Throughout its history, the State Department has demonstrated the ability to transform itself to meet its challenges. At the turn of the 20th century, it forged a foreign policy dedicated to expanding trade and freedom on the seas. During World War II, it restructured for a postwar world.
After the Cold War, State shifted resources from communist confrontation to coalition building, including exchanges with the former Soviet states and the international alliance that liberated Kuwait, and tackling global issues such as terrorism and the environment.
The fundamental assets of U.S. diplomacy, then and now, are the 50,000 State Department employees-American and foreign nationals alike-who advocate and advance U.S. interests abroad. Diplomacy is both offense and defense, protecting U.S. citizens and borders while helping to transform the world beyond.
Under the stewardship of Secretary Condoleezza Rice, the department is moving forward with what she calls "transformational diplomacy" to deal with terrorism, strengthen democracy, build prosperity and provide help to those who need it most. It seeks not only to manage problems but to solve them at their source.
Human rights and good governance are essential to peace, development and the defeat of terrorism. The Millennium Challenge Account, building toward $5 billion in development assistance per year, supports countries taking the right steps. President Bush says the account "will be devoted to projects in nations that govern justly, invest in people and encourage economic freedom."
W. Robert Pearson explores the adaptability of State Department employees in the Aug. 1 issue of Government Executive magazine. Read the full column here.
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