Comments on: The Future of the Foreign Service http://diplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/04/14/the-future-of-the-us-foreign-service/ A Great Decisions 2008 Blog Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:46:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=wordpress-mu-1.0 by: Diplopundit http://diplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/04/14/the-future-of-the-us-foreign-service/#comment-438 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:23:10 +0000 http://diplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/04/14/the-future-of-the-us-foreign-service/#comment-438 I've linked to your piece in my new entry here: http://diplopundit.blogspot.com/2008/04/truth-about-living-in-diplomatic.html I’ve linked to your piece in my new entry here:
http://diplopundit.blogspot.com/2008/04/truth-about-living-in-diplomatic.html

]]> by: Diplopundit http://diplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/04/14/the-future-of-the-us-foreign-service/#comment-437 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:49:35 +0000 http://diplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/04/14/the-future-of-the-us-foreign-service/#comment-437 Transforming the Foreign Service into an effective diplomatic service prepared for the challenges of the new century does not come cheap; the strategy of shuffling human and fiscal resources to keep the tab down is not going to work. The challenges facing the FS takes more than global repositioning, and the transformation must be a whole system change rather than applied to selected parts of the organization. I wrote more here: http://diplopundit.blogspot.com/ Transforming the Foreign Service into an effective diplomatic service prepared for the challenges of the new century does not come cheap; the strategy of shuffling human and fiscal resources to keep the tab down is not going to work. The challenges facing the FS takes more than global repositioning, and the transformation must be a whole system change rather than applied to selected parts of the organization.

I wrote more here: http://diplopundit.blogspot.com/

]]> by: Consul-At-Arms http://diplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/04/14/the-future-of-the-us-foreign-service/#comment-426 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 05:08:51 +0000 http://diplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/04/14/the-future-of-the-us-foreign-service/#comment-426 I've quoted you and linked to you here: http://consul-at-arms.blogspot.com/2008/04/re-future-of-foreign-service.html I’ve quoted you and linked to you here: http://consul-at-arms.blogspot.com/2008/04/re-future-of-foreign-service.html

]]> by: Digger http://diplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/04/14/the-future-of-the-us-foreign-service/#comment-425 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:55:44 +0000 http://diplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/04/14/the-future-of-the-us-foreign-service/#comment-425 I have linked to this post here: http://lifeafterjerusalem.blogspot.com/2008/04/future-of-foreign-service.html I have linked to this post here: http://lifeafterjerusalem.blogspot.com/2008/04/future-of-foreign-service.html

]]> by: Mark Dillen http://diplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/04/14/the-future-of-the-us-foreign-service/#comment-423 Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:18:25 +0000 http://diplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/04/14/the-future-of-the-us-foreign-service/#comment-423 Thanks, Melinda, for posting this. As a former foreign service officer, I listened to Kojo's program with interest. I can't tell you how many times I heard the same observations and complaints in the course of my 24-year career. Low funding, various hardships, lack of policy input, and outdated perceptions of what foreign service officers do (and their standard of living). The Foreign Service has never been a particularly good advocate for its own interests in Washington; political Washington rarely takes the Foreign Service into its confidence. I can say, however, that fine, dedicated people continue to enter the Service, in spite of uncompetitive salaries, lack of employment opportunities for spouses, lack of adequate schools for dependent children, and greater likelihood of physical hardship and even danger. Because of this, the government bureaucracy has not seen fit to change things much. Why should they? When Members of Congress travel overseas, Embassies go out of their way to satisfy their visitors and avoid complaints, which reinforces the idea that everything is really all right. Thanks, Melinda, for posting this. As a former foreign service officer, I listened to Kojo’s program with interest. I can’t tell you how many times I heard the same observations and complaints in the course of my 24-year career. Low funding, various hardships, lack of policy input, and outdated perceptions of what foreign service officers do (and their standard of living). The Foreign Service has never been a particularly good advocate for its own interests in Washington; political Washington rarely takes the Foreign Service into its confidence. I can say, however, that fine, dedicated people continue to enter the Service, in spite of uncompetitive salaries, lack of employment opportunities for spouses, lack of adequate schools for dependent children, and greater likelihood of physical hardship and even danger. Because of this, the government bureaucracy has not seen fit to change things much. Why should they? When Members of Congress travel overseas, Embassies go out of their way to satisfy their visitors and avoid complaints, which reinforces the idea that everything is really all right.

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