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M A G A Z I N E U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE JUNE 2007 Make Your Move Introducing the Mid-Level Civil Service Rotation Program
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State Magazine, June 2007

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The June 2007 issue of State Magazine, published by the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC, features a special report on a program designed to give a taste of career diversity; how unconventional missions support transformational diplomacy in Darfur; and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia as our Post of the Month!
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Page 1: State Magazine, June 2007

M A G A Z I N E

U . S . D E P A R T M E N T O F S T A T E

J U N E 2 0 0 7

MakeYourMoveIntroducing the Mid-LevelCivil Service Rotation Program

Page 2: State Magazine, June 2007

Virtual ConnectionsTechnology creates a unique public diplomacy tool.

Department Inner-ViewDirector General George Staples goes on the recordwith State Magazine.

Walk on the Wild SideRescued cheetah becomes environmental ambassador.

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ON THE COVERPilot program encourages CivilService employees to exploreother professional fields.Photograph by Corbis

STATE MAGAZINE + JUNE 2007 + NUMBER 513

CONTENTS

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Page 3: State Magazine, June 2007

10 First ResponseUnconventional missions support transforma-tional diplomacy in Darfur.

26 By Any Other NameResidence’s new name honors the ‘flowery flag.’

28 Of Human DignitySecretary Rice confers the first InternationalWomen of Courage awards.

32 Special Report:Rotating CS AssignmentsPilot program gives a taste of career diversity.

34 Outside the Comfort Zone

35 Connecting the Dots

36 Office of the Month: A/EXShared services lead to better diplomacy.

18

COLUMNS2 FROM THE UNDER SECRETARY

3 READERS’ FEEDBACK

4 IN THE NEWS

43 STATE OF THE ARTS

44 SAFETY SCENE

46 OBITUARIES

46 RETIREMENTS

48 THE LAST WORD

POST OF THE MONTH:

UlaanbaatarModern Nomads and Vast HorizonsMark U.S. ‘Neighbor.’

Page 4: State Magazine, June 2007

In November 1866, Secretary of StateWilliam Seward sent an encryptedmessage through Atlantic Cable to U.S.minister to France, John Bigelow. Thecost: $19,540.50.

On March 21, 2007, Under SecretaryHenrietta H. Fore conducted an instantmessage exchange with the ambassadorsto Athens and Belgrade. The cost:a few cents.

Resistance to the introduction of thetelegram was fierce in the 19th century,ambassadors saw as a loss of autonomy.When e-mail was introduced to theDepartment 120 years later, passive resist-ance initially relegated its use to a smallcoterie of adventurous and restlessemployees. But after a few years, e-mailsurpassed cables as the preferred mode ofcommunication. Its volume in the StateDepartment now exceeds cables by a ratioof more than sixty to one.

Three months ago, the Departmentintroduced instant messaging as the firstapplication of SMART—State Messagingand Archive Retrieval Toolset. I ampleased that it has been greeted with suchenthusiasm as well as a healthy skepti-cism. It is not a substitute for cables,e-mails or phone calls—but is an addi-tional tool to ensure rapid worldwidecommunication.

What will instant messaging give ourworkplace?

• IM allows real-time communication;unlike e-mail or cables, you can havea quick question answered immedi-ately by a colleague.

• IM is secure on ClassNet; you canhave a classified conversationbetween continents without a securetelephone.

• It is quiet; you can have a privilegedconversation with someone in thenext office without being overheardby colleagues.

• Several people can join in a single con-versation; you can efficiently clear acable or memo.

• You can decide with whom you willcommunicate; you can avoid being

pestered by a flood of incomingmessages.

• It is a real-time medium; you can beassured that you will not find a queueof unread messages when you sign onin the morning because they arriveonly when you are signed on.

My staff thought that my first IM experi-ence—with Ambassadors Charles Ries andMichael Polt—might require a rehearsal orhands-on training. I took the plunge withneither, while my staff held their breath infront of the 20 members of the SMARTsteering committee. It worked exactly aspromised. So, if it takes you more than a fewminutes to adopt IM, call home for help.

I am delighted that we have introducedthis technology to the Department—andlook forward to other collaboration toolsbeing introduced by SMART. The center-

piece will be SMART messaging, designedto integrate cables, e-mails and memos on acommon user-friendly platform.

While IM is making its way around theglobe (deployed to 38,000 desktops andsoon to be everywhere), the SMART teamhas been hard at work on the next elementsof SMART. Gartner Consulting recognizedthe internal progress by giving high marksto the team’s completion of its CriticalDesign Review, the blueprint that will beused to build the messaging portion. Andthe Office of Management and Budget alsoexpressed support for Information ResourceManagement’s management of SMART.

The next application to be offered will bea collaboration tool called SharePoint,scheduled to be piloted from June to August.In September, SMART messaging will bepiloted in Belgrade, Stockholm and Muscat.At the same time, SMART will be pilotingadditional collaboration applications as wellas a search and interest profiling service. ByJanuary 2008, nine more overseas posts willbe added for the second pilot iteration ofSMART messaging. Worldwide deploymentis scheduled to begin in September 2008.

I have urged the SMART office toadvance the piloting of SMART messaging,but integrating cables, e-mail and memos ona common platform tied to a search capabil-ity, with connectivity between ClassNet andOpenNet, is not easy. I am assured, however,that it can and will be done—and deployedworldwide after we have thoroughly tested itfor usability, security and stability. Thesetools will transform how we do our work.

Transformational diplomacy requiresstate-of-the-art messaging systems that aresimple, secure and user-friendly. When fullydeployed by 2009, SMART will set a newstandard for the digital support of America’sdiplomacy. It remains the Department’shighest IT priority.

Stay tuned, as overseas piloting of SMARTmessaging begins in a few months. ■

IRM Begins Deployment of SMART withInstant Messaging

UNDER SECRETARY HENRIETTA FORE

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Page 5: State Magazine, June 2007

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Mailing AddressState Magazine2401 E Street, NWHR/ER/SMG, SA-1, Room H-236Washington, DC 20522-0108

[email protected]

Phone(202) 663-1700

Letters should not exceed 250words and should include thewriter’s name, address and daytimephone number. All letters becomethe property of State Magazine.Letters will be edited for length,accuracy and clarity. Only signedletters will be considered.

Let Us Hear from You

R E A D E R S ’ F E E D B A C K

Haiku ContestsReading the cartoon on the inside back

cover of the April issue—The Poetic Diplo-macy Initiative—inspired me to share withyou something with which any site officerfor a VIP visit can relate.

On a previous assignmentin Tokyo, I often served ascontrol officer for VIP visits.To keep spirits bright amongall involved, I would holdhaiku contests through whichsite officers and others couldvent frustrations and sharefunny anecdotes related tothe visit. I would collect themas we went along, and wewould hold a live reading atthe wheels-up party. Onememorable haiku from such a contest:

The map says turn leftBut the driver just turned rightAgain we'll be late

I would not be surprised if other postsare in cultures that have some form ofexpression suitable for this sort of diver-sion. Keep your eyes out.

Aaron HeldAmerican Consulate General Monterrey, Mexico

Good WorkDuring my 27 years of active duty in the

Foreign Service, I always enjoyed the finewriting, reporting and organizational out-reach State Magazine provided to all

employees, no mattertheir status, rank or postof assignment. There wasalways something foreveryone.

These excellent quali-ties continue. Moreover,the magazine has evenimproved, showcasingstronger reporting, morestylistic formatsand richer articles aboutthe people and organiza-tions making up the State

Department and the many challengesAmerican diplomacy faces in the future.Superb job!

Living in rural Thailand, with perhapsonly one other American in the generalarea and possibly two or three English-speaking individuals residing within a20-mile radius, I expect that State Magazinewill become one of my closest friends.

Tim LawsonSenior Foreign Service (Retired)

I enjoyed reading about the wooden Belize consulategeneral/embassy building (March issue). In 1972, ourconcern there was not hurricanes, but the real danger offire. Several rope ladders were installed to allow escape.They might even still be there.

Also, we bought ConGen Belize a Boston whaler for possi-ble evacuation needs. As with the motor launch “Hiawatha”in Istanbul, which you also featured in March, it was carriedas part of the motor pool.

Either there was a regulation at the time against boatownership by the State Department or we thought Congressmight object—or both. Post was told not to requisition pro-pellers, and the staff was encouraged to take the boat out tothe cays on week-ends “to make sure everything worked.”

Stuart LippeRetired FSO

Belize’s Boston Whaler

Page 6: State Magazine, June 2007

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As a community service project inPort-au-Prince, 15 Foreign Service offi-cers in the Consular Section of the U.S.Embassy donated equipment valued atmore than $300 to a local girls’ volley-ball team.

Sports are a preferred pastime for thedisadvantaged children of Haiti, yetthere are few public teams with suffi-cient funding and equipment. Theteam’s assistant trainer, who works as asecurity guard at the Consular Section,alerted Consul General Jay Smith to theneed for equipment, and the Americanofficers responded.

“The spirit of competition the girlsenjoy during the matches will servethem well for the rest of their lives,”said Consul General Smith during thepresentation of the equipment on Feb-ruary 7. “Learning to apply yourselffully and work cooperatively in a sportssetting will also help you excel in allaspects of life, whether as a student oras an involved citizen,” he told the girls.

The team was given a tour of theConsular Section and introduced to Dominique Gerdes, a seniorlocal staff member in the Immigrant Visa Unit who once played onthe Haitian national volleyball team.

The volleyball players all reside in Carrefour, an area of thecapital marked by high crime and extreme poverty. It is so danger-ous that the regional security officer has declared the

neighborhood off-limits to American officers unless they are trav-eling in lightly armored vehicles or have special permission tocross the area in caravans.

To permit officers to watch the girls play, the team’s trainershave scheduled a match at a school in an area not off limits toU.S. personnel.

FSOs Donate Equipment toHaitian Volleyball Team

(NEWS)

The volleyball teamand its trainers posewith Embassy officials.

Page 7: State Magazine, June 2007

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What can you do with a velvet portrait ofElvis and a foosball table?

Junior officers at the U.S. Embassy inMexico City recently used these items andmore to raise money for the AsociaciónMexicana de Ayuda a Niños con Cáncer—AMANC, the Mexican Association forAssistance to Children with Cancer.AMANC provides care, lodging and educa-

tion for ill children and their families in 20states throughout Mexico.

In 2005, while donating hundreds ofChristmas toys to various children’s chari-ties in the Mexico City area, the embassystaff became aware of AMANC’s work andlearned that the association was in greatneed of an industrial-sized washer anddryer for its center for sick children.

To respond to this need, embassy juniorofficers and specialists organized the “GiveYour Heart to a Child with Cancer” cam-paign, which culminated an auction thatraised more than $15,000 from embassyemployees and their families.

Items to be auctioned were solicited fromthe embassy community and American cor-porations in Mexico. Donations rangedfrom handmade quilts to dog-traininglessons to a dinner with the ambassador,and the bidding was fierce. U.S. companiesChurch and Dwight, Coca-Cola, Continen-tal Airlines, Marriott and Maytag alsodonated to the cause.

The campaign resulted not only in a newwasher and dryer for AMANC, but also ayear’s supply of laundry detergent and anadditional $10,000 for medication andother items the charity might need. OnValentine’s Day, Ambassador Garza, juniorofficers and public affairs officials from theembassy delivered the donation, along withclothes and toys for the children, to SeñoraGuadalupe Alejandre, founder and presi-dent of AMANC.

Embassy staff and families participate in the “silentauction” held at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.

A new diagnostic laboratory on the Black Sea coast has beennamed for Brian Goggin, former agricultural attaché in Bulgaria.

The Foreign Agricultural Service/Sofia was honored by the Bul-garian Ministry of Agriculture for its important contributions tothe prevention and control of avian influenza in Bulgaria. FAS/Sofiaprovided significant resources to create the new facility and train

laboratory staff. This year, FASis training 11 local experts inthe United States.

At the opening ceremony,current Agricultural AttachéSusan Reid extolled Goggin’swork. A marble plaque with hisname in gold letters is mountedat the entrance to the lab.

The U.S. Agency for Interna-tional Development has alsoprovided support for the labo-ratory and Bulgaria’s effort toprevent avian flu.

Embassy Auction Helps Mexican Children

BULGARIA NAMES LABFOR U.S. DIPLOMAT

Under Secretary for Management Henrietta Fore demonstrates the newInstant Messaging technology in front of 20 members of the StateMessaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset steering committee. The newtechnology allows real-time, secure communication within the same officeor with colleagues on another continent.

FAS specialist Brian Goggin

Page 8: State Magazine, June 2007

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MAGAZINE STAFF

Rob WileyEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Bill PalmerWRITER/EDITOR

Jennifer LelandWRITER/EDITOR

David L. JohnstonART DIRECTOR

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

Maurice S. ParkerEXECUTIVE SECRETARY

Kelly Clements

Annette R. Cocchiaro

Margot A. Sullivan

State Magazine (ISSN 1099–4165) is pub-lished monthly, except bimonthly in Julyand August, by the U.S. Department ofState, 2201 C St., N.W., Washington, DC.Periodicals postage paid at Washington,D.C., and at additional mailing locations.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS

Send changes of address to State Maga-zine, 2401 E Street, N.W., SA-1, RoomH-236, Washington, DC 20522-0108. Youmay also e-mail address changes [email protected].

SUBSCRIPTIONS

State Magazine is available by subscriptionthrough the U.S. Government PrintingOffice by telephone at (202) 512-1800 oron the web at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.

