STATE ■ BY STEVE KASHKETT
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A Bittersweet Farewell
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Four years as AFSA vice president for State have left me
with decidedly mixed emotions. On the one hand, this
has been one of the most fulfilling assignments of my
career. It has been an honor to stand up and defend the
Foreign Service at a time when it has come under fire from
all sides. It has been a learning experience to see how our
system really works — and doesn’t work. It has been a privilege to fight for the things that matter in this diplomatic
life we have chosen: fairness and equity in assignments, the
ability to manage our personal and family lives honorably
while moving from one overseas post to another, and the
opportunity to serve our country and make a difference in
the world of foreign policy.
By far, the most satisfying aspects of this job have been having
the chance to get to know so many
Foreign Service colleagues personally and working with AFSA’s superb professional staff to help the
hundreds of members who come
to us every year for assistance
when the “system” wreaks havoc
with their lives and their careers.
The bureaucratic horror stories
I have witnessed firsthand are endless. But there is an unparalleled feeling of gratification when AFSA can help resolve an injustice that threatens the well-being or career
advancement of someone you admire. And I have come to
admire the vast majority of the men and women of the Foreign Service who — despite all the hardships, the dislocations and the nonsense they have to put up with —
courageously perform a vital task for our nation in some of
the most difficult and dangerous places on earth.
That said, my tenure at AFSA has been intensely frustrating at times. There was no pleasure in struggling for
three years with an administration that, let’s face it, made
little secret of its disdain for the Foreign Service and its unwillingness to devote the resources necessary for diplomacy.
There was no joy in watching helplessly as many of the
“quality of life” benefits that the Foreign Service had earned
over decades were eroded by neglect and budget cuts.
AFSA shared the anguish throughout the ranks when one
single overseas mission became the exclusive obsession of
department leaders, to the detriment of every other embassy and consulate and every other aspect of the work of
the Foreign Service.
Perhaps most importantly, I leave AFSA baffled and dis-
mayed by two of our most pervasive
failures, one internal and one exter-
nal.
On the internal front, AFSA proved unable to soften the
hard-line attitudes and lack of sympathy for employee concerns among certain of our senior officers. Although these
individuals rose through the ranks, once they ascend to top
management positions they seem to forget that many of
their colleagues sometimes face difficult personal circumstances that require just a bit of compassion, or flexibility,
from department management. It remains difficult for me
to understand this unwillingness to allow for humanitarian
considerations and this insistence
on applying the most rigid interpretation of the regulations, which
drives most of the grievances and
employee discontent that AFSA
deals with.
On the external front, despite
vigorous public outreach efforts
— and despite our repeatedly
publicizing the story of thousands
of members who have served in
combat zones — we never seem to
make much headway in dispelling the pre-World War II
public perception of the Foreign Service as a club for spoiled
Ivy League brats who spend their time swilling champagne
at black-tie receptions in London and Paris. We hope Secretary Clinton will do a better job than her predecessor in
defending the real Foreign Service.
This ludicrous image of the pampered diplomat contrasts with the harsh reality of today’s Foreign Service,
whose members spend most of their lives in the dusty capitals of the developing world, dealing with the thorniest
problems and crises confronting our nation. Yet this
derogatory perception damages our quest to secure public
and congressional support for so many of the things we
need, including greater resources and staffing, legislation to
fix the overseas pay gap, domestic partner benefits and paid
maternity/paternity leave.
The next AFSA Governing Board will take up these battles where we left off. I hope they will come to understand,
as I have, that this is important, necessary work for which
we need an effective union. At least the next AFSA leaders
will start out with an administration and a Secretary of
State that appear favorably predisposed toward the Foreign
Service. I wish them well. ❏
The ludicrous image of the pampered
diplomat contrasts with the harsh reality
of today’s Foreign Service, whose members
spend most of their lives in the dusty
capitals of the developing world.
