New Professionals Association Reaches Out to Diplomatic Community

The latest activity of the New Professionals Association (NPA) here at Embassy Tel Aviv is a great way to promote better communication! It was a panel discussion on U.S. foreign policy with DCMs from China, Russia, France, Great Britain and Egypt.

This event, which was held on March 4th at the Chancery and open to the entire American diplomatic community, was created by the NPA to get a better understanding of the views of others in the diplomatic community. It was quite an interesting event, and even though it was behind closed doors so the viewpoints cannot be repeated here, the value of having such an event needs to be acknowledged because it not only enabled the audience to become more knowledgeable but also enabled the DCMs from these countries to talk to rising American professionals.

The idea of such an event came from the 2004 Junior Officers Conference in New Delhi. At that conference, several third-country DCMs presented their views of American foreign policy to the entry-level American professionals in attendance. Based on the success of that event, our Tel Aviv representatives decided to do a similar event here. Over lunch NPA members Lisa Wishman, Jessica Simon, and Stacy MacTaggert discussed with me the recent event and the association's goals.

The New Professionals Association was formed for U.S. diplomats with less than four years' experience in government. The event is in keeping with their three goals: 1) improve entry-level employee morale, 2) increase basic skills and knowledge of USG operations, 3) provide exposure to and networking opportunities with American and foreign colleagues at all levels.


Because this is a large embassy, the entry-level professionals don't often have the opportunity to meet such senior foreign diplomats, explained Jessica Simon. “So events such as the panel enable us to understand and give us the experience to communicate with leading players in the diplomatic community,” she said. Summarizing the panel discussion, they felt they learned that much of the foreign policy of all countries is driven by established relationships that don't change all that abruptly. Certainly administrations affect foreign policy but relationships between countries develop over a long period of time. They also left with the idea that everyone knows the foreign policy of the others quite well. So overall, the event with the foreign diplomats was quite enlightening.

The New Professionals Association is open to entry-level officers and specialists from all U.S. Government agencies because they feel that knowledge of the diplomatic and official Israeli community is good for everyone to understand. The NPA has also planned two happy hours open to new professionals at other embassies to great success, and their foreign colleagues are anxious for more. Everyone has the same learning curve, after all.

This effort to be inclusive instead of exclusive is in keeping with the American spirit, don't you think? Good for them, and good for the U.S. State Department.





Dialogue Skills:

Lisa Wishman, who in the past lived and studied in Israel, gave some intercultural advice that could be of great significance: “In Israel,” she said, “no” is not “no.” It is the beginning of a negotiation.”

I am definitely going to use this gem!

Outreach Idea:

Want to get to know people in your host country? Sometimes, Lisa Wishman said, you need to invite them instead of waiting for them to invite you. “Israelis have busy lives, too – family obligations and classmates form close-knit circles that are hard to break into,” she said. But they are happy to go out with you and can be very warm and friendly. ”You need to get over being shy and just ask!”

Etiquette:

Lisa Wishman should hang out a shingle. She explained that in the U.S. we say “excuse me” whenever we bump into or move in front of someone, and in many general purpose type situations. However, Israelis do not. But they are not being rude, as Americans automatically assume: It is simply accepted that one does not need to acknowledge such acts. In fact, in China it is much the same. My Chinese colleague Mac Fan would say, “Stephanie, why are you always apologizing? Don't you realize the apology is understood?”

Good Idea:

Two days after the Palestinian election, the NPA invited experts on Palestinian politics who are also members of the Palestinian community to speak to the group on the election’s outcome. If you have a major event happening in your neck of the woods, you could invite major players to the Chancery to help inform your community. The more the American diplomatic community is informed, the more interesting and on target your living experience here is. I think spouses in particular would like such opportunities.