bout de papier, Vol. 18, No. 3 (2001) — Fall 2001 // Automne 2001, p. 3
There’s a line from an old Billy Joel song to the effect that life is a series of hellos and goodbyes. This is particularly true of the foreign service, and once again, it’s time for both at bout de papier. Bernie Etzinger has departed for a posting in San José, California, and has turned over to me the keys to a well-oiled machine. We will miss his creativity and free-wheeling efforts to provoke innovative thought, and wish him well.
Too much praise cannot be heaped on Managing Editor Debra Hulley and the production team at Acart Communications. Their dedication allows bout to continue its award-winning service to the foreign service community. Perhaps the best illustration of their professional polish is the quantity of advertising that bout succeeds in attracting — which covers over half of our production costs.
Our magazine’s masthead bills us as “Canada’s Magazine of Diplomacy and Foreign Service”. This is a good opportunity to define the community to whom we are providing service, and by so doing, help define the “value added” that bout aims to provide.
The largest group in bout de papier’s audience is the membership of the Professional Association of foreign service Officers, who receive this publication as one of the returns for their membership dues. To this group of readers, bout has a clear duty to provide a forum through which members can address issues of foreign service life — whether they be professional, policy or family related.
bout is also circulated to senior managers in several federal departments, as well as to the federal Cabinet and opposition leaders. This distribution is undertaken as part of bout’s advocacy functions — as a means of communicating to those responsible for the management of government the trends and issues that shape the outlook of those at the rockface of Canada’s foreign policy.
We are very fortunate in having a substantial roster of paying subscribers. These cover a broad range of individuals and institutions — former foreign service officers; diplomatic missions; individuals in other work groups of the foreign service; academic institutions and individuals, and those who simply have a keen interest in foreign affairs. This is supplemented by steady sales through specialty newsstands nationwide. To this group of readers, bout offers a sense of what Canada’s foreign service actually does — not only in terms of current issues, but also in historical context. It also offers a glimpse into the everyday life of PAFSO members abroad — outlining the challenges and hardships as well as the lighter side of life as a guest abroad.
My immediate goal as editor is to consolidate what we have achieved so that we can provide the best possible service to our readers. bout will concentrate on three main areas (though not to the exclusion of others) — thoughtful analysis of current policy issues; frank treatment of concerns relating to real life in the foreign service, both at home and abroad; and the provision of a historical perspective of Canadian foreign policy. An academic colleague remarked on the value of bout as a research tool because many of the issues we discuss are not covered on the record elsewhere. To this end, I hope that bout will be able to develop an electronic presence in the form of an archive of past issues which will be available for public use.
Encore une fois, ce numéro de bout de papier aborde un très large éventail de sujets. Nous sommes ravis d’exposer un aspect du service extérieur depuis l’autre bout du télescope; l’analyse franche de l’ancien sous-ministre Derek Burney, de la manière dont la fonction publique a pu le préparer à son passage au secteur privé. Nous avons la chance de présenter les travaux de Charles Ritchie à une nouvelle génération d’agents du service extérieur. Tout récemment, l’élégant journal qu’il tenait s’est vu réédité par McCelland et Stewart. Les lecteurs de bout de papier seront consternés d’apprendre qu’en décembre dernier, sa nièce, Elizabeth, est décédée; seulement quelques semaines après avoir organisé un dîner commémorant la vie et la carrière de son oncle. Dans ce numéro, nous rendons hommage à la vie et à la carrière de Russel McKinney et de Sandy Bryce, deux personnages ayant laissé une empreinte indélébile dans leur métier. Elaine Butcher délivre quelques dépêches de son affectation temporaire à Tel Aviv. Quant à À Aalto, il continue de nous tourmenter avec un autre puzzle des plus alambiqués.
bout de papier is always looking for input from all quarters — proposals for articles as well as articles themselves, photographs, comments and suggestions. It is our goal to offer substance leavened with humour — we do not propose to spend all of our time with furrowed brows. Please feel free to contact us at: boutdepapier @ pafso-apase.com
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Originally published in / Publié à l’origine dans bout de papier, Vol. 18, No. 3 (2001) — Fall 2001 // Automne 2001, p. 3. Read the rest of this issue / Lire le reste de ce numéro →