SUBMISSIONS

For details on submitting articles toState Magazine, request our guidelines,“Getting Your Story Told,” by e-mail [email protected]; downloadthem from our Web site at www.state.gov;or send your request in writing toState Magazine, 2401 E Street, N.W.,HR/ER/SMG, SA-1, Room H-236,Washington, DC 20522-0108.

The submission deadline for the Septem-ber 2007 issue is July 15. The deadlinefor the October issue is August 15.

The U.S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization participated in Hokie HopeDay on April 20 to honor the lives lost during the April 16 shooting on the Virginia TechUniversity campus in Blacksburg, Va. Tech alumnus Lt. Colonel Patience Larkin, a memberof the mission’s Office of the Defense Advisor, organized the event.

“It is difficult being so far away from the U.S. when tragic events occur at home,” saidLt. Col. Larkin. “I wanted to show our support to the Virginia Tech community and wasvery proud and grateful to the mission for participating and wearing the Hokie colors.”

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Mission to NATO Honors Hokie Hope Day

Mission staff wore Tech colors orangeand maroon to show their support.

In celebration of Consular LeadershipDay, Jan. 26, staff from the U.S. Embassy inBangkok and the consulate general inChiang Mai organized an open house andfair in Bangkok to give contacts and col-leagues a behind-the-scenes look at theirconsular sections.

Employing the Thai conceptof “edutainment” to makelearning fun, teams of localstaff and officers from Bangkokand Chiang Mai’s consularunits manned booths withnames such as “The WackyWorld of Biometrics,” “ACS:Cradle to Grave” and “FamousImmigrants in the U.S.”

Interactive tools and gameswere used to teach guestsabout consular work. Thefraud unit had by far the mostpopular booth, where playerscompeted to “spot theimposter.” Patriotic decora-tions, balloons, prizes, costumes, music andrefreshments all added to a fun, laid-backenvironment for the 600 attendees.

Since consular sections in Thailand relyheavily on support from other government

agencies and the private sector, colleaguesfrom the public affairs section, the ForeignCommercial Service and Citizenship andImmigration Services were invited to joinin the festivities, along with corporate part-ners such as Citibank, CSC and Teletech

and Thailand Post. And because a fair isnot complete without souvenirs, the Ameri-can Community Service Association soldpens, mugs, key chains and other itemsemblazoned with the embassy logo.

Fair Teaches Thais about Consular Work

Embassy employees employed the Thai concept of “edutain-ment” to make learning about the embassy’s consular sectionsa fun outing.

Page 9: State Magazine, June 2007

The Bureau of Educational and CulturalAffairs has unleashed the power of technol-ogy through the Global Connections andExchange program to create a unique andunprecedented public diplomacy tool.Through virtual linkages with teens andeducators in the United States, this toolenhances America’s presence in more than1,000 schools worldwide. Using state-of-theart technology, GCE not only conveysAmerica’s values and traditions to the mostremote areas of the world, but also empow-ers American and foreign youth by givingthem a voice in their communities andchanneling their energy to help their homecommunities.

GCE trained 1,500 teachers to use inter-active approaches and project-based

methodology in their classrooms. In Tajik-istan, Ibrahim Rustamov helped create forTajik students an online English Club thatincludes lesson plans, resources and educa-tional games. In Bangladesh, four GCEschools are participating in NASA’S “GlobalLearning and Observations to Benefit theEnvironment” program in which they col-laborate with scientists and students aroundthe world to analyze and compare dataabout forestry, conservation, weather pre-diction, disaster mitigation, global warmingand ecotourism.

Teachers throughout the GCE networkhave reported that the program has signifi-cantly affected retention rates, encouragedyoung girls and increased motivation foryouth at risk. Many students willingly and

enthusiastically remain at the centers forlong hours with the hope that they will beable to use newly found skills in theirfuture careers.

Across BordersStudents visiting Internet Learning

Centers expand their immediate environ-ment as geography melts away and notionsof borders become secondary.

In Central Asia, programs such as theaward-winning “Tech Age Girls” give younggirls self-confidence as they learn advancedWeb design techniques such as CSS, PHPand Javascript, then begin internships athigh-tech companies. One Tech Age Girlsaid the program helped her become amore serious person.

TECHNOLOGY CREATES A UNIQUE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY TOOL BY ANNA MUSSMAN

Virtual Connections

J U N E 2 0 0 7 | S TAT E M A G A Z I N E | 7

These teachers were part of a group fromBangladesh, Tajikistan and the Palestinianterritories who were visiting the UnitedStates on an exchange through theGlobal Connections program.

Page 10: State Magazine, June 2007

“I now realize that I shouldn’tquestion my ability to do some-thing, but should simply do itwith confidence,” she said.

Teachers and students nolonger need to travel to theUnited States to collaboratewith Americans on virtual proj-ects that bring their worldscloser. In Afghanistan, studentscreated a blog project focusedon human rights, while on theWest Bank, Dina, a student atthe Al Naja Secondary School inRamallah, posted an essay aboutthe challenges of universal edu-cation. She noted that “studentscan start acting internationallyby establishing networks andlobbies to influence governmentpolicies.”

Global Connections projectssteer overseas students to discussenvironmental issues withAmericans, children’s rights withstudents in another village andcivil obligations with adults andchildren in yet another country.In Pakistan, teachers and stu-dents traveled long distances to

play with children at earthquakerelief camps in Jaba, Basiaan andKushtra, while girls at ChowaraHigh School in Bangladeshapplied online and then receiveda grant to print leaflets aboutthe adverse impacts of earlymarriages.

Empowered by technology,Global Connections youthproduce innovative digitalstories, Web logs and multime-dia presentations to gain adynamic voice in their commu-nities as they convey theiraspirations for a better futureand expose others to the bene-fits of an open, civil society.

Virtual Linkages Linkages with U.S. schools

involve interactive discussions,debates, research and informa-tion sharing. Students explorethemes that range from interna-tional arts and music to ethnicfoods, fashion, world religions,youth service and more.

Using video technology toproduce their “Symbols of

Democracy” project, an eighthgrade class at the MarylandSchool for the Deaf filmedmonuments in the Washington,D.C., area and explained theirsignificance through sign lan-guage and subscripts. Aftertheir Armenian partner schoolwatched the video, studentdiscussions jumped from themeaning of democracy to acomparison of U.S. andArmenian policies regardingthe rights of people withdisabilities.

In the “Two Rivers OneWorld Project,” New York Cityand Egyptian students testedwater content of the Hudsonand Nile rivers, visited watertreatment plants and discussedwater supply and pollutionwith scientists and teachers. SixAmerican students then trav-eled to Cairo to join theirEgyptian peers to present theirfindings to Egyptian and Amer-ican scientists.

Teenagers also talk aboutmatters that are important to

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Top: Bangladeshi students andteachers rally in Chittagong infavor of universal education.Bottom: Young Bangladeshiwomen from Joydebpur Govt.Girls High School gathered atRani Bilashmoni Govt. Boys HighSchool in Gazipur to celebrateInternational Women’s Day 2007.

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them personally. Discussingconflicts in their daily lives withTajikistani students, an Ameri-can student wrote, “I wouldhave to agree that some conflictis good in our lives. I agree thatit isn’t good to fight with yourfamily and friends, but youcan’t learn about someone ifyou don’t argue sometimes.”

A recent project mergedvirtual discussions with DigitalVideo Conference technologythat allowed students at WilsonHigh School in Washington tocollaborate with students inAzerbaijan on a Model UnitedNations project that focused onHIV/AIDS in Botswana.

Communicating in Englishwith Americans has helpedthousands of international stu-dents and teachers improvetheir English language skills.Many have attributed their par-ticipation in the program totheir qualifying for exchangeprograms to the U.S. and othercountries. American teachersand students have been exposed

to different cultures and haveexpressed an increased interestin foreign travel and languages.

Transformational DiplomacyBorn with computers at their

fingertips, America’s teenagersincreasingly rely on e-mail, Webchats, instant messages andsocial networking sites for theircommunication. Comfortablein a virtual environment, theyenthusiastically discuss theirlives and values with foreignpeers. It is no longer surprisingto hear students living in ruralvillages discussing U.S. presi-dential candidates, freedom ofspeech and volunteerism.

The program not only helpsnarrow the digital divide, butalso places overseas youth onequal footing with their Ameri-can partners. The two groupscome together as collaborators,discussing similar concerns andworking together on the sameproject.

In harmony with transfor-mational diplomacy principles,

GCE merges virtual and physi-cal exchanges to offer foreignpartners the 21st century skillsneeded to improve their soci-eties. Similarly, it extendsopportunities for Americans tolearn about other cultures, reli-gions and ways of life. As theonly program of its kind,GCE has evolved into an effec-tive public diplomacy programthat reaches thousands ofhearts and minds virtually togive mutual understanding anew meaning and infinitedimension.

Additional informationabout GCE can be found at:http://exchanges.state.gov/education/citizens/students/worldwide/ connections.htm.

You can also contact theprogram officer directly viae-mail at [email protected] for details. ■

The author is a program special-ist in ECA’s Youth ProgramsDivision, Office of CitizenExchanges.

Above left: Egyptian studentsparticipate in the Art MilesProject as part of the GlobalConnections program adminis-tered by the InternationalEducation and ResourceNetwork. Right: Through technol-ogy and the Global Connectionsand Exchange program, theseyoung Tajikistani women canhold open and frank discussionsabout their daily lives withAmerican counterparts.

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There are few better places in the world tosee the potential for transformational diplo-macy than in El Fasher, a dusty frontiergarrison town with only a few paved roadsand scant amenities that serves as the capitalof Sudan’s North Darfur state. For the pastyear, a team of diplomats from the U.S.Embassy in Khartoum and the Department’sOffice of the Coordinator for Reconstruc-tion and Stabilization has been workingalong with US Agency for InternationalDevelopment field staff to stabilize the polit-ical, security and humanitarian crisis and itsimpact on the people of Darfur.

CRS is represented by members of itsActive Response Corps and Standby

Response Corps, composed of first respon-ders who support stabilization andreconstruction efforts in conflict-affectedregions. Corps members are Foreign Serviceand Civil Service personnel who specialize inunconventional field missions, often inremote and hostile regions, to supportembassy and Department initiatives.

The need for a diplomatic presence inNorth Darfur arose in the aftermath of theDarfur Peace Agreement signed in Abuja,Nigeria, on May 5, 2006. The agreementsought to end Darfur’s political and eco-nomic marginalization by the authorities inKhartoum and was initially signed by thegovernment of Sudan and one of three rebel

“I would define the objective of

transformational diplomacy this

way: To work with our many part-

ners around the world to build and

sustain democratic, well-governed

states that will respond to the needs

of their people—and conduct

themselves responsibly in the

international system.”

—Secretary Rice, January 18, 2006

Transformational Diplomacy in Darfur | By Eythan Sontag and Keith Mines

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Soldiers from Minni Minawi’s SudanLiberation Army faction board one of their“technicals” in Umm Baru, North Darfur.

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factions. Persuading the outlying rebelgroups, which have proliferated since theagreement was signed, to join the peaceprocess remains a key diplomatic priority.U.S. efforts have also focused on improvingpolitical conditions to help alleviate thehumanitarian crisis in Darfur and facilitatethe return of more than 2 million internallydisplaced persons.

To help achieve these objectives, theDepartment’s Bureau of African Affairs andUSAID’s Office of Transition Initiativesprovided funds for Peace Secretariats—alsocalled DPA Implementation Offices—inKhartoum and El Fasher. A small ARCteam developed these secretariats intocenters for dispensing information aboutthe peace agreement and for coordinating,hosting and encouraging activities relatedto the peace process. The Peace Secretariatsalso provide office space, logistical supportand communications assistance to those

rebel factions that signed the peace agree-ment or the Declaration of Commitment,an agreement to commit to the DarfurPeace Agreement, to help those groupstransition from military organizations topolitical entities.

In addition to establishing the Peace Sec-retariats, the ARC was tasked with creating aforward platform in Darfur where U.S. gov-ernment officials could live and work. CRSworked with the Bureau of African Affairsand the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum to estab-lish two residences/work facilities on theoutskirts of El Fasher. The houses wererefurbished, fortified to meet security stan-dards, furnished and equipped with verysmall amerture terminal (VSAT) technologyto provide Internet connectivity. Theoutpost is supported by a seven-person fieldstaff of local drivers, custodians and inter-preters who were recruited and hired byARC and embassy officers.

FLUID SITUATIONSARC members adapted to the fluid cir-

cumstances as the mission and securityconditions in Darfur evolved. To help facili-tate the peace process and ensure theprotection of millions of displaced Darfuri-ans, ARC officers served as U.S. observers tothe African Union Mission in Sudan Cease-fire Commission, which monitors, reviewsand reports on violations of the peace agree-ment. In this capacity, they conduct outreachto rebel signatory and nonsignatory factionsalike, looking for common ground that willreinforce the cessation of hostilities.

ARC officers have participated in hands-on missions to such places as themountainous Jebel Marra and Jebel Moonareas to engage rebel movements, gain first-hand information about armedconfrontations and, where appropriate,participate in African Union or UN media-tion efforts.

Left: School tents at the Oure Cassonirefugee camp in eastern Chad wear out inthree to four months because of the con-stant sand and wind. Below: Author EythanSontag, front left, sits with African Unionpeacekeepers and Justice and EqualityMovement rebels in Jebel Moon to discussthe peace process.

