16 MARCH-APRIL 2026 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL SPEAKING OUT Ronald E. Neumann, the former U.S. ambassador to Algeria, Bahrain, and Afghanistan, is president of the American Academy of Diplomacy. These views are his own and in no way represent Academy positions. T he professional, nonpartisan Foreign Service is in danger. America needs the best possible diplomacy to confront the challenges of a fracturing world, dangerous great power competitors, and transnational challenges. It needs diplomats with courage, skill, and experience, but the continued existence of such a corps is in trouble. The immediate danger comes from the behavior of the Trump administration. The longer-term one stems from the intrusion of the country’s partisan rancor into the ranks of the Service. In the current administration, I have heard both political appointees and some Foreign Service officers (FSOs) say that the Foreign Service is too much a collection of elite-school graduates with left-leaning political and cultural attitudes disdainful of “regular” Americans and reluctant to execute the policies of the Trump administration. They point to actions such as the leaking of dissent cables in the first Trump administration to show that too many FSOs, contrary to their oath to the Constitution, are neither loyal nor prepared to put full effort into executing the president’s policies. From this they appear to have concluded that a massive effort to reshape the Foreign Service culture and clean out its adherents is required. The cleaning out is evident. In previous administrations, 60 to 70 percent of ambassadorial appointments, on average, went to career diplomats. As of December 2025, the number was well below 50 percent. Only six out of 70 ambassadorial nominations and appointments in 2025 were from the career Foreign Service. Of 30 other senior appointments in the State Department, just three went to career officers. The week before Christmas, some 30 career ambassadors were “recalled,” informed they must depart their posts within a few weeks, signaling a further reduction in the career ranks. While complaints about the attitudes of some career officers may be true, the policies adopted by the Trump administration to refashion the Foreign Service appear to go well beyond reestablishing nonpartisan norms of loyalty. Instead, the actions undertaken appear designed to politicize diplomacy and abandon the idea of a nonpartisan career Service as established by law. I use terms like “seem to” and “appear to” because it is difficult to know how various policy pronouncements are actually applied. The administration has no obligation, and apparently no intention, to reveal the details of its actions without a recognized union to push for disclosure. Efforts to Reshape the Foreign Service Administration policies that appear to try to reshape the Service include the nontransparent alteration of promotion standards, the recomputation of scores from previous promotion boards to award additional promotions, an altered entrance exam about which little is known and much is rumored, as well as the new core precept and emphasis on “fidelity” of new FSOs without making clear whether this is to their constitutional oath or the values of the Trump administration. There is a question of whether oral examinations for the Service will be politicized by adding examiners who will ensure that new entrants have the “correct” ideological and social orientation. Recruitment is another area in which changes seem to echo the administration’s long-term social goals. Statements by the administration directed an end to any so-called DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) outreach work. There is a less well-defined endeavor that suggests a belief that the FS is too reflective of social elites and needs more recruitment from the American heartland. Our Professional Foreign Service Is in Danger BY RONALD E. NEUMANN Without a nonpartisan and cohesive staff, the department would lose the skills and courage to contribute to policy or effectively implement decisions.
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