For years, The Foreign Service Journal has regularly published a “Speaking Out” column: a forum where contributing authors can voice concerns and generally weigh in on a variety of Foreign Service issues. We are pleased to present an archive of these columns in one central location.

• Go Ahead, Ask About My Accent by Nikolina Kulidzan (October 2023)
• Merit Pay for Family Member Employees by Jonathan Geense (September 2023)
• Boomerang Diplomats? Another Look at Reappointment by Sonnet Frisbie (July-August 2023)
• Standing By Taiwan and Its Democracy: Why Statecraft Is Not Just About Avoiding Conflict by Robert S. Wang (June 2023)
• How Will You Lead? by Todd Kushner and Paul Watzlavick (May 2023)
• Why Our Evaluation System Is Broken and What to Do About It by Virginia Blaser (April 2023)
• In the Corridors—Where Culture, Reputation, and DEIA Meet by Tanesha T. Dillard (March 2023)
• Schedule F—Let’s Deprofessionalize Government and Make America Irrelevant Again by Dennis Jett (January-February 2023)
• “Winning the Competition for Talent”—The Case for Expanding the Diplomat in Residence Program by Brendan Rivage-Seul (December 2022)
• Why the State Department Needs an Office of Diplomatic Gaming by Robert Domaingue (November 2022)
• WikiLeaks Damage Lives On: The Case of Marafa Hamidou Yaya by Niels Marquardt (October 2022)
• Democracy as a Vocation by José M. Garzón (September 2022)
• Serbia and Russia and the Coming Balkan Storm by Denis Rajic and Marko Attila Hoare (July-August 2022)
• iMatch—Ready for Takeoff? by Ubah Khasimuddin (June 2022)
• On Our Own—Diplomats Deserve Equal Access to Reproductive Health Services by Andrea Capellán (May 2022)
• No One Was Listening: Russia, 1992 by Kristen K. Loken (April 2022)
• Time to Bring Back Legations Headed by Diplomatic Agents? by Gerald Loftus and Stuart Denyer (March 2022)
• A Paradigm Shift for Diversity by Lia Miller, Ana Escrogima and Christina Tilghman (November 2021)
• Knowledge Management @ State: It’s not the technology. It’s the people. by Yomaris Macdonald, Lourdes Cue, Timothy Haynes, Jennifer L. Smith and Benjamin A. Tietz (October 2021)
• The Remonstrating Official by Ted Osius (September 2021)
• A U.S.-German Look at the Essentials for Modern Diplomacy by Mirko Kruppa and Kenneth Kero-Mentz (July-August 2021)
• The Case Against Political Ambassadors by Edward L. Peck (June 2021)
• How the 1619 Project Can Help Public Diplomacy by John Fer (May 2021)
• Resilience Leadership by Josh Glazeroff (April 2021)
• On State Reform by Dennis Jett (March 2021)
• Food & Fun, or Debt & Despair? The Commissary Crisis and the Future of Employee Associations by Llywelyn Graeme (December 2020)
• Female, (Won’t) Curtail & Yale: Waiting to Exhale by Samantha Jackson, Ayanda Francis-Gao, Lisa-Felicia Akorli, Aja Kennedy, Annah Mwendar-Chaba and Tessa Henry (November 2020)
• Stop Shipping Your Personal Vehicle! by Warren Leishman (October 2020)
• Why “27 Years and Out” Should Be Retired by Ted Craig (September 2020)
• Changing Mindsets on Race at State by P. Michael McKinley (July-August 2020)
• Lessons from Silicon Valley: Practical Suggestions for a Modern Workplace by Andrew R. Moore (June 2020)
• The Diplomat and the State by Christopher W. Smith (May 2020)
• Breaking Away from “Born, Not Made” by Andrea Susana Martinez Donnally and Christina T. Le (April 2020)
• Integrity First by Alan Larson (March 2020)
• Truth and Honor by Harry Kopp (January-February 2020)
• In Support of Professional Nonpartisan Diplomacy (December 2019)
• Preventing Domestic Violence Is Our Shared Responsibility by Leslie Bassett (November 2019)
• There Is No “Complacent State” by Andrew Kelly (October 2019)
• How to Strengthen Human Rights Diplomacy by Samuel C. Downing (September 2019)
• Reforming State’s Personnel System Could Work This Time by Ronald E. Neumann (July-August 2019)
• Afghanistan: Rightsizing Expectations by Annie Pforzheimer (June 2019)
• Straight Talk on Bidding: What You Need to Know Before Trying for That Heavily Bid Job by Paul Poletes (April 2019)
• Compassion Fatigue in the Foreign Service by Kovia Gratzon-Erskine (March 2019)
