Letter from the Editor

BY SHAWN DORMAN

Welcome to the June edition, where we take on the question of artificial intelligence (AI) for diplomacy—promise or peril? Of course, AI is both. It has the potential to affect nearly everything we do, so it is worth hearing from practitioners working in this field to get an idea of how AI is being used for diplomacy and what the prospects are.

For this month’s focus, we were fortunate to have assistance from FSJ Editorial Board member Dan Spokojny, who helped bring together an expert group of authors and wrote the lead piece, outlining the topic and showing how AI is growing in importance.

In this modernizing world, changes are afoot at the Journal, too. As reading habits and the ways we consume media continue to change, we want to keep up—without losing our grounding in print. And I am happy to report that as we adapt to the changing landscape, the FSJ is flourishing.

Many of you now see Journal articles as they flow through various channels before or instead of reading the magazine front to back in print. Almost all the individual articles are pushed out through AFSA and FSJ social media, as well as through the weekly FSJ Insider email newsletter.

The FSJ digital archive provides one of the most extensive records in existence of U.S. diplomatic history as seen through the eyes of the practitioners.

To increase access to its riches, we post the entire edition online and also curate content for Special Collections on critical topics, which can be found on the AFSA website.

This is a living and evolving resource. The issues we take on don’t end with any particular edition, and we encourage responses to carry conversations forward.

We started the “Straight from the Source” department to give active-duty authors the chance to tell us, in an official capacity, about new policies or plans affecting the Foreign Service with the aim of sparking discussion and debate. And sometimes, FSJ coverage leads to action or change.

We are always looking for the right authors from the active-duty and retired Foreign Service community to shed light on the issues of the day. You are our eyes and ears, and your voices make this journal.

We want to hear your responses to articles, and we want to know what else you’d like to see in your FSJ. We will be reaching out with a reader survey soon to get your thoughts.

As always, please write to us at journal@afsa.org. You can also engage with us directly online through the FSJ LinkedIn page and any other AFSA social media platform.