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CRS

In addition to cultivating a wide networkof contacts within the UN, humanitariancommunities, AMIS, civil society and localgovernment, ARC and embassy officers con-tinue to assess the progress of UN supportto AMIS. The ARC presence in Darfur hasprovided ground-level visibility and report-ing of policy implementation, includingprogress on the peace agreement, for deci-sionmakers in Khartoum, Washington, NewYork and other diplomatic centers.

As one of the U.S. government’s highestforeign policy priorities and the subject ofintense public and media focus, the situa-tion in Darfur has attracted numeroushigh-level delegations, ranging from presi-dential special envoys to movie stars tocongressional delegations. ARC officers haveplayed a key role in coordinating and receiv-ing these visitors to the field, providingbriefings, arranging meetings and organiz-ing security measures.

PUBLIC OUTREACHThe Department’s El Fasher presence

has also provided enhanced outreachopportunities for the U.S. Embassy inKhartoum. The embassy public affairsofficer recently made the first publicdiplomacy trip to El Fasher in manyyears, visiting the University of El Fasher,the local radio station and the town’sonly museum.

For six months, the ARC and SRC alsodeployed officers to Chad, serving primari-ly in the eastern part of the countrybordering Sudan. These officers met regu-larly with the UN High Commission forRefugees and nongovernmental organiza-tion officials supporting Darfurianrefugees and internally displaced persons,both at the hub of operations in Abecheand at the many refugee camps and dis-placed person sites in eastern Chad. ARCand SRC personnel also engaged Sudanese

rebels located in Chad to reinforce U.S.policy points and escorted delegationsfrom Congress, USAID and the Depart-ment’s Bureau of Population, Refugeesand Migration.

CRS and the ARC, in collaboration withthe U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, the Bureauof African Affairs, USAID and other part-ners, continue their work in Darfur as anexample of innovative and flexible trans-formational diplomacy in action, wherebringing the right assets and peopletogether at the right time may help make adifference in this troubled region.

Eythan Sontag is a Foreign Affairs officer ondetail to the Office of the Coordinator forReconstruction and Stabilization and amember of the Active Response Corps. KeithMines is a political officer at the U.S.Embassy in Ottawa and a member of theStandby Response Corps.

Children from one of the local internally displacedpersons camps collecting firewood and fodder passin front of an African Union Mission in Sudan camp.

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In my 10 months as coordinator forreconstruction and stabilization, S/CRShas experienced inevitable challenges,but also tremendous progress. The officewas created to organize the U.S. govern-ment’s reconstruction and stabilizationefforts for countries that have fallen intochaos, and build the civilian planning andresponse tools to staff these operations.

An important part of what we aretrying to do is create a civilian surgecapability. To that end, the members ofour Active and Standby Response Corpsare truly on the cutting edge of transfor-mational diplomacy. They can bedeployed on short notice to unconven-tional, challenging environments. Andthey have begun to do so in Sudan’sDarfur region, eastern Chad, Lebanon,Haiti, Kosovo, Iraq and Nepal.

We must also draw on the expertise ofthe American public, which is why thePresident called for the creation of a Civil-ian Reserve Corps in his most recent Stateof the Union address. Secretary Rice isleading this effort, and tasked my officewith standing the CRC up. The CRC willexpand the pool of civilian experts suchas law enforcement specialists, publicadministrators and engineers who cansupport critical areas of reconstructionand stabilization work.

To get our civilians on the ground, ourgovernment must support them withproper planning, coordinated operationsand training. We have agreed on an inter-agency management system that will beused to address future reconstruction andstabilization crises. As part of this, we havedeveloped a planning process and an

interagency conflict assessment tool thatare now in use for U.S. planning efforts forKosovo. In Haiti, a team from multiple U.S.agencies in Washington and the fielddesigned an innovative initiative toenhance security and economic opportuni-ties in one of Port-au-Prince’s mosttroubled neighborhoods.

Weak and failing states pose criticalnational security challenges. By betterorganizing how we respond and ensuringwe have the necessary civilian resourcesto do so, we give ourselves the bestchance for success in future crises. Weowe it to our country and to thosearound the world struggling to emergefrom conflict. ■

The author is the coordinator for recon-struction and stabilization.

ON SHORT NOTICE By Ambassador John E. Herbst

Left: Camps in eastern Chad fill quickly withyoung Darfur refugees. Below: ActiveResponse Corps officer Eythan Sontag, sec-ond from left, and Standby ResponseCorps officer Keith Mines, far right, meetwith the head of the Legislative Council inEl Fasher, North Darfur.

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To Director General George Staples, thekey word in Foreign Service is the firstone—Foreign. When he joined the Depart-ment in 1981, he understood therewards—and the potential drawbacks—ofa life dedicated to serving the interests ofthe United States and fulfilling the country’sdiplomatic mission.

To the young ex Air Force officer, itmeant a life full of professional commit-ment, personal sacrifice and unimaginablesatisfaction in serving his country throughgood times and not-so-good times. Hiscareer spanned the end of the Cold War andthe start of several hot ones, including thecurrent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistanthat are taxing his beloved Foreign Service.

During his 13 months as DirectorGeneral, Ambassador Staples has made

many crucial and sometimes difficult deci-sions, but his guide throughout has been anunwavering focus on supporting SecretaryRice’s vision of today’s diplomacy and ful-filling the Department’s mission to helpbuild and sustain a more democratic, secureand prosperous world.

Today’s world is more volatile than whenthe Foreign Service welcomed newcomerStaples 26 years ago. Transformationaldiplomacy asks diplomats to spend moretime in that world and less time in theiroffices. The Director General’s office hasbeen the eye of the storm for most of thechanges that had to be made as the Depart-ment transitioned from an earlier, lessdangerous era into the modern world.

Ambassador Staples began his ForeignService career in El Salvador, and he made

his way through the FS ranks with posts inBahrain, Zimbabwe, The Bahamas andUruguay. He spent his Washington tours inthe Department’s Operation center and inthe Bureau of European Affairs. He reachedthe peak of Foreign Service as U.S. Ambas-sador to the Republic of Rwanda and toCameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

His last post before assuming duties asDirector General was as Political Adviser tothe Supreme Allied Commander Europe atNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization head-quarters in Belgium.

To help explain the magnitude of thechanges and the reasons they had to bemade, Ambassador Staples met with StateMagazine editors for an extensive overviewof the modern Foreign Service and why itmust adapt to a rapidly changing world.

Q&A WITH DIRECTOR GENERAL GEORGE M. STAPLES BY ROB WILEY

Department “Inner View”

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SM: We couldn’t help but notice the justreleased “Best Place to Work” survey in whichthe Department did very well. Could youcomment on those rankings?

Director General Staples: I’m verypleased with the announcement that theDepartment was recognized within theFederal government as the No. 6 Best Placeto Work. We’re up from No. 10 in 2005.

In particular, we were ranked No. 1 bywomen. If you remember where we were 26years ago when I came into the ForeignService, this recognition is quite significant.It reflects very well on all of our employeesand on what the Secretary and many othershave done to make the State Department agood place to work.

SM: State did well across many areas—No. 2 among males, No. 4 among AfricanAmericans, etc.

Director General Staples: And we wereranked No. 3 in effective leadership. You canadd to this latest survey the recognition wereceived in BusinessWeek magazine on theresults of surveys of college undergraduatestudents, it speaks well of our efforts to notonly serve the American people, but to alsoensure that our efforts are recognized andappreciated among a broad cross section ofobservers. I believe BusinessWeek notedthat the Department finished No. 3 behindWalt Disney and Google on the 2006 MostDesirable Undergraduate Employer rankingand No. 4 behind Google, Disney and Appleon the 2007 ranking.

SM: Last August, you introduced changesto the assignments process, from the order inwhich assignments are made to changes toFair Share rules and the elimination offourth-year extensions at posts with less than15 percent differential. What necessitatedthese changes?

Director General Staples: As I’veexplained in town meetings and in numer-ous messages to the field, the changes weremade because we had a serious problem: wedidn’t have the people that we needed tostaff our most difficult positions. In thepast, people just bid and went pretty muchwhere they wanted, and extensions weregranted liberally. I have made the point thatno organization would allow itself to be in aposition where its most difficult, criticalpositions were not filled first.

We changed the rules, if you will, in con-sultation with the American Foreign ServiceAssociation, recognizing that this was amarked departure from the way we had

done the assignment business in the past. Imade numerous trips to the field and con-ducted town meetings abroad as well toexplain the changes, and I’m pleased to saythat the system has worked.

Looking at summer 2007 assignments,we are about 98 percent staffed in Iraq, 100percent or close to it in Afghanistan andclose to 100 percent staffed in our otherhard-to-fill posts in South Asia and theMiddle East.

The challenge will be how to sustain thisin terms of 12-month tours. We have a hugeturnover at these posts every year, and wedo not have a large Foreign Service. Evenpeople who are not currently Fair Sharehave to serve more often in hardship posts.We live in one of themost challengingperiods that I canremember in theForeign Service, but I’mpleased to see that thechallenge is recognizedand we have filled ourpositions with volun-teers. Thus far, we havenot had to do a singledirected assignment.

SM: To what do youattribute the success ofthe new assignmentsprocess?

Director GeneralStaples: I think the recognition on the partof our people that we are facing challengingtimes and that more service in hardshipassignments is expected. Our people recog-nize that service in the world has changed.Our median hardship differential is 15percent, and that’s just extraordinary. Ibelieve more than a fifth of our posts are 20to 25 percent differential or higher today.And that’s not just terrorism; that’s crime,climate, health issues, schooling, cost ofliving, etc. All of those things go into thehardship differential.

SM: Is it difficult to make changes to theassignments process?

Director General Staples: It is difficult,because we are really dealing with a changein culture. When I came into the ForeignService, many of us knew about the dangersin Beirut. I started my career in San Sal-vador, which was a danger-pay post andunaccompanied for most of my time there.But for the most part, everyone recognizedthat at some point in time, you would have

to serve in perhaps one of these hardshippositions but there would not be too manyrequirements for family separations.

SM: Some of the recent changes have beenperceived by some as a step backward in theDepartment’s on-going efforts to be as familyfriendly as possible. How would you respondto this particular perception?

Director General Staples: I sometimeshear that when I’ve gone overseas andtalked in town meetings. But when Iexplained the full range of the challenges weface, when I reemphasized that we are nowin a Foreign Service in which the medianhardship differential is 15 percent and everyyear we have to fill between 500 to 700 posi-

tions that are unaccompanied or limitedaccompanied, people understand.

The point we make is that we aremeeting these staffing challenges and doingall we can to support families and tosupport our personnel. The Iraq servicepackage alone should indicate how we havegone out of our way to take into accountthose who are serving in our most difficultforeign policy environments. Between threeregional rest breaks and two R&Rs, we wereable to add a home leave and to increaseboth the hardship and danger pay differen-tial. Those serving in PRTs have been ableto leave their families behind at the postfrom which they left. Their families do nothave to move while the children finishschool. On a voluntary basis, we expandedthat by asking posts wherever possible tosupport those who would also like thisbenefit if they are going to EmbassyBaghdad or another location.

The response has been extremely positivearound the Foreign Service. If possible,posts have worked out arrangements in

The Director General enjoys an informal lunch for embassy employeesat the Deputy Chief of Mission’s residence in Pretoria.

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which the family could stay while themember served anywhere in Iraq. These arejust some of the things we have been able todo in this regard.

We also developed recognition awards forchildren of those serving at unaccompaniedposts. Medals and certificates have been sentto the child’s school for presentation as athank you for the service of the parent,and that has been very beneficial for familymorale. It also increases public awarenessaround the country about what our person-nel are facing and where they are servingoverseas.

SM: So the Department is really onebig family?

Director General Staples: We are afamily. And that’s not just the ForeignService; it’s also the Civil Service, as well.We just instituted a pilot Civil Service rota-tion program which for the first time willallow Civil Service personnel of the samegrade and doing the same type of work toswitch between Bureaus for a year or two togain some career-broadening experience.It’s a pilot program, but I hope we can

expand it. We in the Foreign Service getthese rotations every two or three years, butour Civil Service colleagues often spendtheir entire careers in the same office at thesame desk. Why not offer the opportunityto switch for those who don’t want to stayat that same desk for 25 years? Why not givethem the chance to do something else andgain exposure to the broader work of theDepartment?

Through our assignments procedures, wehave also allowed close to 200 Civil Servicepersonnel to serve overseas, where they areperforming with distinction in hard-to-fillpositions. Many Civil Service personnel in

this building and elsewhere have served onProvincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraqand Afghanistan.

And let’s not forget the largest number ofour employees, our almost 37,000 LocallyEmployed staff, who are what Secretary Ricecalls the Crown Jewels of the State Depart-ment. They often serve at very difficultpositions and often risk their lives toperform their duties and, on occasion, keepus safe. They, too, are doing a marvelousjob, and should be commended.

SM: Do you anticipate any other changesto the assignments process?

Director General Staples: We are negoti-ating with AFSA for a couple of otherchanges, and we’ll have to see where thatcomes out.

One would strengthen the minimumstandard for hardship service to recognizethe 15 percent median in terms of positionsaround the world. And the other issue I ampersonally pushing is to change the 6-8 ruleback to 5-8, with five years the maximumnumber of years any FSO can serve inWashington. This was the policy before

1997, and given thechallenges overseas andthe staffing require-ments we have to meet,I think it’s importantthat we go back to thatstandard.

The point I want tomake is that this is theForeign Service, and Istrongly believe that thebulk of one’s careershould be spent over-seas. It’s very importantto serve in Washington,to understand how weoperate here in theinteragency process and

how policy is made here at the senior levelsin this building. But the bulk of one’s careershould be spent in overseas service.

