184. Memorandum From the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Management (Eagleburger) to the Assistant Secretaries of State for the Regional Bureaus, the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs (Greenwald), the Director of the Bureau of Personnel (Laise), the Assistant Secretary of State for Administration (Thomas), and the Director of the Foreign Service Institute (Broderick)1
SUBJECT
- Establishment of a Regional Resource Attaché Program
In view of the growing Government-wide interest in commodities questions, and in accordance with the PPG’s recommendations,2 I have concluded that a Regional Resource Attaché Program should be established.
The principal elements of the program, which were outlined in the attachment to my earlier memorandum on the same subject dated September 23, 1975,3 and the responsible action bureaus and offices, appear to be as follows:
1. Existing minerals and petroleum attaché positions should be designated “resource attaché” positions, and a new skill code for resource attachés be established by PER.
2. New regional resource attaché positions should be established at five additional posts, largely through redesignation of existing economic/commercial positions. As a result of negotiations between the Department of the Interior and EB, it has been tentatively concluded that these be Tokyo, Bangkok, USEC Brussels, Jakarta, and Algiers. Only the Algiers position would be new. A final determination on the location of the five new positions should be made by EB in consultation with the Department of Interior, the geographic bureau concerned, PER and M/MO.
[Page 629]3. EB should develop a plan to organize a coordinating office to provide reporting guidance and evaluation and general backstopping for the Resource Attaché Program. I would appreciate a copy of the plan for my information and for the use of the Reports Coordinator.
4. EB should, in cooperation with A/BF and concerned regional bureaus, extend to regional resource attachés the present procedure for earmarking funds for travel and should require the attachés to file annual travel schedules to be monitored by the backstopping office.
5. An appropriate training program for regional resource attachés should be prepared by FSI, in cooperation with interested bureaus, for review by the Board of Professional Development.
These steps are essential if the Department is to fulfill its responsibilities in this major new field of resource diplomacy. Of special importance and interest is reporting on the political/economic context in which decisions on commodities are made; at the same time we should develop deeper and more current information on the statistical and technical side of commodities production and trade. Much good work is already being done by our posts abroad. What is needed is greater emphasis and clearer focus on commodities reporting and negotiations. Despite the difficulties and delays in developing this program we can help achieve our national objectives in this vitally important field through effective management of the program we are now establishing. I will appreciate your full cooperation.
- Source: Department of State, Policy and Procedural Files of the Deputy Under Secretary for Management: Lot 79 D 63, M Chron April 1976 E. No classification marking. The regional Assistant Secretaries were: Rogers (Inter-American Affairs), Hartman (European Affairs), Habib (East Asian and Pacific Affairs), Atherton (Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs), and Schaufele (African Affairs).↩
- Not further identified.↩
- Eagleburger’s September 23, 1975, memorandum to the regional Assistant Secretaries and the Director of INR asking for comments on a paper proposing the creation of a regional resource attaché program is in the National Archives, RG 59, General Administrative Correspondence Files of the Deputy Under Secretary for Management 1968–75: Lot 78 D 295, Box 3, M Chron September 1976. The referenced paper, however, was not attached and has not been found.↩