The Foreign Affairs Council

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The Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) is a nonpartisan umbrella group of 11 organizations concerned about the processes of diplomacy and the leadership and management of the people of the Foreign Service and State Department. We do not address foreign policy issues but are dedicated to the most effective possible management of the nation’s foreign policy business.

Our objective is to focus Secretaries of State on management issues by analyzing achievements as well as problems in this dimension of their responsibilities. We hope to make the Foreign Service and State Department more effective institutions by this process of highlighting challenges, suggesting solutions, and putting the human and financial resources of our member organizations at the disposal of Secretaries of State in pursuing such solutions.

August 1, 2007: Senate Hearing on "Building a Stronger American Diplomatic Presence Testimony of Ambassador (R) Thomas D. Boyatt President,

Foreign Affairs Council Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia Chairman Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI)

Hearing on: “Building a Stronger American Diplomatic Presence to Meet the Challenges of a Post-9-11 World”

Foreign Affairs Council addresses staffing shortfalls with key appropriators in Congress (PDF 52 KB)Excerpt:

""The Foreign Service is in the midst of a personnel crisis. We do not have enough officers
to fill existing positions and we do not have enough positions to accomplish existing
responsibilities in traditional diplomacy, public diplomacy and development diplomacy.
The recent media circus over filling positions in Iraq voluntarily is just one of the
symptoms of the problem. In the end, all positions in Iraq were filled by volunteers, as
they have been for the past four years."

The Foreign Affairs Council

Associated Organizations

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