bout de papier, Vol. 18, No. 4 (2001-2002) — Winter 2001/2002, p. 3
Department of Foreign Affairs and hat people are the greatest asset of th
International Trade is getting to be a bit of a cliché these days — a coin that is becoming debased through overuse. But like most clichés, there is an indisputable kernel of truth within that surrounding of pulp.
In this issue of bout, there are a series of articles that highlight vividly two aspects of the personnel issue within Foreign Affairs, and that of our sister Department, Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The first is an article by Sarah Taylor that outlines the Department’s policy regarding maternity and parental leave while abroad, and how that policy was developed. Whatever one’s own personal and marital configuration, this article is worth a careful read, particularly by those who care deeply about the future of the Department at a time when recruitment and retention are critical issues.
There is often the perception that there is a gap between statements by senior members of the Department recognizing “the Department’s greatest asset”, and the development and implementation of personnel policies that have an indelible effect on the credibility of those statements among those in the trenches. Sarah’s disclaimer must be taken seriously — her article is not a critique of individuals working in the personnel branches of Foreign Affairs and Citizenship and Immigration Canada, but rather of the organizational culture responsible for how these policies are developed and implemented. It is presented by us in the hope that those responsible for personnel policies may be able to derive some “lessons learned” from this experience.
On a sadder note, there is a larger than usual number of obituaries and eulogies presented in this issue. They are of officers of considerable variety of rank, and they illustrate one of the most fundamental, and highly under recognized, aspects of the greatest part of those who work in and with the foreign service: a demonstrable honour, decency and kindness of thought and deed which makes many of the burdens we have to bear tolerable. In the tributes presented to Ed Ritchie, Dacre Cole and Bernard Brodie, we have a celebration of lives well lived — not just in terms of their own accomplishments, but on the tremendous support they offered to their colleagues. The greatest regret is that in far too many cases, these words do not get written or spoken until it is too late for the subject to hear them.
Russell Merrifield s’appuie abondamment sur les notices nécrologiques et les éloges funèbres dans son dynamique examen du cimetière diplomatique de Tunis — les décideurs en matière de personnel pourraient peut-être même en « tirer des leçons ». Hector Mackenzie, pour sa part, continue de ratisser les archives du Ministère, ce qui nous vaut un autre spécimen mémorable : un examen des contraintes de l’élaboration de la politique étrangère, remontant à 1951. Ed Whitcomb nous guide au travers du champ de mines de la terminologie de la souveraineté. Kurt Jensen, Arthur Blanchette, John Starnes et Andrew Caddell présentent des critiques de livres sur divers sujets, notamment l’art de la cueillette et du traitement de renseignements, les politiciens devenus diplomates et la vie dans le service extérieur. Clyde Sanger partage avec nous une interview avec l’ancienne secrétaire d’État aux Affaires extérieures, Flora MacDonald, et Roger Lucy se penche sur les tribulations des moyennes puissances de l’antiquité et vient ainsi étayer l’adage voulant que l’histoire se répète. Sur une note plus légère, l’ancien rédacteur-en-chef de bout, Nicholas Coghlan, nous raconte l’odyssée d’une improbable embarcation sur le Nil, et Geoffrey Pearson et William Barton lancent un défi relatif à un commentaire anonyme des Nations Unies. Et, comme toujours, A Aalto nous offre pour notre plus grand plaisir un autre de ses casse-tête.
Comments on what you see in bout, and what you don’t, are always welcome: we can be reached at [email protected].
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Originally published in / Publié à l’origine dans bout de papier, Vol. 18, No. 4 (2001-2002) — Winter 2001/2002, p. 3. Read the rest of this issue / Lire le reste de ce numéro →
