The Foreign Service Journal, January 2004

Looking Back for the Way Ahead I wish to support the observations of Ronald Spiers in his November Speaking Out, “The Middle East Road Map: Going Nowhere Fast,” and his sound proposals on the way ahead. I’m sure most of our colleagues who have served in the area would agree. I made virtually the same proposals in a talk to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco in February 1971. They were considered to be “politically unthinkable” in both Israel and Washington at the time! David G. Nes FSO, retired Owings Mills, Md. More on the Young Turks The Journal sometimes swims slow- ly overseas, as happened with my copy of the very interesting June issue. Though late, I still think I should fill out the excellent accounts of the AFSA labor union formation by Tex Harris, Tom Boyatt and Hank Cohen. I was the AFSA Governing Board member first assigned to sound out Tex on join- ing us, the one who first asked Tom to help organize support among State officers for AFSA to become a labor union, and — a decade later — co- author with Hank of a Journal article attacking the (military-inspired) up-or- out policy, which prematurely deprives the Foreign Service of many of its most experienced diplomats. Even former Secretary of State George Shultz now agrees that such forced early retire- ment is a waste. (See the September Journal .) Sometime around 1970, there was a crucial meeting of the “Young Turk” AFSA board under President Charlie Bray’s leadership. Lannon Walker, the original “Young Turk” who in many ways was the prime mover on this issue, came from overseas to attend, though he was no longer on the board. Interestingly, he expressed doubts at that meeting about whether the Foreign Service was ready for AFSA to become a labor union. One or two oth- ers on our board agreed, and it appeared for a while that the negative might carry the day, until several of us weighed in on the positive side. I am proud to have been one of the majori- ty who supported the move. Following this major decision, we waged a public- ity campaign in favor of the change. AFSA as combination professional association and labor union has never looked back. In reading the October Letters, I remember the helpful role that the late Bill Macomber played as head of State Department management on smooth- ing the integration of AFSA as labor union and helping to minimize grow- ing pains. I sympathize with John Harter’s lament about the confusion in earlier State management that probably con- tributed to the Young Turk revolution overshooting its mark. The major reform that led to institution of “up-or- out” personnel policy overlooked the reality that in diplomacy, age is more often a plus than a minus, as exempli- fied by Ambassadors Harriman, Kennan, Bunker, Habib and so many others. My concern today is about the need to manage and control the activi- ties of so many different U.S. agencies overseas, to improve the views of for- eign governments and publics about the nature of American policy, and to report back to the Washington estab- lishment with the authority that comes from palpably greater experience. It profits us to remember that the excess zeal of the real-life Young Turks helped destroy the faltering Ottoman Empire that they were try- ing to save. Perhaps it is not too late to save the remnants of American diplomacy. Returning to some of the classical principles of effective diplo- macy comes more easily with experi- ence. Maybe some of today’s FS gen- eration will try to reverse that mis- guided reform, which speeds promo- tion in the lower ranks only to cut careers short when they are most pro- ductive. State’s personnel policy should be re-examined with that in mind. Then State may once again support its leader with the weight and depth that wins respect in the intera- gency process. George B. Lambrakis, Ph.D. FSO, retired Professor of International Relations and Diplomacy London, England L ETTERS J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 7