They even had the commercial function transferred to Commerce, creating a new bureaucracy and overseas empire. The Soviet Union collapsed and the Berlin Wall crumbled, yet the department continues to recruit train and assign political officers as it has since 1945. Whether an ambassador is an appointee or an old hand in the Middle East is less relevant than the fact that all ambassadors are subordinated to a management and regulatory system untouched by major government reforms in the last 50 years. Foreign affairs agencies are partially exempt from the 1946 Administrative Procedures Act, are virtually never subject to independent audits, and, until recently, not under FBI jurisdiction overseas. The hidden Foreign Service issue is the problem of the CIA and other intelligence activities occupying space at many diplomatic establishments.
Spooks treat embassies as personal turf, demanding assistance on a priority basis.
Worse for the Foreign Service image, the public mistakes U.S. embassy spooks for diplomats if a private citizen tangles with one of our colorful action men. The last problem is that of ideological imbalance. Since Americans are committed to traditional values, the presence of a highly concentrated liberal Foreign Service corps is an anomaly. IT products, services and projects should be considered just another resource that an organization uses in support of its mission. Give no special status to IT projects, but have them compete for an organization's limited resources with all the other projects that impact its future.