The Foreign Service Journal, March 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2021 43 and investment, international health, emerging global technolo- gies and media, criminal networks, cyberspace, and outer space). • Best-practice tradecraft (integration of key policy, manage- ment and leadership skills and new technological challenges). Once fully developed, the totality of professional education and formation schooling, completed over time, could eventu- ally be accredited (in cooperation with a nearby university) for a master’s degree in diplomatic service (MDS). Eventually, the MDS would be a requirement to apply for entry into the Senior (Foreign and Executive) Services at State and other agencies, as appropriate. Stephanie Smith Kinney is a retired member of the Senior Foreign Service in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Adequately Resource State and USAID in Africa The new administration can reinvigorate U.S. diplomacy and development in Africa by properly resourcing the Department of State and USAID’s operations on the continent, and by ensuring that diplomacy and development budgets are passed in a timely manner. Additionally, high-level officials, including the presi- dent and vice president, should consider traveling to countries off the beaten path in Africa to strengthen diplomatic relations with those who often feel neglected by the United States. FSO LaSean Knox-Brown is a public affairs officer at U.S. Embassy Praia. Revitalize Domestic Engagement It will be difficult to reinvigorate U.S. diplomacy and develop- ment if public support for it is not simultaneously invigorated. Over the past several years, mistrust and misunderstanding of U.S. foreign policy, foreign assistance, international organiza- tions and diplomacy in general seem to have grown. Many Americans appear to believe this work is being done by unknown bureaucrats in unknown corners of the world to advance unknown or even nefarious ends. In many ways we are foreign to our own countrymen, which makes it easier for “deep state” rumors and misinformation to take hold. There is a lack of awareness of the ways America and Americans benefit from the work of the Foreign Service. While these challenges are not new, the domestic narrative on U.S. foreign policy, diplomacy and development has been lost in a twin deficit of trust and truth, requiring something beyond a business-as-usual response. The State Department should consider expanding connec- tions between diplomats (both Foreign Service and Civil Service) and domestic audiences, whether through expanded use of fellowships, secondments, sabbaticals, Diplomats in Residence, the Hometown Diplomat program or other arrangements. Such efforts could allow diplomats to use their communication and development skills to, for instance, help state or local govern- ments improve their post-pandemic work and public engage- ment while building awareness of, and connections to, the broader work of the department. The overall goals should be to: expand in-person engage- ment between department personnel and domestic audiences, especially those more insulated from State’s work; build understanding of the department’s priorities and efforts and how they benefit America and Americans; and build trust in the individuals who are carrying out that work. These tools largely exist already; but rethinking and expand- ing themmay be necessary to help bridge the sizeable perception and information gap that has grown between what we do and those for whomwe do it, and whose support is ultimately needed for that work to be sustainable. FSO Joel Kopp is political and economic counselor at U.S. Embassy Monrovia. Give Management Support to Public Diplomacy in the Field I could go on about the importance of filling leadership posi- tions as a key component of rolling back the damage done to the State Department and Foreign Service during the Trump years and, especially, the need to restore the 2/3 to 1/3 ratio of career ambassadors to political. This note, however, proposes a critical adjustment to strengthen public diplomacy. Neglected since the integration of the U.S. Information Agency into State in 1999, the problem of proper management support for PD programs in the field has only intensified in recent years. Although integration increased the chances that PD cultural and research-based perspectives would gain a seat at the policy table, the management support to carry out our programs in the field has been devastatingly compro- mised. We used to manage programming at the mission level, but today more and more of a post’s public affairs section budget is doled out in discretionary grants that place a lugubrious demand