state magazine, may 2006

Nicosia

M A G A Z I N E

U . S . D E P A R T M E N T O F S T A T E

M A Y 2 0 0 6

DISTINCTLY CYPRIOT

CONTENTSSTATE MAGAZINE + MAY 2006 + NUMBER 501

The Ageof the E-PassportWith embedded chips and facial-recognitiontechnology, these passports protect against fraud andidentity theft—and enhance national security.

Three DaysIn KarachiAn eyewitness tells the tragic story ofthe March bombing in Pakistan.

Office of the Month:Family Liaison OfficeThe Family Liaison Office answers the tough questionsfor employees and families at post.

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40 *ON THE COVERNicosia across the Green Line: The Greek andTurkish Cypriot communities are close in somany ways, yet still so far apart politically.Photograph by John Zimmerman

Post of the Month:NicosiaDiscover what it’s like to live in Nicosia, Cyprus—the world’s last divided capital.

COLUMNS2 EDITOR’S NOTES

3 READER’S FEEDBACK

4 IN THE NEWS

43 STATE OF THE ARTS

44 APPOINTMENTS

45 RETIREMENTS

46 OBITUARIES

48 PARTING SHOTS

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18 Asian Pacific American TrailblazersDiscover the stories of Asian Pacific Americans who madea difference in diplomacy.

10 Public Diplomacy:Soccer MatchesBringing smiles to Iraqi children.

20 Power BrakesOffices slow the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

24 Adventures in NonproliferationDefusing a nuclear weapon? That’s one job this ForeignService officer will leave to the real nuclear scientists.

30 Interagency EducationArmy War College experience builds bridges totransformational diplomacy.

32 Civilization at Its BestAt the American Library in Nepal, events draw standing-room-only crowds.

34 From Zydeco to FunkHow a little bit of blues, gospel, rock and roll, and funkhelped tell the story of Black History Month in Malawi.

36 Department Inner-ViewQ&A with OES Assistant Secretary Claudia McMurray.

MAGAZINE STAFF

Rob WileyEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Alesandra Ann SchollDEPUTY EDITOR

Bill PalmerWRITER/EDITOR

Jennifer LelandWRITER/EDITOR

David L. JohnstonART DIRECTOR

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

Teddy B. TaylorEXECUTIVE SECRETARY

Larry Baer

Kelly Clements

Pam Holliday

State Magazine (ISSN 1099–4165) is pub-lished monthly, except bimonthly in Julyand August, by the U.S. Department ofState, 2201 C St., N.W., Washington, DC.Periodicals postage paid at Washington,D.C., and at additional mailing locations.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS

Send changes of address to StateMagazine, 2401 E Street, N.W., SA-1,Room H-236, Washington, DC 20522-0108. You may also e-mail addresschanges to [email protected].

SUBSCRIPTIONS

State Magazine is available by subscriptionthrough the U.S. Government PrintingOffice by telephone at (202) 512-1800 oron the web at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.

SUBMISSIONS

For details on submitting articles to StateMagazine, request our guidelines,“Getting Your Story Told,” by e-mail [email protected]; download themfrom our web site at www.state.gov;or send your request in writing toState Magazine, 2401 E Street, N.W.,HR/ER/SMG, SA-1, Room H-236,Washington, DC 20522-0108.

The submission deadline for the July/August 2006 issue is May 15. The deadlinefor the September 2006 issue is June 15.

This month’s State Magazine brings aworld of stories that show the depth anddiversity of Department experiences.

They prefer to work behind the scenes,although their labors create a brighterfuture for all the world’s citizens. Meet theprofessionals at the recently reorganizedBureau of International Security andNonproliferation. At the drop of a hat, theytravel the world over to secure fissionablematerial here, eliminate a SCUD missilethere or destroy stock-piled chemical weaponssomewhere else.

Their goal: slow thespread of weapons ofmass destruction, so theworld will be a littlesafer tomorrow than itis today. And while theresponsibilities areheavy, the rewards arepriceless. You might notlearn how to defuse anuclear weapon, butyou will find a mandateranging from treatyimplementation to high-seas ship interdiction, from promotingpeaceful nuclear energy to shutting downblack-market proliferation networks.

Small steps sometimes get lost in theoverall global perspective, but over timethey can add up to big successes. Followingthe February bombing of the Al Askariyamosque in Samarra, Iraq, the RegionalEmbassy Office in Basrah took positiveaction to sow a little tolerance and under-standing among suspicious groups.

This inspired group of Department pro-fessionals organized an event that broughttogether the area’s top religious leaders—Shiite and Sunni Muslims, Christians andMandaeans. The tools of tolerance in thisinstance were the area’s children, a univer-

sal game and soccer equipment donated bythe Real Madrid Football Club of Madrid,Spain. The results were both obvious andsubtle—smiles on the faces of the Iraqichildren and, for a brief period, proof thatreconciliation is possible even under themost trying conditions.

No one knows how he or she will reactwhen the unthinkable happens. PamelaLoring, an office management specialistand backup communicator at the U.S.

Consulate in Karachi,Pakistan, faced thehorror of the Marchbombing in Karachiand reacted prettymuch just as her asso-ciates throughout thecity did that day, withcalm professionalism.Then the unthinkablearrived—word that acolleague and frienddidn’t survive thebombing.

Suddenly, returningto the routine becameunthinkable.

In many circles, Save the Whales is just aslogan. In the offices and cubicles of theDepartment’s Bureau of Oceans andInternational Environmental and ScientificAffairs, headed by Assistant SecretaryClaudia McMurray, saving whales—andtigers and gorillas and forests—is all in aday’s work. Assistant Secretary McMurraywalks us through her vast bureau in anexclusive State Magazine “DepartmentInner-View.” �

E D I T O R ’ S N O T E S

Small Steps to a Brighter Future

2 S TAT E M A G A Z I N E M AY 2 0 0 6

Rob WileyEditor-in-Chief

R E A D E R ’ S F E E D B A C K

3M AY 2 0 0 6 S TAT E M A G A Z I N E

Too Little ProgressI commend State Magazine for courage

in publishing “The African-AmericanHeritage” (February). The Department’shistory of hiring and treating African-Americans is reprehensible—in spite of equal oppor-tunity laws passed in the1970s. Take away thesmoke screen of pol i t i-ca l appointees, and theprofile of career African-A m e r i c a n F o r e i g nService officers reflectstoo little progress. Withouta class-action lawsuit,perhaps the Department’srecord on women ForeignService officers might beequally as poor.

For those of us who loved the ForeignService, all of this sadly diminishes ourpride.

Georgiana N. PrinceRetired Foreign Service officerWashington, D.C.

Wharton a Joy to Work WithThe caption on page 29 of the February

issue should have read “Clifton Wharton,

with Secretary Dean Rusk, at his swearingin as Ambassador to Norway”—notRomania. That was in 1961. In 1958,President Eisenhower sent MinisterWharton to the American Legation inBucharest. I served under him at that post

(which was not raised toan embassy until muchlater).

I went to Romania onan unusual carte blanchevisa, accompanying ahuge exhibit from theMuseum of Modern Art.Because of fluency inRomanian and being ableto go into areas politicaland economic officerscould not, I had severalother chores besides

finding museum space for the exhibit onAmerican architecture, photography andcontemporary sculpture, painting andprints.

Minister Wharton was a joy to work withand Mrs. Wharton was interested in thesuccess of the exhibit.

T. J. Crockett, 3rdRetired Foreign Service officerUnionville, Connecticut

Revolution inEmbassy Construction

Thanks for carrying our article on theopening of the new embassy in PhnomPenh (March). There is another part of thestory that merits all our attention—the rev-olution wrought by General CharlesWilliams and the new Office of OverseasBuildings Operation.

This magnificent building is one of thefirst two new standard embassy designfacilities. OBO completed the project in 28months—five months ahead of schedule—and in full compliance with post-9/11security standards. OBO’s conduct of theproject was impeccable throughout.General Williams’ team led the design, con-tracting, construction, furnishing andaccreditation consistent with best practicesof private industry. The new OBO is trulychanging the way we do business abroadand strictly for the better. To paraphrase aslogan from the auto industry, this ain’tyour Dad’s OBO!

Joseph A. MussomeliAmbassadorU.S. Embassy Phnom Penh

History Lesson andReality Check Mailing Address

State Magazine2401 E Street, NWHR/ER/SMG, SA-1, Room H-236Washington, DC 20522-0108

[email protected]

Phone(202) 663-1700

Letters should not exceed 250 wordsand should include the writer’sname, address and daytime phonenumber. All letters become theproperty of State Magazine. Letterswill be edited for length, accuracyand clarity. Only signed letters willbe considered. Names may be with-held upon request.

Thanks to State Magazine and Marc Susser andKathleen Rasmussen for a fascinating article in theFebruary issue. “The African-American Heritage” was awonderful history lesson and reality check for all of usworking in the Department. We can only cringe at ourinstitutional past in this area and trust that we willprogress enough to prevent future generations fromcringing at our performance.

David BallardDeputy Chief of MissionU.S. Embassy Tunis

Let Us Hear from You

On March 9, Visual Diplomacy, amonthlong display of ART inEmbassies exhibition catalogues andposter reproductions of original worksof art, opened in the Reading Room ofthe Department’s Ralph J. BuncheLibrary. Visual Diplomacy marked thebeginning of a new collaborationbetween ART and the library.

ART recently donated more than100 print and electronic copies of itsexhibition catalogues, dating from2004, to the Bunche Library. Thesebeautiful catalogues, produced by ARTand designed and printed by theDepartment’s Regional Program Officein Vienna, document individual ARTexhibitions around the world. The cat-alogues are typically bilingual andinclude full-color reproductions ofworks of art, artist biographies, lendercredits and ambassadors’ statementsexplaining the significance of the exhi-bitions. Most important, the cataloguesacknowledge the generosity of theartists and lenders and provide a usefuldiplomatic tool for ambassadors.

All Department employees aroundthe world can access ART’s catalogues through the BuncheLibrary’s e-book collection. Simply visit the library’s web site athttp://buncheelectroniclibrary.state.gov/ and click on the

“e-books” link. The catalogues are accessible via the drop-downsubject menu as “ART in Embassies Exhibition Catalog” or thedrop-down collection menu as “ART in Embassies Program.”

)(NEWS

PLUS >>> State Honors Peace Corps Ties + Mary A. Ryan: A Life of Service +Burundi Celebrates Black History Month + Rome Lends Famous Statue +Let’s Learn Online + Commemorative Stamps Feature Diplomatic Trailblazers

Anne Johnson, director of the ART in Embassies Program, and Frank Coulter, acting assistant secretaryfor the Bureau of Administration, stand before an oil painting by ART lender Thomas Paquette. Mrs.Johnson is holding a copy of the ART in Embassies exhibition catalogue for Athens.

>>>4 S TAT E M A G A Z I N E M AY 2 0 0 6

ART AT YOUR FINGERTIPS


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The U.S. Peace Corps has providedmany State employees a wonderful prepa-ration for living and working abroad. Itcontinues to give a tremendous gift asreturned volunteers and staff join theDepartment and bring with them lan-guage, cross-cultural and other skillsgleaned from their assignments.

As the Peace Corps celebrates its 45thanniversary, bureaus and offices are findingways to commemorate the event and con-gratulate and thank the Corps for its work.

Under the leadership of former volunteerMark Nachtrieb, a Department group hasbeen planning an event and developing adatabase of former Peace Corps workers atState who are Civil Service and ForeignService employees, contractors or annui-tants.

Those employees who have a Peace Corpsbackground are asked to respond to a cableand department notices that were sent outasking for their country and years of service.

Based on two sample pools of employ-ees—those entering as junior officers andspecialists and those participating in theAmbassadorial Seminar—it is estimatedthat the number of former Peace Corpsworkers in the Department is between fourand eight percent of the work force.

Current chiefs of mission who haveserved in the Peace Corps include KateCanavan, Niels Marquart, Roger Meece,Richard Erdman (whose daughter was andson is a volunteer), Barrie Walkley, RobertFitts and Michael Parmly. AmbassadorCraig Stapleton was a member of the Boardof the Peace Corps.

Former volunteers and staff tend to befound in higher concentrations in certainbureaus. About 10 percent of the staff of theBureau of Population, Refugees andMigration, for example, are returned volun-teers and staff members. The ForeignService Institute also has a high percentage.When the Department was looking for pio-neers to staff the Office of Reconstructionand Humanitarian Assistance and theCoalition Provisional Authority in Iraq,service in the Peace Corps was considereddesirable. Who would be better prepared todeal with the crude living and workingarrangements than ex-volunteers?

Look for announcements of the upcom-ing Peace Corps-Foreign Affairs communityevent, which will take place in the ExhibitionHall in the Truman Building.

STATE HONORS PEACE CORPS TIES

Mary A. Ryan, a Career Ambassadorwith the Department of State and formerAssistant Secretary of State for ConsularAffairs, died April 25 at her home inWashington, D.C.

Mary Ryan achieved the personal rankof Career Ambassador in 1999, an honorgranted in recognition of exceptionallydistinguished service. She was the secondwoman to achieve the rank of CareerAmbassador and among only 46 officers tohold this rank in thehistory of the Depart-ment. She was thehighest-ranking diplomatat the Department whenshe retired in 2002.

Ambassador Ryan’sState Department careerspanned more than 36years and virtually everypart of the globe. She wasan acknowledged expert inAfrican and EuropeanAffairs and served over-seas at a number ofEmbassies and Consulates,many in difficult and challenging placeswhile facing considerable personalhardship.

Although her professional focus restedprimarily on administrative and consularpositions, Ambassador Ryan was known

for her mastery of all aspects of theForeign Service. She promoted U.S. inter-ests wherever she served, and took as agreat honor the opportunity to representthe United States as Ambassador toSwaziland from 1988 to 1990.

In the Bureau of Consular Affairs, whereshe served as Assistant Secretary from 1993until 2002, Ambassador Ryan was knownnot only as one of the Department’s mostinnovative and capable managers, but also

for her integrity andleadership.