SM: What else has changed?Director General Staples: Another

example of how things have changed todayvs. 26 years ago—we have almost 600tandem couples in the Foreign Servicetoday. That’s 1,200 people that we try toassign together. We used to tell our tandemcouples that because of various reasons,when they reached more senior levels theymight have to face a leave without pay situ-ation or even serve at different posts.

Today, I’m telling the members of theA100 classes and our mid-level officers thatthese kinds of separations may be morecommon in a career. They may have to faceit two, three or even four times, so planaccordingly. This is a huge and increasingnumber, and that’s just another example ofhow the Foreign Service has changed. Youadd onto that the requirements for servicein the hardship-danger pay posts, and it’s asignificant change.

We try to do our best to assign peopletogether. We certainly take in considerationthe requirements for adequate schooling.We’re very strict on everyone meeting theirFair Share requirements, but we’ve gone outof our way with the bureaus to take care ofthose who have come out of posts like Iraq,Afghanistan and Pakistan. We have succeed-ed because of the support we’ve had in thisbuilding from the Secretary, Assistant Secre-taries, and others who value that service.

I would also like everyone to know thatin these circumstances we still considerourselves to be as family-friendly as possi-ble. I have approved every single requestthat crosses my desk for a waiver based onmedical condition or special needs for achild, 100 percent. Our Family LiaisonOffice has established a special positionfor a coordinator who does nothing butwork with our unaccompanied families inthe U.S. while the member is serving anunaccompanied tour. We have more than200 such families in the U.S. today. Whocould have imagined something like thatyears ago?

We also contracted for a service that pro-vides 24-hour counseling, financialplanning, and other guidance to our per-sonnel. So we have any number of benefitsand efforts underway to look after ourpeople and their families as much as possi-ble. You can add to that the wonderful workthey’ve done in FSI to expand trainingopportunities and the huge increase inonline courses that are available to familymembers and employees overseas. We’redoing what we can in today’s circumstancesto really take care of our people, providegood training, watch out for families and atthe same time meet our responsibilities todo the work of diplomacy.

SM: How helpful has AFSA been?Director General Staples: We have a

good relationship with AFSA. In accordancewith the Foreign Service Act, they are theofficial bargaining unit of the Department. Iam an AFSA member, as are many of the

The Director General poses with Peach Corps volunteers and staffmembers outside their offices in Maseru, Lesotho.

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personnel in the Bureau of HumanResources. We have frequent meetings withthe members of the AFSA leadership, thepresident and the board to discuss issuesand negotiate. While AFSA has not agreedwith us on all of the new policies we havehad to implement, I think there is anunderstanding within AFSA that times havechanged and that all of us in the Depart-ment face extraordinary challenges.

SM: Is there anything else you are workingon with AFSA?

Director General Staples: We will laterthis year begin regularly scheduled negoti-ations on precepts for 2008, but otherwiseI don’t anticipate being involved withAFSA in any other groundbreaking initia-tives. We have been keeping AFSA abreastof changes in the Foreign Service intakeprocess, the new procedure to replace theForeign Service examination, and we havebriefed the president and senior AFSA offi-cials on a regular basis and they have beenfully supportive.

SM: You say that when you personallyexplain the policy to FSOs, they understand,but you can’t go to every single post.

Director General Staples: No, I can’t, butwe use BNet, we use town meetings, we use

ALDAC messages to the field to get theword out. We have a deputy chief ofmission collective email that my PrincipalDeputy Assistant Secretary Heather Hodgesuses to raise specific issues. I speak at allchief of mission meetings; I also speak atall ambassadorial and DCM seminars toencourage our senior leaders when they getto post to recognize that our people areserving in difficult times. I ask them to beespecially aware of the need for outreachand to take the steps necessary to maintaingood morale at post and to help all of theofficers who are going to serve at thesehardship posts develop strong leadershipand management skills.

I think the word is out. The bottom lineis simply this: these are the requirementsthat we must fulfill to carry out ournation’s foreign policy. We have done itsuccessfully with these changes, and inthe process done all that we can do tosupport our families and our personnelwho are working under incredibly difficultcircumstances.

If we were not able to do what we havedone this year voluntarily, we would havedone it through identification, or directedassignments. One way or the other, we aregoing to put people where they are neededto carry out our diplomatic requirements.

Anyone else who would be the DG rightnow would do the same thing.

If you explain the situation and ensurethat the steps you take are fair and transpar-ent, then you will have the support of thepeople who have come into this business tocarry out public service. That is what wehave seen here. It is a tribute to the menand women and the families of all of ourpeople—Foreign Service, Civil Service,Local Staff—to work today on behalf of ourgovernment and to meet our diplomaticresponsibilities. It is not easy to face separa-tion, to see your children graduate withoutyou. It is not easy to work overseas inembassies that face threats and in which ouraccess and our openness to the generalpublic overseas is more restricted because ofthe security requirements.

And yet our people do this every day, andI’m extremely proud of that. I’m extremelyproud of their service and deeply apprecia-tive of their sacrifices.

I say this on behalf of the Secretary andall of the senior leadership of this buildingand myself—a sincere “Thank You” to all ofour personnel who work for the UnitedStates Department of State. You have ourdeepest respect and admiration. ■

The author is the editor of State Magazine.

“We are a family. Andthat’s not just the ForeignService; it’s also the Civil

Service, as well.”

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Men and children ride alongthe Mongolian prairie duringan annual festival.

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Modern Nomads and Vast HorizonsMark U.S. ‘Neighbor.’

By Patrick J. Freeman and Alexei Kral

P O S T O F T H E M O N T H<<<

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Ulaanbaatar

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In January, the United States and Mongolia marked the 20thanniversary of diplomatic ties. The landlocked country’s only geo-graphic neighbors are Russia and China, but during his November2005 visit to Ulaanbaatar, President George W. Bush embracedMongolia’s characterization of the United States as its “thirdneighbor.”

The United States established an embassy in Ulaanbaatar in1988 and the first resident American ambassador arrived in July1990. Just a few months earlier, Mongolians had peacefully dis-carded socialism and begun transforming their nation into ademocracy with a market-oriented economy.

When it opened, the embassy had three local employees andthree American officers. Today, 135 Locally Employed staff and27 direct-hire Americans grapple with a wide and growing rangeof issues.

INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE Defense cooperation is especially strong. Nearly 900 Mongolian

soldiers have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003, and 250Mongolian soldiers guard the United Nations war crimes tribunalin Sierra Leone—visible signs of progress toward establishingMongolia as a major international peacekeeping troop contribu-tor over the next few years. In August, for the second year in arow, Mongolia will host a major U.S.-supported multinationalpeacekeeping exercise for Asian nations.

A Millennium Challenge Account compact with Mongolia,expected to be concluded in 2007, will represent a major expan-sion of U.S. assistance and engagement. Vocational training,

Imagine conducting diplomacy

in the homeland of Genghis Khan

and bolstering a developing

country’s transition from social-

ism to free-market democracy,

while spending weekends enjoy-

ing stunning natural beauty.

That is Mongolia.

The Amarbayasgalant monastery, located in theIven Gol River Valley on the foot of BurenkhanMountain, is a landmark of Mongolia’s culturalmemory and rich Buddhist heritage.

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AT A GLANCE: MONGOLIA

CapitalUlaanbaatar

Total area1,564,116 square kilometers

Approximate sizeSlightly smaller than Alaska

GovernmentMixed parliamentary/presidential

IndependenceJuly 11, 1921 (from China)

Population2.95 million

Ethnic groupsMongol (mostly Khalkha) andTurkic (mostly Kazakh)

LanguagesKhalkha Mongol, Turkic and Russian

CurrencyTogrog/tugrik (MNT)

Per capita income$2,000

Population below poverty line36.1 percent

Import commoditiesMachinery, fuel, automobiles, foodproducts and industrial goods

Import partnersRussia (34.5 percent), China (27.4percent) and Japan (7.1 percent)

Export commoditiesCopper, apparel, livestock, cash-mere and wool

Export partnersChina (48.1 percent), United States(14.2 percent) and Canada (11.6percent)

Internet country code.mn

SOURCE: CIA World Factbook 2007

health, property rights and railway proj-ects are being considered for inclusionin the compact.

The U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment launched its first programin Mongolia in 1991 with a grant of $10million to provide emergency suppliesfor the country’s failing power plants.The aid is gratefully remembered.

Today, USAID still provides technicalassistance to strengthen the energysector, but it pursues a much broaderagenda. Under ongoing programs, everycourt in the country has been automat-ed and every judge trained, an umbrellagroup of women’s political groupsswiftly won favorable changes in theparliamentary election law, protectionsare being enhanced for endangeredwildlife species, and a popular televisionseries promotes greater awareness ofHIV/AIDS.

Most USAID programs encouragefaster economic growth and supportpolicy reforms like the major taxchanges enacted by the State GreatHural (Mongolia’s parliament) in 2006.Other programs support entrepreneur-ship and are helping to lower Mongolia’s35 percent poverty rate.

The embassy’s economic and com-mercial focus is to encourage a businessclimate that fosters free enterprise andforeign investment and to promote U.S.trade and investment in a growingeconomy with world-class mineraldeposits just beginning to be developed.More than 125 American businesses areactive in Mongolia, with mining-relatedfirms especially well represented.

VAST CONTRASTSNearly half of Mongolia’s 2.8 million

people live in the capital, but businesstrips take embassy employees to theGobi Desert, mining towns, the ethnicKazakh region in the far west andprovincial trading centers. Many in thecountryside continue to lead a nomadicexistence, but even herders are connect-ing with the outside world. It is notunusual to see a ger (a round tent usedas a portable home) on a broad, emptysteppe with a satellite dish, outside thedoor, powered by a solar panel.

More than 100 Peace Corps volun-teers work in communities acrossMongolia. While most teach English,

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others are engaged in health education and other areas, and areactive on projects ranging from combating trafficking in personsto setting up a tourism Web site.

The Mongolian government declared English the second offi-cial language in 2004. The embassy’s Public Affairs Sectionprovides scholarships to high school students for after-schoolEnglish classes. Until the schools graduate a generation of Englishspeakers, most embassy employees find it helpful to learn someMongolian through the Foreign Service Institute or the post lan-guage program to shop and get around town.

Until 2002, embassy staffers lived mainly in a Communist-eraapartment block near the chancery affectionately known as“Faulty Towers.” Today, almost all staff members live in Czech-designed townhouses or apartments in a modern, gated housingcompound 15 minutes from the embassy.

In warmer months, children ride bicycles and use the com-pound’s playground equipment. They play in the communityroom during the winter. The 200-student International School ofUlaanbaatar is building a new campus nearby that will open inSeptember.

Ulaanbaatar has a surprising variety of restaurants—American,French, Italian, Indian, Chinese and Korean—as well as pizzadelivery.

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Opposite page top: AmbassadorMark C. Minton, left, participates in a4-year-old child’s first hair cutting cere-mony with a Peace Corps volunteer’shost family. Bottom: AmbassadorMinton reviews an honor guard beforehis credentialing ceremony inSeptember 2006. Above: About 80kilometers northeast of Ulaanbaatar,Terelj National Park’s 1.2 million acresare inhabited by a few nomads andfarmers and several species of pro-tected animals. Left: Recreationalopportunities abound, like this raftingtrip on the Tuul River.

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Left: Following an awards ceremony,General Services Officer Dale Lawton,center, joins some of the LocallyEmployed staff, dressed in traditionalclothing, to note the Lunar New Year.Below: USAID advisers to ZavhanAimag visited sites for Gobi II andjudicial reform projects.Opposite pagetop: One of the local voters in theSeptember 2006 by-election inKhuvsgul Province parked his trans-portation just outside the polling sta-tion. Bottom: Convoy training exercis-es were intense during Exercise KhaanQuest in 2006.

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The real attraction of Mongolia, though, is the scenery. TheTuul River is a short distance from the housing compound andconvenient for picnics. On the weekends, SUVs are the vehicle ofchoice to navigate potholes and off-road segments of trips to thecountryside. Landscapes range from rocky mountain ranges tobroad plains and sand dunes.

An hour and a half from Ulaanbaatar, Terelj National Park is apopular outing. It features a rare prehistoric species of wild horseand Neolithic deer stones: 3,000-year-old carved stone plinthsetched with pictures of deer.

Mongolians and foreign tourists alike throng Buddhist monas-teries from the Tibetan tradition in scenic settings like the formerMongol Empire capital of Karakorum. Under an embassy culturalpreservation grant, a nongovernmental organization is document-ing monasteries that were destroyed during the socialist period.

There aren’t many other posts in the world where you can seethe sun rising on a vast, serene horizon as untended horses ambleby, then load up the car for the trip back to another busy week atthe office. ■

Patrick J. Freeman is chief of the Economic and Political Section andAlexei Kral is public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy inUlaanbaatar.

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By Any Other Name

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While not certain that these qualities were necessarily appropri-ate for the consul general’s residence, Goldberg thought employeescould come up with a name befitting America’s presence inGuangzhou. His “Name the CGR” contest turned out to beextremely popular with both Chinese and American employees.

Americans were often mystified by the names suggested byLocally Employed staff—and vice-versa. For instance, the ChineseQu Yu Ju 去愚居—“a place of reducing stupidity”—was meant toconvey humbleness and intelligence and to indicate that Americansand Chinese were intent on eliminating mutual misunderstanding.

