14 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2024 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL PEPFAR Stuck in Washington Gridlock Until recently, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) mission was considered unassailable. According to the State Department’s Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Global Health Diplomacy, which manages and oversees PEPFAR, the U.S. government has invested more than $100 billion in the global HIV/ AIDS response since the program began under President George W. Bush in 2003. This has saved 25 million lives and already gone through the channels of trying to do it internally.” The Washington Post reported that Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent an open letter of his own to the entire department and to all employees at USAID, acknowledging that “some people in the department may disagree with approaches we are taking or have views on what we can do better.” USAID Administrator Samantha Power has been criticized for her silence in the face of dissent within her organization, with one USAID official calling her silence “frustrating and disappointing.” Diplomacy and the AI Revolution Thus far, much of the discussion around AI is centered around the military and private sector, but making money or making war is too narrow of an approach for the AI revolution. … Our diplomats also must be involved as we manage our AI competition with nations like China and Russia. Diplomats know how to take on complex and multifaceted problems. They know how to balance competing ideas. American diplomats know how to drive an agenda based on American values. ... If we’re going to lead on global AI governance, if we’re going to avoid dangerous AI arms race, if we’re going to harness AI to improve the lives of people on this planet, the State Department must be in the lead. —Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at SFRC hearing on U.S. leadership on artificial intelligence, Nov. 15, 2023. Data-Driven Diplomacy I’m pleased to see the department begin to pursue a data-driven approach to diplomacy because it has the potential to improve our foreign policy. … But data-driven diplomacy can’t just be a talking point. The department has to truly commit to integrating data into the policymaking process and changing course if necessary when it receives objective feedback that a policy or procedure simply isn’t working. The State Department’s center for data analytics was established to better integrate data analysis and expertise into foreign policy decision making and to develop a workforce that possesses the skills needed to take advantage of these technologies. —Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at SFRC hearing on U.S. leadership on artificial intelligence, Nov. 15, 2023. HEARD ON THE HILL JOSH Dating to 1970, the State Department Dissent Channel allows staff to reach senior leadership with their concerns without fear of retribution and without going public—dissent cables and their authors are classified. But in today’s connected world, some government insiders are going to the press and to their social media accounts with their policy concerns. A letter calling for an immediate cease-fire gained more than 1,000 signatures from USAID employees and was delivered to news outlets and publications including Foreign Policy and The Washington Post. On Nov. 17, The New York Times reported on an open letter in support of Biden administration policies and signed by more than 100 former Obama and Biden officials. On Nov. 19, the Associated Press reported that 650 staffers from more than 30 federal agencies, including the State Department, USAID, the Department of Defense, the Census Bureau, and the Executive Office of the President, jointly signed another open letter, this one demanding that the U.S. pursue a cease-fire in Gaza. Former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon criticized the signatories, telling AP that he is “not a fan of open letters.” He believes the Dissent Channel is a better way for department employees to make their views known. “In the Foreign Service as in military service, discipline is real and it’s important,” Shannon said. But an unidentified political appointee, who helped organize the multiagency letter, told AP that the signatories felt their concerns had been dismissed by the administration, saying, “That’s why people are using all sorts of dissent cables and open letters. Because we’ve
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