Ambassador Ryanhad a tremendousimpact on a generationof Foreign Service offi-cers. She establishedmentoring as a keymanagement compo-nent in the numerousleadership positionsshe held. She instilledin her colleagues asense of dedication andcommitment to publicservice. As one Foreign

Service officer noted, “her legacy enduresthrough the lives of the officers shetouched.”

Ambassador Ryan received numerousawards during her career. She received thePresidential Distinguished Service Award

in 1998 and 1992, and the Department ofState’s Arnold L. Raphel Award for men-toring in 1996. In 2001, she received thefirst-ever Award for Outstanding PublicService, endowed by Ross Perot, for herleadership on consular issues worldwide.

After her retirement, Ambassador Ryandevoted herself to a number of endeavorsthat reflect her lifelong dedication toserving others. She tutored students in theD.C. Public School system. Devoted to herfaith, she was active in her parish, servingas an extraordinary minister of theEucharist at St. Stephen Martyr RomanCatholic Church in Washington, D.C., andalso regularly attended the Shrine of theMost Blessed Sacrament in Washington,D.C. She volunteered as a Eucharistic min-ister for patients at George WashingtonUniversity Hospital. She graduated from atwo-year program at Trinity University forparish administration associated with theArchdiocese of Washington, D.C.

Ambassador Ryan held bachelor’s andmaster’s degrees from St. John’s Universityin New York. She received an HonoraryDoctorate in Humane Letters from St.John’s in May 1996, and the universityawarded her its Medal of Honor in June2000. Although her career took her aroundthe world, she never lost her ties to herhometown of New York City, or to herbeloved New York Yankees.

MARY A. RYAN: A LIFE OF SERVICE


What do you do when a celebration is called for and you havebig ideas but a small budget? You get creative. That is exactly whatthe U.S. Embassy in Bujumbura did recently to celebrate BlackHistory Month.

A French-speaking, former Belgian colony, newly democraticBurundi abounds with people who have studied American history.

It is also a country where radio is the major source of information.So, to start off the month, the embassy presented a series of radiointerviews with the coordinator of the Office of Foreign DisasterAssistance and the political officer, focusing on African-Americanmusic and history, the struggle for civil rights and the struggle’srelevance to Burundians.

The next week, the embassy presented a series of movies thatprofiled aspects of the African-American experience, followed bylively discussions. For example, the movie The Color Purple juxta-posed the role of women in Burundi against that of the charactersin the film.

One Saturday, the embassy sponsored a local student Englishclub in a speech competition whose theme was “What canBurundians learn from African-American history?” The pupils rec-ognized that both countries share many of the same experiences.

The finale of the monthlong celebration was a spectacularAfrican-American musical concert, organized and presented byOFDA Coordinator Denise Gordon. In a concert hall packed tocapacity, local Burundians coached by Ms. Gordon sang spirituals,blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and hip-hop songs. An exceptionalsinger and songwriter herself, Ms. Gordon also performed manydifferent varieties of African-American songs.

The U.S. Embassy in Rome has loanedone of the most important pieces in its artcollection—the famous Venus DryingHerself After the Bath by Giambologna—for an eye-catching exhibition at the MuseoNazionale del Bargello in Florence. Theexhibition, “Giambologna: The Gods, TheHeroes”, will run until June 15.

The statue was created by Giambolognain 1583, when the artist was at the height ofhis career. When he was very young,Giambologna settled in Florence andbecame Francesco I de’ Medici’s favoritesculptor. He gained fame in Italy andEurope through his elegant works thatoffered a new way of thinking aboutsculpture. He produced monumental com-positions and a large number of smallbronzes. The bronzes were used as diplo-matic gifts for European rulers, promotingthe “Florentine style” abroad.

The Venus, created for GiangiorgioCesarini, is unique, said embassy Fine ArtsCurator Valeria Brunori, because of the

certainty of the date and because of theextraordinary permission Francesco Igranted to Giambologna to work on thestatue for Cesarini. The reason permissionwas granted is still a mystery: possiblyCesarini’s activity as an agent searching forworks of art in Rome for the Medici collec-tions, or more likely his marriage to CleliaFarnese, daughter of Cardinal AlessandroFarnese. Clelia was courted by the entireRoman aristocracy, but one of her mostardent admirers was Fedinando de’Medici,Francesco I’s brother and future GrandDuke of Tuscany. Maybe this was theliaison that provided the commission forCesarini.

The beautiful Venus was acquired in the1620s by Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi forhis collection. The nucleus of the VillaLudovisi estate is today the U.S. Embassycompound. The statue’s attribution toGiambologna became uncertain during the18th and 19th centuries, but in 1880 thestatue was correctly ascribed to him. In

1950, the scholar Elisabeth Dahnensauthent i ca ted the a t t r ibut ion toGiambologna with certainty. In 1993 thestatue was restored and exhibited in Romeand Washington.

The loan of this unique masterpiece tothe exhibition in Florence has been wel-comed by scholars, the general public andthe media.

Rome Lends FamousStatue for Exhibition

Workmen prepare to remove the Venus fromthe embassy.

BURUNDI CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORYWITH MOVIE SERIES AND MUSIC

Management Officer Judes Stellingwerf, left, and OFDA Coordinator DeniseGordon, center, congratulate participants in the speech competition.


The Foreign Service Institute presented a Distance Learning Showcase onMarch 28 and 29 at the Harry S Truman building to highlight opportunitiesfor online and electronic learning at the State Department.

“Distance learning” is instruction that occurs when an instructor andstudent are separated geographically. It can be offered online, through a textwith communication via e-mail, through CD-ROMs or via a combination ofdelivery methods. In some courses, students set their own pace; in others, aninstructor guides students.

Distance learning through the Foreign Service Institute is open to all federalgovernment personnel and eligible family members.

The showcase featured information booths on the School of AppliedInformation Technology, the Transition Center, the School of LanguageStudies, the Leadership and Management School, the School of Professionaland Area Studies, the Instructional Support Division, the Association forDiplomatic Studies and Training and more. For more information on distancelearning, go to: http://fsi.state.gov/courses/default.asp.

Let’s Learn Online

Jane Burt-Lynn, left, shows some materials on FSI’s School of Professional andArea Studies to FSI Director Ruth Whiteside, center, and Under Secretary forManagement Henrietta Fore, right, at the Distance Learning Showcase.

Among the commemorative stamps being issued this year by theU.S. Postal Service is a series on “Distinguished AmericanDiplomats.” A ceremony dedicating the stamps on May 30 willhonor six individuals for their contributions to internationalrelations—not only as negotiators and administrators, but also astrailblazers, shapers of policy, peacemakers and humanitarians.

While serving as a diplomat in France during World War II,Hiram Bingham IV defied U.S. policy byissuing visas that saved the lives of morethan 2,000 Jews and other refugees.Since the discovery of his heroism, hehas been posthumously honored for“constructive dissent.”

Frances E. Willis began her diplomat-ic career in 1927 and served withdistinction, especially in Europe, until1964. She was the first female ForeignService officer to rise through the ranksto become an ambassador and the firstwoman to be honored with the title ofcareer ambassador.

A skilled troubleshooter, Robert D.Murphy played a key role in facilitating

the Allied invasion of North Africa during World War II. Heserved as the first postwar U.S. ambassador to Japan, and in 1956became one of the first diplomats to be named career ambassador.

The distinguished career of Clifton R. Wharton, Sr., spannednearly four decades. In addition to becoming one of the firstAfrican-American Foreign Service officers, he was the firstAfrican-American diplomat to lead an American delegation to aEuropean country—Romania. He later became ambassador toNorway.

A renowned expert on the Soviet Union, Charles E. Bohlenhelped to shape foreign policy during World War II and the ColdWar. He was present at key wartime meetings with the Soviets,served as ambassador to Moscow during the 1950s and advisedevery U.S. president between 1943 and 1968.

Philip C. Habib was renowned for his diplomacy in some of theworld’s most dangerous flash points. An authority on SoutheastAsia, a peace negotiator in the Middle East and a special envoy toCentral America, he was awarded the Presidential Medal ofFreedom in 1982.

This souvenir sheet consists of a collage featuring details from photographs of six diplomats placed infront of visas, passport pages and other items associated with diplomacy.

CommemorativeStamps FeatureSix DiplomaticTrailblazers


The E-Age


To facilitate international travel for U.S.citizens and enhance border security, theDepartment has begun phasing in elec-tronic passports, better known ase-passports. On Dec. 30, 2005, the Bureauof Consular Affairs began pilot productionof the first-ever diplomatic e-passports.Beginning in April, official passports willbe issued in this new format.

The e-passport integrates the latest con-cepts in electronic document protectionand readability. It represents another mile-stone toward improving the security andintegrity of the U.S. passport and enhanc-ing national security. This new passportalso reduces the likelihood of lost or stolenpassports being used for illicit purposes.

The new passport combines facial recog-nition and contactless chip technology.Each e-passport contains an integratedcircuit, or chip, with a storage capacity of atleast 64 kilobytes that operates in a mannerconsistent with international standards.

The chip, which will be embedded in thecover of the passport, holds the same infor-mation that is printed on the data page ofthe passport and the full facial image of thepassport bearer. The chip will also containa unique identification number and adigital signature to protect the stored datafrom alteration.

BUILT-IN SECURITYConsular Affairs has incorporated

several features into the e-passport that

will prevent data skimming, eavesdroppingor tracking of the passport bearer. Theanti-skimming material is a metal shield-ing in the front cover that wraps aroundonto a portion of the rear cover. Thismaterial greatly inhibits reading the chipas long as the passport book is closed.

Basic Access Control technology mini-mizes the risk of unauthorized reading ofthe data on the chip. This technologyrequires that the data page be read elec-tronically to generate a key that unlocksthe chip and allows for an encrypted com-munication session between the chip andchip reader. Finally, the e-passport willinclude a randomized unique identifica-tion feature to mitigate the risk that ane-passport could be used to track thebearer.

Consular Affairs added these features tothe initial design largely because of publicconcerns expressed during the rulemakingprocess. When taken together, they willmitigate unauthorized reading of thepassport.

Although more than 30 other nationsaround the world will issue e-passports totheir nationals, no other country is takingall of these steps to protect the data of itscitizens.

Compatible port-of-entry readers allowthe chip to be electronically read withinseconds to confirm that the person and thepassport are indeed a match. The securelystored information will further protect

against passport fraud, identity fraud,identity theft, information skimming andillegal immigration, while allowing forfaster processing of travelers.

BY THE NUMBERSU.S. passport demand has nearly

doubled between fiscal years 2003 and2006. Fueled by increasing internationaltravel, more naturalizations, moreAmericans using their passport as an iden-tity document for reasons other thaninternational travel and new documentrequirements for travel within the WesternHemisphere, Consular Affairs expects thisyear to adjudicate about 13 million pass-port applications.

The bureau expects that number toballoon to at least 15 million in fiscal year2007, with a sustained demand of 17million or more in 2008 and beyond.

The Department plans to begin issuinge-passports for tourists this summer, andhave all domestic passport agenciesissuing e-passports by the end of 2006.Previously issued passports without elec-tronic chips will remain valid until theirexpiration dates.

For more information about the elec-tronic passport, visit the Bureau ofConsular Affairs web site attravel.state.gov. �

The author is an operations specialist inPassport Services.

DEPARTMENT LAUNCHES THE ELECTRONIC PASSPORT ERA BY R. MICHAEL HOLLY

The security laminate film in the new passport, left, contains the same highly secure technology as the current passport. The new document has a newdesign in the film, including an image of George Washington, words from the national anthem, the Capitol and a bountiful harvest. The signature page,right, has the preamble to the Constitution, a flag, grain stalks and an eagle. Under ultraviolet light, the page shows stars and fireworks.

When the Al Askariya mosque in Samarra, Iraq, wasbombed in February, sectarian violence in the countrysurged dramatically. Yet a short time later, one StateDepartment office in Basrah organized an event thatassembled the area’s top religious leaders—and broughtsmiles to the faces of Iraqi children.

The Regional Embassy Office in Basrah organized theevent for children with cooperation from leaders of thearea’s Christian, Shiite, Sunni and Mandaean religiouscommunities. At the celebration, held March 5 at thelargest mosque in Basrah, children were given soccerballs and sports paraphernalia donated in part by soccerstar Zinedine Zidane of the Real Madrid Football Clubof Madrid, Spain. PH

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BY MARK MARRANO

Smiles with Children,Shiites with Sunnis,Christians withMandaeans

Soccer Matches

The idea for the event began when theRegional Embassy Office saw an urgentneed to promote religious tolerance follow-ing the Al Askariya mosque bombing. Ibegan meeting with different religiousleaders to gauge their interest in an eventthat would bring children together underthe umbrella of sports.

I had received a variety of Real Madridsoccer material from Zidane, whom I hadmet while working at the U.S. Embassy inMadrid. Zidane donated the material forthe Iraqi children in Basrah. The RegionalEmbassy Office supplemented the materi-al with other soccer balls bought locallyusing office donations.

I met separately with the Christianleader, Archbishop of Basrah GabrielKassab; the Shiite cleric of the largestmosque in Basrah, Sayyid Abdul Aaly AlMousawi; and a highly respected Shiiteleader and Basrah Provincial Councilmember, Sayyid Bahaa Jama al Deen. Thelatter was instrumental in influencing theparticipation of the Sunni imam, SheikKhalid Al Mullah, and the leader of theMandaeans, Sheik Raad Gbashi. (TheMandaeans are an ancient religious com-munity that venerates St. John theBaptist.)

The religious leaders were asked tobring children between the ages of 6 and10 from their communities. On the day ofthe event, 6 girls and 16 boys arrived atthe Al Mousawi mosque, accompanied byparents and the religious leaders. RegionalCoordinator Ken Gross spoke, thankingthe religious leaders for their courage ingathering together for the sake of the chil-dren of Basrah. He said that the gifts weregiven to assure the children of Basrah thatthere are people from around the worldwho wish them a bright future.

