THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH-APRIL 2026 7 Toward Common Goals BY JOHN “DINK” DINKELMAN John “Dink” Dinkelman is the president of the American Foreign Service Association. PRESIDENT’S VIEWS I find writing these President’s Views columns to be a daunting task, mainly out of concern for ensuring that my message hits the intended “feeling.” After all, who hasn’t heard the saying, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I have found this adage to be true— especially in the Foreign Service. In our profession, words and actions are plentiful, but the end goal is to engender respect and trust on the part of our interlocutors, giving them reason to see Americans as credible and collaborative. Unfortunately, this basic concept seems to be losing ground within the Foreign Service itself, where people are working under considerable strain trying to maintain their professionalism while faced with unreasonable demands. In this edition of the Journal, you’ll find several columns that get at current feelings inside our Foreign Service community. Unpleasant feelings, even. They offer a serious look at what’s gone wrong in our profession over the recent past. Please take time to read Ambassador Ron Neumann’s “Our Professional Foreign Service Is in Danger,” Ambassador Eric Rubin’s “What’s Wrong with the Ben Franklin Fellowship?,” and AFSA State VP Ro Nepal’s “The Erosion of Trust.” Then give some thought to how you might be able to contribute to a more collaborative, inclusive discourse. I am grateful to the FSJ Editorial Board for allowing the Journal to be used as a starting point for the discussion of this matter, which threatens to undermine the unity and cohesion of the Foreign Service. This is long overdue. I look forward to seeing where this earnest individual and collective selfexamination can lead us. And I’m glad that the FSJ will continue to provide a platform to examine the state of the Foreign Service and discuss the causes of this animosity and ill will that have arisen among and between large elements of the Foreign Service. More importantly, I hope that through the exploration of what went wrong, we can start a dialogue that will begin to address and remedy what ails us. We need to acknowledge that our professionalism has been subordinated to disparate parochial interests. Even more importantly, we need to understand how we can avert further division and restore the civility among ourselves that is critical to the successful performance of our duties. We need to renew our focus on diplomacy, to spend our days working for the American people. Such exploration of what divides us, on the pages of a professional journal, can only go so far. If we truly intend to address these divisions, we need to come together in person, face to face, to find the common ground we seem to have misplaced. I call on leadership to convene the various disparate elements of the Foreign Service community—including employee organizations and professional associations—and to take the lead on this effort while again acknowledging the vital role that diverse groups of well-intended professionals can play in achieving our common goals. As always, AFSA will be here to support such efforts. And we welcome honest brokers to share their thoughts on the way ahead. n I hope that through the exploration of what went wrong, we can start a dialogue. AFSA is seeking input from employee organizations (EO) and requests that those in a position to speak on behalf of their EO please join in this conversation. Tell us what is (or was) the value of your EO, how your group is faring now, and what you see as the future for your organization and its members vis-à-vis the Foreign Service. Send your comments (up to 600 words) to journal@afsa.org. Join the Conversation.
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