Our Federal Government at Work

From: Washington Post

One would think that 9/11, Mid East Terrorism, and the Iraq war would force our government to find and train more men and women to speak fluent Arabic. Nope, most certainly not the case. As of today the number of diplomats who speak fluent Arabic (can have complex interactions with hostile groups of people) is 27.

The Middle East is the most important region in the world and we only have 27 people who can effectively communicate complex policy questions? Unbelievable.

And the reasons why the Foreign Service is not training more men and women in Arabic is incomprehensible to me.

"Training goes only to officers assigned to "language-designated" positions -- slots that have been officially determined to require language skills. Thus, a diplomat assigned to Washington cannot get advanced Arabic training until he or she is actually assigned to a language-designated job overseas. And then there's no time to build real competency. This set-up creates a strong disincentive to designate positions as requiring language skills. No embassy wants to restrict its search to the comparatively few officers already qualified in Arabic or, even worse, effectively give up the position for the two years required to train an officer to a level 3 [competency in one on one interactions] -- and carry them on its budget the whole time they sit in language classes.

So no posts are designated above level 3, which means, naturally, that the Foreign Service does not offer training beyond the 3, either. If 3's want additional language training to improve their skills to a 4 [capable of explaining complex policy], they have to do it on their own time and their own nickel. (The Foreign Service Institute has a pilot "Beyond 3" program, but it had a mere two people in it as of the latest report.)

Via: Washington Monthly