Su Fang Yuan 溯芳源—“walking or floating in a fragrant pondarea”—gave a sense of harmony, beauty and freshness and seemed to

describe the environment of the island in the Pearl River where theresidence is located. Even more important, the words have the samepronunciation as another phrase that would have resonance forthose interested in rule-of-law matters. Another nomination—TingYue Ju 听⽉居, or “residence where you can hear the moon”—evoked a place so peaceful that the only “noise” is moonlight.

Americans found out that a name that sounds fine in MandarinChinese might not be acceptable when spoken in the local Can-tonese dialect. For instance, when an American suggested the name

Zhu Jin Ta 珠⾦塔, or “Pearl Gold Tower,” which incorporated the“pearl” of the Pearl River and the “gold” of Goldberg, a ForeignService National employee quickly pointed out that that name inCantonese was a homonym for the urn where a deceased person’sashes are kept. He further suggested that any name incorporatingthe Chinese word for pearl should be avoided, since it was ahomonym for pig and might be misinterpreted.

Some of the suggestions were intentionally humorous—theChinese equivalent of “Bob’s Place” or “McDonald’s”—while otherssounded nice in both Chinese and English. For instance, Ya Mei Ge雅美阁 not only means “elegant beauty residence,” but also soundslike the word “America.”

Some entries were appropriate to the consulate’s location. “HaiRui House” 海瑞居 honors famous local official Hai Rui of theMing Dynasty, whose name has come to be synonymous withhonesty and integrity in office.

After receiving about thirty entries, Consul General Goldbergnarrowed the field to five and asked each employee to cast a singlevote. (Some were better at “one person, one vote” than others.)

My entry, Hua Qi Yu 花旗寓, which means “Flowery Flag Resi-dence,” was the winner. This name is especially appropriate for theCG’s residence in Guangzhou because “Flowery Flag Country” wasthe first name given to the newly independent United States bypeople in Canton (now known as Guangzhou). They came up withthis name after seeing the Stars and Stripes flying on the Empress ofChina, the first American ship to sail into a Chinese port. WithCaptain John Green at the helm, the Empress arrived in Huangpu,12 miles south of Canton, on August 28, 1784.

Many pieces of early Canton export-ware polychrome porcelainhave pictures of ships or trading houses in the harbor in Cantonflying the banners of the countries that traded there, including the“Flowery Flag.” The State Department diplomatic reception roomshave several good examples of this type of Canton porcelain.

Come visit the “Flowery Flag Residence,” which is the home of allAmericans in Canton.

The author is chief of the American Citizen Services and AdoptionUnits in Guangzhou.

When newly arrived Consul General Robert Goldberg movedinto his home in Guangzhou, China, last summer, he noticed thatall the other houses in the area had plaques on the front gates withthree-character Chinese names. Most of the names were of an aus-picious nature that suggested that those who lived inside dwelt intranquil harmony with nature or had achieved an exalted status.

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RESIDENCE’S NEW NAME HONORS THE ‘FLOWERY FLAG’ BY KATHY GELNER

Consul General Robert Goldberg and the author stand next to the“Flowery Flag Residence” plaque.

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★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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In celebration of International Women’sDay 2007, Secretary of State CondoleezzaRice established the annual Award forInternational Women of Courage. Theaward program, administered by the Officeof the Senior Coordinator for Internation-al Women’s Issues, recognizes womenaround the globe who have shown excep-tional courage and leadership.

On March 7, 2007, the Secretary of Statepaid tribute to 10 Women of Courage inan awards ceremony at the State Depart-

ment. Representing Afghanistan, Argenti-na, Indonesia, Iraq, Latvia, Maldives, SaudiArabia and Zimbabwe, the honorees aretransforming their societies and serve asinspiration to the international communi-ty. They are among more than 90exceptional women of courage who werenominated by U.S. embassies worldwidefor their diverse contributions to freedom,justice, peace and equality.

“These women are true leaders in theirrespective communities,” said Andrea

Bottner, senior coordinator for interna-tional women’s issues. “Though theirbackgrounds are diverse, they share acommon trait of courage and a willingnessto demand more from society on behalf ofwomen everywhere.”

At the awards presentation, SecretaryRice congratulated the women for their“dedication, commitment and passion.”She said their work is transforming soci-eties and serving as an inspiration to theinternational community.

Secretary Rice Confers the First InternationalWomen of Courage Awards By Orna Blum

Of Human Dignity

Today, we celebrate the courage of 10 extraordinary

women…. They’re from nearly every region of the world,

women who not only make their fellow citizens proud but who

are the international defenders of what President Bush has

called the nonnegotiable demands of human dignity.

—Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, March 7, 2007

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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The 2007 International Women of Courage gather around Secretary Condoleezza Rice, center: from left, Jennifer Williams, Dr. Siti Musdah Mulia, Dr. Samiaal-Amoudi, Mariya Ahmed Didi, Susana Trimarco de Verón, Mary Akrami, Aziza Siddiqui, Dr. Sundus Abbas and Shatha Abdul Razzak Abbousi. Not picturedis Ilze Jaunalksne.

Dr. Siti Musdah Muliaof Indonesia is the first woman to earn aPh.D. in Islamic thought from the StateIslamic University. A prominent Muslimfeminist, Dr. Mulia has used her extensiveknowledge of the Quran and hadiths toadvocate for women’s rights. She was partof a team of experts that produced aCounter Legal Draft of Indonesia’s Islamiclegal code. Team recommendations includ-ed prohibiting child marriage and allowinginterfaith marriage. In the face of violentprotests, the Minister of Religious Affairscanceled the project. Though faced with

death threats and condemnation, Dr.Mulia continues to educate Indonesianwomen about their rights.

Jennifer Williamsis the founder and inspirational leader ofWOZA—Women of Zimbabwe Arise—one of the most active civil societyorganizations in protesting governmentabuses in Zimbabwe. Ms. Williams has suf-fered arrest, harassment, physical abuseand death threats, but remains undeterred.By uniting women of all races and ethnic

2007Women ofCourage

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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backgrounds in Zimbabwe to advocate forissues directly affecting them, she hasbrought social, economic and politicalissues to national attention.

Ilze Jaunalksneis a journalist and anchor of Latvia’s topcurrent affairs TV program, “DeFacto.” Sheis a trailblazer in the fight against politicalcorruption in Latvia. In March 2006, Ms.Jaunalksne broke the story of a vote-buying scandal involving prominentnational political leaders from severalparties. Her report led to the indictment ofseveral high-ranking political figures. Inthe face of harassment by public figuresattempting to discredit her and, by exten-sion, her work, Ms. Jaunalksne took thegovernment to court and sued for defama-tion of character. Her case was the first ofits kind in Latvia.

Dr. Samia al-Amoudiis an obstetrician-gynecologist and formervice dean of the College of Medicine andAllied Science at King Abdulaziz Universityin Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She diagnosed herown breast cancer at a very advanced stagein March 2006 and struggled to get confir-mation of the diagnosis and treatmentoptions—despite her own medical posi-tion. Dr. Al-Amoudi was the first Saudi toshare her personal battle with this disease,breaking the silence to speak out about itsimpact and raising public awareness forSaudi women and families across thekingdom and throughout the region.

Mariya Ahmed Didiis one of six women in the 50-memberparliament of Maldives, and one of onlytwo elected women (the other four wereappointed by the president). Ms. Didiorganized the first-ever women’s rightsrally in Maldives in March 2006, in

response to plainclothes police arresting afemale activist at her home late at night.Ms. Didi has faced physical harassmentand arrest, yet remains tireless and tena-cious in her efforts to promote democracyand women’s rights in a political scenedominated by men.

Susana Trimarco de Verónhas faced danger in her efforts to combathuman trafficking and to find her daughter,who was kidnapped by traffickers inArgentina. Desperate to find her missingdaughter, Ms. Trimarco put herself in dan-gerous situations, disguised as a prostitute,trolling bars and alleys in search of anyonewho might know her daughter’s where-abouts. Despite false leads and deaththreats, she has uncovered evidence of traf-ficking networks throughout the country.Thanks to Ms. Trimarco’s work, humantrafficking is now gaining public and gov-ernment attention in Argentina, and victimsare being encouraged to report the crime.

Mary Akramiis the director of the Afghan Women SkillsDevelopment Center, a women’s shelter inKabul, Afghanistan. Women come to theshelter to escape domestic violence orforced marriages. Shelter staff membersprovide legal advice, literacy classes, psy-chological counseling and basic skillstraining. Under Ms. Akrami’s leadership,several women at the shelter have madethe virtually unprecedented move ofdenouncing their abusers publicly andfiling court cases against them. Notwith-standing threats she has received, Ms.Akrami refuses to be intimidated andremains dedicated to her work.

Aziza Siddiquiis women’s rights coordinator with ActionAid, an Afghan nongovernmental organi-

zation. She travels into Afghanistan’sgreatly underserved countryside toconduct firsthand research on the condi-tion of rural women. Despite personalthreats against her for her groundbreakingresearch on gender, Ms. Siddiqui forgesahead with her investigation into the livesof women around the country and usesthat information as a platform to drawattention to the needs of women inAfghanistan.

Dr. Sundus Abbasis the executive director of the Women’sLeadership Institute in Baghdad and anactivist for women’s rights in Iraq.Despite several obstacles, she has workedtirelessly to improve the capacity of Iraqiwomen to become involved in the Iraqipolitical process; to play greater roleswithin their political parties; to take partin local and national politics, the consti-tutional drafting and amendingprocess and in national reconciliation;and conflict resolution efforts.

Shatha AbdulRazzak Abbousiis an Iraqi Islamic Party member of theIraqi Council of Representatives, whereshe also sits on the Human Rights Com-mittee. Ms. Abbousi is a prominent Iraqiactivist for reconciliation and for women’srights and a member of The Pledge forIraq, a women’s rights activist group.Through her work both within andoutside parliament, she has courageouslyfought for women’s rights and has set anexample for young Iraqi women who areinterested in taking an active role in theirnation’s political process. ■

The author is a Foreign Affairs officer in theOffice of the Senior Coordinator forInternational Women’s Issues.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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The implementation of the pilot Civil Service Mid-Level Rotation Program represents an exciting newcareer development opportunity for Civil Serviceemployees. While Foreign Service colleagues regularlyrotate among assignments throughout their career,similar career mobility opportunities do not formallyexist within the Civil Service.

The Bureau of Human Resource Management’sdeputy assistant secretary, Linda Taglialatela, and theFoggy Bottom Society recognized the need for such aprogram to expand individual job knowledge, increasenetworking relationships and enhance personal and pro-fessional growth.

The pilot Civil Service Mid-Level Rotational Programwas designed to provide developmental assignments foremployees at the GS-12 and GS-13 grade levels, specificto Foreign Affairs officers or their equivalents. Theunderlying philosophy was to develop a culturallydiverse group of highly qualified visionary and strategi-cally-thinking individuals as future Departmentleaders. Though a one-year developmental assignment,participants would gain a broader understanding of theState mission through assignments that cross Depart-ment organizational lines and gain additionalknowledge and experience of major functions and theinterrelatedness of the agency components.

SELECT GROUPThe program was designed to exchange positions

within the pool of selected candidates. The process wasfacilitated through a bidding-type activity and finalReview Board assignment. The resulting candidatesrepresent a select group. In addition to impressiveresumes and individual accomplishments, each of thecandidates was recommended based on past perform-ance and future potential. A senior-level board ofexecutives competitively evaluated and selected thosecandidates who best fit the program criteria.

Getting the program up and running had its growingpains. A steep learning curve affected participants, man-agers, offices and bureaus. Portfolios and responsibilitieshad to be shifted. Computer access and logons had to beadjusted. Program managers had to consider individualand unit preferences, academic backgrounds and experi-ences, career aspirations and even current securityclearances. It took a lot of communication, negotiationand accommodation to make it all come together.

As the program sponsor, Director General GeorgeStaples launched the program in February. He welcomedthe Initial Seven—Tijen Aybar, Stuart Denyer, CatherineKuchta-Heilbing, Barbara Quirk, Mary Ellen Sariti,Jonathan Thompson and Rachel Waldstein—as inaugu-ral pilots for the ambitious program. AmbassadorStaples stressed the need for the Department’s futureleaders to be able to adapt, lead change, manage a multi-cultural workforce and achieve results.

NEW GROUNDHe noted that each participant was breaking new

ground for the Department. Along with their managers,the group exchanged laughter over the “chessboard”nature of the transition. Conversations and logistics wereunder way to transfer portfolios and responsibilities. Par-ticipants were getting to know each other as well as theirnew supervisors. They studied new work requirements,new expectations and perhaps even a new commute orwork schedule. Candidates experienced the full range ofemotions inherent in starting a new job—from excite-ment, enthusiasm and an adrenaline rush to panic,apprehension and the proverbial white-knuckle “Whathave I got myself into?”

Ambassador Staples challenged the group to beproactive and entrepreneurial and to bring their pastwork experience and expertise to the new assignment.He acknowledged that change can be both exciting andscary, but also noted the unique opportunity theprogram provided to expand their professional networkand create a whole new set of first impressions.

The Director General expressed confidence in theirability. He expressed hope that the success of the pilotprogram would lead to the establishment and expansionof similar programs.

The candidates also spent a day of training at theForeign Service Institute. Dr. Ruth Whiteside, directorof the Institute, welcomed the group to the center andexpressed her support for the program and their indi-vidual career development. FSI’s Leadership School,represented by Alyce Hill, Chris Powers and Joan Yen,partnered with the Bureau of Human Resources toprovide a course of instruction preparatory to the newassignments.

The author is chief of career development in the Office ofCivil Service Personnel.

