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From the Secretary
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Celebrating the Modern Foreign Service The savings yielded by successful diplomacy are incalculable.
I congratulate those who conceived and organized the event--Ambassador Brandon Grove, Dan Geisler, Louise Eaton and Director General Skip Gnehm. I also support enthusiastically their effort to use the anniversary as a challenge to look forward--and outward--including the sponsorship of a nationwide high school essay contest on the role of diplomacy in American history. The dinner was highlighted by the presence of Ambassador George Kennan and numerous other giants of U.S. diplomacy and by insightful remarks from Under Secretary of State Tom Pickering. In my remarks, I stressed the importance of the efforts being made by our Foreign Service, Foreign Service National and Civil Service personnel to ensure the future security and prosperity of our country. I argued that our personnel "are on the front lines every day, on every continent. And like the men and women of our armed forces--no more, but no less--they deserve, for they have earned, the gratitude and full backing of the American people." I also said that we need to draw a clear connection in the public mind between what we do and the quality of life Americans enjoy. Foreign policy isn't everything. We cannot tell any American that diplomacy will guarantee safe schools, clean up the Internet or pay for long-term health care, but we can say to every American that foreign policy may well help you land a good job, protect the environment, safeguard your neighborhood from drugs, shield your family from terrorist attack and spare your children the nightmare of nuclear, chemical or biological war. In addition, I stressed the need to erase the myth that technology and the end of the Cold War have made diplomacy obsolete. In the new global era, there are few goals vital to America that we can achieve through our actions alone. In most situations, for most purposes, we need the cooperation of others. And diplomacy is about understanding others and explaining ourselves. It is about building and nourishing partnerships for common action toward shared goals. It is about listening and persuading, analyzing and moving at the right time. Finally, I emphasized the need for resources. Military readiness is vital, but so is diplomatic effectiveness. When negotiations break down, we don't send our soldiers to fight without weapons. Why, then, do we so often send our diplomats to negotiate without the leverage that resources provide? The savings yielded by successful diplomacy are incalculable. So are the costs of failed diplomacy, not only in hard cash, but in human lives. In closing, I said that from the Treaty of Paris to the around-the-clock deliberations of our own era, the story of U.S. diplomacy is the story of a unique and free society emerging from isolation to cross vast oceans and assume its rightful role on the world stage. It is the story of America first learning, then accepting and then acting on its responsibilities. Above all, it is the story of individuals, from Benjamin Franklin onward, who answered their country's call, and who have given their life and labor in service to its citizens.
As Secretary of State, it has been a great privilege to work with you, the members of the Foreign Service, on America's team.
Madeleine K. Albright
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was honored to participate May 24 in a dinner commemorating the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Rogers Act, which created the modern U.S. Foreign Service.
