The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021 17 50 Years Ago Toward A Modern Diplomacy T he first stage of the reformmovement within the foreign affairs community is complete. The process began in 1968 with the publica- tion by AFSA of “ Toward a Modern Diplomacy. ” Secretaries Rogers and Macomber have responded with great perception and courage to this unprecedented desire for self reform. The 13 task forces have studied the problems faced by the foreign affairs community in a new decade and have submitted their recommendations to the Secretary. The first phase of reform is realized; the second, and more difficult, is about to begin. The second phase requires translation of the task forces’ recommenda- tions into practice. It will not be easy. Fundamental changes are always discon- certing and sometimes even painful; indeed the level of pain may mirror the success of reform. — Foreign Service Journal Editorial of the same title, February 1971 FSJ . 1. Establish a senior-level (assistant secretary or above) Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, reporting directly to the Secretary of State, with adequate budget and staff to coordinate action across the department. 2. Require a deputy assistant secretary (DAS) in each bureau and the deputy chief of mission (DCM) at post to be responsible for diversity and inclusion in coordination with the CDIO. 3. Add “advancement of diversity and inclusion” to the core precepts for evalua- tion and promotion. 4. Explore the use of gender/ethnic neutral anonymous procedures by pro- motion panels. 5. Include “significant advancement of diversity and inclusion” as criteria for Senior Performance Pay and Presidential Awards. 6. Include specific language on officer’s record of actively promoting diversity and inclusion in mandatory 360 review process for all assignments for supervisory officers. 7. Strengthen accountability measures for supervisors and managers. 8. Require bureaus, DCMs and the D Committees to report (twice a year to the Secretary via the CDIO) the demographic data on all candidates considered and chosen for key positions. 9. Include an assessment of the nomi- nee’s track record in advancing diversity and inclusion in the Certificates of Com- petency required for all ambassadors. 10. Establish an internal certificate of competency for DAS/DCM/principal officer and other senior positions that includes an assessment of leadership skills in promoting diversity and inclu- sion. 11. Convene a group of senior FSOs who began their careers as Pickering and Rangel Fellows to develop proposals to address internal misperceptions about the Fellowship program. 12. Maintain a 50 percent increase in the annual number of Pickering and Rangel Fellows. 13. Ensure that the assessor teams in the Board of Examiners have participants from underrepresented communities. The detailed AAD proposals follow on the association’s June 9 presentation of five general recommendations. The State Department’s now widely acknowledged failure to cultivate a truly diverse workforce was the subject of a January 2020 Government Accountability Office report (GAO-20-237) . It was also the topic of an Oct. 29 virtual panel discussion at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy chaired by ISD Director Ambassador (ret.) Barbara Bodine (see https://bit.ly/state-diversity) . U.S.-Europe Relationship Forever Changed? I n a Nov. 16 interview, the European Union’s top diplomat, Joseph Borrell, told Time magazine that four years of turmoil under President Donald Trump “has left Europeans with a lasting sense that U.S. support is not necessarily dependable.” “You will never rewind history,” said Borrell, the E.U.’s vice president and chief of foreign affairs. “Trump has been a kind of awakening. And I think we should stay awake. We cannot say ‘oh Trump is no longer there, we can go back to our previ- ous state of mind.’” Time reported that while most of the 27 E.U. leaders have sent public mes- sages of goodwill to the incoming Biden administration, E.U. officials behind the scenes “have also warned of the need to remain cautious about the United States,