During the event, the 22 children wereextremely well behaved, even if slightlyfearful. The sight of heavily armed securi-ty personnel brought several of them totears, clearly showing how some havebeen traumatized by the tense security sit-uation in the city. One of the children hadbeen the victim of a kidnapping and sub-sequent torture.

However, when the candy, soccer ballsand Real Madrid souvenirs were distrib-uted, the children began smiling. Theirsmiles grew even larger when they startedto examine their candy and discoveredmost of it had been sent directly from theUnited States.

The event was a resounding success.The Regional Embassy Office was able toorganize an event emphasizing reconcili-ation, yet free of political and religiousstrings during a period of heightenedtension and strife between the Shia andSunni communities. More important,with the help of soccer great Zidane, theoffice was able to bring smiles to the facesof Iraqi children who have had little tosmile about in the past. �

The author is Deputy RegionalCoordinator in the Regional EmbassyOffice in Basrah, Iraq.


Opposite page: Iraqi children show their Real Madrid souvenirs. Top: The religious clerics representingthe Shia, Sunni, Christian and Mandaean communities in Basrah. Bottom: Iraqi Provincial ActionOfficer Rachel Schneller and Deputy Regional Coordinator Mark Marrano distribute gifts from soccerstar Zinedine Zidane.

An embassy-sponsored archaeologicalworkshop showcased this replica ofthe ancient sailing ship Kyrenia.

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Nicosia


DISTINCTLY CYPRIOT

By Bridget Alway

P O S T O F T H E M O N T H<<<


is a study in contrasts. An islandroughly the size of Connecticut, it has both natural beauty and an ongoing con-flict of considerable proportions.

Barbed wire, a buffer zone and 860 United Nations peacekeepers stretch acrossthe island, separating the Greek and Turkish communities from each other. Thedivision is the result of clashes that began in the 1960s and culminated in armedconflict in the summer of 1974, which displaced about 200,000 people.

Today, the political conflict, though contained, persists and has the potentialto increase tension between North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies Greece andTurkey in an already fragile region.

U.N. peacekeepers first came to Cyprus in 1964 to calm violence that eruptedafter independence from the British in 1960. Even today, British military basesmake up approximately 3 percent of the island and are recognized by treaty assovereign territory. Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots—including manyembassy staff—remember the 1960s as a very turbulent time, when familymembers were killed or went missing.

When Greek Cypriot nationalists, with help from the military junta rulingGreece at the time, organized a coup in 1974 against then-President andArchbishop Makarios III, Turkey responded with a military intervention. Tothis day, many Greek Cypriots accuse the U.S. of failing to prevent the coup andthe Turkish intervention that followed. The U.S. mission also experienced a

Above: The restored 19th century Hala Sultan Tekkee Mosque in Larnaca. Right: From left,former political officer Emily Plumb, political officers Matt Palmer and Mark Libby, and for-mer desk officer Marisa Plowden enjoy Golden Beach at the tip of the Karpass Peninsula.

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AT A GLANCE

Country nameCyprus

CapitalNicosia

GovernmentRepublic

LanguagesGreek, Turkish and English

ReligionsGreek Orthodox, Muslim, Maroniteand Armenian Apostolic

Population784,300

Total area9,250 square kilometers

Approximate sizeAbout 0.6 times the sizeof Connecticut

Agriculture productsCitrus fruits, potatoes, barley,grapes and olives

IndustriesTourism, food and beverageprocessing, cement and gypsumproduction, textiles and ship repair

Export partnersUntied Kingdom (27.2 percent),Greece (11.9 percent) andGermany (5 percent)

Import partnersGreece (15.2 percent), Italy(10.5 percent) and Germany(8.9 percent)

Airports16 (13 with paved runways)

Internet country code.cy

tragedy when Ambassador Rodger Daviesand administrative section assistantAntoinette Varnava were killed by bulletsfired at the embassy.

Split DecisionsThe U.S. has kept full diplomatic rela-

tions with the Republic of Cyprus whilemaintaining contact with representativesof the Turkish Cypriot community. OnlyTurkey recognizes the self-proclaimedTurkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,which covers 37 percent of the island.

The U.S. Embassy in Nicosia has playedan important role in recent efforts to find asolution to the divided island’s politicalproblems, supporting U.N. SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan’s Mission of GoodOffices to reunify the island. In April 2004,the “Annan Plan” was supported by theTurkish Cypriots but overwhelminglyrejected by the Greek Cypriots in twosimultaneous referenda and, in May 2004,Cyprus entered the European Union as adivided island.

For many years, Congress has ear-marked economic support funds forCyprus to be used on scholarships, bicom-munal projects and measures aimed atreunification of the island. The funds,designed to reduce tensions and promotepeace and cooperation between the twocommunities, support both bicommunala n d e co n o m i c g row t h a c t iv i t i e s .Bicommunal work focuses on areas such asyouth, education and cultural heritage.Economic growth work is designed to helpthe Turkish Cypriot community shoulderits share of the costs of a settlement andreunification of the island.

The mission employs approximately 53American staff and 116 local staff, withrepresentatives from the Department ofDefense, the U.S. Agency for InternationalDevelopment, the Drug EnforcementAdministration and the Office of SpecialCounsel.

The embassy building, constructed in1992, sits on a compound not far from thewalled city of Old Nicosia and two of fourcrossing points to northern Cyprus. Theembassy maintains a satellite office on thenorth side of Nicosia in the area adminis-tered by Turkish Cypriots. Travel across thebuffer zone was tightly controlled untilApril 2003, but is now relatively routine,with thousands of Cypriots and third-country nationals crossing each day.

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Top: From left, deputy chief of mission Jane Zimmerman, nurseBarbara Joannides and political specialist Anna Maria

Yiallourou work the embassy’s blood drive following theAugust 2005 crash of Helios Airways Flight 522. Above:

Ambassador Ronald L. Schlicher, left, and Cyprus Minister ofJustice and Public Order Doros Theodorou sign Extradition and

Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty Instruments, harmonizing theprevious instrument to similar agreements with otherEuropean Union members. Right: Weekend markets inOld Nicosia overflow with fresh fruits and vegetables.


Nicosia lies 40 miles inland from the internationalairport at Larnaca and has been the island’s seat of gov-ernment since the 11th century. About 220,000 people livethere today. Half of them own cars. Traffic is jammed atrush hour, but otherwise zooms along.

Charm and DesolationThe old city is a combination of charm and desolation.

Restored yellow and white stone architecture with ornatecovered balconies contrasts with dilapidated, dusty con-crete buildings. Many abandoned buildings still show thescars of bullet holes, and many are homes to families ofstray cats. Recent archaeological excavations have revealedthe domestication of cats on Cyprus more than 9,000 yearsago, the earliest finding of cats in burial sites in the world.

Some of the most beautiful buildings in Nicosia havebeen restored under the Nicosia Master Plan, a bicom-munal restoration initiative begun in 1979 under theauspices of the U.N. Development Programme. Fundingcame from a variety of sources, including the U.S.-funded Bicommunal Development Program. The MasterPlan is a comprehensive urban planning documentdesigned to improve living conditions. Almost 100 proj-ects have been completed or are ongoing, each worth$50,000 to $500,000.

Landmarks abound outside of Nicosia, particularly inthe coastal cities of Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos,Famagusta and Kyrenia. Beautiful reminders of theancient civilizations that inhabited these cities can befound at the second- through fourth-century ruins ofKourion, including an amphitheater where Shakespeareand ancient Greek productions are staged in summer; atKolossi Castle, the French Crusader headquarters afterthe final loss of the Holy Land in the 13th century; and atthe Greco-Roman gymnasium of Salamis, with its colon-naded palaestra, built by Roman emperors Trajan andHadrian.

The U.S. Embassy in Nicosia has cooperated withCypriots to preserve their historical sites, including theHala Sultan Tekkee mosque, where the ProphetMohammed’s paternal aunt is entombed, just two milesfrom the Larnaca airport. A partially U.S.-sponsoredworkshop organized by the Cyprus AmericanArchaeological Research Institute showcased a replica ofthe ancient sailing ship Kyrenia, which for more than 2,000years lay undisturbed on the bottom of theMediterranean, just a few kilometers off Cyprus’ shore.

A tour in Nicosia offers many things: hot summer sun,mountain winter snows, Mediterranean food, backyardfamily barbecues and museums galore. Notably, politics isa way of life here. In the not-so-distant past, even thenational brands of coffee and beer had political and reli-gious affiliations. While Cypriots increasingly focus ontheir future in the European Union, daily life remains dis-tinctly old-world. Distinctly Cypriot.

The author is a political officer at the U.S. Embassy inNicosia.

To help the separated GreekCypriot and Turkish Cypriotcommunities find a peacefulresolution to their long-standing conflict, the U.S.Embassy in Nicosia overseescongressionally earmarkedeconomic support funds forbicommunal and economicgrowth activities.

The bicommunal programspromote peace and coopera-tion between the twocommunities and benefit theisland as a whole. The econom-ic growth program is designedto enable the Turkish Cypriotcommunity to bear its share ofthe economic costs of reunifi-cation of the island.

The Bicommunal SupportProgram implements political-ly sensitive activities in areasranging from education andhealth to youth leadership.Since its inception in 2000, theprogram has reached morethan a thousand Cypriots.

The Cyprus AmericaScholarship Program is imple-mented by the CyprusFulbright Commission underthe embassy’s guidance. It pro-vides scholarships and trainingprograms and conductsbicommunal activities. Sinceits creation in 1981, theprogram has given 1,717 schol-arships worth approximately$126 million to Cypriot stu-dents for study in the UnitedStates at both the undergradu-ate and graduate levels.

The embassy’s USAID officeoversees the Action forCooperation and Trust inCyprus program, which isimplemented through the U.N.Development Programme. Itfunds projects designed andimplemented by GreekCypriots and Turkish Cypriotson issues of common concern,

such as education, the role ofcivil society and sustainabledevelopment.

The Cyprus Partnership forEconomic Growth, also over-seen by USAID, supportseconomic growth in theTurkish Cypriot community inways that will enable itseconomy to shoulder its shareof the economic costs of a set-tlement, contribute to TurkishCypriot–Greek Cypriot eco-nomic interaction and advancethe adoption and implementa-tion of European andinternational standards andpractices across the island.

The Cyprus Partnership,Embassy Nicosia’s newest andlargest program, implementsthree major projects. TheEconomic Development andGrowth for Enterprises projectwill strengthen TurkishCypriot enterprise competi-tiveness, while upgradingbanking skills and improvingthe financial environment inwhich banks and firms dobusiness. The ResourceEfficiency Achievement Projectwill improve the efficient use ofenergy and water. It willimprove the quality of service,reduce the environmentalimpact and improve competi-tiveness and economicperformance of TurkishCypriot firms. The SupportingActivities that Value theEnvironment project willimprove the competitiveness,financial status and quality ofbasic services and infrastruc-ture, as well as the localcapacity to manage naturalresources and cultural assets togenerate economic benefits. �

The author is bicommunalcoordinator at the U.S. Embassyin Nicosia.

BICOMMUNAL PROGRAMS GIVE PEACEA CHANCE BY JULIETTE DICKSTEIN

In May, the State Department joins thenation in celebrating Asian PacificAmerican Heritage Month. Throughoutthe country, there are more than 13million Asian Pacific Americans—a desig-nation commonly used to identifyAmericans having origins in East Asia,Southeast Asia or the Indian subcontinent.This includes people from China, India,Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam and thePacific Islands.

To celebrate the month, the Departmentwill host a foreign policy workshop on thefuture of U.S.-Asia relations on May 24featuring prominent Asian Americans.Participants include Asia Society PresidentVishaka Desai, National Security Council

White House Asia Director Victor Cha andSmithsonian Institution Asian PacificAmerican Program Director Franklin Odo.The event will be held in the Dean AchesonAuditorium from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Below are some of the stories of AsianPacific Americans who made significantcontributions to U.S. foreign policy.

DEPARTMENT TRAILBLAZERSCongresswoman Patsy Takemoto Mink

was the first Asian Pacific American toserve as an assistant secretary at theDepartment. From 1977 to 1978, she wasthe assistant secretary of state for Oceansand International Environmental andScientific Affairs. Her career was a series of

firsts: the first woman of color elected tothe U.S. Congress, the first Asian Americanwoman to practice law in Hawaii and thefirst Asian American woman to be electedto the Hawaiian territorial house of repre-sentatives. She played a key role in the 1972passage of Title IX, the federal civil rightslegislation that prohibits gender discrimi-nation at educational institutions receivingfederal funds. Title IX is credited for greatlyincreasing scholarship money for femaleathletes. Soon after her death in 2002,President Bush signed a congressional res-olution renaming Title IX “The Patsy MinkEqual Opportunity in Education Act.”

Julia Chang Bloch became the first AsianPacific American to be named a U.S.


AsianPacific

AmericanTrailblazers

in ForeignPolicyBY CORAZON

SANDOVAL FOLEY

Left: Ambassador Sichan Siv on horseback.Below: The author, left, with late civil rightspioneer Rosa Parks.

ambassador. She served in Nepal from 1989to 1993. She had an extensive career ininternational affairs and governmentservice, beginning as a Peace Corps volun-teer in Malaysia in 1964. At the U.S. Agencyfor International Development, she wasassistant administrator for Asia and theNear East, and assistant administrator forFood for Peace and Voluntary Assistance.She is now president of the U.S.-ChinaEducation Trust, a nonprofit organizationworking in China to promote U.S.-Chinarelations through education.

William H. Itoh was the first AsianPacific American ambassador to emergefrom the career Foreign Service ranks. Heserved as the U.S. ambassador to Thailandfrom 1996 to 1999, and received theDepartment’s Charles S. Cobb Award in1998 for his support of the American busi-ness community. He also was awarded anhonorary doctorate in economics in 1998by Khon Kaen University in recognition ofhis efforts in support of Thailand’s recov-

ery during the Asian financial crisis.Ambassador Itoh served as executive secre-tary of the National Security Council from1993 to 1995, as well as deputy executivesecretary and acting executive secretary ofthe State Department from 1991 to 1993.

