The State Department and the rest of the U.S. foreign affairs establishment must undergo a "revolution in diplomatic affairs," says a panel of international affairs experts.
The 63-member panel argues that American diplomacy is failing to keep up with global changes of the post-Cold War, information-age era. Poor information technology, a hierarchical culture, weak professional standards, and too much secrecy threaten the country's ability to conduct diplomacy effectively, the panel contends.
"Other elements of the federal government, including the Department of Defense, have embraced reform," the panel says in a study released this week, "Reinventing Diplomacy in the Information Age." "It is time for the foreign affairs community to take this path as well, faced as it is with declining resources and the need to refocus after a half-century of the Cold War at the center of American concerns."
The Center for Strategic and International Studies panel, which included former diplomats, journalists, academics, business executives and representatives of non-government organizations, says the State Department needs to follow the example of the Defense Department's "revolution in military affairs," the Pentagon's strategy for the future.
Specifically, the panel says the foreign affairs establishment needs to update its "obsolete" information technology. The panel applauds State Department management for recognizing that systems need to be improved, but bemoans how "practically every American diplomat, in Washington or abroad, is experiencing information isolation."
The panel also argues for more stringent standards for foreign service officers and politically appointed ambassadors. Many political ambassadors lack the experience and expertise necessary to represent the United States. The foreign service examination is an inadequate test of applicants' abilities, the panel says.
"The State Department must completely overhaul its workforce planning and management, including recruitment, examination, appointments, assignments and promotions," the panel says. "It may be the only institution in the United States that does not consider an applicant's education or work history before offering an appointment."
State Department officials lack program management skills as well, the panel says, questioning State's abilities to plan, implement and evaluate projects.
"These skills are relatively scarce in the State Department," the panel says.
A second study released this week, by the Washington-based Henry L. Stimson Center, also calls for a major rehaul of the foreign affairs establishment.
The Stimson panel, which included former Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci and former secretaries of state Warren Christopher, George Shultz and Cyrus Vance, echoed the concern for better information technology.
"The American ambassador in Stockholm, Sweden, cannot access from his desk the daily electronic briefings of the Swedish government," the Stimson study says. "The Swedes are on the Internet. Our Ambassador is not."
The studies follow President Clinton's approval of a foreign affairs reorganization last week, which will merge the U.S. Information Agency and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency into the State Department. The Secretary of State's control over the Agency for International Development, which will remain independent, was also strengthened under the reorganization.
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