PILOT PROGRAM GIVES A TASTE OF CAREER DIVERSITYBY PAUL N. LAWRENCE

Make Your Move

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I first considered a career at the StateDepartment while pursuing an undergradu-ate degree in political science. I continued toentertain the idea in the years that followed.Then, as my graduate studies came to aclose, the idea blossomed into a firm desire.

I was determined to land a job at State,and in the fall of 1999, I was hired by theBureau of Population, Refugees and Migra-tion. I didn’t know much about refugees,but I was willing and eager to learn. I soondiscovered how fascinating and challengingPRM issues were.

For the next seven-plus years, I helpedmanage PRM’s relationship with its largestpartner—the UN High Commissioner forRefugees. UNHCR has offices in approxi-mately 120 countries, with a mandate toprotect and provide solutions for the mil-lions of refugees worldwide. Because ofUNHCR’s critical role in addressing refugeeneeds, the U.S. government’ssuccess in meeting itshumanitarian objectives wasclosely tied to the UNagency’s success. The UnitedStates provides the UNrefugee agency with $300million or more a year tocarry out its work. It was myresponsibility, as well as thatof many others in PRM, toensure that UNHCR per-formed well.

The work was interesting,challenging and rewarding.Yet, after serving in the sameposition for several years, Istarted looking to broadenmy experience. Since Ienjoyed my job, I took acasual approach to hunting and was selectivein the positions I considered. I pursued acouple of particularly interesting openings inPRM and, on occasion, considered positionsoutside the bureau.

Opportunity KnocksThen, last fall, my interest was piqued by

an advertisement for the pilot Civil Service

Mid-Level Rotational Program. Theprogram would allow me to gain new expe-rience, knowledge, contacts and maybe evennew skills; it would also provide me thechallenge of working on new U.S. foreignpolicy priorities without the risk of perma-nently severing ties with the bureau,colleagues and work I enjoyed.

I pursued the opportunity. Fortunately,my supervisor and bureau supported theidea. I was accepted into the program, but Istill had to overcome one of the biggesthurdles—land a rotational assignment inwhich I was interested.

I had envisioned fairly broad participa-tion in the program by the Department’sbureaus and assumed that some 20 or 30officers would be selected for the pilot. Thiswould provide candidates with many inter-esting opportunities. However, far fewerbureaus and officers decided to participate.

While disappointed, I nonetheless pressedon with the thought that things would workout as long as a handful of the positionswere interesting.

Fortunately, a number of the assignmentsdid sound intriguing and continued tointerest me after I spoke to the officersrotating out of the positions, as well as totheir supervisors. Conversations with other

candidates led meto the realizationthat we each hadour own reasons

for participating in the pilot program. Myobjective was to have an experience fairlydifferent from my assignment in PRM,which would help broaden my understand-ing and experience in the foreign policyarena and within the Department.

After exploring the positions that inter-ested me, I submitted my top three choices.Candidates were assured that every effortwould be made to accommodate their pref-erences. I remained concerned but hopeful,and determined that I would need to beselected for one of my top choices if I wasto continue.

Top Choice I was excited—and relieved—when I was

informed that I had been selected for mytop choice, Advisor for East Asia in theOffice of Commercial and Business Affairsin the Bureau of Economic, Energy andBusiness Affairs. I saw the assignment as anopportunity to expand my existing knowl-edge of Japan and U.S. economic interests

overseas, especially sinceI had lived in Japan. Ialso expected to gainexperience and under-standing of U.S.business interestsin the other East Asiancountries.

I have not been dis-appointed. My firstcouple of months inCBA have been veryinteresting. I still face asteep learning curve, butI anticipated steppingout of my comfort zonewhen I decided to par-ticipate in the program.Fortunately, my new col-leagues in EEB and

especially in CBA have been great to workwith. I am gradually getting up to speed onthe issues of the office and hope by the endof the rotation to have contributed in a verysignificant way to the work of EEB.

The author is currently serving as a ForeignAffairs officer in the Office of CommercialBusiness Affairs.

ROTATING FROM REFUGEES AND MIGRATION TO EAST ASIABUSINESS AFFAIRS BY JONATHAN THOMPSON

Outside the Comfort Zone

The first class of the pilot Civil Service Mid-Level Rotation Program includes, from left,Catherine Kuchta-Helbling, Rachel Waldstein, Mary Ellen Sariti, Jonathan Thompson,Tijen Aybar and Stuart Denyer. Class member Barbara Quirk is not shown.

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After seven years and two jobs in theBureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs,I was ready to broaden my horizons, learnabout other aspects of the Department andeither brush up on skills I hadn’t used in awhile or learn new ones. The pilot CivilService Mid-Level Rotational Programoffered a way to explore new areas, with thesafety of knowing I would come back toECA afterward. It was only one year—if Iliked my rotation assignment, great, and ifit turned out not to be a good fit, howmuch damage could I do in 12 months?

At ECA, we tend to interact only with theregional Public Diplomacy offices. Andsince ECA is located in SA-44, across townfrom the Harry S Truman building, weoften feel physically isolated. My yearlongassignment in the Bureau of Democracy,Human Rights and Labor is about as closeto the action as you can get—on the 7thfloor of Main State. I haven’t exactlybumped into the Secretary in the hallway,but the proximity to senior-level decisionmakers makes for a palpably more chargedatmosphere than at SA-44.

After just a month in my new assignment,my experience at DRL has already helpedme connect the dots between ECA’s pro-grams and the work of other bureaus. Forexample, the 2006 DRL publication Support-ing Human Rights and Democracy citednumerous ECA exchanges, including a Uni-versity Partnerships Program in Uzbekistanthat promoted religious tolerance throughdevelopment of a curriculum on compara-tive religious studies and a Fulbrightconference in Turkmenistan that focused onthe rule of law and criminal justice.

While the Rotational Program affords methe professional development opportunity Iwas seeking, it also gives me a chance toinform others about ECA, a bureau at timesoverlooked in the Department. Many Stateemployees have never heard of Educa-tionUSA, the program to which I devotedfour years. Check out www.educationusa.state.gov to learn more about that program.

Although the Rotational Program isstructured so that participants return to

their home offices at the end of the cycle,the networking opportunities could perhapsopen doors later if I want to make a morepermanent change. Plus, in addition to theon-the-job training of working in my newbureau, the program—and a supportivesupervisor in DRL—encourages me to takecourses at FSI in areas of professional inter-est, not just those pertaining to the work Iam doing this year.

ConcernsNaturally, I had several concerns about

participating in the program. My assignmentfor the year depended on who else applied.What if none of the positions in the poolappealed to me, or what if several applicantswanted the same position? However, theprogram coordinators did an excellent job ofmatching all of us to jobs in which we had atleast some interest and background.

ECA’s focus on exchange programs andgrants is specialized, so I was also con-cerned about whether my knowledge andskills would be transferable to the work ofother bureaus. Still, writing and criticalthinking skills are needed in both jobs, andthe bureau where I am doing my rotationalso manages grants. My new DRL col-leagues were eager to utilize my grantsmanagement expertise.

The rotational program would be a newadventure for me as a participant, but whatwould it mean for my supervisor and col-leagues in both my home office and my newoffice? Would people be supportive? Wouldmy ECA co-workers be annoyed at havingto train my replacement? What if thatperson didn’t do a good job—I might haveto pick up the pieces when I returned to myhome office. And how would people in mynew office see me—as a “temp,” only thereto observe, or as a functioning, contributingmember of the team?

My last major concern goes to the heartof the program’s purpose: I wanted tostretch myself intellectually, but worriedabout going back to rookie status in a newoffice. The interns in my new office areexperts on human rights compared to me

at this moment. And I did make my shareof mistakes during my first week. I tookwater from the “wrong” watercooler, and Isent a document for clearances in thewrong order. Fortunately, no diplomaticcrises resulted, and I realized it was okay tomake mistakes.

Initial ExperiencesStarting at DRL as the annual Human

Rights Report was about to be released waslike being dropped into the lions’ den justin time for dessert. Six months or more ofhard work were about to culminate in awhirlwind period of printing deadlines,high-level announcements of publication,press briefings and Hill testimony.

On my second day, I observed a “murderboard,” a goulish nickname for the meetingat which DRL staffers prepare the AssistantSecretary to answer questions about thereport from the media and members ofCongress. Out of that came assignments towrite extra briefing papers on issues forwhich I had little or no background. Icobbled together information from existingdocuments, and in the clearance processother people made sure the papers wereaccurate and useful.

My new colleagues are incredibly colle-gial, always willing to help and assure methat they went through the same period ofdazed confusion I am now experiencing.After one month, I can see that the piecesare beginning to fall into place, but there isdefinitely a steep learning curve to this job.Still, as a career counselor said to me theother day, if it were easy, this wouldn’t be alearning experience.

As the first “class” of the Civil ServiceMid-level Rotational Program, we sevenknew we would be guinea pigs. There weredefinitely hitches and delays in getting theprogram up and running. We hope our pos-itive experiences will encourage morepeople to apply next year. And we reallyhope more bureaus, especially regionalbureaus, will encourage their staff to apply.It may be hard for managers to think aboutlosing their employees for a year, but thoseemployees will come back reenergized andwith new knowledge that will surely benefitthe rest of the team. ■

The author is currently serving as a ForeignAffairs officer in the Bureau of Democracy,Human Rights and Labor.

ROTATING FROM CULTURAL AFFAIRS TO DEMOCRACY, HUMANRIGHTS AND LABOR BY RACHEL WALDSTEIN

Connecting the Dots

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“Transformational diplomacy” is Secretary Rice’s vision that isleading the Department into the 21st century. The Bureau ofAdministration Executive Office is making strides to meet thischallenge through a new delivery model of administrative services—shared services. Shared services combine the best features of acentralized model—efficiency and standardization—with a strongcommitment to customer service and continuous improvement.The result is a high-performing and -quality support organizationfocused on the customer’s needs.

A/EX began providing shared services in 2004 when it joinedwith the Bureaus of Oceans and International Environment andScientific Affairs and Democracy, Human Rights and Labor toprovide human resources support. In 2005, the Office of theInspector General cited these shared services as a best practice,

noting that they eliminated costly duplication and increased effi-ciency while improving service.

A/EX benchmarked with private sector companies and govern-ment agencies currently using the shared services model andadded the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Sta-bilization to its list of customers in early 2006. In October 2006,A/EX assumed most of Information Resources Management’sexecutive office functions, doubling the number of customers itsupports from 2,500 to 4,500. At the same time, IRM began itsdesktop consolidation by taking over control of much of theA Bureau’s information technology infrastructure and support.

Shared services falls in line with Under Secretary for Manage-ment Henrietta Fore’s goal of providing world-class services to theDepartment’s global customers. Bureau of Administration Execu-

A/EX

O F F I C E O F T H E M O N T H

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BETTER DIPLOMACY THROUGHSHARED SERVICES

BY ANA V. LARKIN

From left, Training Officer Rob Hansgen, ExecutiveDirector Peggy Philbin, Chief of Management andPlanning Ana Larkin and Acting Chief of FinancialManagement Amelia Sligh plan their work.

Page 39: State Magazine, June 2007

tive Director Peggy Philbin sees a win-win situation for bureausand their customers.

“By allowing each bureau to focus on our core competencies,we can leverage our expertise while eliminating areas whichconsume resources but do not enhance our respective missions,”says Philbin. “We continue to build a culture where both customerservice and efficiency can coexist to provide valuable services. Thearray of services offered by A/EX is extensive and meeting thechanging demands around us is challenging, but we are proud ofour success stories.”

A/EX now offers several major services.

HUMAN RESOURCESThe Human Resources Division provides a comprehensive

portfolio of services, including staffing and recruitment, retire-ment, employee benefits, awards and employee relations. HRDhas been designated as one of five candidate Centers of Excellenceby the Director General. The DG’s initiative will consolidate manyHR functions within a smaller number of high-performingbureaus, and, for the first time, has established standardizedmetrics and benchmarks against which each COE must perform.

Full delegation of authority comes with the COE designation,which allowed A/EX to assume HR responsibility for four bureausand two offices. HRD continues to help lead the Department COEinitiative in developing a new approach to human resources man-agement delivery.

INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT As you walk down the Harry S Truman building hallways, the

handiwork of A/EX’s Information Resources Management Divi-sion is visible on every TV, through BNET’s “Diplomacy

At a GlanceOffice nameBureau of Administration Executive Office

SymbolA/EX

Office DirectorPeggy Philbin

Staff size145

Office LocationSA-27, Arlington, VA

Web site(s) http://www.a.state.govhttp://ssc.a.state.govhttp://bnet.state.govhttp://pts.state.sgov.gov (available onlythrough a ClassNet account)

J U N E 2 0 0 7 | S TAT E M A G A Z I N E | 37

The Procurement and Administrative Services Division does a big job witha small staff: from left, Robert L. Morgan, Clarence Cunningham, ChiefTammy Journet, JoeAnne Myers, John S. Young, Lisa Rowe, MelvernFavors, Brian A. Robinson, Karen Smith-Morgan, Leia Mason, Jackie M.Jones and Margarett Baltimore.

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Channel.” Reaching most domestic sites and 185 overseas posts,BNET keeps customers up to date on breaking news and Depart-ment events. With video on demand and a large library ofproductions, customers are plugged in at all times. During thepast year, the division created two key Bureau Web sites: theA Bureau page at www.a.state.gov and a new Presidential travelWeb site.