• Improving the Economic Career Track by Virginia Bennett (January-February 2019)
• A Worldwide FSN Association at State: Advancing a Practical Dream by Eddy Olislaeger (December 2018)
• Radically Simple Ideas for a Better State: Foreign Service 2.0 by JC Windham (November 2018)
• What Is It We’re Doing Again? Time to Rethink How the State Department Communicates by Peter Lohman (October 2018)
• Diversity: Not Just a Cause for the Underrepresented by Jay Porter (September 2018)
• Two Ears, One Mouth, Two Hands: Diplomacy 101 by Jason Criss Howk (June 2018)
• What State Should Bring to the Table: Cultural and Language Expertise by Phil Skotte (May 2018)
• Respect, Trust and Partnership: Keeping Diplomacy on Course in Troubling Times by Ted Osius (April 2018)
• Families with Special Needs Kids Need Support by Kathi Silva (March 2018)
• Applying Behavioral Economics to the State Department by Rob Kirk (January-February 2018)
• Religious Diversity Benefits the State Department by Phil Skotte (December 2017)
• Owning Leadership by Michael Pelletier (November 2017)
• Decision-Making in Times of Uncertainty by Charles Ray (October 2017)
• How to Get More Bang for Our FSI Buck: Engaging Foreign Diplomats and Diasporas by Michael Rosenthal (September 2017)
• The Value and Purpose of American Diplomacy by William J. Burns (July-August 2017)
• The Golden Rule of Professionalism by Matt Tompkins (June 2017)
• Digital Diplomacy: Will State Ever Take the Plunge? by Amelia Shaw (May 2017)
• Why We Need a Better Intranet and How to Get It by Bradley Meacham (April 2017)
• With Deep Regret... by TJ Lunardi (March 2017)
• Why U.S. Ambassadors Should Be Career Professionals by Edward L. Peck (January-February 2017)
• Why USAID's New Approach to Development Assistance is Stalled by Thomas Dichter (December 2016)
• Getting Beyond Bureaucratese - Why Writing Like Robots Damages U.S. Interests by Paul Poletes (November 2016)
• Safeguarding a Nonpartisan Foreign Service by Matthew V. Tompkins (October 2016)
• Neglecting World's Fairs Doesn't Make Them Go Away, So Let's Do It Right by Beatrice Camp (September 2016)
• Reforming Entry-Level Assignments by Andrew Kelly (July-August 2016)
• Supporting FS Families with Special Needs Children by Maureen Danzot and Mark R. Evans (June 2016)
• Hippocrates and Hobbes, Assad and ISIS by Raymond Smith (May 2016)
• The Department of State: Mission and Vision Examined by Edward Marks (April 2016)
• More Hemingway, Less Kafka, Please by Matthew Keene (March 2016)
• Retiree Access, Step by Step by Mary Ellen Gilroy (January-February 2016)
• Proving Public Diplomacy Programs Work by James Rider (December 2015)
• The Trouble with the Lawyers List by James Ehrman (November 2015)
• Seeking Parity Between the Civil and Foreign Services by Larry W. Roeder, Jr. (October 2015)
• The State Department Needs to Reevaluate Its Use of 360-Degree Reviews by William Bent (September 2015)
• America Needs a Professional Foreign Service by Charles A. Ray (July-August 2015)
• Employee Plus One: Marriage and the War for Talent by Michael Guest (June 2015)
• A Strategic Approach to Public Diplomacy by Joe B. Johnson (May 2015)
• Citizenship and Unwed Border Mothers: The Misfortune of Geography by Amelia Shaw (April 2015)
• A Glass Half Full by David T. Jones (March 2015)
• Defining Diplomacy by Edward Marks (January-February 2015)
• Twitter is a Cocktail Party, Not a Press Conference (or, Social Media for Reporting Officers) by Wren Elhai (December 2014)
• What Specialists Want You to Know compiled by Francesca Kelly (October 2014)
• 'Up or Out' is Harming American Foreign Policy by George B. Lambrakis (September 2014)
• How to Get Better Ambassadors by Dennis Jett (July-August 2014)
• Publishing in the Foreign Service by Yaniv Barzilai (June 2014)
• Getting State and the Foreign Service Back in the Game by Robert Hunter (May 2014)
• Bring Back the Powell Fellows Program by Tyler Sparks (April 2014)
• Hispanic Representation at USAID: Why So Low for So Long? by José Garzón (March 2014)
• Protecting the Realm: The Past Must Be Prologue by Timothy Lawson (Jan/Feb 2014)
