America Needs a Professional Diplomatic Service

MAJ Charles Ray — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 12:24:47 -0400

An OpEd in the Foreign Service Journal detailing why America needs, but doesn't yet have, a professional diplomatic service. Can be read at: http://www.afsa.org/america-needs-professional-foreign-service

America Needs a Professional Foreign Service - Speaking Out | The Foreign Service Journal -...

Publications & Outreach Publications FSJ - July/August 2015 America Needs a Professional Foreign Service Speaking Out BY CHARLES A. RAY

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Jul 8 at 2015 12:43 PM

COL Mikel J. Burroughs — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 12:43:43 -0400

MAJ Charles Ray This is an awesome article and you clearly have the very best understanding of what this country needs. I don't think Hillary Clinton was the right person for the job as Secretary of State - do you? I really like the outline you provided for the future and what is needed in the Professional Diplomatic Service. Do you think this will be adopted or has it been adopted? Is this something the Government should start (personally I don't think they would be able to get it right) because of politics or should it be a private/public institute (Business or College)? Anyway, it was a great read and I really have a great appreciation for your knowledge and background on the subject. Maybe you should be our next Secretary of State!

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 8 at 2015 8:17 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 20:17:16 -0400

A good article, but a little light on the details. I would be interested to see a more fleshed-out plan here.

As a side note, I had the opportunity to work at the State Department for a while during college. The majority of the people I worked with, both in the Civil and Foreign Services, were extremely educated, and most of the positions I ever dealt with at every level were full of either career diplomats or individuals who had extensive outside qualifications. The Department of State is so small that it can afford to be extremely selective in hiring only the most qualified individuals. Where I think it fails is in the ethics/organizational unity categories. There often seemed to be a tendency for individuals or offices to think of their work as their private intellectual fiefdoms, and to not see a unified mission binding it all together. Perhaps that's a natural consequence of having an organization with several hundred roughly independent installations full of experts who have few if any peers outside of their immediate surroundings, but it did create a lot of unfortunate friction. I do not pretend to have a clear solution to that problem, but maybe a code of ethics and a more clearly articulated foreign policy in general (one that transcended administrations and other short-term political interests, something more akin to the idea of Containment in the Cold War) would be a step in the right direction.