Notes from the Board

Today I fulfilled a long-held aspiration, joining the editorial board of the Foreign Service Journal.

For nearly a quarter century this storied publication has followed me around the world, showing up in mailrooms from Jeddah to Nicaragua and Mexico City to Mumbai. It’s covers graced my office coffee table in Accra and the Drexel Heritage furniture in more government quarters than I care to list. Perhaps its presence has inspired my sons to consider careers in service; at the very least, it’s provided a glimpse into what I do when I leave home for work every day.

Did you know the FSJ has been continuously published since 1919? That’s longer than better-known magazines like Collier’s, Life, and The Saturday Evening Post. It edges out the 1922 arrival of Foreign Affairs by the Council on Foreign Relations. Foreign Policy didn’t arrive on the scene until 1970.

On March 15, 1919, a New York printer published the first issue of the American Consular Bulletin, one dozen pages of content that included ads for Liberty Bread Slicers and the Challenge Machinery Company’s printing presses. For just twelve bits a year members of the American Consular Association could count on monthly issues that sought to “further American business interests in foreign lands through the Consular Service.”

In 1924 the Rogers Act combined the consular and diplomatic services into a single entity, creating the modern U.S. Foreign Service, and the Bulletin was renamed the American Foreign Service Journal. In August 1951, the Journal was renamed again and has been called the Foreign Service Journal ever since. Learn more from Harry Kopp’s hundred-year history of the FSJ here. Its fore-runner was the 75-year reflection published by Nancy Johnson here.

Two years ago, I answered a call for new board members with the following expression of interest: “The first thing I do when my Journal arrives each month is scan its pages for names I recognize. It’s wonderful to see known colleagues, frequent contributors, and others with established reputations in our community writing about diplomatic, development, and other efforts around the world.”

I’ve heard that same feeling of community and connection from others who receive the 17,000 copies of the FSJ in circulation today. For us, the Journal plays a vital role as convener, town square, and safe forum for open-minded reflection. The Journal influences the debate on Capitol Hill, in most White Houses, and throughout the government. As the publication of record for the foreign affairs community, it can help inform the greater public about the importance of our work. Take a look at the current issue, or peruse the digitized collection all the way back to 1919.

I’ve enjoyed seeing my own work appear in the FSJ over the years. They gave me one of my first publication credits with Relief Efforts Resonate in West Africa, took a chance on my humor by publishing This Is How We Tweet, and shared the impact of public diplomacy efforts in places like Afghanistan by publishing The Card from Kabul.

I understand the energy and pride that goes into contributing to the FSJ, and I look forward to working from the other side of the desk with fellow writers to make the most of these vital pages.

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