The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2014

22 JULY-AUGUST 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Despite the challenges, reporting from the field—in whatever form it takes— is still the indispensable ingredient of any meaningful foreign policy discussion. BY DAN LAWTON FOCUS EMBASSY REPORTING THEARTOF POLITICAL REPORTING Dan Lawton, deputy director of the Office of Southern European Affairs in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, served as political counselor in Athens from 2010 to 2013. Since joining the Foreign Service in 1990, he has also served in Caracas, Copenhagen, Lima, Karachi and Mexico City. The views expressed in this article are his personal opinions and are not intended to represent U.S. government policy. O ur official diplomatic corre- spondence has changed con- siderably since the days of the quill pen, and even since the not as distant period of typed dispatches. But as much as the forms may change, the need for insightful analysis from abroad has not. Foreign policy should be informed and guided by the insights discerned by our diplomats posted overseas, who inject local perspectives into policy debates and decision- making—not made in a vacuum.