THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY-JUNE 2026 37 FOCUS AI IN DIPLOMACY The work of diplomats on the ground in foreign countries can be made easier with artificial intelligence. But the diplomats themselves cannot be replaced. BY MAHVASH SIDDIQUI Mahvash Siddiqui has served for more than 20 years as a Foreign Service officer in Germany, the United Kingdom, Iraq, Qatar, and India. Her roles have ranged from public diplomacy officer to acting consul general to alternate permanent representative to the International Maritime Satellites Organization and the International Maritime Organization. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of the U.S. government. AI Should Assist, Not Replace, U.S. Diplomats When the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) seized Iraq’s Mosul Dam in 2014, the consequences could have been catastrophic. Analysts warned that a structural collapse might unleash a flood wave capable of costing millions of lives downstream. At that moment, as the sole environment, science, technology, and health (ESTH) officer in country, and with no U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hydrologists on the ground, I became the de facto water- security adviser to the senior U.S. commander in Iraq. Interpreting piezometer readings and translating technical risk into operational guidance is not typically in a diplomat’s job description. Yet that was my reality. I relied on long-unused physics and calculus training to brief the commander daily on water manipulation and structural risk. A misread signal would carry enormous consequences.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODIyMDU=