The Foreign Service Journal, May 2017

16 MAY 2017 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL found a broad consensus that State could be more efficient. “Every administration makes changes, but I suspect there’s going to be a little bit more under this administration,” Schaefer told POLITICO. Even if every proposal doesn’t become a reality, he added, it’s worth simply having the debate: “In the end this is a healthy process.” —Susan B. Maitra, Managing Editor Outcry Continues over Scaling Back “Soft Power” Budgets L awmakers have continued to focus on the proposed budget and its sweep- ing cuts to the Department of State and USAID budgets. According to President Trump’s budget chief, Mick Mulvaney, the president is using the budget to redefine U.S. foreign policy priorities, focusing on “hard power” by boosting the military, while scaling back “soft power”—a category that includes diplomacy, cultural exchanges and partici- pation in international institutions. But the changes have drawn swift criti- cism frommany members of Congress on both sides of the aisle and others. In an April 13 interview with NPR, former President George W. Bush called foreign aid a moral and national security priority. Asked about his centerpiece “soft-power” initiative, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, Bush said: “When you have an entire generation of people being wiped out and the free world turns its back, it provides a convenient opportunity for people to spread extremism. I believe in this case that it’s in our national security interests as well as in our moral interest to continue funding this program.” Representative Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), a well-known advocate for cutting wasteful government spending, rejected the idea of slashing foreign aid and diplomatic budgets. “At a time when American lead- ership is needed more than ever, we must continue to invest in the International Affairs budget,” he stated. Speaking to Voice of America, Senator Patrick Leahy (D–Vt.) said: “Even the military will tell you that if we don’t have a diplomatic outreach, what’s going to happen—that [void] will be filled by the Russians and the Chinese.” Senator Chris Coons (D–Del.) sug- gested that the proposed budget shows an overreliance on the military and a funda- mental “underappreciation of the power and the effectiveness of diplomacy.” Speaking to VOA, Liz Schrayer, president and CEO of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, stated that she was encouraged by the quick reaction to the budget proposals on Capitol Hill, and by the bipartisan support for U.S. diplomats and foreign aid organizations. In an editorial for The Chicago Tribune , Richard Longworth, a dis tin- guished fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, describes the 21st century as a “global era dominated by soft power” and asserts that, by defund- ing the State Department and foreign aid programs, Trump is disarming the United States of one of the most power- ful weapons in the modern arsenal, influence on the world stage. See more statements from lawmakers and other leaders in defense of diplomacy and development practitioners at the AFSA website, http://afsa.org/quotes- support-foreign-service. —Gemma Dvorak, Associate Editor State Department Press Room Goes Dark, Again T ransitions notwithstanding, press briefings have been a staple of almost-daily activity at the State Depart- ment for decades. So it was different when, after the Trump inauguration in January, State did not hold a press brief- ing for more than six weeks, referring questions to the White House instead. On March 7, State Department press briefings resumed, with Mark Toner, a career Foreign Service officer who stayed on as acting spokesperson under Secre- tary of State Rex Tillerson, presiding. The opening question that day from Associ- ated Press reporter Matt Lee, the unoffi- cial dean of the State Department’s press corps, included a preamble reminding the spokesperson of the importance of the tradition. “Welcome back,” Lee said to Toner. “This, as you well know, is a very impor- tant venue for not only foreign govern- ments but foreign publics, the American people, and the men and women who work here and in embassies abroad. They all look to this briefing; they take their cues from it.” During the next three weeks, 10 brief- ings were held—half of them live, with Toner at the podium, and half of them via conference call. But since March 23, except for provid- ing teleconferenced special briefings on particular topics and briefing individual reporters on background, lights were off again in the press room until April 11, when they briefly flickered as Mr. Toner gave an off-camera briefing. The department is reportedly searching for Mr. Toner’s replacement, but as we go to press there is no deci- sion on a new spokesperson or on when and in what form regular briefings will resume. Michael Abramowitz, president of the independent watchdog group Freedom House, highlighted the importance of the role in an interview with ABC News: “In many ways, with the possible excep-