IRM also provides configuration management, technologystudies, workflow and organizational analyses, project planningand management and document digitizing solutions. IRM suc-cessfully deployed more than 40 Web sites within the Departmenton OpenNet Plus, Classnet and Extranet.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENTThe Financial Management Division manages more than $470

million in direct and reimbursement funds, the Department’sWorking Capital Fund, budget execution services for IRM andfinancial management services for the A Bureau. Through itsoversight of the Working Capital Fund, FMD supports theDepartment’s 22 cost centers, including mail and pouch service,printing services, transportation, warehousing, language servicesand fleet management.

The Working Capital Fund’s primary objective is to foster costconsciousness and efficiency for users and service providers. The

fund includes more than 200 authorized positions and an annualbudget of more than $300 million.

PROCUREMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICESIn the complex world of procurement, it helps to have an

expert at a manager’s side to guide and interpret the manyrequirements. The Procurement and Administrative Services Divi-sion provides just that, offering pre- and post-award procurementsupport to IRM program offices and working closely with theOffice of Acquisitions Management. PAS assists offices in writingacquisition plans, statements of work and independent govern-ment cost estimates, and in developing source selection criteriafor the procurement of supplies and services.

This division provides purchase card oversight for the A andIRM purchase card programs. Finally, it ensures cost-effective andefficient use of resources in support of facilities and space man-agement, mail rooms, property management, general supportservices, vehicles and parking.

MANAGEMENT AND PLANNINGThe Management and Planning Division develops submissions

for the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act and the Depart-ment’s Domestic Staffing Model for A and its customer bureaus.These bureaus and offices also count on the training staff to

O F F I C E O F T H E M O N T H

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Executive Director Peggy Philbin andActing Chief of the InformationManagement Division Duke Kelly share amoment at Customer Appreciation Day.

Page 41: State Magazine, June 2007

ensure continuous career development and training to develop ahighly skilled workforce.

The division coordinates the preparation of A’s performanceplanning documents, performs liaison activities with the Office ofthe Inspector General and supports the A Bureau domestic emer-gency preparedness program. The travel staff supports A Bureauemployee travel and IRM employees’ travel associated with training.

“In addition to shared services, A/EX has the honor of countingthe President of the United States, the Vice President and the FirstLady as our customers,” says Philbin.

The Presidential Travel Support Division plans, coordinates andexecutes all administrative and logistical aspects related to over-seas missions and travel of the President and Vice President andtheir spouses. In the course of a single year, PTS supports morethan 80 White House-directed missions. The Division recentlytook over logistical and administrative oversight of Public Diplo-macy funds and White House press corps reimbursementsassociated with international travel by the President, Vice Presi-dent and First Lady.

Within the next year, A/EX plans to move toward tiered servicedelivery, which will allow for quicker, more efficient and increas-ingly standardized levels of service.

“Our customers can look forward to many powerful tools beingmade available to assist them in getting the answers they need,”says Deputy Executive Director Kathleen Zweig.

Whether filling mission critical positions, funding daily opera-tions, serving the President in his travels around the world,broadcasting key programs to posts worldwide or supportingtraining, A/EX touches the Department of State family. Because ofwhat we do behind the scenes, our people make a profound dif-ference in what others accomplish on the world stage. ■

The author is the chief of the Management and Planning Division,A/EX.

J U N E 2 0 0 7 | S TAT E M A G A Z I N E | 39

Above: HR’s Sharyn Jordan, left, and Renee Hunter check files in thesecure file room. Below: Financial Management Division’s Lynn Mims-Jones, left, and Debbie P. Jones consult on budget matters.

Page 42: State Magazine, June 2007

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RESCUED CHEETAHBECOMESENVIRONMENTALAMBASSADOR

BY KIMBERLYFLOWERS

Walkon theWild Side

Sheba suffered from a broken legand severe nutritional problems,but is now in good health.

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A young Ethiopian cheetah namedSheba is making a significant impacton his country, thanks to the com-mitment and compassion of a U.S.embassy couple.

The wild animal, found in poorcondition in illegal captivity in aprivate home not far from AddisAbaba, was nursed back to health byKevin A. Rushing, the U.S. Agency forInternational Development’s deputymission director, and his spouse,Deborah Singiser. Their efforts haverenewed interest within Ethiopia tohalt illegal trafficking of endangeredanimals.

Now in good health, Sheba is thecountry’s first environmental educa-tion ambassador for Omo NationalPark, demonstrating that endangeredanimals are not a threat to local live-stock but a national treasure to beprotected.

When Ethiopian government offi-cials rescued Sheba in July 2006, hesuffered from a broken leg and nutri-tional problems due to neglect andabuse by his illegal owners. Afterhearing about the orphaned cheetah

cub, former U.S. Ambassador VickiHuddleston offered to help with hisrehabilitation. The cheetah was takento the home of Dr. Rushing, a trainedveterinarian, for proper care andtreatment.

Donated Services“My experience in zoological med-

icine has given me tremendousopportunities to help endangeredanimals across the world, while stillserving as a Foreign Service officer,”Dr. Rushing said. He has donated hisveterinary services throughout his27-year career with USAID.

While serving in the Philippines,Dr. Rushing helped raise three Siber-ian tiger cubs, a Bengal tiger cub andan African lion cub in his home. InCambodia, he provided veterinaryservices to an international non-governmental organization,WILDAID, to help stop the illegaltrafficking of endangered speciessuch as elephants and tigers.

Dr. Rushing and Ms. Singiser, whoalso works for USAID, cared forSheba in Addis Ababa for six months,

ensuring that he received a nutritiousdiet and appropriate medication. As acub, the cheetah peacefully playedwith their two children, 18-month-old Robin and 3-year-old EvelynAnn, and eventually became friendswith local helpers.

As Sheba got stronger and hishealth improved, it became clear thata residential backyard was not theideal space for a growing wild animaland that a long-term solution wasneeded. The Rushing-Singiser familyorganized an informal dinner at theirhome with interested stakeholders—including Ethiopian wildlife experts,international and local NGOs, andother concerned U.S. embassy per-sonnel—to discuss Sheba’s future andways to address the broader issue ofendangered animals in captivity.

That dinner conversation led tothe first-ever consultative meeting oncaptive wild animals, sponsored pri-marily by USAID, held in AddisAbaba in December 2006, to discussways to halt the illegal practice ofcapturing, holding and sellingwildlife in Ethiopia. U.S. Ambassador

Dr. Kevin Rushing uses his veterinaryskills to care for a wild cheetah rescuedfrom illegal captivity.

Page 44: State Magazine, June 2007

Donald Yamamoto delivered opening remarks and continues toprovide his personal and professional support to the issue.

The consultative meeting received local press coverage andbrought attention to the increase in captive wild animals inEthiopia and the desire of local NGOs to reverse this trend.

“I am confident that our joint effort will be a step forward infinding a solution to the captive animal problem in Ethiopia,”Ethiopian Wildlife Association President Dr. Assefa Mebrate said.

Ambassador ShebaMeanwhile, Sheba gained attention from African Parks PLC, a

Dutch-based wildlife foundation working throughout Africa.African Parks, which manages Omo National Park in southwesternEthiopia, has a community partnership program to teach thevarious ethnic groups living around the park that wild animals cancoexist with domesticated cattle, sheep and goats that use the samegrazing lands and watering holes. When African Parks’ staff metSheba, they saw the potential to use him to communicate theirmessage to local communities.

Wildlife education using cheetahs has successfully changed atti-tudes toward the environment in other African countries, such as

Namibia and South Africa, but it is a new concept in Ethiopia.Vanessa Bouwer, a regional wildlife expert who works with DeWildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre in South Africa, said Sheba,with his gentle and responsive temperament, would make a won-derful ambassador for his species.

After receiving support from the Ethiopian Wildlife Department,African Parks submitted a proposal to USAID to use Sheba as anenvironmental education ambassador. A USAID grant was awardedto African Parks to cover the cheetah’s transportation, shelter, medi-cine and food for the next year in his new home. Sheba joined OmoNational Park on January 7.

The efforts of Dr. Rushing and Ms. Singiser not only savedSheba’s life, but also sparked public interest, involvement andcommitment to stopping illegal trafficking of endangered animalsin Ethiopia.

Meanwhile, Ethiopians near Omo National Park are learningabout Sheba and the importance of protecting the cheetah in thewild for future generations to enjoy. ■

The author is a development outreach and communications officerwith USAID in Ethiopia.

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The Rushing-Singiser family: Dr. Kevin Rushing,spouse Deborah Singiser, son Robin anddaughter Evelyn Ann—and Sheba.

Page 45: State Magazine, June 2007

The Foreign Affairs Recre-ation Association and the Stateof the Arts Cultural Seriesrecently presented concerts fea-turing the vocal talents of theDepartment’s own choralensemble, The T-Tones, and theorchestral talents of TheMoscow Chamber Orchestra.

The T-Tones originated inthe mid 1990s to sing for ArmsControl and DisarmamentAgency holiday celebrations.The group has expanded toinclude Civil Service andForeign Service personnel, both

active and retired, from bureausthroughout the Department.

Their concert “Billings,P.D.Q. Bach, Mozart, and a Bito’ the Irish” helped prepare theaudience for St. Patrick’s Day.Their fine harmony is a tributeto their leader, Kathryn Schultz.

State of the Arts joined forceswith the Secretary’s OpenForum to present the dynamicMoscow Chamber Orchestra incommemoration of 200 years ofU.S.-Russia diplomatic relationsand in memory of Harry Orbe-lian, founder and president of

the San Francisco Global TradeCouncil. His son, ConstantineOrbelian, has held the positionof music director and conduc-tor of the orchestra since 1991and has brought it into a newera of international activityand acclaim.

The orchestra began with arousing selection of EdvardGrieg’s Holberg Suite, Prelude,Aria and Rigaudon. Gifted 19-year-old Andre Gugnin playedMozart’s Concerto for Piano andOrchestra E-Flat KV 449, Allegrowith great sensitivity. American

soprano Marnie Breckenridgeprovided a moving rendition ofRachmaninoff ’s Vocalise and fol-lowed with Can’t Help LovingDat Man of Mine from Porgyand Bess. Sensational violinistRipsime Airapetyants offered adazzling Tsigunerweisen (GypsyAirs) for Violin and Orchestra byPablo de Sarasate. As a goodwillgesture, the concertmaster per-formed Yankee Doodle Dandy. ■

The author is a computerspecialist in the ExecutiveSecretariat.

Moscow Orchestra Commemorates U.S.-Russia Relations

Performances are on Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m.in the Dean Acheson Auditorium.

JUNE 06

Spirituals—Sam Brock, piano,and Natalie Carter, voice

JUNE 20

Piano Prodigies

JULY 11

Antonio Adams, dramatic tenor

JULY 25

Winner of the Young ArtistsInternational Piano Competition

Aug.08

Renaissance Baroque Music—Countertop Quartet

Aug.22

Barbara Dahnman, classical pianist

Sept.05

Music in the Parlor—Carol WeissRiches, mezzo soprano

sept.19

Second Annual Talent Show

STATE OF THE ARTS

B Y J O H N B E N T E L

J U N E 2 0 0 7 | S TAT E M A G A Z I N E | 43

Page 46: State Magazine, June 2007

S A F E T Y S C E N E

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PROTECT YOUR SIGHTAGAINST EYE INJURIESBY KATE BRADFORD

VisionQuest

Page 47: State Magazine, June 2007

Ever wondered what would happen if you lost yoursight? So much of our existence depends upon our abilityto see the world around us. Vision is the most importantsense for navigating through life. While many blind peoplelead happy, successful lives, sight is a precious ability which,if lost, alters one’s existence drastically.

Eye injury is the second-leading cause of visual impair-ment after cataracts. According to Unite for Sight, anonprofit organization founded to improve eye health andeliminate preventable blindness, approximately two millionpeople in the United States sustained eye injuries thatrequired medical treatment in 2001. Approximately 100,000of these occurred as a result of sports or recreational activi-ties. Experts estimate that more than 90 percent of these eyeinjuries were completely preventable, and more than 55percent of eye injuries happen to people under the age of 25.

In certain professions, especially trades and manufactur-ing, eye injury risks are well-known and documented.OSHA requires training, safe work practices and the use ofsafety equipment and protective eyewear to prevent eyeinjuries in the workplace.

But what can you do about the risk of eye injury in yourhome and during recreational activity? Can you identify thegreatest risks to your sight outside of work?

Based on U.S. Eye Injury Registry data from 1988 to2000, 40 percent of serious eye injuries occur in the home,with another 13 percent occurring during sports and recre-ational activities. Risks to the eyes around the home includehousehold chemicals, yard maintenance, workshop and toolparts, battery acid, fireworks and the unsupervised use oftoys and games.

How can you protect those baby blues (or browns) frominjury? Prevention is the key, and this is particularly impor-tant if you already have lost vision in one eye or have adegenerative condition that impacts your sight.

As a start, parents can set a good example for children by wearing protective eyewear when using power tools ormowing the lawn. Eyewear is specialized and must meetvery specific standards. Safety glasses that meet AmericanNational Standards Institute Z87.1 standards provide the best protection; they have plastic or polycarbonatelenses and are designed to protect against impact andchemical splash.

Use eyewear that meets the American Society for Testingand Materials standard F803 for selected sports—racquetsports, baseball, basketball, women’s lacrosse and fieldhockey. Other sports require specialized eyewear such aspaintball, ASTM standard 1776; youth baseball batters andbase runners, ASTM standard 659; and ice hockey, ASTMstandard F513. The American Academy of Pediatrics andthe American Academy of Ophthalmology strongly recom-mend that children wear protective eyewear when playingsports if there is a risk of eye injury.

