F OCUS - American Foreign Service Association

CYBERNOTES
New Focus on Public Diplomacy
PD, a new magazine and the first to
focus exclusively on public diplomacy,
was released by the Association of Public
Diplomacy Scholars at the University
of Southern California in February
(www.publicdiplomacymagazine.
com). Edited by graduate students,
PD is published with support from the
Center on Public Diplomacy and the
School of International Relations at
USC. It will appear biannually, with an
accompanying webzine.
The opening issue — “New President,
New Public Diplomacy?” — includes
memos and suggestions for
President Barack Obama; an interview
with former Under Secretary of State
for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
James K. Glassman; a case study
on the 2008 Beijing Olympics and
whether or not they fulfilled Chinese
PD goals; and a review of Ambassador
Edward P. Djerejian’s new book, Danger
and Opportunity, an evaluation of
U.S. diplomacy and public diplomacy
efforts in the Middle East.
50 Years Ago...
“Because of the transformation of
the world through communications and
through democratization, publics have
an increasingly significant role in the
foreign policy process,” says Nicholas
Cull, director of the Master of Public
Diplomacy program at USC. “This
magazine is a way of conceptualizing
and documenting these changes”
(www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/16
327.html).
— Elizabeth Swift, AFSA Intern
Undermining the Civilian
Peacebuilding Initiative?
Despite calls by senior military officials
to demilitarize U.S. foreign policy,
and a 2008 funding appropriation to
the State Department to build the
planned Civilian Response Corps, the
Defense Department has announced it
is forming its own deployable corps of
civilians. Whether the Pentagon is setting
an example or throwing a spanner
in the works of rebalancing the military-civilian
presence abroad is a topic
of debate.
What is the great difference between “substantive” and
“administrative” work? Why is it that our officers try
to avoid administrative work? My contention is that administrative
experience is essential to an officer who aspires to become a
principal officer or a deputy chief of mission, or, for that matter, to attain a
key position in any embassy.
— Glenn G. Wolfe, “Administration Is Substantive Work,” FSJ, April 1959.
DOD Directive 1404.10, signed by
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon
England on Jan. 23, directs the Pentagon
to begin organizing, training and
equipping an “expeditionary work
force” of volunteers from among Defense
Department civilian employees,
as well as former and retired employees,
to support humanitarian, reconstruction
and combat support missions
(www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/cor
res/pdf/140410p.pdf).
According to a report from the
American Forces Press Service, the
various DOD components will designate
certain duty positions to participate
in the program (http://smallwars
journal.com/blog/2009/01/defense
department-establishes/). Employees
in those position will be asked to
sign an agreement to deploy if called
upon. Should an employee not wish to
deploy, efforts will be made to reassign
him or her to a nondeploying position.
Employees in deployable positions
will be trained, equipped and prepared
to serve overseas on tours limited to
two years. Further, volunteers will receive
military medical support during
their tours and their families will be
supported and provided with information
on benefits and entitlements.
The Pentagon has been moving toward
this program for months as part
of an effort to fully utilize its civilian
work force, as a Federal Times interview
with Patricia Bradshaw, under secretary
of Defense for civilian personnel
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