The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2014 21 Development Review declared that the State Department would “empower and hold accountable COMs as chief executive officers of interagency missions.” Power comes with responsibility, however. If the State Department and AFSA support the QDDR goals, they should enhance the ability of the IG and work to ensure that grievance procedures do not allow accountability to be litigated to death. Will that ensure no unqualified person will seek an ambassadorship? No, but some of those who aspire to become an ambassador through bundling campaign cash give little consideration to the risk of being held accountable in a very public way. Like some of my students, they seem to think diplomatic life consists of ignor- ing parking tickets and attending endless cocktail parties. If aspiring ambassadors realized that their performance will be measured and that their failures could become very public, they might think twice about buy- ing the job if their only qualification is the size of their checkbook and those of their friends. If that happened, American diplomacy would be strengthened and there would be less material for “The Daily Show.” But it is a standard to which career officers will also have to be willing to hold them- selves. n With these 360-degree evaluations, the IG could quickly identify the embassies with the most serious problems. Take AFSAWith You! Change your address online, visit us at www.afsa.org/address Or Send changes to: AFSAMembership Department 2101 E Street NW Washington, DC 20037 Moving?