Sichan Siv in 2001 became the first AsianPacific American with a Southeast Asianheritage to serve as a U.S. ambassador,serving as U.S. representative to the U.N.Economic and Social Council. AmbassadorSiv was a delegate to the 57th U.N.Commission on Human Rights. From 1989to 1993, he served as deputy assistant to thePresident for Public Liaison and deputyassistant secretary of state for South AsianAffairs. He played a key role in the officialdeclaration by the White House in 1990 ofNational Asian Pacific American HeritageMonth. He was born in Cambodia, but fledto Thailand in 1976 after being imprisonedin forced labor camps and twice markedfor death by the Khmer Rouge. He resettledas a refugee in Wallingford, Connecticut.

TRAILBLAZERS IN CONGRESSAsian Pacific American members of

Congress also have made significant con-tributions to U.S. foreign policy.

U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye is knownfor his distinguished record as a legislativeleader, chairman of the Iran-Contra com-mittee and a World War II combat veteranwho earned a Medal of Honor.

Senator Daniel Kahikina Akaka isAmerica’s first senator of native Hawaiianancestry and is the only Chinese-Americanmember of the Senate. He is a leader in theSenate on issues dealing with the FreelyAssociated States and Pacific U.S. territories.

The late Senator Spark MasayukiMatsunaga was a decorated World War IIcombat veteran. He was also a lifelongpeacemaker who helped establish the U.S.Institute of Peace in 1984. �

The author is a Filipino American and pro-gram manager in the Bureau of Intelligenceand Research Office of External Research.


Left: The first Asian Pacific Americanambassador from the career ranks,William H. Itoh (second from right), withformer Deputy Secretary Talbott andmembers of the Asian Pacific AmericanFederal Foreign Affairs Council in May1996. Below left: The first Asian PacificAmerican assistant secretary of State,Congresswoman Patsy Takemoto Mink,with her intern, Melinda Corazon Foley,the author’s daughter. Below right: Thefirst Asian Pacific American ambassa-dor, Julia Chang Bloch.

Throughout the country,there are more than

13 million Asian PacificAmericans—a designation

commonly used toidentify Americans

having origins in EastAsia, Southeast Asia or

the Indian subcontinent.

The U.S. government has made it one ofits highest priorities to stop the prolifera-tion of weapons of mass destruction. Oneof the key U.S. organizations leading thisfight is the State Department’s Bureau ofInternational Security and Nonprolifera-tion. State Magazine this month focuses onthree offices in the bureau.

FORGING ALLIANCESThe dangerous nuclear black market of

Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan uncovered afew years ago demonstrated clearly thatthose who seek financial gain can find waysto exploit weak security controls—at theexpense of international security. Khan con-fessed in 2004 that he had been peddling

nuclear secrets and technology to countriessuch as Libya, Iran and North Korea.

Even without Khan’s network, thedanger of the spread of these weapons hasintensified in recent years. More of theequipment and know-how for buildingnuclear, chemical or biological weapons,and for developing missile programs, isbecoming available on the open market.

One of the offices combating thisproblem is the CounterproliferationInitiatives Office. While multilateral diplo- PH

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STATE OFFICIALS SLOW THE SPREAD OF WEAPONSOF MASS DESTRUCTION BY CAROLYN LEDDY

PowerBrakes

macy remains a critical means for address-ing the threats posed by nuclear programsin Iran and North Korea, this office leads theDepartment’s efforts to make it harder forthese and other countries to advance pro-grams of proliferation.

The office heads U.S. diplomatic effortsto eliminate and investigate the A.Q. Khannetwork. It advances multinational agree-ments to stop trafficking in weapons ofmass destruction. It tracks and freezes assetsthat finance proliferation. And when anactual illicit transfer of such weaponsoccurs, the office intervenes to stop it.

The U.S. cannot stop the proliferation ofthese weapons on its own. Since 1968, the United States and itspartners have forged an international consensus against prolifera-tion. Part of CPI’s mission is to mobilize the capabilities andwherewithal of all responsible countries to stop transfers ofweapons of mass destruction. To do this, the office is developingnew tools and strengthening existing ones.

The Proliferation Security Initiative is a multinational effort tocoordinate the capabilities of countries to stop weapons traffick-ing. More than 70 countries support the initiative, which usesexercises, information-sharing, in-depth policy and legal discus-sions to ensure that participating countries can bring their existinglaws and resources to bear to stop this problem.

To eliminate the A.Q. Khan network and similar movements,CPI works closely with the National Security Council and otherU.S. agencies to develop strategies to close loopholes exploited bythe Khan network. The office identifies procurement trends thatmight point to covert weapons programs, seeks to shut down com-panies and individuals involved in proliferation-related activitiesand works with the international community to strengthen

export-control regimes and legal authorities. CPI also works withcountries to help them address gaps in their controls.

A key to preventing proliferation is to stop the flow of money. Anew Executive Order allows the United States to freeze funds usedto finance proliferation. CPI implements this order and urgesother countries to adopt similar authorities. The office also tracksfinancial transactions that can help identify new networks andmiddlemen who traffic in these weapons.

When actual illicit transfers occur, CPI helps coordinate U.S.diplomatic, law enforcement, military and intelligence efforts tostop these dangerous shipments.

PREVENTING SELLOUTSFormer scientists and researchers who specialize in weapons and

who are making very little money in their own countries can be vul-nerable to terrorists who offer to pay them for their expertise. In theformer Soviet Union and elsewhere, many weapons experts areunder-engaged and receive little or no salary. Yet a survey of 600former Soviet weapons scientists showed that obtaining Westerngrants could discourage working for rogue states.

To engage these experts in sustainable, peaceful, cooperativeresearch, the Department’s Office of Cooperative ThreatReduction runs five programs in the former Soviet Union, Iraqand Libya.

The Science Centers Program supports financial self-reliance forformer Soviet weapons researchers and institutes through theInternational Science and Technology Center in Moscow and theScience and Technology Center in Kiev. Through these centers, theUnited States has directed more than 60,000 former nuclear,missile, biological and chemical weapons scientists in 11 formerSoviet countries to peaceful, productive work.

The U.S. Bio-Chemical Redirect Program engages former Sovietbiological and chemical weapons personnel in cooperativeresearch with experts from U.S. government agencies. State leads


Opposite page: Italian firefighters establish perimeter around suspected WMD during exercise “Clever Sentinel 04.”Above: Fromleft: Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction staff members Rose Brown, program assistant; Aija Straumanis, commercializationspecialist; Beth Cameron, program director; Jennifer Herring, resource coordinator; Rich Jarvis, Iraq program director; SarahMacdonald, Science Center assistant; Tonika Sikder, management analyst; Brent Eastman, national security analyst; Aryn Lester,national security analyst; Chris Williams, intern; Shelly Overton, program assistant; and Kendra Bodnar, deputy director of theBioIndustry Initiative.

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the U.S. government in efforts to engagethese experts. The program supports U.S.and global efforts to combat biological andchemical terrorism through countermea-sures, early detection and response,antidotes and decontamination.

This program provides high-quality U.S.government collaborative efforts withnewly identified biochemical institutes,especially those in financial distress orthose reporting recent approaches by ter-rorists or rogue states. It also expandsefforts for under-engaged experts inTajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Azerbaijanand Ukraine.

The U.S. BioIndustry Initiative is theonly U.S. program dedicated to trans-forming former Soviet large-scalebiological production facilities into peace-ful commercial operations. This programcollaborates with former weapons scien-tists to accelerate drug and vaccinedevelopment, particularly for highlyinfectious diseases. Recent successesinclude

• A U.S.-Russian collaboration that ledto the discovery of highly pathogenicavian flu in birds in Siberia in 2005.

• Recruiting more than 30 major U.S.companies, including Eli Lilly andDuPont, to join the program.

• Partnering with former biological andchemical weapons scientists to developresearch and development projects forinfectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS,tuberculosis and flu, and support for amajor cancer research program.

The Iraqi Scientist Redirect Program,developed in 2004, is a program to redi-rect former Iraqi weapons scientists topeaceful work. Despite serious securityconstraints, the Department has madeprogress in funding approximately 200key former weapons personnel andworked closely with the United Kingdomto draft an agreement with Iraq to providea legal framework for the program. TheIraqi Interim Center for Science andIndustry opened in April 2004, staffed bya dozen Iraqis. Program activities include

• Soliciting, collecting and reviewingproposals for research and developmentor industrial projects that can employweapons experts.

• Paying monthly stipends to 150 Iraqiformer weapons scientists/technicians.

• Intensifying efforts to match partici-pating Iraqi scientists with companieslooking to do business in Iraq.

The Libya Scientist EngagementProgram grew from Libya’s decision todismantle its weapons of mass destruction

programs in 2004. Libya requestedWestern assistance to engage nuclear,chemical and missile scientists, engineersand technicians in civilian activities thatenhance Libya’s scientific, technologicaland economic development. Through theNonproliferation and Disarmament Fund,the Office of Cooperative ThreatReduction launched initiatives to achievethis goal. Libyan priorities include watermanagement and desalinization, nuclearmedicine, oil and gas technologies andservices, and environmental monitoring.

SPECIAL FORCES The Nonproliferation and Disarm-

ament Fund office serves as the “SpecialForces” of the government’s traditionalsecurity assistance programs. It is light,agile and responsive. Designed in 1994 toreact quickly to sudden problems andopportunities posed by the proliferationof weapons of mass destruction, the officequickly established a record of turningpotential crises into real threat-reductionachievements.

For example, in 2002 the office removedpoorly secured fissionable materials fromVinca, Serbia, to a secure facility moni-tored by the International Atomic EnergyAgency. The office secured weapons com-


ponents from Libya in 2005 afterthat country chose to forgo theweapons. There have been many suc-cesses in between.

NDF staff members are firstresponders who react quickly—andgo wherever in the world they’reneeded. The office is often sent in to“hold the line” until traditional U.S.government programs can gear upand relieve the NDF.

The office has done many small butvital projects on its own—securingsmall amounts of fissionable materialhere; eliminating SCUDs, SS-23 orSA-3 missiles there; destroying orsecuring stockpiled chemicalweapons or pathogens elsewhere. Inthe immediate aftermath of the Cold

War, these smaller jobs were animportant element of U.S. nonprolif-eration policy. In the aftermath of9/11, securing and/or eliminatingthese dangerous materials is absolute-ly essential, because terrorists oftenseek out unguarded weapons.

NDF maintains the highest possi-ble expertise in policy development,negotiations, program management,financial operations and contractadministration to ensure the work isaccomplished in the most secure, safe,and cost-efficient manner possible. �

The author is senior adviser to theassistant secretary for the Bureau ofInternational Security andNonproliferation.

Opposite page: Italian Air Force F-16 intercepts a U.S. Navy P-3C during exercise “AirBrake 04.” Above: Czech national forces arresting “suspect” smuggling WMD items duringexercise “Bohemian Guard 05.” Right: Polish border guard interdiction of mock chemicalprecursors during PSI exercise “Safe Borders 04.”

First, a disclaimer: After more than threeyears working on the Iran nuclear issue andbecoming immersed in nuclear nonprolif-eration policy, I still have no idea how todefuse a nuclear weapon. Sensitive secretslike that are best left to real nuclear scien-tists and Hollywood action heroes.

But to give an indication of how far Ihave come—considering I struggled toearn a “C” in high school physics—I cannow explain the differences between yel-lowcake and UF6, between heavy and lightwater reactors, and between Articles I, II,III and IV of the Nuclear Non-ProliferationTreaty. Don’t even get me started on thefascinating military vs. civilian uses for

polonium-210. But what is most interest-ing is that this body of knowledge isn’t justfor scientists anymore. It is increasinglydiscussed in the corridors of State and readon the front pages of the world’s newspa-pers. Nuclear nonproliferation is a criticalsubject, and every Foreign Service officershould have a basic understanding of it.

That is where the Bureau ofInternational Security and Nonprolifera-tion Affairs comes in. The ISN Bureau is anew entity resulting from the merger of theNonproliferation and Arms Controlbureaus. It is one of State’s larger and moretopically diverse bureaus, with close to 200FSOs, Civil Service employees, and military

and intelligence officers. The culturalcross-fertilization is refreshing, and thedaily dynamics remind me more of anembassy country team than of a typicalState bureau.

The result is a fast-paced, results-orientedapproach to the work, which itself is end-lessly engaging. ISN’s mandate runs thegamut from treaty implementation tohigh-seas ship interdiction, from promot-ing peaceful nuclear energy to shuttingdown shadowy black-market proliferationnetworks. ISN’s experts do whatever ittakes to keep the world’s most destructiveweapons out of the hands of the world’smost dangerous regimes. PH

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ADVENTURES IN NONPROLIFERATION BY GEOFFREY ODLUM

AnFSOinISN

UNIQUE ASSIGNMENTI arrived at ISN three years ago, as inter-

national concerns were starting to heat upover Iran’s nuclear program. With basicnonproliferation knowledge gleaned froma weeklong course at the U.S. Departmentof Energy, I watched as the InternationalAtomic Energy Agency began a rigorousinvestigation of Iran’s nuclear program,prompted by disclosures of formerly secretIranian nuclear facilities. Every new quar-terly report from the Atomic EnergyAgency confirmed the worst suspicionsabout Iran’s nuclear program: that foralmost 20 years, Iran had undertaken secretwork in the most sensitive aspects of the

nuclear fuel cycle, in stark violation of itsNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty andAtomic Energy Agency obligations.

Three years later, after seven moreagency reports; a worthy but failed diplo-matic effort by the United Kingdom,France and Germany; and countless longhours, urgent taskings, and diplomaticstrategies produced by ISN’s small Irannuclear team, our diplomacy is succeeding.We have built a broad international con-sensus that Iran’s nuclear program is notpeaceful. Now the challenge is to translatethis consensus into international pressureand incentives to persuade Iran to end itsnuclear weapons efforts.