• A Plea for Greater Teamwork in the Foreign Service by George B. Lambrakis (December 2013)
• Keeping Faith with State’s Wounded Warriors by Juliet Wurr (November 2013)
• Iran and the United States: Getting to Yes by George B. Lambrakis (June 2013)
• It’s Time to Update the Threashhold Review by Brian T. Neubert (May 2013)
• Unionization, AFSA and the Foreign Service by David T. Jones (April 2013)
• The Value of Fortress Embassies by Nick Pietrowicz (February 2013)
• Facing the Unthinkable: Time for FCS to Merge with State? by Daniel Harris (January 2013)
• Reasons for Hope in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Kristin K. Loken (December 2012)
• Psst! Hey, Buddy, Wanna Buy an Ambassadorship? by Dennis Jett (November 2012)
• Achieving Work-Life Balance at State by Lillian C. Wahl-Tuco (October 2012)
• Overhauling the EER Process by Tyler Sparks (September 2012)
• Purchasing Parity: USAID’s EFM Language Training Policy by Brenden M. Wheeler (April 2012)
• How Data Visualization Can Change Diplomacy by Chris Bronk and Scott Smith (March 2012)
• Implementing the QDDR at Chief-of-Mission Level by Edward Marks (February 2012)
• The Next 50 Years by George F. Jones (January 2012)
• FS Blogging: An Opportunity, Not a Threat by Matt Keene (December 2011)
• Why the Foreign Service Should Be More Like the Army by Jon P. Dorschner (November 2011)
• Not-So-Smart Power by James Stephenson (October 2011)
• Needed: A Professional Specialization in International Organizational Affairs by Edward Marks (Jul/Aug 2011)
• Is the Foreign Service Still a Profession? by George B. Lambrakis (June 2011)
• Building Professional Skills by William P. Schofield (May 2011)
• Out with the Old, In with the New by Bruce K. Byers (April 2011)
• AFSA Members Speak Out on the WikiLeaks Mess (March 2011)
• Welcoming the Disabled to the Foreign Service by Michael Bricker (January 2011)
• U.S. Foreign Economic Assistance in Perspective by Raymond Malley (December 2010)
• Making Provincial Reconstruction Terms More Effective by Patricia Thomson (November 2010)
• Defining the Ideal Diplomat by Marc Grossman (October 2010)
• Recognizing Those Who Have Made a Difference by Edward L. Peck (September 2010)
• Latin America's Latest Victim: The Free Press by Christopher Teal and Silvio Gonzalez (Jul/Aug 2010)
• Diego Garcia: Freedom’s Footprint, or Enduring Injustice? by Gerald Loftus (June 2010)
• Time for State to Get Up To Speed by Tom Casey (May 2010)
• DNA: The Future of Immigrant Visa Processing by Simon Hankinson (April 2010)
• A Real Reset Button for U.S.-Russian Relations by Thompson Buchanan (March 2010)
• Starting the “New Gender Agenda” at Home by Amanda Fernandez (February 2010)
• The Population Bomb is Still Ticking by Michael Fritz (January 2010)
• Restore State’s Office of Public Communications by Alexis Ludwig (December 2009)
• Merge USAID Fully Into State by Raymond Malley (November 2009)
• Public Diplomacy: A View from the Front Line by PDFL Working Group (October 2009)
• Strengthen the Process for Middle East Diplomacy by David T. Jones (September 2009)
• Regaining Relevance: Five Steps to Strengthen State by William I. Bacchus (Jul/Aug 2009)
• EERs: The Forgotten Front in the War for Talent by Jonathan Fritz (June 2009)
• Hope for Gay and Lesbian Foreign Service Employees by Steven Giegerich (May 2009)
• Expanding Language Capacity Through Incentive Pay by Mark Allen (April 2009)
• Twelve Recommendations to Improve the Security Clearance Process by Daniel M. Hirsch (March 2009)
• AFRICOM & SOUTHCOM: Reliquaria from an Earlier Era by David Passage (February 2009)
• Let’s Help “H” Make the Case for State by Stetson Sanders (January 2009)
• It’s Time for State to Educate Senior Officers by Robert B. Newlin (November 2008)
• Mid-Level Hiring and the War for Talent by Kevin D. Stringer (October 2008)
• State’s Wrong Turn on the Information Highway by Scott Rauland (September 2008)
• Where Have All the Senior-Level Women Gone? by Susan Crais Hovanec (June 2008)
• Heading Off More Clashes in the Strait of Hormuz by Benjamin Tua (May 2008)
• Needed: A New Foreign Service Agenda by Alphonse F. La Porta (April 2008)
