THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2025 25 To do this successfully, the department should also revisit its domestic organization and public diplomacy footprint. As described in my April 2024 FSJ feature, “The Department of State’s Reception Centers: Back to the Future,” the State Department should consider creating domestic geographic districts aligned with the 10 federal regions. A “diplomatic engagement center” in each district would bring together existing offices and personnel to better implement exchange programs; coordinate public outreach and media engagement; create public-private partnerships; liaise with regionally based city, state, and federal officials; and support foreign embassies and consulates. In advance of the 1984 Summer Olympics, President Ronald Reagan opened a foreign press center in Los Angeles. It helped tell America’s story for almost 25 years until it was closed due to a reorganization and reduction in force. With the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics on the horizon, now is the perfect time to invest in the nation’s domestic diplomatic capacity. We should build out our domestic public diplomacy footprint with diplomatic engagement centers in all 10 federal regions, beginning with Los Angeles. L.A. is the nation’s second-largest city, home to the country’s largest concentration of foreign diplomats and domestic personnel outside Washington and New York, and host to the world in 2028. Matthew Asada State Department FSO U.S. Embassy Accra Retrofit for Great Power Competition The next Trump administration has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to retrofit our Foreign Service for 21st-century great power competition. While the bipartisan Congressional Commission on Reform and Modernization of the Department of State raises possibilities for long-term legislative reform, C M Y CM MY CY CMY K FSJ (March)_AIP Programs_halfpage4c_FINAL.pdf 1 2/1/2023 4:18:30 PM
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