Given this Administration’s commit-ment to resolving this issue and the ISNBureau’s record of providing effectivepolicy options that reflect both CivilService expertise and Foreign Servicediplomatic perspectives, I am optimisticthat our diplomacy will eventually succeed.The thought of sparing the world from thethreat of a nuclear-armed Iran motivatesme every day. The idea that my work couldhelp secure such a world for future genera-tions, including my own three children,makes this ISN assignment the mostrewarding experience in my ForeignService career.

A PARTING PLEAAs I prepare to move on, I want to affirm

to Foreign Service colleagues the value of

working in this bureau. There has been analarming dearth of FSOs bidding on ISNassignments, including critically importantones. This may stem from a perception thatservice in functional bureaus is not careerenhancing for FSOs, and perhaps becauseof perceptions surrounding the recentmerger. While we could debate the imple-mentation of the merger, one key outcomehas been the effective consolidation of theright expertise in the right places.Meanwhile, the work in ISN continues tobe among the most important work beingdone by anyone in the U.S. government.Stopping nuclear proliferation truly is itsown reward. I believe that seniorDepartment leaders recognize the essentialcontribution of FSOs in Arms Control andInternational Security family bureaus inachieving this goal. With high-level recog-nition, excellent service will shine throughand be rewarded.

As I move on, I hope to look back soonand see a reinvigorated Foreign Servicepresence throughout ISN helping to leadthe way in keeping our world safe from theproliferation of weapons of mass destruc-tion. I think the Foreign Service isdesigned to take up exactly this kind ofchallenge, and it is time for the ForeignService to do so. �

The author is a Foreign Service officer whoserved in the new Bureau of InternationalSecurity and Nonproliferation Affairs.


Left: Foreign Service officer Geoffrey Odlum spent three years helping build an international consensuson Iran’s nuclear program. Above: Iran nuclear specialists Geoffrey Odlum and Roopa Rangaswamywere motivated by the thought of sparing the world from the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

An Eyewitness Account of theMarch Bombing in Pakistan

By Pamela Loring

3days inKarachi

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THURSDAYMARCH 2

It was a regular day—or so it seemed.I had had a particularly good day at work on Wednesday (aperson on temporary duty had complimented me) and I wasmotivated this particular morning to dress in a very busi-nesslike way, as opposed to wearing a more casual outfit or atraditional Pakistan shalwar chemise. My shuttle that morningarrived at 9 a.m. Acting Regional Security Officer WayneConway was in the car already and we headed off to the con-sulate.

At 9:02 a.m., the driver received a call saying there had beenan explosion very close to the consulate.

At 9:03 a.m., Consul General Mary Witt called Wayne andasked, “How bad is it?”

Meanwhile, the driver started driving around in circles.(Later, I was told he was doing exactly as he should, notknowing the location of the nearest safe haven.) Wayne said,“Stop driving around in circles and take me to the consulgeneral’s residence!” The driver complied.As we approached the consulate and theconsul general’s residence, which werewithin a mile of each other, we could seebillows of smoke.

We diverted to the consul general’s resi-dence, where Mary was awaiting ourarrival. Mary, Wayne and I immediatelygot on our phones to get a report on every-one’s whereabouts. Mary asked me tomonitor the local news for updates. For the next few minutes,I raced up and down the stairs relaying moment-by-momentreports on the developing story. Meanwhile, Wayne and Marywere getting a handle on where all staff members were. We hadjust about everyone accounted for in short order.

Then Wayne said, “Pam, try to reach Dave Foy” (our facili-ties maintenance officer).

Our driver said, “One of the drivers is unaccounted for.”I kept trying Dave’s line, but rather than getting a no-answer

or busy signal, I was getting an immediate recording saying thetelephone was not available. The U.S. Marines were trying toget a sighting of the explosion scene, but their view wasblocked by a lot of smoke and a building. I went back into theresidence to check the news.

Then I experienced an inexplicable moment. On the televi-sion screen, I saw flames engulfing one of our armoredvehicles and the security car that had been following it. A chillpassed through me and I ran down the stairs with a speed Ididn’t know I had. I told Mary and Wayne what I had seen.

Mary and I held hands as we tried to believe that theunthinkable hadn’t happened—but somehow I knew. Myhands were trembling and a sickening feeling mixed with ahuge adrenaline rush came over me. At that moment one ofthe Marines called and asked if Dave Foy was there. In a voicethat didn’t sound like my own, I told him I had just seen themissing car in flames on the local news.

A locally hired person from our Regional Security Officewent to the blast site and reported that that there were threeunrecognizable bodies in the car. And so it started to fall intoplace: We realized we had lost Facilities Maintenance OfficerDavid Foy and one of our dedicated drivers, Iftikar.

Colleagues who were out of town started calling to makesure we were all okay. I had to break the news. It was a sadand shocking time for the U.S. Consulate in Karachi,Pakistan.

The reports continued over the news media. A suicidebomber had been waiting in a parked car, and spotters musthave alerted him to the approach of our cars. When they cameclose, the terrorist backed his car into the armored vehicle andset himself off. The blast was so powerful that nine windows inthe consul general’s residence—about a mile and a half fromthe site—were broken or blown out.

The explosion triggered a secondary blast of a very largepropane tank. Pieces of what looked like shrapnel were foundnear the consul general’s pool and front yard. A Toyota wind-shield wiper was found in a yard some distance away. Thebumper of our armored vehicle and other car parts were

found in the Marriott Hotel swimming pool. Every window onall nine floors of the back side of the Marriott had blown intothe rooms.

A young Moroccan child in the hotel was killed, a guardwho was trying to stop the bomber was killed as were our twofriends. At least 48 people were injured.

That evening, with the help of our brave Marines, we gath-ered together and lowered the flag to half-staff in a moment ofsilence.

FRIDAYMARCH 3

A casket for Dave was delivered to theconsul general’s residence. The flag at the consulate has beenlowered and now awaits its trip to Dave’s family in the States.The paperwork and protocol for transporting a body from aforeign country is rigorous and time-consuming—perhapsthe most distasteful yet vital work in the service. Thismorning, the death certificate for Dave arrived by pouch mail.

Soon the body of Dave Foy will be released to his family. Imay be escorting the body to the States. For some reason,nothing can deter me from this honor. He was my friend. Theleast I can do is escort him home to his wife and daughters.

The blast was so powerful that ninewindows in the consul general’s resi-dence—about a mile and a half fromthe site—were broken or blown out.

thursday,march 2

friday,march 3


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SATURDAYMARCH 4

It took some doing, but today we wereable to finally release the body of the driver, Iftikar, to hisgrateful family: his pregnant wife and one-year-old daughter.

It has now been 63 hours since the blast. The FBI and an evi-dence recovery team have arrived on the scene and areinvestigating. I went to the consulate for the first time today;the entire place is a crime scene. Doors were blown in and allwindows in the snack bar were blown out. Unbuttered toast onthe kitchen counter and a lone chocolate donut are now partof the forensic evidence.

I spoke to a local staff member who had been in the snackbar having breakfast at the time of the blast. He said anotherworker who had been sitting there received a piece of glass inhis back. He also told me that it wasn’t the glass that heremembers—it broke and passed all around him, never touch-ing him. Instead, he remembers the pushing wind force of the

blast. He sat only a few feet from thelarge glass windows and watched themblow out and then in, like a slow-motion movie, till they burst. Thesound of the “breeze,” as he called it, wasso unbelievable and eerie that he could-n’t get it out of his head.

I have seen very few of the local staff.It is Saturday night now. Monday will beour first day back in the office full force.I provided a few hugs today.

It is difficult to eat and it is difficult to sleep. I just know thata couple of really nice people cannot do these things anymoreand, for me, maybe it just doesn’t feel that good to try. �

The author is office management specialist to the ConsulGeneral and back-up communicator at the U.S. Consulate inKarachi, Pakistan.

saturday,march 4

Doors were blown in and all windowsin the snack bar were blown out.Unbuttered toast on the kitchencounter and a lone chocolate donutare now part of the forensic evidence.


State Department and U.S. Agency forInternational Development officers andspecialists can pursue studies in strategy,national security policy and the militarysciences at the U.S. Army War College, avenerable institution of higher learningwhose mission has never been more rele-vant to our country’s security.

The college was founded by Nobel PeacePrize laureate Elihu Root, whose distin-guished career included service as secretaryof State, secretary of War and U.S. senator.Mr. Root also helped found theInternational Court of Justice, the Councilon Foreign Relations and the Carnegie

Endowment for International Peace. Hisvision for the War College was simple:

“Not to promote war, but to preservepeace by intelligent and adequate prepara-tion to repel aggression...To study andconfer on the great problems of nationaldefense, of military science and of respon-sible command.”

The War College grooms U.S. militaryofficers for higher rank and command. Theyearly resident student enrollment of 340includes some 40 foreign military officersand 20 civilian employees of theDepartment of Defense. Student slots arealso reserved for a limited number of State

Department and USAID officers and spe-cialists, who can also enroll in the DistanceEducation program, which includes twosummer residency periods.

Why should State Department andUSAID professionals consider spending ayear at the War College? First, transforma-tional diplomacy will demand closerinteragency training, planning and opera-tions. The War College experience providesan intense intellectual, practical and per-sonal education in the interagency processand offers perhaps the best courses focusedon interagency planning and operations inthe United States, according to AmbassadorMargaret McMillion, deputy commandantfor International Affairs. Second, a degreefrom the War College satisfies one of thenew requirements of the CareerDevelopment Program for crossing thesenior threshold. PH

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ARMY WAR COLLEGE EXPERIENCE BUILDSBRIDGES TO TRANSFORMATIONAL DIPLOMACYBY LOUIS J. NIGRO, JR.

Interagency EducationWar College student Carolyn Bryan, a U.S. Agency for International Development program officer, kneeling second from left, visits theUSS New Jersey with her seminar class.

Finally, the Army War College experience provides a superbopportunity to hone intellectual skills, reinforce substantiveknowledge of national security strategy and policies, sharpeninterpersonal skills through close interaction with peers, polishcommunication skills through classroom discussion and debateand draft research-based papers and a master’s thesis.

The oldest of the Defense Department’s senior service schools,the Army War College has prepared generations of senior militaryofficers and civilian officials for strategic leadership responsibili-ties. Military, civilian and international leaders from all militaryservices and government agencies continue to come to historicCarlisle Barracks, Pa., to study and confer on the responsiblestrategic application of national power.

The War College awards the Master of Strategic Studies degreeto successful graduates. The curriculum is based on core courses inthe Elements of Strategic Thinking, the Theory of War andStrategy, Strategic Leadership, National Security Strategy andPolicy, the Implementation of National Military Strategy and theDevelopment of Land Power. The college offers a wide variety ofelective courses that span the range of strategic, military, crisismanagement and national security policy subjects, as well asstrategic appraisals of the world’s major regions. Domestic travel isan integral part of the core courses, and some electives involveinternational travel.

Built in 1757, Carlisle Barracks is the second oldest active mili-tary post in the country and also serves as home base for other U.S.Army institutions. The Strategic Studies Institute conductscutting-edge geostrategic and national security research and analy-sis. The Center for Strategic Leadership excels at strategicwar-gaming and simulation. The Army Heritage and EducationCenter is a prestigious research and historical preservation institu-tion. The Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute is apreeminent authority on stability operations at the strategic level.

For more information, contact Maryanne Thomas in theBureau of Human Resources at (202) 647-3822. �

The author, a Senior Foreign Service officer, was professor ofInternational Relations at the Army War College from 2004 to 2006.


Above: Alan Roecks, former information management officer in Ankara, Turkey, left,listens to different viewpoints in a seminar on Russia and Eurasia taught by Dr.Craig Nation, second from left. Left: Richard Pruett, former personnel officer inBaghdad, Iraq, right, presents a gift to Ambassador Robert Gallucci, who spoke atthe Sonny and Martha Moore Lecture. Ambassador Gallucci is dean of the Schoolof Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Standing room only. That’s a phrase usually associated with rockconcerts and the popular bars of fancy restaurants. Not libraries.

But for a literature discussion program on great Americanspeeches held at the U.S. Embassy’s American Library inKathmandu, Nepal, in January, more than 40 people were turnedaway at the door.

No more room. The American Library was packed. Again.May 10 marks the one-year anniversary of the transition of

Kathmandu’s former Information Resource Center into a full-fledged American Library. When the resource center moved to amore secure location in April 2005, the public affairs sectiontripled its collection of books, purchased state-of-the-art comput-ers and launched a modern, more active lending library.

LOCAL FOCAL POINTAn information resource center delivers targeted information

on America to elite policymaking and opinion-shaping audiences,while a library acts as a focal point for anyone with an interest inAmerica, especially impressionable high school and university stu-dents. With more than 100 visitors per day, the new AmericanLibrary is now one of the most popular libraries in the country.

The program on great American speeches was part of the publicaffairs section’s monthly literature discussion group, which aver-ages more than 70 participants. The section uses these discussionsto make contacts in the education sector, to excite young peopleabout American values and to relate culture to policy.

For this event, the section asked three embassy officers and twoNepalis to do dramatic readings of five speeches, includingPresident Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address andPresident Bush’s 9/11 address to the nation. Subsequent discussionexplored how leaders have used oratory skills to encourage unityin difficult times. The theme resonated in Nepal, as it was the daybefore an alliance of seven political parties called a citywide striketo protest government authoritarianism, and was set against thebackdrop of an upsurge in Maoist insurgent violence.

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BY LAURA LUCAS

The American Libraryin Kathmandu servesup equal portions ofwisdom and learning

Civilization at Its Best

The American Library in Kathmandu was closed untilfurther notice on April 6, as the embassy went onauthorized departure amid uncertainty in the politicaland security situation in Nepal. Prior to that closure, thelibrary averaged more than 120 visitors per day. Thelibrary just reopened on May 1 to an overflow crowd ofmore than 100 visitors.

from about 75 visitors per day to more than 100. At any one time,about 500 books are checked out—everything from Gone with theWind to the ever-popular Test of English as a Foreign Language prepbooks. There is a waiting list to use the library’s five computers,and a comfortable couch seats people with headphones watchingAmerican movies. Even on Nepal “bandh” days—strike daysduring which all businesses are closed and transportation grinds toa halt—the library rarely notices a drop in visitors.