• Member of Household Policy: Failing Our Families by Michael Guest (March 2008)
• Taking the King’s Shilling by David T. Jones (February 2008)
• Expeditionary Sidekicks? The Military-Diplomatic Dynamic by Gerald Loftus (December 2007)
• Caution: Iraq is not Vietnam by David Passage (November 2007)
• Six Simple Proposals to Improve Efficiency and Morale by Hollis Summers (September 2007)
• U.S. Diplomacy: Can Science Help? by Kristen M. Lord (July-August 2007)
• Working it Out with the Military: The View from Kabul by Thomas E. Johnson, Jr. (June 2007)
• When Importance is Equated with Danger by Brian T. Neubert (May 2007)
• Time to Overhaul Contact Reporting Requirements by David J. Firestein (April 2007)
• How to Measure an Ambassador by J Michael Cleverley (March 2007)
• The Lost Art of Experimentation by Michael Bricker (February 2007)
• Long Term Senior Interagency Education Could Be Privatized by John Bushnell (January 2007)
• Immigration Policy for the 21st Century by David Searby (December 2006)
• Political Appointees: A Cost-Benefit Analysis by William F. Davnie (November 2006)
• Reaching Out to Muslims by Richard S. Sacks (October 2006)
• Time to Read the U.N.’s Culture of Corruption by Thomas D. Boyatt (September 2006)
• Run, Lemmings, Run by David T. Jones (July-August 2006)
• Iranian Nuclear Weapons: Advantage or Liability? by George B. Lambrakis (June 2006)
• What Are We Training IMSers To Do? by Carl E. Stefan (May 2006)
• Opening Embassies: A New Approach Needed by Joseph Schreiber (April 2006)
• Micromanagement and the Culture of Fear by Llywelyn C. Graeme (March 2006)
• It’s Not Who You Know, It’s Where You Serve by John Allen Quintus (February 2006)
• 25 Years Later, Time for Dialogue with Iran by Bruce Laingen (January 2006)
• Implement Career Development by Reforming the Assignment System by Camille Hill (December 2005)
• Leadership at State by Prudence Bushnell (November 2005)
• Let’s Use International Organizations to Fight Terrorism by Leon Weintraub (October 2005)
• The Truth About Language Instruction at FSI by Marie T. Huhtala (September 2005)
• Making Better Use of Eligible Family Members by Scott I. Danaher (July-August 2005)
• Guideposts for Generalists: The Career Development Program by Josh Glazeroff (June 2005)
• Making a Tragic Mistake in Indonesia by Edmund McWilliams (May 2005)
• Public Diplomacy: What Have We Learned? by Joe Johnson (April 2005)
• In Defense of Foreign Service Reporting by Necia Quast (March 2005)
• Foreign Service Evaluations: A Broken System by Michael C. Gonzales (February 2005)
• Toward A Points-Based Promotion System by Kenneth J. Fairfax (January 2005)
• The Lessons of Darfur by Harry C. Blaney III (December 2004)
• Achieving Full Diversity in the Foreign Service by Ajit Joshi (November 2004)
• A Failure of Imagination by Beatrice A. Camp (October 2004)
• A Cry for Justice by Larry W. Roeder, Jr. (September 2004)
• A Tribute to the Senior Seminar by William Stedman (July-August 2004)
• Saddam Hussein’s Trial: Due Process or Victor’s Justice? by Jason D. Soderblom (May 2004)
• U.S. Diplomacy and Other Sacrifices by John Brady Keisling (March 2004)
• IT: Spending is Not Enough by Joe B. Johnson (February 2004)
• Time to Speak Up for the Voice of America by Myrna Whitworth (January 2004)
• The Foreign Service and the Quality of Intelligence by Charles O. Cecil (December 2003)
• The Middle East Road Map: Going Nowhere Fast by Ronald Spiers (November 2003)
• Religion and Diplomacy by Phil Skotte (October 2003)
• Why Dissent is Important and Resignation Honorable by Ann Wright (September 2003)
• Why I Resigned by John Brown (September 2003)
• Strengthen Diplomacy for the War on Terror by Sen. Richard G. Lugar (July-August 2003)
• Dissent Again by David T. Jones (June 2003)
• Toward a True Israeli-Palestinian Peace by Max M. Kampelman (May 2003)
• Does State Need Volcker-Style Reform? by Anthony C. E. Quainton (April 2003)
• Anti-Nepotism Waivers: Let Them Bake Cake by Gina Willis (March 2003)
• Ambassadors and Post Morale by Tibor P. Nagy, Jr. (February 2003)
• The Courage of Our Convictions by Ken Moskowitz (January 2003)