THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2025 19 diplomacy sections should follow this model and focus more on conveying the broad benefits that the U.S. brings to a country. Everyone working at an embassy should be able to recite off the top of their head the three main ways the U.S. contributes to the host country. These could be economic (the U.S. buys X millions of Y product), security (the U.S. supplies X military product), or development (the U.S. has trained X number of nationals in Y), but they need to be simple and repeatable. • Require every U.S. government-funded project to prominently display the American flag. Encourage private sector and nonprofit actors to make clear that they are a U.S. company or nonprofit. • Task every embassy with documenting the breadth of U.S. contributions to the host country. This would cut across the 27 federal agencies working abroad, international financial institutions, the private sector, and nonprofits. Establish a standard, easily understandable methodology. Prioritize clarity. A foreign official should be able to easily repeat the top lines to a colleague. Don’t forget about international financial institutions. For example, the U.S. is the largest contributor to the International Monetary Fund, which gives loans to many countries that allow their governments to function. The State Department should prioritize understanding and communicating the broad benefits that the United States brings to a country even if it means deprioritizing some of its own programs and reporting. In the past, countries had limited choices of potential partners. Now they have more options. If we want them to continue partnering with the United States, we need to give them some clear reasons why. Seth Luxenberg State Department FS Family Member U.S. Embassy Abidjan Appoint a Devil’s Advocate Please appoint a devil’s advocate to review whatever policy proposals or nominations you want to make. It may just prevent echo-chamber decisions that turn out badly. If the Catholic Church could do it for candidates for sainthood, it might not be a bad idea for the U.S. Foreign Service to play that role for ambassadorships and such. Teresa Chin Jones State Department Senior FSO, retired Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Practice Tough Love Diplomacy Practice tough love diplomacy. Reduce to a minimum or end diplomatic representation in countries where elected governments are overturned by the military. Top U.S. diplomats assigned to a least developed country (LDC) fight energetically against corrupt activities and the flow of illicit funds—often involving the pillaging of natural resources—out of the host country. Development aid should be conditional on the satisfactory performance of the host government, and this conditionality should be applied assiduously. The links between U.S. foreign policy and development assistance need to be made clear. All U.S. missions should communicate forcefully that their major concern is enhancing social justice in the LDC host country and reducing poverty. And make clear that any assistance from the U.S. government can be terminated if there is evidence that it is not achieving its objectives. The U.S. government should do more of its work independent of contractors and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Multiyear congressional appropriations should be considered for certain assistance projects that are performing well. The U.S. government should strive to be a reliable partner. U.S. foreign assistance legislation and agencies need reform; and perhaps a selective moratorium on providing any more assistance should be executed until these reforms are enacted. Mark G. Wentling USAID Senior FSO, retired Lubbock, Texas Invest in Training To effectively serve and advance America’s foreign policy interests under the new administration, the State Department must be able to meet the increasingly complex challenges of a dynamic global landscape. A critical component of this evolution is a serious investment in professional education and training for diplomats—an area in which the United States has room for substantial improvement. The Foreign Service lacks a comprehensive, career-long training model focused on leadership development, strategic thinking, and the refinement of essential tradecraft. While many foreign ministries around the world have established robust professional development programs that invest in their diplomats’
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