOPLE
Russia's future depends on how it manages its resources, its space and its people.
By Clifford G. Gaddy

39 / RUSSIA CONFRONTS RADICAL ISLAM
Coming to terms with its Muslim minority is likely to become a larger and more difficult problem for the Kremlin in the future.
By Dmitry Gorenburg

FEATURES

49 / SAVING GLOBALIZATION FROM ITSELF
There are concrete ways to counter the fears of change and increasing inequality that are fueling the current backlash against trade liberalization.
By Eric Trachtenberg


57 / EXTENDED STAY HOUSING CHART - 2007

59 / AFSA News

71 / BOOKS

74 / IN MEMORY

81 / REAL ESTATE

83 / PROPERTY MANAGEMENT GUIDE

86 / INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

88 / REFLECTIONS
The Best and Worst Golf Courses
By Bob Gribbin

March 2007
(Vol. 84, No. 3)

For information on how to submit a letter, column or article, or for general inquiries (address changes, etc.), please e-mail us at journal@afsa.org. To submit a piece for possible publication, kindly send it to: authors@afsa.org. To subscribe or place an ad, please contact Advertising and Circulation Manager Ed Miltenberger. To order reprints of any articles appearing in the magazine, please contact Business Manager Andrew Kidd.

Viewing the following articles requires the use of Acrobat Reader. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free.

/ Front Cover

3 / Table of Contents

5 / PRESIDENT'S VIEWS
2008 Budget Aspirations: Diplomacy Jilted Yet Again
By J. Anthony Holmes

6 / LETTERS

10-12 / CYBERNOTES / MARKETPLACE 13 / FASTRAX

14 / SPEAKING OUT
How to Measure an Ambassador
By J. Michael Cleverley

18 / FS KNOW-HOW
How to Read and Write and EER
By John J. Eddy


FOCUS ON IRAQ

21 / IRAQ PRTS: PINS ON A MAP
To download this large file in 2 parts click the following: part1 part2
What role, if any, can the Foreign Service play in active war zones? Here is a look at the reality of service on Iraq Provincial Reconstruction Teams.
By Shawn Dorman

40 / THE VERY MODEL OF A MODERN...
An FSO serving in Jalalabad explains how the 12 U.S.-led Afghanistan Provincial Reconstruction Teams function.
By Danny Hall

48 / AND NOW IRAQ: A FORMER FSO REMEMBERS VIETNAM
The Provincial Reconstruction Teams now in Iraq are a new incarnation of the Combined Opertations Rural Development Support Program.
By John Graham

53 / EMBASSIES AS A COMMAND POSTS IN THE WAR ON TERROR
One result of the war on terro is the military's increased presence in U.S. embassies around the world. Here are excerpts from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff report assessing the implications.


FEATURE

61 / PROMOTING DEMOCRACY IN THE ARAB AND MUSLIM WORLD
The development of true democracy in the Middle East will be slow, painstaking, extremely challenging and, at times, violent.
By Alon Ben-Meir

71 / BOOKS

67 / AFSA Annual Report and AFSA News

88 / REAL ESTATE

90 / INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

92 / REFLECTIONS
Mario's Twin Brother
By Dana Deree

February 2007
(Vol. 84, No. 2)

For information on how to submit a letter, column or article, or for general inquiries (address changes, etc.), please e-mail us at journal@afsa.org. To submit a piece for possible publication, kindly send it to: authors@afsa.org. To subscribe or place an ad, please contact Advertising and Circulation Manager Ed Miltenberger. To order reprints of any articles appearing in the magazine, please contact Business Manager Andrew Kidd.

Viewing the following articles requires the use of Acrobat Reader. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free.

/ Front Cover

3 / Table of Contents

5 / PRESIDENT'S VIEWS
Defending Retirees' Interests, Both Inside and Outside the FS
By J. Anthony Holmes

6 / LETTERS

12 / CYBERNOTES / MARKETPLACE

16 / SPEAKING OUT
The Lost Art of Experimentation
By Michael Bricker


FOCUS ON THE NEXT 2 YEARS
19 / NEW PLAYERS, NEW DIRECTIONS? EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
Will the Bush administration choose to "stay the course" on foreign policy until 2009 or make some changes?
By Steven Alan Honley


21 / FOREIGN POLICY IN THE 110TH CONGRESS
The new Democratic majority will aim for wholesale changes on Iraq, foreign assistance and other issues, but will have limited room for maneuver.
By George Cahlink

28 / A BLEAK OUTLOOK
Any attempt by President Bush to reach some major foreign policy milestones in his remaining two years will fail.
By Dennis Jett

29 / A SOUND STRATEGY
The administration is engaged in a course correction on Iraq, but this will affect only tactics, not the strategy of promoting democratization.
By Joshua Muravchik


FEATURES

41 / THE NEW FOREIGN SERVICE
The report card is still out on where Secretary Rice's "expeditionary" Foreign Service is headed.
By John Naland

48 / A QUEST FOR PEACE IN UGANDA
Betty Bigombe has been personally involved for much of the past 18 years in trying to resolve the crisis in northern Uganda.  Soon her goal may be realized.
By George Gedda

52 / Books

55 / AFSA NEWS

57 / Tax Guide

72 / Classifieds

82 / Real Estate

74 / Advertising Index

88 / REFLECTIONS
The Whole World Was Watching — Except Me
By Mary Grace McGeehan