Prevent Blindness America recommends the followingstrategies to guard against eye injuries in your home.

Protect children against eye injury risks by avoiding toyswith sharp or rigid points, shafts, spikes, rods and danger-ous edges as well as flying toys, projectile-firing toys and BBguns. These pose a danger to all children, particularly tothose under five years of age.

Keep toys intended for older children away from youngerchildren. Beware of items in playgrounds and play areasthat pose potential eye hazards. Use safety gates at the topand bottom of stairs. Leave personal-use items such as cos-metics and toiletry products, kitchen utensils and desksupplies where they are not easily accessible to children.

Provide lights and handrails to improve safety on stairsand pad or cushion sharp corners and edges of furnishingsand home fixtures. Protect eyes from chemical injuries by wearing chemical splash goggles or face shields whenusing hazardous solvents, cleaning products, fertilizers and pesticides.

Read and follow all manufacturer instructions andwarning labels. Do not mix cleaning agents. Keep paints,pesticides, fertilizers and similar products properly stored ina secure area.

When doing yard work, inspect and remove debris fromlawns before mowing and wear safety glasses or dustgoggles to protect against flying particles. If you work withpower tools or equipment, wear safety glasses any timethere is a risk of generating dusts or debris.

Wear chemical protective goggles or a face shield toprotect against battery acid during battery maintenance orservicing. Keep your tools in good condition. Damagedtools should be repaired or replaced.

Eye injuries also result from motor vehicle accidents.Always use occupant restraints such as infant and childsafety seats, booster seats, safety belts and shoulder harness-es in cars.

Avoid using fireworks and go to the professional displaysinstead. There is no safe way for nonprofessionals to usefireworks, including sparklers. Using any type of fireworksis strongly discouraged because of the high numbers of eyeinjuries caused by these devices.

If you spend significant time outdoors, invest in a goodpair of sunglasses that block both UVA and UVB rays toprevent radiation injury from the sun’s ultraviolet light. Sig-nificant exposure to these UV rays can damage your retinaand cornea and can cause cataracts or macular degenera-tion. The highest levels can be reflected from snow, sandand water, and damage can occur at high altitudes and lowlatitudes. UV radiation is highest during the day from 10a.m. to 4 p.m. Always wear special goggles when using atanning bed.

For more information on protecting your sight, visit thefollowing Web sites:

Prevent Blindness America www.preventblindness.org

American Academy of Ophthalmologywww.aao.org

Unite for Sightwww.uniteforsight.org

University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Centerwww.kellogg.umich.edu/patientcare/conditions/eye.injuries.html#home ■

The author is an industrial hygienist withthe Safety, Health and Environmental Management Division.

J U N E 2 0 0 7 | S TAT E M A G A Z I N E | 45

Page 48: State Magazine, June 2007

O B I T U A R I E S

William Walton Duffy II, 64, a retired Foreign Serviceofficer, died April 7. He lived in Oxford, Pa. He served in theArmy and worked for several federal agencies, including the U.S.Information Agency. His overseas postings included Poland,Argentina and Uruguay. At the time of his death, he worked forthe Department of Social Services in Cecil County, Md. He was adedicated patient advocate for persons diagnosed with chroniclymphocytic leukemia.

Beverly S. Gerstein, 77, a retiredForeign Service Reserve officer, diedApril 9 in Scottsdale, Ariz. As a culturalpresentation exchange officer for theDepartment and the U.S. InformationAgency, she arranged exchanges ofrenowned performing artists and groups,including Paul Taylor, Martha Graham,Alvin Ailey, the National Theatre of the

Deaf and the Philadelphia Orchestra. After her retirement in 1994,she was actively involved in cultural activities and volunteered atthe Kennedy Center.

Esther Rykken Holland, wife of retired Foreign Serviceofficer Harrison Holland, died March 28 in Burlingame, Calif. Sheaccompanied her husband on assignments abroad. Her hobby waspainting portraits and landscapes.

Ihsan Leila Mogannam, 83, a retired Foreign Serviceofficer, died Feb. 23 of kidney disease in Takoma Park, Md. Shelived in Falls Church, Va. She worked for the U.S. Agency forInternational Development and served as a training officer inIran, France and Tunisia. After retirement, she worked for a con-

sulting company involved with USAID-sponsored training pro-grams. She was an expert cook, an artist, collector and promoterof Palestinian needlework.

Reynold A. Riemer, 68, a retiredForeign Service officer, died Dec. 11 inParis, France. An economic and financialofficer, he served overseas in Upper Volta(now Burkina Faso), Vietnam, Paris andBogotá. After retiring in 1987, he lived inParis, where he was vice chair of Democ-rats Abroad.

Elliott Percival Skinner, a former ambassador, diedApril 1 in Washington, D.C. He served with the Army duringWorld War II. In 1966, he was named U.S. ambassador to UpperVolta. An anthropologist, he taught at New York University andColumbia University and authored many books and articles,mostly on Africa. He was a Fulbright distinguished fellow and amember of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Ernest Guest Wiener, 91, a retiredForeign Service officer, died April 10 ofliver cancer in Riverside, Calif. A native ofCzechoslovakia, he served in the U.S.Army Air Corps during World War II. Hejoined the U.S. Information Agency in1948 and served overseas in Berlin, Frank-furt, Bonn, Vienna, Geneva, Moscow andBrasilia. After retirement, he worked in

Rio de Janeiro. He retired again to Florida, where he was active inthe Institute for Retired Professionals at the University of Miami.

46 | S TAT E M A G A Z I N E | J U N E 2 0 0 7

Ames, Stephen H.Brundage, Stephen G.Bruno, Marilyn JoanCallahan, James JosephCavness Jr., William D.Hameed, Philomena S.Joria, Gerard J.Knotts, Bruce FredMorton, Joe D.

Muller, Bruce T.Nichols, Sharon D.Oakley, Carol VirginiaOrtega, Peggy AnnPascoe, B. LynnRuff, Gale L.Stewart, Joseph M.Thomas, Mary Jane

CIVIL SERVICE >>>Alt, Maryann F.Bacon, Barbara AnnBlumberg, Robert

ClaytonBolton, John R.Brooks, Kenneth G.Chesman, Barbara M.Ciaffa, Monica JanzerClarke, Jimmy NolanDudley III, John B.Freeman, Patricia Fay

Frymyer, Marianela G.Gross, Marjorie S.Iszkowski, Marie-

CharlotteJackson, Aaron T.Jones, Mary JacquelynJoseph, Robert G.Lears, Michael F.Leiser, ElisabethMontgomery, Faith

Kendall

Moss, Frank E.Mulenex, ElanaNg, BettyPeterson, Steven LeeRitchie, Steven R.Torrence, Carolyn R.Walston, Alva A.Workman, Carol A.Young Jr., Watt Sylvester

FOREIGN SERVICE >>>

retirements*

Page 49: State Magazine, June 2007

J U N E 2 0 0 7 | S TAT E M A G A Z I N E | 47

Paul Claussen, chief of the Policy Studies and OutreachDivision of the Office of the Historian, died unexpectedly onApril 21, 2007. He was 65 years old. Dr. Claussen was known tomany throughout the Department of State for his exuberantadvocacy of the relevance of history to today’s diplomacy, andfor his warm personality. He was a salesman of history whobelieved in his product.

Dr. Claussen was born in the District of Columbia andraised in Northern Virginia. He studied Russian history andlanguage at George Washington University, where he wrote adoctoral dissertation on Soviet-American relations and theRussian famine. He received his doctorate in history in 1976.

He joined the Department of State Historical Office in 1972as a member of the division that prepared the official docu-

mentary series, Foreign Relations of the United States. Workingclosely with former Historical Office Director WilliamFranklin, Dr. Claussen did the final editorial work on theseries’ 1948 volume on U.S. diplomacy and the birth ofIsrael. He also contributed to the expansion of the scope offoreign relations coverage by locating a collection of NationalIntelligence Estimates in the Department’s files and advocatingtheir inclusion in the series.

Beginning in 1976, Dr. Claussen supervised historiansorganized along geographic lines and assigned to simultane-ously prepare the Foreign Relations series and respond toDepartment and public requests for historical information. Hisresponsibilities covered primarily the Middle East, Africa andSouth Asia.

By 1980, Dr. Claussen had adopted an activist approach tothe Office of the Historian’s internal research program, reach-ing out to Department officers to better understand theirneeds for historical research. He then devised diverse andimaginative means of meeting those needs. He first soughtfunding for historical research from outside the Departmentin the mid-1980s, when he convinced the Defense Departmentto fund the publication of an update of Documents onGermany, a collection of public and previously classified doc-uments of importance to the military and diplomaticauthorities in Berlin.

He worked closely with the leadership of the Bureau ofPublic Affairs over the years, providing historical data toamplify the Bureau’s message to the public. He always consid-

ered history to be supportiveof policy and had the courageto take a position on sensitivepolitical issues, as he did in1985 when he and his staffpolitely supplied the WhiteHouse with factual reasonsindicating why it would notbe a good idea for the Presi-dent to visit Bitburg.

During these years, budgetconstraints and lack ofbureaucratic support causedthe Office’s policy-supportiveresearch program to be morereactive than proactive. Dr.Claussen’s efforts to reinstatea dynamic historical researchprogram responsive to theDepartment’s needs came tofruition in the 21st centurywith the infusion of newhuman resources to theoffice. He understood how

current and past bureaucracies operated and integrated thatknowledge into his work.

Dr. Claussen’s interest in the Department’s history and therole of historical precedent in foreign policy developed into anexpertise that he made readily available to those both insideand outside the Department. He taught about Department ofState history at the Foreign Service Institute, represented theDepartment on interagency groups dealing with major histori-cal questions, appeared on the Discovery Channel to speakabout the Great Seal and, most recently, sought new ways tospread the historical word on the role of U.S. foreign policythrough the Internet.

The Department of State has lost a unique asset. He shall besorely missed. ■

Paul Claussen – 1942-2007

OFFICE OF THE HISTORIAN SUFFERS A BIG LOSS

M. Paul Claussen, History’s Friend

Page 50: State Magazine, June 2007

The sage who wrote “There’s nothingnew under the sun” obviously didn’t workfor the State Department. The Departmenthas seen plenty of change in these firstyears of the 21st century. This issue high-lights some recent innovations designed tokeep our colleagues and us in the vanguardof modern diplomacy.

Although he has been Director Generalfor little more than a year, AmbassadorGeorge Staples has made many crucial andoften difficult decisions on staffing hard-ship posts in an increasingly dangerousworld. With the median hardship differen-tial at a startling 15 percent, theDepartment has to fill each year between500 to 700 unaccompanied or limitedaccompanied positions. In an exclusiveState Magazine Inner-View, he explainsthe extensive changes the Departmentmade to the Foreign Service assignmentsprocess and the reasons those changes hadto be made.

On the Civil Service side, the DirectorGeneral launched a pilot program this yearthat will give CS colleagues a taste of pro-fessional diversity in their careers. Underthe guidance of the Office of Civil ServicePersonnel’s career development division,seven GS-12 and GS-13 employees joinedthe Civil Service Mid-Level RotationalProgram in February and went from theirregular jobs to other agencies and year-longdevelopmental assignments with duties

specific to Foreign Affairs officers or theirequivalents.

Long championed by Deputy AssistantSecretary Linda Taglialatela, the pilotprogram will test the feasibility of offeringCivil Service employees career mobility

opportunities similar to those available totheir Foreign Service colleagues.

Technology can be a boon to thosewilling to use it, and the public diplomacyprofessionals at the Bureau of Educationaland Cultural Affairs have turned the Inter-net into a unique PD tool. Through itsGlobal Connections and Exchange

program, ECA provides virtual linkagesbetween teens and educators in the UnitedStates with more than 1,000 schools world-wide, including schools in hard-to-reachTajikistan, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan andAfghanistan. Participants deal with realissues; students in New York City andEgypt, for example, collaborated on the“Two Rivers One World Project” in whichthey tested water content of the Hudsonand Nile rivers and discussed water supplyand pollution with scientists and teachers.

Courage is where you find it, and onMarch 7 Secretary Rice honored 10 extraor-dinarily courageous women with the firstannual Award for International Women ofCourage. Administered by the Office of theSenior Coordinator for InternationalWomen’s Issues, the award recognizeswomen from around the world who haveshown exceptional courage and leadership.

Last but never least, a final salute to ourcolleagues en route to their final posting:Paul Claussen; William Walton Duffy II;Beverly S. Gerstein; Esther Rykken Holland;Ihsan Leila Mogannam; Reynold A. Riemer;Elliott Percival Skinner; and Ernest GuestWiener.

Career Diversity, Hardship Posts and Courageous Women

T H E L A S T W O R D

Rob WileyEditor-in-Chief

COMING IN JULY/AUG

• Transformational Diplomacy in Liberia

• Foreign Affairs Day 2007

• Inside the Ops Center

• Cultural Diplomacy in Cote d’Ivoire

... and much more! Questions? [email protected]

48 | S TAT E M A G A Z I N E | J U N E 2 0 0 7

Page 51: State Magazine, June 2007
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U.S. Department of StateBureau of Human ResourcesWashington, DC 20520

Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use

If address is incorrect, pleaseindicate change. Do not coveror destroy this address label.POSTMASTER: Send changesof address to:

State MagazineHR/ER/SMGSA–1, Room H-236 Washington, DC 20522–0108

PERIODICALSPOSTAGE AND FEES

PAIDDEPARTMENT

OF STATEISSN 1099-4165

*JUNE.2007

WHO>WHAT>WHEN>WHERE