UNDERSTANDING U.S. CULTURERegular visitors have become involved in planning events.

Matrika Poudel, a graduate student in English literature, visits the

library almost daily. At the September lit-erature discussion group, Matrikarecruited four friends to read a scenefrom the play Fences, by August Wilson.

“I wanted to work with Americanpeople to learn more about theirculture,” he said. “There are so many per-ceptions about America, but unless welook at people, we cannot understandyour country. The discussion groups helpme participate with Americans actively.”

Samridhi Poudel is a science studentwho comes to the library about twice aweek. She recited American poetry at anevent in August.

“The environment of the library issimply welcoming and friendly,” she said.“And the literary programs have been agood platform for me to express myopinions and develop my perceptions [ofAmerican culture].”

Besides the literature discussiongroups, the library hosts regular filmscreenings for high school and universitystudents. The librarians also organizeregular orientation tours for secondaryschools. This targeted engagementworks: On any given day, about 70percent of those packed into the libraryare dressed in school uniforms and havetheir noses buried in books.

Aside from cultural activities, thelibrarians issue “Article Alerts” on U.S.policy and field requests from govern-ment officials or journalists forinformation on democracy, humanrights, good governance and other issues.Such services are crucial in a countrywhere the United States is pressing fordemocracy amid political chaos and aMaoist insurgency.

The American Library has succeededthis past year in building audiencesthrough cultural activities—audiencesthat will better understand U.S. policiesbecause they have an understanding ofAmerican values.

Longtime visitor and English professor Dr. Shreedhar Lohanioffers a concise summary of the excitement and growth of thelibrary.

“The place is developing into a community center,” Dr. Lohanisaid. “It’s heartwarming to see this wonderful library, which I hadbeen associated with for more than four decades as a member,growing into a source of inspiration and pleasure, of wisdom andlearning, and becoming a symbol of civilization at its best—secure,democratic, universally accessible.”�

The author is assistant public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy inKathmandu.


Above: On a typical day, the library is full of young people. Below: The library’s literature discus-sion groups draw many participants. Opposite page: A student concentrates on her work.

How do you celebrateBlack History Month ina remote African postwhen you can’t afford tobring a speaker or per-former from the States? I

was imagining another session of talkingheads when Anne Carson, our regionalinformation resource officer, heard mewarm up on a dobro guitar for a smallacoustic gig. She suggested that I considerperforming as part of a local Black HistoryMonth event.

My first reaction was, “I can’t do that inthe Foreign Service!” But Ambassador AlEastham and Deputy Chief of MissionDave Gilmour both enthusiastically sup-ported the idea of a homegrown BlackHistory Month outreach program. So I

recruited a local five-piece band and beganrehearsing 30 tunes drawn from blues,gospel, New Orleans music, early rock androll, zydeco and funk.

Then nerves set in. I had played inroots-rock, blues and Cajun/zydeco bandsin New Orleans, but Malawians are verydiscriminating about music. It’s one thingto flop when talking policy, but theprospect of playing music badly while rep-resenting the U.S. government wassomehow much worse.

We presented the program “AfricanRoots-American Music” in seven venuesacross Malawi—including some remoteregional towns that had not seen anembassy program in years. We began witha lecture on Black History Month and thehistory of the blues, which we illustrated

by playing snippets of songs. In our firstgig in Nkhata Bay, we kicked off with azydeco number called “Bon TempsRouler.” Barefoot children started todance, and as the sun was going downbehind us, thunder rumbled from a hugebank of clouds floating out over LakeMalawi—it stuck with me as one of thosemoments to be filed under the “other-duties-as-assigned” category.

When Malawians in the audience askedwhy U.S. Black History Month shouldmatter to them, I began by talking aboutwhy it matters to me—as a whiteSoutherner from Mississippi with anancestor who was in the Ku Klux Klan. Wecan’t change history, but it’s our responsi-bility to try to understand it. While mystory isn’t that different from that of many PH

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BY MITCHELL MOSS

Black History Month in Malawi

H

A child plays guitar in theaudience at Cape Maclear.

other people of my generation, Black History Month is an oppor-tunity to reflect on our history and to communicate thatunderstanding with others.

What people are most attached to about Southern culture—from B.B. King and Professor Longhair to fried okra and collardgreens—is profoundly African, which is part of the allure ofworking in the African Affairs Bureau. For me, the major differ-ence between America and Europe is that who we are culturally hasbeen created in part by 400 years of influence by Africans—theirwork, values and creativity. The goal of this program was to getlocal audiences to understand that for Americans, black history iseveryone’s history, and to tell part of that story in music.

Since much of the program focused on New Orleans, audiencesregularly asked about Katrina and the face of American poverty it

revealed to the world. I acknowledged that it showed some of theweaknesses in our system, where different levels of governmentfailed to coordinate to protect the poorest citizens of New Orleans,but we also talked about the way forward.

It was also a chance to tell the story of New Orleans music, whichstarted with slavery, and the fact that slaves in New Orleans wereallowed to play music at Congo Square on Sunday afternoons—something that didn’t happen elsewhere in the South. Thattradition kept African drumming alive, which created the syncopat-ed New Orleans sound that eventually led to jazz, second-line, funkand much of what came after. It was fun to talk about all that—andthen bring the band on to play the Meter’s “Hey Pocky Way.”

Jazz saxophonist and Deputy Chief of Mission Gilmour joinedin on the final show in Lilongwe, which received strong reviews inthe local press. After the tour was over, I was unsure how my con-tacts would respond, but the experience actually helped in my dayjob. We’d been negotiating on and off for more than a year with aninstitution to host an American Corner in Blantyre. The chieflibrarian had been skeptical, but in our last meeting he was unex-pectedly open to the idea and we negotiated a memorandum ofunderstanding. Over lunch after the meeting, he leaned forwardwith a grin and said, “I didn’t know diplomats could play that kindof music!” �

The author is public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy Lilongwe inMalawi.


Above: An audience on the beach at Cape Maclear. Below: Fromleft, Deputy Chief of Mission Dave Gilmour, Bassist Jack Chisingaand Public Affairs Officer Mitchell Moss play in the band.

The problem is huge and growing.Fueled by unchecked demand, the illegaltrade in wildlife and wildlife parts repre-sents a thriving $10-billion-a-year blackmarket. Because of wildlife trafficking,many species are literally on the brink ofextinction.

Assistant Secretary Claudia McMurray,officially sworn in to head the Bureau ofOceans and International Environmentaland Scientific Affairs in February, wasinstrumental last fall in forming theCoalition Again Wildlife Trafficking. TheCoalition, originally consisting of the U.S.government and seven partners, set a goalof focusing public and political attentionon these growing threats to global wildlifefrom poaching and illegal trade.

Original partners included ConservationInternational, Save the Tiger Fund, Traffic

In ter na t iona l , Wi ldAid , Wi ld l i f eConservation Society, the SmithsonianInstitution and the American Forest &Paper Association. Four more nongovern-mental organizations quickly joined aspartners in the fall of 2005—the HumaneSociety International, CheetahConservation Fund, International Fund forAnimal Welfare and the World WildlifeFund. Early in 2006, the United Kingdomand India officially joined as governmentpartners.

The Coalition is focusing its initialefforts on Asia. Backed by funding fromOES, the Thai government last fall hosted aregional wildlife trafficking workshop at anational game preserve. The workshopincluded representatives from the 10ASEAN countries and the People’sRepublic of China. The meeting was the

first step toward establishing an ASEANWildlife Enforcement Network, a regionaltrafficking law enforcement network thatwill serve as a model for other regions.

The Coalition fits well with AssistantSecretary McMurray’s bureau, where theOES professionals do the gritty, grindingwork that protects real natural and strate-gic resources around the planet. Theynegotiate the treaties, hammer out the mul-tilateral agreements and agonize over justthe right words that bind nations andpeople to protecting their environments.

And that’s just part of the bureau’s port-folio. Other professionals among thebureau’s three major directorates and nineoffices work on international health issuesand cooperation with other nations onscience, technology, bioterrorism and theuse of outer space. PH

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Q&A WITH ASSISTANT SECRETARY CLAUDIA A. McMURRAY BY ROB WILEY

Department Inner-View

Assistant Secretary Claudia McMurray confers withformer colleague and Environmental Protection AgencyAdministrator Steve Johnson.

The bureau’s mandate ranges far andwide, and Assistant Secretary McMurraycame to the bureau well prepared. Shespent two years as Deputy AssistantSecretary for Environment, where shemanaged international environmentalissues and wildlife and national resourceconservation issues. Before joining theDepartment in 2003, she served asAssociate Deputy Administrator and Chiefof Staff to the Deputy Administrator of theU.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

She also held several key staff positionsin the United States Senate, includingserving as a senior policy advisor andcounsel to three senators—FredThompson, R-Tenn.; John Chafee, R-R.I.;and John Warner, R-Va. From 1991through 1995, Assistant SecretaryMcMurray was Republican Counsel to theSenate Environment and Public WorksCommittee. In that capacity, she advisedCommittee Chairman Chafee on key envi-ronmental issues, including the Clean AirAct, Superfund, the Resource Conservationand Recovery Act, Toxic Substances andControl Act and the Oil Pollution Act.

Private industry experience includesstops at D.C. government relations firmVan Scoyoc Associates; and law firmsPatton Boggs, L.L.P. and Kirkland & Ellis.She also ran her own consulting firm,McMurray & Associates.

In late March, Assistant SecretaryMcMurray discussed her bureau’s portfoliowith State Magazine.

SM: The Department is active in severalenvironmental areas. What can you tell meabout Department initiatives or programs in,for example, global climate change?

Assistant Secretary McMurray: I’mhappy to do that. The work this bureaudoes internationally is an untold story in alot of ways, not only in other countries butalso in our own country. I’m committed toremedying that, and I want to get themessage out in the Department. A lot ofwhat we do falls below the radar screen.

As you know, we have decided to pursuean alternative path to the Kyoto Protocol tothe United Nations FrameworkConvention on Climate Change. The Bushadministration decided early on that thiswas not a path we were going to take, partlybecause there was no hope that theCongress would ratify this treaty. Our job,therefore, was to figure out how to addressthe issues raised by climate change and allthe inter-related issues—energy use, air

pollution and so on—without joining thistreaty.

We have accomplished a great deal, butI’ll mention just a couple of initiatives. Weannounced in January the Asia PacificPartnership on Clean Development andClimate between the U.S. and five othercounties—Australia, China, India, Japanand the Republic of Korea. We tried togather the most crucial countries that con-tribute to carbon dioxide emissions, energyuse and air pollution. We brought these

countries together to figure out technolog-ically how to solve these problems.”

What’s notable about the Asia PacificPartnership is the engagement of Chinaand India; all the parties to the KyotoProtocol have not been able to get thosetwo countries to work within the Protocolin the way that we have through the APP.We look at our effort as complementary toKyoto, but we also think engaging thosecountries is groundbreaking. They aregrowing tremendously, they are looking forcleaner energy and they are trying to solvepollution problems.

A second initiative, called Methane toMarkets, is quite creative. Under this initia-tive, the United States shares its expertisewith countries around the world in a veryspecific way. Methane is a greenhouse gas;it has some other environmental problems,but the big concern is the greenhouse gas.We’ve established technologies in theUnited States that take methane from land-fills and from other industrial facilities andactually translate it into energy. It not onlytakes the pollutant out of the air, but it alsois a renewable source of energy. You get twobangs for the buck.

We’re trying to share that technology,primarily with developing countries and

with others, so they can use it to addresstheir own energy concerns.

We also have a huge list of bilateraldiplomatic initiatives, too many tomention here. We have one team that doesnothing but this work, and they work veryhard. This is an important part of ourwork here.

SM: Were your people involved in therecent presidential trip to India and the pro-posed agreement on nuclear energy thatcame out of that trip?

Assistant Secretary McMurray:Actually, I was in India two weeks beforethe president arrived, helping a biggerDepartment team that included UnderSecretary Paula Dobriansky, UnderSecretary Nicholas Burns and other admin-istration officials. We worked to get the listof items finalized for the summit betweenthe prime minister and the president.

Obviously and appropriately, most ofthe attention has been focused on thegroundbreaking nuclear initiative.However, we did some other things thatprobably haven’t received as much atten-tion but are still important.

First, the Department has a long historywith India on natural resource conserva-tion, in particular wildlife conservation. Wesaw this trip as a big opportunity to takethat commitment to the next level. We sawa particular opportunity in issues involvingthe Bengal Tiger. Indian Park officials havehad troubles keeping those tigers in theircountry. They are being killed and tradedillegally. Some of them are coming to theUnited States illegally.

We took this opportunity to focus onthat issue and then to look more broadly attheir parks, considering the potential forattracting new tourism to India that wouldencourage more wildlife conservation. Itwas a very broad initiative that thePresident and the Prime Minister agreed toin their summit, and we’re really proud ofgetting that over the finish line.

A second item involves science and tech-nology. Again, we’ve had a long-standingcooperative relationship with India onscience, and we wanted to take that onestep further. We established a seed-moneyfund, $15 million from each country, as anendowment that will focus on a number ofscientific initiatives. Whether it’s inbiotechnology or pharmaceuticals, wethought our two countries could put ourbest minds to work and actually improvethe lives of Americans and Indians.


We have one ofthe most dedicatedgroups of people

that I’ve everencountered in

my career.

‘‘ ‘‘

SM: What about your bureau’s role infree-trade agreements?

Assistant Secretary McMurray:Free-trade agreements actually allow us tobe creative. The Congress a long time agosaid if we were going to have free-tradeagreements with other countries, weshould make sure that we don’t compro-mise the environment.

