The Foreign Service Journal, April 2020

18 APRIL 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Sarah Repucci, “took place in functioning of government, freedom of expression and belief, and rule of law.” View the document at bit.ly/freedom- report. U.S. to Allow Greater Use of Land Mines? I n January the Trump administration rescinded the presidential policy on anti-personnel land mines adopted by the Obama administration in favor of a new policy to be overseen by the Defense Department that will allow land mines to be used in conflicts around the world. The previous policy restricted the use of land mines to the Korean Peninsula. “I think land mines are an important tool that our forces need to have available to them in order to ensure mission suc- cess and in order to reduce risk to forces,” Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told journalists on Jan. 31. According to the Defense Department policy, the U.S. will continue to prohibit the use of any “persistent” land mines (without a self-destruct/self-deactivation function) per its commitment to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. The United States did not join the more than 160 countries that signed on to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Russia and China have not signed the treaty either. “I’ve seen nothing in my study of Russian or Chinese history that gives me any confidence that they would respect international law,” Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, a former commander of U.S. Army Europe, told NPR. “So this is about being able to protect allies and protect our own troops.” But many are opposed to the use of what they see as inherently indiscrimi- nate weapons. The current policy, said Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) in a Jan. 30 statement, “is the culmination of nearly 30 years of incremental steps, taken by both Democratic and Republican admin- istrations after extensive analysis and consultation, toward the growing global consensus that anti-personnel mines should be universally banned.” “The Congress,” Sen. Leahy added, “must be consulted before any decision that would reverse the gains we have made toward ending the carnage caused by land mines.” Senators Urge Field- Forward Policy I n early February, Sen. Chris Van Hol- len (D-Md.) and Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), co-chairs of the Senate For- eign Service Caucus, sent a letter to Sec- retary of State Mike Pompeo urging him to increase the deployment of members of the U.S. Foreign Service overseas. “From global health crises to emerg- ing technologies to great power competi- tion, the United States faces a diverse and growing array of threats that demand greater diplomatic engagement around the world,” they wrote. “In addition to our military and economic tools, diplomacy is essential for advancing U.S. national security interests.” “Posting more State Foreign Ser- vice abroad,” the senators continued, “coupled with an increase in the Foreign Commercial Service and Foreign Agri- cultural Service, will help underpin U.S.