The Role of US Diplomacy in a Changing World.

• Author: Satterfield, David M.

In the 1933 movie Dinner at Eight, Jean Harlow's character notes to her society grande dame hostess that she had read an author who asserted technology would soon take the place of every profession. The hostess eyes her platinum blonde guest and responds with the classic line "My dear, that's something you need never worry about." And neither do we in our line of work. There is an enduring critical role for diplomacy - personal and institutional - in a world that is always changing. Today's diplomacy is facilitated by technology in terms of access to information and communication within Washington, from Washington agencies, between DC and overseas posts, and among our missions to an extent unimaginable when I entered the Foreign Service in 1980. The days of the airgram are long past, of waiting for encrypted teletype messages to be deciphered and printed, of mastering Wang computers and the art of producing documents on daisy wheel printers--and good riddance to all!

Positive Changes

The Foreign Service, to its credit, has responded well, if at times somewhat grumpily, to the demands of an ever increasingly interconnected world. Looking back on over four decades of my career, I find foreign and civil service officers today more disciplined, better trained, and better equipped to handle today's challenges and to use the availability of information and (often late into the evening overseas) video conferencing with Washington agencies and other posts to give all our foreign policy professionals an unprecedented ability to impact policy development. It may often be annoying and definitely is frequently frustrating in terms of the ratio between time spent on consideration of policy options and actual decisions taken by the principals, but I have no nostalgia for the "old days."

Another change that's good for more effective diplomacy is the "whole of mission" concept that is the expectation - and reality, broadly speaking - at our overseas posts. What a welcome change from the past world of rigid mission hierarchies, siloed offices, limited communications between non-State agency representatives - and the near-complete absence overseas of civil service professionals. Today's world demands mission teams where Commerce, Treasury, Justice, or other agency representatives have the same access, stature and input as do State Department staff. Building and maintaining teamwork is a fundamental requirement of every chief of mission - as it must be if we are to be successful in advancing US interests.

Problems and Challenges

But there remain challenges to success. While there has been notable improvement over the years, too many in our profession - I include ambassadors! - do not take full advantage of the extraordinary resource that is the US Intelligence Community, whether in DC or abroad. "Not enough time" to read or be briefed is not an excuse for failure to be informed. In...