OES negotiates what we call “environ-mental cooperation agreements” that gohand-in-hand with the overall free-tradeagreement. We sit down with our newtrading partners and determine their prior-ities. Some tell us they need anenvironment ministry. Others say theyhave good environmental laws but can’tenforce them. Some mention specific prob-lems, such as losing sea turtles.

We can go in almost any direction whileworking with our new trading partners. Wehave the opportunity to do two things:follow the congressional mandate to notharm the environment with increasedtrading activity or increased manufactur-ing, and go a bit further. We aren’t satisfiedin maintaining the status quo; we actuallypush forward and give these countries theopportunity to improve their environmen-tal situation.

Congress has just earmarked $40 millionfor labor and environment activity underthe Central American Free TradeAgreement trade agreement, and we’reworking on environmental cooperationagreements with six countries in CentralAmerica and the Dominican Republic. Wewon’t get all of that money, but we hope toget a good portion of it to further ourcooperation agreements.

SM: What role does the Department takein conserving global marine resources?

Assistant Secretary McMurray:The U.S. is a leader in preventing illegalactivity in fishing and also in protectingspecies like sea turtles, whales and othermarine mammals. There are countlesstreaties where we are in the forefront ofpreserving those natural resources. That’san important part of our environmentalagenda. This bureau negotiates thosetreaties. Sometimes the CommerceDepartment will take the lead because of itsexpertise, but in most cases we lead the U.S.delegation in these negotiations.

SM: OES issues are all over the map. Howdo you set priorities with such a broadmandate?

Assistant Secretary McMurray: Ithought a lot about this during the confir-mation process because it is a dauntingarray of issues. Here’s how I boiled it down.It may not be the perfect way, but it’s how Ideal with my job every day. There are acouple of issues that are out there that wehave to deal with head on. One is climatechange and the other is avian influenza.Those are just facts of life. There they are;they are important and I think about eachone of them every day.

For both of those issues, Under SecretaryDobriansky is very much the point person,but I’m on her team and I support her inevery way I can. There’s plenty of work todo not only for the Under Secretary, butalso for the people in our bureau and theother folks who are working on avianinfluenza.

In addition to the top two, we are partiesto international legal obligations and areobservers in other cases. We are parties tomore than 100 treaties and agreements,and we have to continue to honor our obli-gations. Some people might say that’sprobably more than enough work, but Idon’t approach it that way. There are somethings we want to do that aren’t obliga-tions. We want to provide leadership inthose areas. When we have some extra time,we try to pick a few issues to focus on.

I’ve asked our deputy assistant secre-taries to form teams on a couple of areas.One is the Arctic, an area that is changingnow and has the potential to change quite abit in the future. It has environmentalissues; it has commercial fishing and otherissues related to oil and gas development;

and it has endangered species from thepolar bear on down. Pretty much everypart of this bureau has some bit of theArctic portfolio. There’s a tremendousamount of excitement in the bureau aboutlooking at the Arctic, and it’s anotheropportunity to be a little more creative.

Literally, there’s something in the news-paper every day that this bureau deals with,whether it’s protecting polar bears, space orGlobal Positioning System satellites.

That’s a big plateful with a lot of differ-ent courses, but the opportunities are reallyenormous.

SM: Your portfolio also includes oversightof the Department’s role in “sustainabledevelopment.” Can you explain theDepartment’s role in implementing sustain-able development throughout the world?

Assistant Secretary McMurray: Youcan talk to 10 different people about sus-tainable development and get 10 slightlydifferent definitions, but I do think there isa core principle: how do you promote eco-nomic growth and improve people’s liveseconomically, but at the same time notharm the environment? Some people sayyou have to leave the environment betterthan it was. I think sustainable means thatyou make sure our abundant naturalresources are available to the next genera-tion.

It’s a challenge, but it’s behind our searchfor cleaner sources of energy. All of thesepieces together make up this whole thathopefully promotes better drinking water,better air and water, better sources of foodand better livelihoods.

There was a watershed moment on thistopic in Johannesburg, South Africa, in2002. It was a call to action from the UnitedStates, joined by a lot of other countries,that said we’re looking at poverty, at airpollution and at water pollution, and weneed to make a concerted effort to addressthem all as a comprehensive whole ratherthan as single issues here and there. Insteadof just sitting around a table and negotiat-ing a piece of paper that may or may notever have any meaning to a human, we putout the challenge to actually get on theground and do the work, and try to trans-late the goal into something moreimmediate.

We came out of Johannesburg with atleast 10 to 15 partnerships—we’ve proba-bly gone beyond that to about 20 now—todeal with these sustainable developmentissues, whether it’s bringing drinking water

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Literally, you pickup the newspaper

every day andthere’s somethingthat this bureau

deals with.


to remote areas in Africa, changing the waypeople heat their homes or combatingillegal trade in trees, wildlife or fish. Therewas an array of really creative ideas thatdidn’t just come from us, but from othercountries, too. I think it’s been a really greatexample of global partnership.

SM: We understand part of ensuring sus-tainable development is conserving naturalresources. How is OES involved in thatworldwide effort?

Assistant Secretary McMurray:Let’s look at illegal logging as an example.We battle illegal logging around the worldunder the Presidential Initiative AgainstIllegal Logging, which is an umbrellaprogram that allows us to combat the illegaltrade in timber. Some of what we’re dealingwith is a violation of international agree-ments, some of it is lack of enforcement ofnational laws and some of it involves coun-tries that just don’t have laws.

We formed the CongoBasin Forest Partnershipunder this umbrella. TheCongo Basin is second onlyto the Amazon Basin onmost lists of the world’smost valuable areas interms of forestry, wildlife orjust natural bounty. It’s alsoan area of extreme poverty,and one of the ways theywere growing economicallyin the Congo Basin was tocut down trees like mad andsell them. There were a lotof concerns about the threatto natural resources thatwent on in the name of eco-nomic growth.

The Congo Basin ForestPartnership came out ofthe 2002 Johannesburgsummit. It made sense tolook at the six countries inthe area because naturalresources don’t necessarilystop at manmade borders.Through the U.S. Agencyfor International Develop-ment, we have put in about$50 million on this effort. Ithink we’ll start to see somereal results in the next twoor three years, either foreststhat have been preserved orindividual species that willcome back. It’s a really

good story.We were also successful in Liberia, where

government corruption was literallydenuding the country’s forests. This bureauactually led the successful effort to get UNsanctions imposed on Liberia to stop thistrade from happening. The sanctions arestill in place, but the new president, EllenJohnson-Sirleaf, recently asked PresidentBush to lift the sanctions. She thinks theynow have a management plan in place thatwould preserve the resources but allowsome forestry to occur so there’s economicgrowth for that country. The UN SecurityCouncil must decide whether to lift thesanctions, but we’re obviously a key playerbecause it was our initiative. We want tostay on the ground and help them throughthis transition period to make sure theydon’t slip back.

SM: All these responsibilities require ahuge range of intellectual capability. How do

you recruit that much talent and how to youkeep it once you have it?

Assistant Secretary McMurray:Those are all real challenges. Once I gothere and looked at the really breathtakingarray of issues, I found you have to have acombination of two kinds of people.

One, you really do need to have thepeople with the substantive expertise to getthrough some really technical issues. Theseare not easy issues. Some of them deal withchemicals and some with how a tree grows.I think we have more Civil Service employ-ees in this bureau than probably in anyother, at least in the building, as a propor-tion of the total in the bureau. We need tokeep those people because you just can’tsend somebody to a chemical meetingwho’s never dealt with these issues before.

We focus on having a good cadre of civilservants who have the opportunity to moveup. I’m working on that; it’s not that easyhere right now. We have a lot of people atthe top of the ladder and not a lot of spaceto move more people up, but we’re workingon that.

Then we draw on people from otherplaces quite a bit. Sometimes, I actually havestolen a couple of people that I knew beforeat EPA. We’ve gotten some real good peoplethat way; I know in the oceans area we’vehad people come from other agencies.

We use every other resource at our dis-posal, like science fellows from theAmerican Association for the Advancementof Science. We take in 12 or so sciencefellows every year on a temporary basis, butonce they get here many find that they likethe issues. If we like them, we try to find aspot for them. We use interns, other kindsof fellows and details from other agencies,as well.

I have four deputy assistant secretarypositions in this front office, and when mywhole team gets assembled, you’ll see thosepositions all filled from inside theDepartment. I’m told that’s probablyunprecedented. I’m trying to communicatethat there are real opportunities for leader-ship here, and if you stick around, youmight be able to move up.

I think we have one of the most dedicat-ed groups of people that I’ve everencountered in my career. It’s crucial to getpeople who are already enthusiastic, andthen to keep that enthusiasm going alongwith the notion that we’re all workingtogether on some really important issues.�

The author is the editor of State Magazine.

Top: Battling illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife parts is a big partof the OES agenda. Here, Assistant Secretary McMurray gainsfirst-hand experience at a gorilla rehabilitation reserve nearBrazzaville, Republic of Congo. Bottom: Before Secretary Riceswore her in as Assistant Secretary, Ms. McMurray served as theDepartment’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment.

A call from the Department’s task force comes in to the FamilyLiaison Office the day after Christmas in 2004.

“A tsunami has struck south Asia, and we need Family LiaisonOffice staff to sit on the task force to answer calls from individualsseeking information about official Americans.”

FLO staff members, many of whom are on holiday leave, returnto the Department to work eight-hour shifts. Some work throughthe night.

On another occasion, the situation in Haiti is rapidly deteriorat-ing and the ambassador has called for an “ordered departure.”Many employees and family members arrive in Washington forwhat turns out to be a long evacuation. In support of evacuees,

FLO invites the Port Au Prince community liaison officer to workout of the Family Liaison Office and continue providing services tothe community during a particularly stressful time. The officerends up working out of the office for six months.

REAL-LIFE CONCERNSSince 1978, the Department’s Family Liaison Office has been

addressing the real-life concerns of Foreign Service employees andfamily members of all agencies who come under the Chief ofMission’s authority at posts around the globe. As the worldchanges, the Foreign Service changes, and FLO strives to be twosteps ahead of those changes. PH

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FAMILY LIAISON OFFICE ANSWERS THE TOUGH QUESTIONS BY DONNA AYERST

We Can Work It Out

O F F I C E O F T H E M O N T H

Family Liaison Special Employment Projects Coordinator Susan Campbelldiscusses current FLO employment initiatives with Jeffrey Donald, vicepresident of the Business Council for International Understanding.

As trends occur, Family Liaison’s advocacy, pro-grams and services ensure that the issues andquestions those trends raise become part of the con-versation. FLO provides a steady voice of advocacythrough meetings and discussions with a widevariety of offices within the Department and otherforeign affairs agencies: the Avian Flu WorkingGroup, the Family Member Employment WorkingGroup, Gays and Lesbians in Foreign AffairsAgencies, the Inter-Agency Roundtable and others.

The Family Liaison Office portfolio cuts a pathacross moments in Foreign Service lives many willface: evacuation, security concerns, personal crises,meeting the needs of elderly parents, finding educa-tion appropriate for a child, or securing meaningfulemployment for a family member. These momentsare made more difficult by the very nature of theForeign Service, which requires moving and adaptingto different cultures every few years.

Everyone in the Foreign Service community—singles, married couples and spouses, members ofhouseholds, children, teens, parents and pets—isaffected by being overseas.

DESPERATE LIVESA parent at post places a frantic, emotional call to

the Family Liaison Office’s education and youthofficer.

“My teenaged sonis about to beexpelled from theinternational schoolfor poor grades andtruancy,” the callersays. “He is only intenth grade, and wehave two more yearsat post. We don’tknow what to do.

The community liaison officersuggested we call your office.”

The education and youthofficer, collaborating with otherDepartment offices, ultimatelyguides the parents and the trou-bled youth to consider placementat a therapeutic boarding school.

“My spouse wants me out ofthe house!” cries another franticcaller. “Will the embassy rent ahouse for me and the kids? Howwill I find a house here? Why do Ihave to leave the house if I am stillat post? I don’t even know if weare going to get a divorce!”

The office’s support servicesofficer fields questions ondivorce, in addition to adoption,

evacuation and crisis management. Clients are directed to officeresources and other resources available to them.

An unaccompanied tour is now a reality of Foreign Service life.The office’s program specialist for unaccompanied tours offerssupport and resources to employees and family members learningto manage a temporary separation.


At a GlanceOffice nameFamily Liaison Office

SymbolM/DGHR/FLO

Office DirectorAnn DeLong Greenberg

Staff size17

Office LocationRoom 1239, Harry S Truman Building

Web site(s)http://www.state.gov/m/dghr/flohttp://hrweb.hr.state.gov/flo/index.html

Family Liaison’s expeditious naturalization officer, Vanja Huth, second from right, joins U.S. Citizen andImmigration Services Washington District Office Director Phyllis Howard, third from left, and USCIS SupervisoryAdjudicator Billy Ingram in congratulating new U.S. citizens and Foreign Service spouses: from left, SiljeGrimstad, Nataliia Azarova and Yan Himmelsteib.

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Foreign-born spouses wanting tobecome naturalized American citizenscome to the office’s expeditious natural-ization specialist, who guides theemployee and spouse through theprocess. Employees from other agenciesshould contact their human resourcesoffice to take advantage of the specialprovisions offered by the U.S. Citizenshipand Immigration Services regarding nat-uralization of Foreign Service spouses.

The Community Liaison OfficeProgram forms the cornerstone ofFamily Liaison programs. Today, almost200 posts have active community liaisonoffices to serve as advocates for the post’scommunity.

The Family Liaison Office invests inthe well-being of post communities byoffering essential community liaisonofficer training five times a year: two ses-sions at the Foreign Service Institute andthree regional training sessions coveringthe geographic bureaus. Officers aretrained in all aspects of their jobs so theycan serve as a professional member ofpost’s management team.

FLO’s family member employmentteam develops strategies and programsaimed at helping family members learnthe skills needed to secure a job—domes-tically, within the mission or in the localeconomy. Currently, Family Liaisonoperates its Strategic Network AssistanceProgram at 35 posts, where local employ-ment advisers establish a network ofcontacts among potential employers. E-entrepreneur training educates familymembers on how to establish an onlinebusiness.

