The Foreign Service Journal, May 2021

16 MAY 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Since the Politico story, Berggren has continued to write on his Blood and Faith blog, welcoming Politico readers and post- ing on such topics as “The Unforgivable Sins of the Jews” and “Jewish Fragility.” On March 4, CNN reported that Nick Sabruno, the top State Department Dip- lomatic Security official in Afghanistan, was removed from his position for making racist comments about Vice President Kamala Harris and declaring the “death of America” in a Facebook post after the November presidential election. CNN reported that after news of the Facebook post surfaced, Sabruno was sent back to Washington, D.C. Sabruno’s pro- file is no longer visible on Facebook. He is a member of the Senior Foreign Service. End of Visa Ban T he State Department announced that most applicants who were denied visas under the Trump administration’s Muslim visa ban may now reapply, Middle East Eye reported on March 9. The move comes after President Joe Biden issued an executive order on Jan. 20 overturning the so-called Muslim ban, under which former President Donald Trump banned visa applications from citizens of 13 countries. Biden called the ban “a stain on our national conscience.” The State Department, in a March 8 press release, said people who received a final refusal on or after Jan. 20, 2020, due to the ban “may seek re-adjudication without resubmitting their application forms or paying any additional fees, provided the underlying visa petitions remain valid.” People denied a visa before that date may apply again, but they will have to pay for the visa application fee again, the department said. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, said State should do more. “We ask the Biden administration to be creative and work with community- based groups to bring relief to all the families that were separated and harmed because of the discriminatory and xeno- phobic bans,” said CAIR National Gov- ernment Affairs Director Robert McCaw in a statement. As of September 2020, more than 40,000 visa applications had been denied under the Muslim ban, NBC News reported. Virtual Diplomatic Training D iplomatic training will remain mostly virtual until at least October 2021, Foreign Service Institute Director Julieta Valls Noyes told NPR on March 4. Valls Noyes, a former U.S. ambas- sador to Croatia, said that FSI will see a phased-in return to in-person classes, but some things may stay virtual. Instruc- tors have learned to be flexible, she said, even teaching overnight so diplomats overseas can take online training in their time zones. FSI has boosted its online training efforts significantly since the start of the pandemic. As the institute tweeted: “Since mid-March 2020, FSI has adapted the curricula of 455 in-person classroom trainings for remote delivery & developed offerings specific to the current moment.” FSI also tweeted that it reached more than 31,000 students virtually in 2020, and that it has supported 256,000 course enrollments despite the pandemic. More than 60 congressionally mandated crisis management exercises were set up for remote delivery to embassies and consul- ates around the world. n This edition of Talking Points was compiled by Cameron Woodworth and Steven Alan Honley. A rcticToday is a comprehensive digital news source focusing on the Arctic region. It was founded in 2012 to serve as an “Arctic news wire,” and features articles about the economy, energy, tourism, shipping, politics, security and the environment of the Circumpolar North. While its editor is based in the United States, the site features original content from ArcticToday’s correspondents and contributors, who are scattered throughout Europe and Canada. Its most frequent contributors are located in Copenhagen, Alaska and Washington, D.C. A nonprofit, ArcticToday also partners with news organizations in Norway, Iceland and Canada, and publishes syndicated content from Reuters. It also features opinion pieces from Arctic policy experts. In addition to the website, ArcticToday content reaches readers on several platforms, including a weekday newsletter and social media channels. Site of the Month: ArcticToday arctictoday.com