The job seekers network group offersfamily members networking supportduring their job search in theWashington, D.C., area. The November2005 issue of the Foreign Service Journalcontains more information on theoffice’s family member employment ini-tiatives.

The Family Liaison Office publicizesits many services and programs throughseveral media, including frequent publicbriefings, publications and Intranet andInternet web sites. Visit www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo to learn more about the FLOservice portfolio. �

The author is publications coordinator forthe Family Liaison Office.

O F F I C E O F T H E M O N T H

Top: The Community Liaison Officer in Manama Meghan Bondy, seated, confers with a ManpowerSingapore, Inc., representative about training and employment benefits that company offers for ForeignService family members. Bottom: U.S. Ambassador to Singapore Patricia L. Herbold briefs participantsat a community liaison office training session in Singapore. Family Liaison Office Director Ann DeLongGreenberg listens.

By John Bentel

The Foreign Affairs RecreationAssociation and the State of the ArtsCultural Series provided an eclectic offer-ing of noontime concerts recently,including a tuba player with piano accom-panist, a multinational string quartet, aclassical pianist and a gospel singer.

Michael Parker, on tuba, and pianoaccompanist Marvin Mills played selec-tions ranging from the late 1600s throughthe 1930s. Mr. Parker teaches at the LevineSchool of Music in the Washington areaand Mr. Mills is the organist at St. Paul’sUnited Methodist Church in Kensington,Md. The appreciative audience walkedaway with a much better understanding ofthe tuba and its musicality.

Gospel singer Tonya Gipson provided aheartfelt offering of her faith through bothtraditional and contemporary gospel music.Ms. Gipson, who began singing in the choirin her native Alabama, is the praise andworship leader at the gospel services ofBolling Air Force Base in Washington. Manyof her selections were from her CD titledWhat He’s Done for Me.

Returning for his second appearance atthe State of the Arts Series, John Robiletteonce again delighted the audience with hisclassical piano recital. He lived up to TheWashington Post characterization of him as“a first-class artist who seems able to intuiteffortlessly the composer’s intent.” Mr.Robilette performed works by Schumannand Beethoven and was rewarded with astanding ovation.

The Euclid Quartet is a multinationalstring ensemble known for its personalityand vibrant color. Jamison Cooper, JacobMurphy, Luis Vargas and Amy Josephplayed a Mozart program to resoundingapplause. Their last musical offering wasvery contemporary and written for a com-petition, which they won. �

The author is a computer specialist in theExecutive Secretariat.

S T A T E O F T H E A R T S


Gospel artist Tonya Gibsonsings at a State of the ArtsCultural Series event.

May 3 Piano Recital–Georgetown University andDepartment of State

May 17 TBA

June 14 Noor Wodjouatt Ensemble–Afghan Music withYasmina, dancer

June 28 Piano Prodigies–Angelique Scully, 8,Christopher, 13, and Taylor Chan, 11

Performances are on Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m.in the Dean Acheson Auditorium.

CALENDAR

Tuba, Gospel Singer AmongNoontime Concert Attractions

A P P O I N T M E N T S


U.S. Ambassador to NigerBernadette Mary Allen of Maryland, acareer member of the Senior ForeignService, class of Counselor, is the new U.S.Ambassador to the Republic of Niger.Previously, she served as principal officerat the U.S. Consulate General inMontreal. Her other overseas postingsinclude Bujumbura, Manila andGuangzhou, where she was chief of con-sular services.

Assistant Secretary for Southand Central Asian AffairsRichard A. Boucher of Maryland, acareer member of the Senior ForeignService, class of Minister-Counselor, isthe new Assistant Secretary for Southand Central Asian Affairs. Previously, hewas assistant secretary for public affairs.He has served as the Department’sspokesman or deputy spokesman undersix secretaries. He was ambassador toCyprus and also served overseas inTaiwan, Guangzhou, Shanghai and HongKong, where he was consul general. He ismarried and has two children.

Assistant Secretary forResource Management andChief Financial OfficerBradford R. Higgins of Connecticut, agovernment official and investmentbanker, is the new Assistant Secretary forResource Management and ChiefFinancial Officer. Prior to his appoint-ment, he was senior adviser to the U.S.ambassador to Iraq and co-director of thejoint civil-military strategic planninggroup. Before that, he served in severalother Iraq-related positions. He spent 20years on Wall Street, primarily as aninvestment banker at CS First Boston andGoldman Sachs.

U.S. Ambassador to Burkina FasoJeanine E. Jackson of Wyoming, a careermember of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Minister-Counselor, is the newU.S. Ambassador to Burkina Faso. Herother overseas assignments includeSwitzerland, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, HongKong, Kenya and Afghanistan. She hasbeen a key player in creating, adapting,rebuilding and reopening different

embassies, most recently the U.S. Embassyin Baghdad. She is married to ForeignService officer Mark Jackson.

U.S. Ambassador to Senegaland Guinea-BissauJanice L. Jacobs of Virginia, a careermember of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Minister-Counselor, is the newU.S. Ambassador to the Republic ofSenegal and, concurrently, to the Republicof Guinea-Bissau. Previously, she servedas deputy assistant secretary for VisaServices. Her other overseas assignmentsinclude Nigeria, Ethiopia, France, Mexicoand the Dominican Republic, where sheserved eight months as chargé d’affaires.She is married and has two sons.

U.S. Ambassador to the PhilippinesKristie A. Kenney of Virginia, a careermember of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Career Minister, is the new U.S.Ambassador to the Republic of thePhilippines. From 2002 to 2005, she wasU.S. Ambassador to Ecuador. Before that,she was senior adviser to the assistant sec-retary for International Narcotics and LawEnforcement. Her other overseas assign-ments include Geneva, Buenos Aires andKingston. She is married to WilliamBrownfield, a Foreign Service officerserving as U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela.

U.S. Ambassador to ComorosJames D. McGee of Florida, a careermember of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Minister-Counselor, is the newU.S. Ambassador to the Union ofComoros. He has been U.S. Ambassadorto the Republic of Madagascar since 2004.His other overseas postings include Lagos,Lahore, The Hague, Bombay, Bridgetown,Kingston, Abidjan and Swaziland, wherehe was ambassador. He served in the AirForce and earned three DistinguishedFlying Crosses in Vietnam. He is married.

45M AY 2 0 0 6 S TAT E M A G A Z I N E 45M AY 2 0 0 6 S TAT E M A G A Z I N E

Assistant Secretary for Oceans andInternational Environmental andScientific AffairsClaudia A. McMurray of Virginia, a gov-ernment official and private sectorexecutive, is the new Assistant Secretaryfor Oceans and InternationalEnvironmental and Scientific Affairs.Prior to her appointment, she was deputyassistant secretary for Environment.Before that, she was associate deputyadministrator of the EnvironmentalProtection Agency. She has been vicepresident of a government relations firm,head of a strategic counseling firm and astaff member in several key positions inthe U.S. Senate.

U.S. Ambassador to BurundiPatricia Newton Moller of Arkansas, acareer member of the Senior ForeignService, class of Counselor, is the new U.S.Ambassador to the Republic of Burundi.Until recently, she was deputy chief ofmission in Tbilisi, Georgia. Before that,she was deputy chief of mission inYerevan, Armenia. Her other overseaspostings include Munich, Madras andBelgrade. She was Vietnam desk officerduring negotiations to reestablish diplo-matic relations. She is married to retiredForeign Service officer Gilbert Sperling.

U.S. Ambassador to HaitiJanet Ann Sanderson of Arizona, a careermember of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Minister-Counselor, is the newU.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Haiti.Previously, she was the Department’sdiplomat in residence at the University ofCalifornia-Berkeley. She served as ambas-sador to Algeria from 2000 to 2003. Herother overseas assignments includeJordan, Egypt, Israel, Kuwait andBangladesh.

Assistant Secretary for Population,Refugees and MigrationEllen R. Sauerbrey of Maryland, a federalofficial and state government leader, isthe new Assistant Secretary forPopulation, Refugees and Migration. Sheformerly served as U.S. Representative tothe United Nations Commission on theStatus of Women and has undertakeninternational missions dealing withfamily issues and women’s political par-ticipation. She served as minority leaderof the Maryland House of Delegates andwas twice the Republican nominee forgovernor.

U.S. Ambassador to FinlandMarilyn Ware of Pennsylvania, a business-woman, is the new U.S. Ambassador tothe Republic of Finland. Previously, shewas chairman of the board of AmericanWater Works Company, which at the timewas the largest water-utility holdingcompany in the United States. She is alifetime advocate for farmland and openspace preservation, assistance for abusedfamilies and early childhood educationand care. She has three adult children.

retirements*Greenwood Jr., C.

Lawrence

Hughes, Maryann

Keil, Rodolfo F.

Leiker, David C.

Marino, Carolann

Rooker, Ronnie E.

Foreign Service >>>Cote, Barbara E.

Dowd, Charmae S.

Lwin, Than

Ochoa, Lucille I.

Paterniti, Kathleen Ann

Plyler, Sandra L.

Price II, Jack E.

Schlosberg, Susan D.

Spillane, Robert R.

Stewart, Jo Ann

Welch, Dennis P.

Wollan, David S.

Civil Service >>>

O B I T U A R I E S


Edward R. Cummings, 57, a career member of the SeniorExecutive Service, died of pancreatic cancer Feb. 27 in Bethesda,Md. He was an internationally recognized authority on the law ofarmed conflict and human rights. He joined the Department in1979 after serving on active duty with the Army. Between 1995and 2000, he served as counselor for legal affairs at the U.S.mission to the European office of the United Nations in Geneva.He was an avid mountain climber and skier.

<<< Margaret “Peg” Kieffer,65, wife of retired Diplomatic SecurityService Special Agent Gerard Lopez, diedMarch 24 of cancer in Napa, Calif. Sheaccompanied her husband on postings toGuatemala City, Caracas, Abidjan,Bangkok and New Delhi, and visited about60 other countries. Her volunteer activitiesoverseas included serving as a docent atthe Bangkok National Museum. During

recent years, she volunteered at Copia, a food and wine museumin Napa.

<<< George Knight, 74, a retiredForeign Service officer, died of lung cancerMarch 4 in Eatonton, Ga. His overseaspostings included Uganda, Australia,Honduras, New Zealand, Korea, Indonesiaand Thailand. After retirement, he traveledextensively and was active in church andcharity affairs.

<<< Donald K. McIntyre, 93, aretired Foreign Service officer, died Oct. 28in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was a veteran ofWorld War II and the Korean War. Hisoverseas assignments included Vietnam,Iraq, Pakistan, Zaire, Austria and Yemen.After retiring in 1972, he worked as aphysician at the University of NorthCarolina and served with the AmericanIndian Health Service and National

Health Service.

Edward W. Mulcahy, 84, a retired Foreign Service officer,died March 12 of complications from Alzheimer’s Disease inWinchester, Va. He served with the Marines in World War II. Hisoverseas postings included Munich; Mobassa, Kenya; Asmara,Eritrea; Athens; Salisbury, Rhodesia; Tunis, Tunisia; andN’Djamena, Chad. He served as ambassador in the latter twocountries. After retiring in 1980, he became vice president ofProject Hope, which provides medical care and education in thedeveloping world.

<<< Arlyne Nelson, a retired CivilService employee, died March 8 inVancouver, Wash. After joining theDepartment in 1991, she served in severalbureaus and did overseas tours in Moscowand Cairo. She won a meritorious honoraward in Cairo, where she worked from2001 to 2004.

<<< Richard A. Poole, 86, aretired Foreign Service officer, died Feb. 26of natural causes in McLean, Va. He servedin the Navy in World War II and served ona committee to create a constitution forpostwar Japan and define the role of theemperor. His overseas assignments includ-ed Canada, Colombia, Honduras,Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore,Spain and Burkina Faso. After retiring in

1979, he was a civic activist in McLean and coordinated theplanting of thousands of trees in the city.

<<< Kenneth Rabin, 81, a retiredForeign Service officer with theDepartment and the U.S. Agency forInternational Development, died Feb. 26 inPortland, Ore. He served in the Army AirForce during World War II. His overseasassignments included Australia, Belgium,the Philippines, Guinea and Thailand. Heretired in 1976. He loved classical music,art and literature.


<<< George A. Robinson, 86, aretired Foreign Service officer, died Jan. 6from the effects of a stroke in Spring Hill,Fla. He served in the Army during WorldWar II before joining the Department in1951. His overseas postings includedJeddah, Saudi Arabia; Brussels; Vientiane,Laos; Nicosia, Cyprus; Dhaka, Bangladesh;Bombay; Beirut; London; and New Delhi.He retired in 1979.

<<< Francis Joseph Tatu, 77, aretired Foreign Service officer, died Jan. 29of complications from Parkinson’s Diseasein Washington, D.C. He was in the Navyduring World War II and the Korean Waras an aerial photographer. His overseaspostings included Hong Kong, Laos,Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, Nepal,Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and Brunei.After his retirement in 1986, he worked for

several think tanks, lectured and traveled on luxury cruise ships,and wrote his memoirs.

Harriet E. Whitaker, 92, widow of retired Foreign Serviceofficer Charles H. Whitaker and mother of retired ForeignService officer Andrea Mohn Baumann, died Feb. 17 of cancer inFalls Church, Va. She accompanied her husband on five overseaspostings, including Manila, where they and their children wereinterned by the Japanese. She received international attentionwhen she gave birth to her third child on a Japanese ship duringa prisoner exchange.

In the Event of a DeathQuestions concerning employee deaths should be directed to the Office ofCasualty Assistance at (202) 736-4302. Inquiries concerning deaths of retiredemployees should be directed to the Office of Retirement at (202) 261-8960.

P A R T I N G S H O T S


PAGE04 PAGE12 PAGE20 PAGE34

There areso many perceptions

about America,but unless we look

at people, we cannotunderstand your

country.

Matrika Poudel“Civilization at Its Best”Page 32

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